First printed in Weatherlight (1997)
Creature — Bird
Flying
You may discard this card any time you could cast an instant.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this creature unless you exile the top creature card of your graveyard.
3/2
- Illustrated by
- Una Fricker
Legality
- Legal in
- Legacy, Vintage, Premodern, Commander, Duel Commander, PreDH, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker
- Not legal in
- Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Pauper, Future Standard, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, Penny Dreadful, Old School 93/94, Gladiator, Pauper Commander, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Competitive Brawl
Rulings (8)
- Say you're the owner of both a permanent and an Aura that's attached to it. If both the permanent and the Aura are destroyed at the same time (by Akroma's Vengeance, for example), you decide the order they're put into your graveyard. If just the enchanted permanent is destroyed, it's put into your graveyard first. Then, after state-based actions are checked, the Aura (which is no longer attached to anything) is put into your graveyard on top of it.
- If an effect or rule puts two or more cards into the same graveyard at the same time, the owner of those cards may arrange them in any order.
- The last thing that happens to a resolving instant or sorcery spell is that it's put into its owner's graveyard. —Example: You cast Wrath of God. All creatures on the battlefield are destroyed. You arrange all the cards put into your graveyard this way in any order you want. The other players in the game do the same to the cards that are put into their graveyards. Then you put Wrath of God into your graveyard, on top of the other cards.
- When the ability resolves, you choose whether to sacrifice the creature or perform the other action. If you can't perform the other action, then you must sacrifice the creature.
- Players may not rearrange the cards in their graveyards. This is a little-known rule because new cards that care about graveyard order haven't been printed in years.
- The "top" card of your graveyard is the card that was put there most recently.
- Circling Vultures's discard ability is a static ability, not an activated ability. Although it acts like an activated ability that says "Discard Circling Vultures: Nothing happens," it is not one and cards like Pithing Needle or Abeyance won't prevent you from being able to discard it.
- If the creature is no longer on the battlefield when the ability resolves, you may still perform the action if you want.
Prices
MTGO price: 0.1 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 1 Nov 2026).
Combos
19 combos, the most popular first:
- Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Infinite creature ETB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal + Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
- Infinite creature ETB, Infinite creature LTB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Bloodthrone Vampire + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal
- Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Infinite creature ETB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal + Hammerhead, Maggia Boss
- Infinite charge counters on a permanent, Infinite creature ETB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal + Spawning Pit
- Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Infinite creature ETB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal + Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder
- Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal + Umbral Collar Zealot
- Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal + Phantom Train
- Infinite artifact tokens, Infinite creature LTB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal + Shilgengar, Sire of Famine
- Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal + Thermopod
- Infinite creature LTB, Infinite creature ETB…: Ashes of the Fallen + Blasting Station + Circling Vultures + Disa the Restless + Enduring Renewal
