Summons of Saruman
Sorcery
Card text
Amass Orcs X. Mill X cards. You may cast an instant or sorcery spell with mana value X or less from among them without paying its mana cost. (To amass Orcs X, put X +1/+1 counters on an Army you control. It's also an Orc. If you don't control an Army, create a 0/0 black Orc Army creature token first.)
Flashback—, Exile X cards from your graveyard.
Showing Tales of Middle-earth Commander#70
Price
0.34 $
14 printings · up to 2.71 $
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Summons of Saruman rulings
If you want to cast one of the milled cards, you cast it as part of the resolution of Summons of Saruman. You can't wait to cast the spell later in the turn. Timing permissions based on the card's type are ignored.
If you cast a spell "without paying its mana cost", you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs, such as kicker costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, those must be paid to cast the spell.
If the spell has
in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X.
Amass abilities are now written as "amass [subtype] N." Previous cards with amass have received errata to say "amass Zombies N."
To amass Orcs N, if you don't control an Army creature, create a 0/0 black Orc Army creature token. Then you choose an Army creature you control and put N +1/+1 counters on it. If that Army isn't already an Orc, it becomes an Orc in addition to its other types.
Amass Zombies works the same way, except you create a 0/0 black Zombie Army creature token if you don't control an Army. If the Army creature you chose isn't already a Zombie, it becomes a Zombie in addition to its other types. By combining cards with amass Orcs and amass Zombies, you can end up with an Orc Zombie Army.
In the rare case that you control multiple Army creatures (perhaps because you played a creature with changeling) while you amass Orcs, you choose which of your Army creatures to put the +1/+1 counters on. If that creature isn't an Orc, it becomes an Orc in addition to its other types.
If you don't control an Army, the Orc Army token you create enters the battlefield as a 0/0 creature before receiving counters. Any abilities that trigger when a creature with a certain power enters the battlefield, such as that of Mentor of the Meek, will see the token enter as a 0/0 creature before it gets +1/+1 counters.
Some spells and abilities that amass Orcs may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. You won't amass Orcs.
Some cards refer to the "amassed Army." That means the Army creature you chose to receive counters, even if no counters were placed on it for some reason.
Summons of Saruman keyword rules
Amass Rule 701.44
To amass [subtype] N means “If you don’t control an Army creature, create a 0/0 black [subtype] Army creature token. Choose an Army creature you control. Put N +1/+1 counters on that creature. If it isn’t a [subtype], it becomes a [subtype] in addition to its other types.”
A player “amassed” after the process described in rule is complete, even if some or all of those actions were impossible.
The phrases “the Army you amassed” and “the amassed Army” refer to the creature you chose, whether or not it received counters.
Some older cards were printed with amass N without including a subtype. Those cards have received errata in the Oracle card reference so that they read “amass Zombies N.”
Flashback Rule 702.34
Flashback appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two static abilities: one that functions while the card is in a player’s graveyard and another that functions while the card is on the stack. “Flashback [cost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard if the resulting spell is an instant or sorcery spell by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.” Casting a spell using its flashback ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules and –h.
Mill Rule 701.13
For a player to mill a number of cards, that player puts that many cards from the top of their library into their graveyard.
A player can’t mill a number of cards greater than the number of cards in their library. If given the choice to do so, they can’t choose to take that action. If instructed to do so, they mill as many as possible. Similarly, the player can’t pay a cost that includes milling a number of cards greater than the number of cards in their library.
An effect that refers to a milled card can find that card in the zone it moved to from the library, as long as that zone is a public zone.
If an ability checks information about a single milled card but more than one card was milled, that ability refers to each of the milled cards. If that ability asks for any information about the milled card, such as a characteristic or mana value, it gets multiple answers. If these answers are used to determine the value of a variable, the sum of the answers is used. If that ability performs any actions on “the” card, it performs that action on each milled card. If that ability performs any actions on “a” card, the controller of the ability chooses which card is affected.
Summons of Saruman format legality
Constructed
- StandardNot legal
- PioneerNot legal
- ModernNot legal
- Future StandardNot legal
Eternal
- LegacyLegal
- VintageLegal
- PauperNot legal
- PremodernNot legal
- Old SchoolNot legal
- Penny DreadfulNot legal
Commander
- CommanderLegal
- OathbreakerLegal
- Pauper CommanderNot legal
- Duel CommanderLegal
- PreDHNot legal
Arena & online
- HistoricNot legal
- TimelessNot legal
- AlchemyNot legal
- GladiatorNot legal
- BrawlNot legal
- Standard BrawlNot legal
- Competitive BrawlNot legal
Other
- TLRLegal
All printings of Summons of Saruman 14
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