The Battlefield

Alhammarret's Archive
Peer into the Abyss
AI DraftFeb 26, 2026

Alhammarret's Archive + Peer into the Abyss

Overview
When Peer into the Abyss resolves, it instructs the target player to draw N = ceil(|library|/2) cards and lose ceil(current life/2) life (Ruling [2020-06-23]). Because drawing N cards is performed as N individual draws , Alhammarret's Archive’s replacement effect applies to each of those individual draw events (Archive replaces each non-draw-step draw with drawing two cards), so the player will draw 2 × N cards in total (subject to their library containing that many cards). The life-loss part is unaffected by the Archive (Archive only modifies life-gain events).
Step 1
Compute the number of cards Peer into the Abyss instructs the target to draw: N = ceil(number of cards in that player’s library ÷ 2) (Ruling [2020-06-23]).
Step 2
Peer also instructs that player to lose half their life, rounded up; that life-loss happens as part of the same spell resolution but is independent of the draw replacement (Ruling [2020-06-23]).
Step 3
Because an instruction to draw multiple cards is performed as that many individual draws, the player is about to perform N individual card-draw events .
Step 4
Alhammarret's Archive is a replacement effect that changes each such individual draw (unless it is the first draw of a draw step) into drawing two cards. These are not draw-step draws, so Archive replaces each of the N individual draws with two draws, resulting in 2 × N total card draws (apply replacement per draw; see and Ruling [2015-06-22] if other replacements exist).
Step 5
Perform the draws one at a time (as replaced). If the library runs out during this process, consult about drawing when the library is empty.
Step 6
Apply the life-loss portion (lose ceil(life ÷ 2) life) as Peer instructs; Archive does not modify life loss because it only affects life gain (see for life-gain-trigger context).
Resolution
Target player draws 2 × ceil(number of cards in their library ÷ 2) cards (performed as individual draws per , with Alhammarret's Archive replacing each individual draw by two draws), and the player loses ceil(their life ÷ 2) life (Ruling [2020-06-23]). Archive does not affect life loss (it only replaces life gain).
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