Necropotence

Necropotence debuted in Ice Age in June 1995. ICE #154 is a rare illustrated by Mark Tedin and is nonfoil only. Its number is a catalogue reference rather than a modern collector-number line printed on the original card.

Modern comparisons: EMA #98 and IMA #98 use Dave Kendall's illustration. Enchanting Tales WOT #31 credits Abigail Larson; anime #74 credits Kuregure, with a separate confetti-foil version at #94.

Necropotence costs {B}{B}{B} and makes you skip your draw step. Its activated ability costs one life to exile the top card of your library face down, with that card put into your hand at the beginning of your next end step. You are paying life to arrange later access, not drawing a card immediately.

Because the card is put into your hand without a draw instruction, this action does not satisfy an opposing Orcish Bowmasters draw trigger. It is also a different resource exchange from an actual draw engine such as Mystic Remora.

The delayed return still happens even if Necropotence leaves the battlefield before the relevant end step. Activating after an end step has already begun means waiting for a later end step. Necropotence also has a triggered ability that exiles a card from your graveyard when you discard it; it does not simply remove the need to discard to your normal maximum hand size.

Mark Tedin's ICE #154 belongs to the card's 1995 debut. Necropotence became particularly associated with tournament play in the summer of 1996, remembered as Black Summer. Mark Rosewater discusses that period in Building Foundations: Something Old; the historical reputation is separate from the finish or rarity of later copies.

Eternal Masters in June 2016 and Iconic Masters in November 2017 both use Dave Kendall's artwork at collector number 98, with nonfoil and traditional foil choices. A saved reference of only Necropotence #98 therefore loses the set identity needed to distinguish them.

Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales in September 2023 adds Abigail Larson's storybook #31 and Kuregure's anime #74. The anime image also appears on confetti-foil #94. These records use WOT, not the main Wilds of Eldraine set's WOE code.

The shortlist concentrates on those clear art and finish comparisons. Further historical releases can be explored in the live archive; a later reprint's mythic rarity does not change the original Ice Age rare into another edition.

Tedin's original is the historical reference for an Ice Age collection. Kendall's Masters entries provide another illustration in a modern frame. Comparing EMA #98 and IMA #98 keeps the image fixed while changing the release identity.

Larson's WOT #31 and Kuregure's #74 are different art directions within Enchanting Tales. Wizards presents the storybook and anime families in Collecting Wilds of Eldraine. Choosing between them is an illustration decision before it is a finish decision.

If Kuregure's image is the preference, #74 against #94 is the focused comparison: the anime artwork stays, while the physical treatment changes. A general search for a premium Necropotence otherwise mixes different artists and frames together.

ICE #154 has no official foil edition. EMA #98 and IMA #98 offer traditional foil with Kendall's art, but they are later printings rather than foil versions of the original Tedin card.

WOT #31 and #74 each offer nonfoil and traditional foil. The anime confetti version is WOT #94, which is foil only. A traditional foil #74 and a confetti #94 share Kuregure's artwork but remain distinct catalogue records.

Wizards identifies confetti anime Enchanting Tales as a Collector Booster treatment. Confirm the set, number and finish in a listing and use photographs when the surface matters. The ManaScout shimmer is illustrative and cannot reproduce confetti foiling or establish condition.

For Ice Age history: choose ICE #154 and Tedin's original. First-printing status is a different interest from having a reflective or borderless card.

For a playing budget: compare available nonfoil EMA #98, IMA #98 and WOT entries in comparable condition and language. Current price differences can vary; no particular version is assumed to stay cheapest.

For storybook or anime art: compare Larson's WOT #31 with Kuregure's #74 before deciding on nonfoil or traditional foil. These are different illustrations, not finishes of one picture.

For a finish-focused collection: compare anime traditional foil #74 with confetti #94. Keeping the artist fixed makes it easier to judge whether the physical treatment is the part you want to spend more on.

Compare the Tedin original, a Kendall Masters copy and the two Enchanting Tales artists first. If the anime image wins, then compare #74 against #94 for the finish. That sequence preserves the distinction between collecting Magic history and collecting a particular surface treatment.

The live explorer may highlight a ManaScout Pick. Treat it as a visual starting point and compare the exact printing, finish and available price data before deciding.

Orcish Bowmasters — Understand why receiving Necropotence's exiled cards is not a draw for Bowmasters.

Demonic Tutor — Compare another effect that puts a chosen card into the hand without drawing it.

Mystic Remora — Explore a different Ice Age card-advantage engine and its later artwork.

Smothering Tithe — Compare another Enchanting Tales card with separate storybook, anime and confetti records.

Printing details reviewed on 2 November 2026. The shortlist links to individual MTG.wtf catalogue records; official Wizards sources support the rules and product treatments. The live explorer retrieves its records and price fields from Scryfall.

MTG.wtf: Ice Age original, current wording and delayed-return ruling.

Wizards: Necropotence and Black Summer history.

MTG.wtf: Kendall's Masters printing.

Wizards: Enchanting Tales art and confetti treatment.

MTG.wtf: separate confetti-foil record.