"Exalted" is a triggered ability first introduced during Shards of Alara in 2008. That set, for those who don't know, divided the Magic color wheel into five different "shards", or combinations of three colors all next to each other. Each shard got its own ability, and Exalted was the ability for Bant, or .

At its simplest, Exalted says "Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn."

In fact, that's precisely the wording of the rule, rule 702.82. 702.82b goes on to say "A creature 'attacks alone' if it's the only creature declared as an attacker in a given combat phase. See rule 506.5."

Exalted affects Creatures with or without Exalted, so an Akrasan Squire attacking alone will trigger Exalted, then will get the +1/+1 and be a 2/2. Additionally, Exalted triggers stack, so if you have four Akrasan Squires on the Battlefield and you attack with only one of them, it will get +4/+4 (one for each Exalted trigger) and be a 5/5.

Exalted can come from any kind of permanent. Ardent Plea is an Enchantment, Cathedral of War is a Land, and Merchant of Truth gives Exalted to Clues you control!

When it was first introduced, Exalted was limited to Bant colors. It was reused in Magic 2013, where it was added to Black with cards like Duty-Bound Dead and, much later, Order of Sacred Dusk.

Finally, Modern Horizons added a single Red Creature with the keyword, Goblin Champion.

As Merchant of Truth grants Exalted to Clues, there are other cards which grant Exalted to other things.

• Order of Sacred Dusk for Vampires
• Xenk, Paladin Unbroken for Auras
• Rammas Echor, Ancient Shield for Creatures with Defender
• First Sliver's Chosen for Slivers
• Sublime Archangel for all Creatures
• Emissary of Soulfire gives out Exalted counters

In addition to granting the +1/+1 until end of turn, several cards with Exalted also grant some other ability to a Creature attacking alone. Battlegrace Angel, for example, grants Lifelink to a Creature attacking alone, and Finest Hour grants a second Combat step. Perhaps the most infamous of these is Rafiq of the Many, which gives a solo attacking Creature Double Strike until end of turn.

There are a few more things worth clearing up.

Exalted abilities stack, which means, in addition to each trigger triggering independently, a permanent can have multiple instances of Exalted.

A Creature "attacks alone" if it is the only Creature declared as an attacker during the Declare Attackers step of combat. If you attack with multiple Creatures and all but one of them is removed somehow, you won't trigger Exalted. On the other hand, if you have some way of putting Creatures into play "tapped and attacking", they aren't declared and Exalted still triggers and will resolve. However, putting a Creature into play tapped and attacking also won't trigger Exalted - the triggers go on the stack when you declare attackers.

If you take multiple Combat steps (via Finest Hour or any other method), Exalted can trigger again if you attack with only one Creature again. Let's say you have those four Akrasan Squires and a Finest Hour on the Battlefield. You attack with one, making it a 5/5 till end of turn. Then you take your second attack step and Exalted triggers again, making your Squire (assuming you attack with the same one) a 9/9!

Exalted abilities resolve before blockers are chosen, so there won't be any surprises for the defending player - at least not from Exalted!

Exalted also gets a little nerfed in Two-Headed Giant. A Creature is only "attacking alone" if it's the only attacking Creature from your entire team - but only your Exalted triggers will trigger, your partner's will not.

Angelic Exaltation doesn't have Exalted, but functionally grants Exalted to all your Creatures. It just does it without triggering for each Creature, rather grouping them all together into one big +X/+X. Sigil of Valor works similarly, except it only works on the Equipped Creature.

There are cards that don't have Exalted but which work well with Exalted as an ability. Stoic Angel makes it so all players can only untap one Creature per Untap step - perfect for a player intending to only attack with one Creature!

As you can see, Exalted can get out of hand pretty quickly. As an example, let's take a look at a possible line of play.

You start your game with a Plains and an Akrasan Squire.

Turn two, you play an Island, then an Ethercaste Knight and attack with your Squire. Two Exalted triggers = 3/3.

Turn three, you play a Cathedral of War (tapped) and a Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, then attack with your Squire again. Four Exalted triggers = 5/5.

Turn four, you play a Forest and then Rafiq of the Many, attacking once more with your little Squire. Five Exalted triggers = 6/6, with Double Strike meaning 12 damage. If you've gotten through without being blocked, you've dealt 20 damage and killed your opponent. But what if you're playing a format with higher life totals?

Turn five, you play another Plains and play Finest Hour. Your Squire rides again. Six Exalted triggers = 7/7, with Double Strike meaning 14 damage. Then you untap your Squire and attack again, making a 13/13, still with Double Strike for 26 total damage, making 40 for the turn.

Turn six, you play a Sublime Archangel. Remember Exalted triggers stack, so a Creature can have more than one instance of it! So, this time, when we attack, we'll have seven triggers on the stuff we've played, plus the Archangel will grant an additional Exalted trigger to each other Creature we control - four (the Squire, the Knight, the Sorcerer, and Rafiq). So now your Squire is attacking with 11 Exalted triggers = 12/12, with Double Strike for 24 damage. On our second attack, all those trigger again, making it a 23/23 with Double Strike for 46 damage, a total of 70 for the turn. Not bad.

Thanks for reading.