AI DraftFeb 26, 2026
Aetherflux Reservoir + Bolas's Citadel + Sensei's Divining Top
Overview
With Bolas's Citadel you may cast spells from the top of your library by paying life equal to their mana value instead of paying their mana costs (Ruling [2019-05-03]; paying life as a cost is treated as paying a cost and you can’t attempt to pay a cost unless you have the resources to do so ). Each time you cast a spell (including when you cast it from the top of your library), Aetherflux Reservoir’s triggered ability is put on the stack (casting a spell causes triggered abilities that trigger on “when you cast a spell” to trigger ). Sensei’s Divining Top lets you see and reorder the top of your library (
ability) and its draw ability (
) can be used in responses to manipulate the top card before you cast from the top (Sensei’s ruling [2016-06-08]; activating abilities follows the activation rules ). Be very careful about life totals because you must be able to pay the life costs Bolas’s Citadel requires when casting (you can’t pay unless you have the life to do so ) and state-based actions cause you to lose the game at 0 or less life .
ability) and its draw ability () can be used in responses to manipulate the top card before you cast from the top (Sensei’s ruling [2016-06-08]; activating abilities follows the activation rules ). Be very careful about life totals because you must be able to pay the life costs Bolas’s Citadel requires when casting (you can’t pay unless you have the life to do so ) and state-based actions cause you to lose the game at 0 or less life .Step 1
Use Sensei's Divining Top's ability (or its draw ability in response as allowed by Ruling [2016-06-08]) to arrange a desired spell on top of your library.
ability (or its draw ability in response as allowed by Ruling [2016-06-08]) to arrange a desired spell on top of your library.Step 2
Cast the top card using Bolas's Citadel's permission to cast from the top; when you cast it you pay life equal to its mana value rather than paying its mana cost (this life payment is a cost you pay as part of casting and costs are paid during the casting steps [601.2e–g]).
Step 3
As soon as the spell is cast (after payment of costs is complete), Aetherflux Reservoir’s triggered ability is put on the stack because it triggers when you cast a spell .
Step 4
Repeat: arrange the next top card with Top and cast it via Citadel, paying life equal to its mana value, which again makes Aetherflux trigger for that newly cast spell .
Step 5
When the Aetherflux triggers resolve, each will cause you to gain life equal to the number of spells you’ve cast that turn (this is a life-gain event; life-gain triggers are treated as caused by a source ).
Step 6
Once your life total is at least 50 (you must actually have that life available; you can’t activate Aetherflux’s 
ability unless you can pay that cost ), activate Aetherflux Reservoir’s activated ability by paying 50 life to deal 50 damage to a target.
ability unless you can pay that cost ), activate Aetherflux Reservoir’s activated ability by paying 50 life to deal 50 damage to a target.Resolution
You can use Sensei’s Divining Top to put spells you want on top of your library and then cast them from the top with Bolas’s Citadel, paying life equal to each spell’s mana value as the cost to cast that spell (Ruling [2019-05-03]; payment of life is a cost and costs can’t be paid unless you have the resources ). Each spell cast this way causes Aetherflux Reservoir’s triggered ability to trigger when the spell is cast , and those triggers will resolve later to cause you to gain life equal to the number of spells you’ve cast that turn (Aetherflux’s oracle text; life gain events are treated as life gain caused by a source ). Once you actually have at least 50 life (you must have the life before attempting to pay the 50-life activation cost), you may activate Aetherflux’s activated ability by paying 50 life to deal 50 damage. Important constraints: you can’t cast a spell from the top “for an alternative cost” that replaces its mana cost when Citadel makes you pay life “rather than pay its mana cost” (Ruling [2019-05-03]), you must be able to pay the life costs when casting or when activating Aetherflux (117.3/117.3b), and if at any time your life total becomes 0 or less you lose before pending triggered abilities (such as Aetherflux triggers) resolve .
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