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Intrepid Paleontologist

First printed in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (2023)

All 4 prints

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Intrepid Paleontologist

Creature — Human Druid

tap: Add one mana of any color.
2 generic: Exile target card from a graveyard.
You may cast Dinosaur creature spells from among cards you own exiled with this creature. If you cast a spell this way, that creature enters with a finality counter on it. (If a creature with a finality counter on it would die, exile it instead.)

2/2

Illustrated by
Irina Nordsol

Legality

Rulings (6)

  • Intrepid Paleontologist must be under your control in order to start casting a Dinosaur creature spell using its last ability, but it doesn't need to stay under your control throughout that process or be under your control as the spell resolves. If, for example, you sacrifice Intrepid Paleontologist to pay an additional cost of the spell or it's destroyed in response, the spell will still resolve normally.
  • Finality counters aren't keyword counters, and a finality counter doesn't give any abilities to the permanent it's on. If that permanent loses its abilities and then would go to a graveyard, it will still be exiled instead.
  • Multiple finality counters on a single permanent are redundant.
  • Finality counters don't stop permanents from going to zones other than the graveyard from the battlefield. For example, if a permanent with a finality counter on it would be put into its owner's hand from the battlefield, it does so normally.
  • Finality counters work on any permanent, not only creatures. If a permanent with a finality counter on it would be put into a graveyard from the battlefield, exile it instead.
  • You must still pay all costs and follow any timing restrictions and permissions for Dinosaur creature spells you cast from exile this way. Normally, you'll be able to cast them only during your main phase while the stack is empty.

Prices

MTGO price: 0.006 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 29 Oct 2026).

In Limited on MTG Arena

Win rates in Arena drafts and sealed, retrieved from 17Lands (CC BY 4.0).

Win rates of Intrepid Paleontologist in Limited
Set GIH WR vs set IWD Games
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI), Premier Draft 61.1% +5.7 +6.4 10103
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI), Sealed 64.0% +8.4 +10.2 1128
GIH WR
win rate of the games in which the card was in the opening hand or drawn
vs set
points above or below the average win rate of all decks in the set
IWD
improvement when drawn: GIH WR minus the win rate when the card stayed in the library
Games
games in which the card was seen

Standard In 1 of 1825 decks (0.1%), most in WRG (unclassified)

Share of decks
0.1%
▲ 0.1 vs previous 30 days
2026-08-07: 0.0% 2026-08-14: 0.0% 2026-08-21: 0.0% 2026-08-28: 0.0% 2026-09-04: 0.0% 2026-09-11: 0.0% 2026-09-18: 0.0% 2026-09-25: 0.0% 2026-10-02: 0.0% 2026-10-09: 0.3% 2026-10-16: 0.0% 2026-10-23: 0.0%
Weekly, last 90 days
Decks
1
1 main, 0 sideboard
Avg. copies
1.0
in the main deck
Win rate
–
0 top 8 (challenges only)

Archetypes by metagame share

Archetype Meta Play it
WRG (unclassified) 0.3% 20%

Played together with

Not enough decks yet.

Best win rate

No challenge results yet.

Challenges only: MTGO publishes only the 5-0 league decks.

Latest decks

DeckCopiesFinish
WRG
Arena ranked player,
1 main

Commander In 1 of 6159 decks (0.0%), most in Eladamri, Korvecdal

Share of decks
0.0%
= vs previous 30 days
2026-08-21: 0.0% 2026-08-28: 0.0% 2026-09-04: 0.0% 2026-09-11: 0.0% 2026-09-18: 0.0% 2026-09-25: 0.0% 2026-10-02: 0.0% 2026-10-09: 0.0% 2026-10-16: 0.1% 2026-10-23: 0.0%
Weekly, last 90 days
Decks
1
1 main, 0 sideboard
Avg. copies
1.0
in the main deck
Win rate
40%
1 top 8 (challenges only)

Archetypes by metagame share

Archetype Meta Play it
Eladamri, Korvecdal 0.0% 33%

Played together with

Not enough decks yet.

Best win rate

DeckRecord
Eladamri, Korvecdal
Bjamin in [518] Northern Wardens Fringe Fest: The Third
2-3
40%

Challenges only: MTGO publishes only the 5-0 league decks.

Latest decks

DeckCopiesFinish
Eladamri, Korvecdal
Bjamin,
1 main #7 (top 8)
of 51
2-3