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Elite Arcanist

First printed in Magic 2014 (2013)

Elite Arcanist

Creature — Human Wizard

When this creature enters, you may exile an instant card from your hand.
X, tap: Copy the exiled card. You may cast the copy without paying its mana cost. X is the mana value of the exiled card.

1/1

Illustrated by
James Zapata

Legality

Legal in
Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Penny Dreadful, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker
Not legal in
Standard, Pauper, Future Standard, Historic, Timeless, Alchemy, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Gladiator, Pauper Commander, PreDH, Tiny Leaders, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Competitive Brawl

Rulings (6)
  • If the exiled card is a split card, then X is determined by the combined mana cost of both halves. However, when you cast the copy, you choose only one half to cast. You may cast a different half each time you create and cast a copy.
  • If the copied card has X in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as its value when casting the copy. Don't confuse that X with the X in the activation cost of Elite Arcanist's ability.
  • The copy is created in and cast from exile. You must still follow any timing restrictions, such as "Cast [this spell] only during combat."
  • If Elite Arcanist leaves the battlefield, you will no longer be able to copy the exiled card. If it returns to the battlefield, you'll be able to exile another instant card from your hand, but Elite Arcanist will be a different permanent with no connection to the first exiled card.
  • You don't choose the value of X in the activation cost of Elite Arcanist's ability. It's defined by the mana value of the exiled instant card.
  • You can't pay any alternative costs such as overload costs. You can pay additional costs such as kicker costs. If the spell has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those.

Prices

MTGO price: 0.006 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 31 Oct 2026).

Combos

69 combos, the most popular first:

See all 69 on Commander Spellbook