Descend

Descend
[[File:{{#setmainimage:MTGA Descend.png}}|70x70px]]
Ability Word
Introduced	The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Last used	Alchemy: Ixalan
Typical Text	Descend —
Statistics	12 cards 8.3% 41.7% 25% 16.7% 8.3% 10 Descend 4 cards 30% 30% 30% 10% 9 Descend 8 cards 22.2% 22.2% 11.1% 33.3% 11.1% 7 Fathomless descent cards 14.3% 42.9% 28.6% 14.3%
Scryfall Search
oracle:"descended"

Not to be confused with Descent counter.

Descend is a mechanic introduced in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.

Description

To descend is the act of putting a permanent card into a graveyard from anywhere, making it a mechanic along the lines of Morbid and Revolt. In all cases descending refers to permanent cards only, so instant and sorcery cards don't count.

For a while, the Set Design team experimented with caring about the number of all cards in your graveyard, a riff on threshold from Odyssey. Besides caring about how many cards were in your graveyard, they liked caring about if a card went to your graveyard this turn. Playtesting showed that instants and sorceries made the latter too easy, so in mirror to ascend from Rivals of Ixalan, which cared about the number of permanents on the battlefield, descend would care about the number of permanents in your graveyard. After much exploration and playtesting, the Set Design team found three ways to use descend:

Descend as an event

Several cards in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan have abilities that check if you've descended this turn. You've descended if a permanent card has been put into your graveyard from anywhere. This is a keyword action. Note that this can be from any zone, so both milling a permanent card or discarding it would count as descending for the turn. The digital design Chitinous Crawler takes this to the extreme where the card didn't exist prior to entering the graveyard and but is still descending. All descend triggers are written to only occur on their owner's turn (by and large, end step triggers) as to avoid opponents being hesitant to interact on their own turn.

For abilities that trigger if you have descended, it doesn't matter how many times you've descended that turn, only that you've done so at least once. It also doesn't matter that the permanent card is still in your graveyard. If a permanent card is put into your graveyard and then you return it to your hand, for example, you've descended that turn.

Ability words

Closely connected to descending are three ability words used to highlight abilities that all care about the number of permanent cards in your graveyard. There was much discussion about language, and R&D decided having them connected was better than having them not connected verbally.

Descend as a locked number

This is an ability word with a number used to see if you've met the threshold. For simplicity of tracking it, this type of descend only uses two numbers: descend 4 and descend 8.

Descend 4 and descend 8 abilities care about there being at least four or eight permanent cards in your graveyard, respectively. Again, instant and sorcery cards don't count. Each descend 4 and descend 8 ability is different and the bonus for achieving the desired haul in your graveyard changes from card to card. In this way, these are similar to threshold or delirium.

Fathomless descent

Fathomless descent abilities are very similar, but rather than specifying a required minimum number of permanent cards in your graveyard, they just get more powerful the more you have. For this mechanic, the closest analogue is undergrowth.

Examples

Example 1

Broodrage Mycoid
Creature — Fungus
4/3
At the beginning of your end step, if you descended this turn, create a 1/1 black Fungus creature token with “This creature can’t block.” (You descended if a permanent card was put into your graveyard from anywhere.)

Example 2

Didact Echo
Creature — Spirit Cleric
3/2
When Didact Echo enters the battlefield, draw a card.
Descend 4 — Didact Echo has flying as long as there are four or more permanent cards in your graveyard.

Example 3

The Everflowing Well
Legendary Artifact
Descend 8 — At the beginning of your upkeep, if there are eight or more permanent cards in your graveyard, transform The Everflowing Well.

Example 4

Souls of the Lost
Creature — Spirit
*/* +1
As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card or sacrifice a permanent.
Fathomless descent — Souls of the Lost’s power is equal to the number of permanent cards in your graveyard and its toughness is equal to that number plus 1.

Rules

From the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

• 700.11. Some cards refer to whether a player has “descended this turn.” This means that a permanent card has been put into that player’s graveyard from anywhere this turn. “The number of times [a player] descended this turn” means “the number of permanent cards put into [that player’s] graveyard from anywhere this turn.” In both cases, no permanent cards put into the player’s graveyard that turn are required to still be in that graveyard.

Rulings

• Some cards refer to a player who has "descended this turn." This means that a permanent card has been put into that player's graveyard from anywhere this turn.
• Some cards refer to the number of times a player descended this turn. Those cards care about the number of permanent cards put into that player's graveyard from anywhere this turn.
• In either case, it doesn't matter if those cards are still in that player's graveyard.
• A permanent card is an artifact, battle, creature, enchantment, land, or planeswalker card. Tokens are not cards, and while tokens are put into the graveyard before ceasing to exist, that action doesn't count as a player having descended.
• Multiple cards have abilities that begin with "At the beginning of your end step, if you descended this turn." These cards don't need to have been under your control at the time you descended. For example, if a permanent card is put into your graveyard during your first main phase and you cast Stalactite Stalker your second main phase, its ability will trigger at the beginning of your end step.
• Abilities that begin with "At the beginning of your end step, if you descended this turn" will trigger only once during your end step, no matter how many times you descended this turn. However, if you haven't descended this turn as your end step begins, the ability won't trigger at all. It's not possible to put a permanent card into your graveyard during the end step in time to have the ability trigger.
• Cards with the ability word "descend N" have abilities that care if you have at least N permanent cards in your graveyard.
• Cards with the ability word "fathomless descent" have abilities that care how many permanent cards are in your graveyard.
• Some descend triggered abilities include intervening "if" clauses (i.e. "if you have [four or eight] permanent cards in your graveyard" in the middle of the ability). Each of these abilities checks your graveyard at the moment it would trigger to see if it does. If you don't have the required number of permanent cards in your graveyard at that time, the ability doesn't trigger at all. If it does trigger, it will check again as it tries to resolve. If you don't have the required number of permanent cards in your graveyard at that time, the ability won't resolve and none of its effects will happen.

Trivia

• Descend 4 and Descend 8 are the first ability words to have fixed numerical values as part of the ability word.