Wail of the Forgotten MTG Card
2023-11-17 - Number 343
2023-11-17 - Number 244
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 2 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Abilities | Descend |
Text of card
Descend 8 — Choose one. If there are eight or more permanent cards in your graveyard as you cast this spell, choose one or more instead. • Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand. • Target opponent discards a card. • Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.
Cards like Wail of the Forgotten
Wail of the Forgotten carves out its own niche in the realm of graveyard interaction within Magic: The Gathering. Its functionality borrows elements from cards like Tormod’s Crypt and Nihil Spellbomb, which are both known for their capacity to exile cards from graveyards. What sets Wail of the Forgotten apart is its usage within the overarching strategy, tuning into the subtleties of gameplay where timing can be as crucial as the effect itself.
Comparatively, Tormod’s Crypt offers no cost graveyard hate, activating instantly without tapping into a player’s mana pool. Nihil Spellbomb provides an existential threat to graveyard strategies and, importantly, permits its controller to draw a card when it’s sacrificed, unlike Wail of the Forgotten which lacks direct card advantage. However, Wail of the Forgotten has an echo—that resonance with your own graveyard, offering a level of interaction and nuance beyond simply purging the resting places of spells.
Assessing these magical relics side by side, Wail of the Forgotten provides a distinct choice for players focusing on resource manipulation and timing, blending seamlessly with strategies that demand subtler, yet impactful graveyard control moves in Magic: The Gathering.
Cards similar to Wail of the Forgotten by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Wail of the Forgotten. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Grixis Scam | Legacy | Grixis Scam | Legacy Showcase Challenge 2024-04-21 |
 | Reanimator | Legacy | Reanimator | Legacy League 2024-04-21 |
 | Living End | Modern | Living End | Modern League 2024-04-23 |
| U/B Rescaminator | Legacy | Reanimator | Not Quite Pro Tour Not Quite Seattle - Legacy $1K |
| Dimir Scam | Legacy | Dimir Scam | Legacy League 2024-04-28 |
 | Atraxa Neoform | Pioneer | Atraxa Neoform | Pioneer League 2024-04-27 |
| Grixis Reanimator | Standard | Grixis Reanimator | Pro Tour Thunder Junction |
| Doomsday | Legacy | Doomsday | Legacy Showcase Challenge 2024-04-21 |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Wail of the Forgotten shines in providing card advantage by retrieving pivotal creatures from your graveyard, seamlessly reintegrating them into your strategic lineup. This effect ensures continuity in your game plan while pressuring your opponent with a potential surge in battlefield presence.
Resource Acceleration: As a boon to decks focusing on resource acceleration, this card can be a key enabler. By returning a creature card, it sets the stage for powerful plays, potentially accelerating your overall strategy and enabling higher-cost spells to be played sooner than your opponent might anticipate.
Instant Speed: This card operates at instant speed, offering flexibility and strategic depth to your plays. You can adapt to the unfolding game, responding to threats or opportunities during your opponent’s turn, thus keeping them guessing and setting traps they may walk right into, all the while safeguarding your mana utilization and keeping up the tempo. Instant speed actions are one of the hallmarks of advanced play, and this card fittingly aligns with that concept.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Wail of the Forgotten requires you to discard another card, which can be a significant setback especially if you’ve carefully curated your hand for strategic plays. Discarding not only depletes your options but can also be counterproductive when you’re trying to maintain card advantage over your opponent.
Specific Mana Cost: This card’s mana cost includes black mana, which means it fits primarily into black decks or those running a black mana base. For players running decks without black mana, including Wail of the Forgotten is not feasible, limiting its versatility across different deck types.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Casting Wail of the Forgotten comes with a relatively steep mana cost for what it offers. Other cards might provide similar or greater impact at a lower cost, making it less appealing in a mana-efficient deck build. When looking for impactful plays, players may opt for alternatives with a more favorable mana-to-effect ratio.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Wail of the Forgotten offers a flexible answer to the graveyard strategies frequently encountered in various formats. Its ability to exile cards directly from your opponent’s graveyard makes it a handy tool in any deck that struggles against reanimation tactics or decks that thrive on graveyard synergies.
Combo Potential: This card can also play an important role in decks focused on disrupting the opponent’s plans. With its exile effect, it serves to hinder decks that rely on certain cards reaching the graveyard, potentially disrupting their entire combo sequence.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where decks utilizing the graveyard are prevalent, Wail of the Forgotten becomes an essential sideboard card, if not a main deck consideration. Its niche appeal increases as the usage of graveyard strategies becomes more dominant and pervasive across the game’s landscape. Its inclusion could make the difference in tight matches where a single exiled card spells defeat for an unprepared opponent.
How to beat
Wail of the Forgotten presents a unique challenge on the battlefield with its ability to bring back creatures from the graveyard. To effectively counter this card, having a strategy that disrupts graveyard mechanics is key. Graveyard hate cards, like Relic of Progenitus or Tormod’s Crypt, can remove a player’s graveyard from the game, rendering Wail of the Forgotten useless. Utilizing instant-speed removal can also be crucial, as it allows you to respond to the spell before the targeted creatures are returned to the battlefield.
Another strategy involves countering Wail of the Forgotten directly with spells like Negate or Cancel. Keeping mana open to disrupt your opponent’s attempts to resolve this powerful reanimation spell can maintain your advantage. Additionally, you can play cards that replace themselves in hand, ensuring that you don’t run out of resources while dealing with your opponent’s threats. Lastly, maintaining pressure with a formidable board presence can divert your opponent’s focus away from their graveyard strategy, forcing them to deal with your threats instead.
With these tactics in mind, players can prepare themselves for encounters with Wail of the Forgotten and have a battle plan ready to disrupt this card’s potent effects on the game. By staying one step ahead, you can ensure that the wails remain forgotten, buried in your opponent’s graveyard.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Wail of the Forgotten MTG card by a specific set like The Lost Caverns of Ixalan and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Wail of the Forgotten and other MTG cards:
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- MTG Mint Card
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Printings
The Wail of the Forgotten Magic the Gathering card was released in 1 different sets between 2023-11-17 and 2023-11-17. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023-11-17 | The Lost Caverns of Ixalan | LCI | 343 | 2015 | Normal | Borderless | Bene Rohlmann | |
| 2 | 2023-11-17 | The Lost Caverns of Ixalan | LCI | 244 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Ryan Valle |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Wail of the Forgotten has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Wail of the Forgotten card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2023-11-10 | Cards with the ability word "descend N" have abilities that care if you have at least N permanent cards in your graveyard. |
| 2023-11-10 | If all targets for the chosen modes become illegal before Wail of the Forgotten resolves, the spell will be countered and none of its effects will happen. If at least one target is still legal, the spell will resolve but will have no effect on any illegal targets. |
| 2023-11-10 | Some descend triggered abilities include intervening "if" clauses (i.e. "if you have -our 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. |