Emperor of Bones
Emperor of Bones: Creature - Skeleton Noble, Modern Horizons 3. MTG card printings, market prices, rulings, and format legality on Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {1}{B}
- Mana value
- 2
- Type
- Creature - Skeleton Noble
- Colour identity
- Black (B)
- Power / toughness
- 2/2
- Rarity
- Rare
- Set
- Modern Horizons 3 (MH3)
- Released
- 2024-06-14
- Collector number
- 90
- Artist
- Josh Hass
- Keywords
- Adapt
Build around this card with Grover
About Emperor of Bones
Emperor of Bones is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare black creature from Modern Horizons 3 (MH3), a draft-focused set released in June 2024. It is collector number 90 in that set, with art by Josh Hass. It costs {1}{B} (one generic and one black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 2. It is a 2/2 creature. Its colour identity is black. It is legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Historic, Timeless and Gladiator. It has been printed in 2 sets. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $1.72 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).
Card text
At the beginning of combat on your turn, exile up to one target card from a graveyard.
{1}{B}: Adapt 2.
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on this creature, put a creature card exiled with this creature onto the battlefield under your control with a finality counter on it. It gains haste. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $1.72 (as of 2026-10-23).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Emperor of Bones by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Modern | Legal |
|---|---|
| Legacy | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
Other printings of Emperor of Bones
Emperor of Bones has been printed in 2 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Horizons 3 (MH3) #453 | Rare | 2024 |
| Modern Horizons 3 Promos (PMH3) #90s | Rare | 2024 |
Official rulings
Six official rulings apply to Emperor of Bones, newest first.
- Finality counters aren't keyword counters, and a finality counter doesn't give any abilities to the permanent it's on. If that permanent loses its abilities and then would go to a graveyard, it will still be exiled instead.
- If any permanent with a finality counter on it would go to a graveyard from the battlefield, exile it instead.
- Finality counters don't stop permanents from going to zones other than the graveyard from the battlefield. For example, if a permanent with a finality counter on it would be put into its owner's hand from the battlefield, it does so normally.
- You can always activate an ability that will cause a creature to adapt. As that ability resolves, if the creature has a +1/+1 counter on it for any reason, you simply won't put any +1/+1 counters on it.
- Multiple finality counters on a single permanent are redundant.
- If a creature somehow loses all of its +1/+1 counters, it can adapt again and get more +1/+1 counters.
Similar cards
Other creature cards with a black colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.