Spoils of War

Sorcery

X is the number of artifact and/or creature cards in an opponent's graveyard as you play Spoils of War.

Distribute X +1/+1 counters among any number of target creatures.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (9)

legendofa on Confused on how this card …

1 year ago

Victor651 You can target any number of creatures, but you have to distribute all counters. It still works with Horobi, Death's Wail in the way you intend, though: You can give the two creatures you want to kill five counters each, in your example. You can give a targeted creature more than one counter with Spoils of War.

Rhadamanthus on Can I cascade into Chalice …

2 years ago

Yes you can cast it, and X will be zero.

In every zone other than the stack, an X in a mana cost counts as zero. If it's on the stack as a spell, then X will have whatever value was chosen for it. However, if you're casting a spell "without paying its mana cost" or while paying any alternative cost that doesn't include X then you're only allowed to choose zero (unless the text of the spell defines what X has to be - Spoils of War is the only example I can think of).

Kogarashi on Confused on how this card …

5 years ago

If I'm reading your interpretations correctly, #2 is the correct one.

Older cards that haven't been reprinted can be confusing. The Oracle text, viewable at the Gatherer or on Scryfall, frequently clears these things up.

Spoils of War 's Oracle text reads:

"X is the number of artifact and/or creature cards in an opponent’s graveyard as you cast this spell.

Distribute X +1/+1 counters among any number of target creatures."

When you cast the spell, you choose an opponent to target. You count the number of artifact and/or creature cards in their graveyard, and that sets the value of (5 in your example). You would also choose your target creatures at the time of casting, then pay (5 because of the number of cards you counted in your opponent's graveyard), and when the spell resolves you would distribute 5 +1/+1 counters among the creatures you targeted.

Nuubi on Confused on how this card …

5 years ago

So it seems like this card ( Spoils of War )could be interpreted multiple ways. The variable by the mana cost is confuseing. Does this represent that for however many mana you pay plus it’s cost, you get the many counters times however many creatures/artifacts are in the grave? Like for instances there is five creatures in your oppents grave and you pay 1 swamp for the cost and for instance five extra swamp to get a total of 25 counters to distribute? We’ll say this is interpretation #1. For interpretation #2, would it be that for however many cards are in your opponents grave (in this example 5) you would get 5 counters and have to pay the land cost which is one, plus five additional where as x is the variable for the cards in your oppents grave that apply? Any input would be much appreciated. I feel like we are definitely over thinking this one. Thanks!

Uskebasi on List of Color Pie Breaks/Bends

6 years ago

Some cards I found:

Harmless Offering is a colorshifted Donate, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs could be white, Molten Influence is a "counterspell" in red, Measure of Wickedness should be probably red, Dragonmaster Outcast is a creature that rewards your ramp and I feel he could be green, Stromgald Spy looks at target player's hand and could be blue, Treacherous Urge, Enslave and Ritual of the Machine are threaten/control magic effects in black, The Great Aurora and Ezuri's Predation are wraths in green, Bellowing Tanglewurm has a black keyword, Curse of the Swine is mass removal with exile in blue, Primal Order is direct damage in green, Mana Vortex and Land Equilibrium are land destruction in blue, Web of Inertia is a strange pillowfort card and graveyard hoser in blue, Concordant Crossroads gives haste in green (???), Oath of Lieges ramps in white, Spoils of War gives +1/+1 counters in black, Touch of Darkness is colorshifting in black, Infernal Genesis gives everybody tokens in black, Countryside Crusher should probably be Golgari, Mana Flare is a mana doubler in red (????), Dreams of the Dead is creature recursion in blue, Reality Twist is ???, Imprisoned in the Moon is straight up removal in blue, Icy Prison is a political Oblivion Ring in blue, Not Forgotten is a green effect, Stunted Growth discards cards from opponent's hand in green...

Liquidbeaver on Ib Halfheart, Goblin Sac-tician [PRIMER]

6 years ago

RazortoothMtg: Thank you! I had never seen Panglacial Wurm before, so I went looking and found these too:

• Blinking Spirit

• Goblin Ski Patrol

• Goblin Snowman

• Spoils of War

• Wall of Shields

I wouldn't have expected anything less than fantastic quotes from Ib.

Enral Thanks for the compliment and the upvote!

Mike94: Thanks Mike, I'm glad you like it!

Epochalyptik on First budget manabase upgrades to …

6 years ago

The quality of your improvements will depend greatly on your budget.

At the very least, I recommend dropping the vivid lands and half of the trilands. Add the battle lands (Canopy Vista and friends from BFZ). Also add Murmuring Bosk. This will give you fetchable options with Nature's Lore, Skyshroud Claim, Hunting Wilds, Ranger's Path , Farseek, and Spoils of Victory , and Shard Convergence (the latter two not being stellar, but being at least manageable on a budget).

Add cards like Darksteel Ingot, Cascading Cataracts , and Exotic Orchard.

You should also consider the check lands (e.g., Sunpetal Grove).

landofMordor on Mardu Warriors

6 years ago

For a haircut deck, looks pretty good! I think you might be able to find a better 1-drop warrior than Goblin Glory Chaser. Maybe Mardu Woe-Reaper or Zurgo Bellstriker. I'd also be remiss to leave out Spoils of War for the flavor.