First printed in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (2023)
Creature — Merfolk Scout
When this creature enters, it explores. (Reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
"Don't worry, little swimmers. I'm here for the ruins, not you."
1/2
- Illustrated by
- Josu Hernaiz
Legality
- Legal in
- Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, Future Standard, Historic, Timeless, Penny Dreadful, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, Pauper Commander, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Competitive Brawl
- Not legal in
- Alchemy, Premodern, Old School 93/94, PreDH
Rulings (6)
- If a resolving spell or ability instructs a specific creature to explore but that creature has left the battlefield, the creature still explores. If you reveal a nonland card this way, you won't put a +1/+1 counter on anything, but you may put the revealed card into your graveyard. Effects that trigger "whenever a creature explores" trigger as appropriate.
- If no card is revealed, most likely because that player's library is empty, the exploring creature receives a +1/+1 counter.
- In some unusual cases, noncreature permanents may explore. For example, if the creature card returned by Defossilize is somehow not a creature once it's on the battlefield, it can still explore. You'll take all the same actions, and you may end up putting a +1/+1 counter on the permanent. (Note that some effects target a creature, and those effects would still require a legal target to have it explore.)
- Some spells or abilities might cause a creature to explore multiple times in a row. If you reveal a nonland card when a creature explores and leave it on top of your library, then the creature explores again immediately afterwards, you'll reveal the same card again.
- If an ability instructs a creature to explore, its controller reveals the top card of their library. If it's a land card, they'll put it into their hand. Otherwise, they'll put a +1/+1 counter on that creature, then choose to either leave that card on top of their library or put it into their graveyard.
- Once an ability that causes a creature to explore begins to resolve, no player may take any other actions until it's done. Notably, opponents can't try to remove the exploring creature after you reveal a nonland card but before it receives a counter.
Prices
MTGO price: 0.002 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 1 Nov 2026).
In Limited on MTG Arena
Win rates in Arena drafts and sealed, retrieved from 17Lands (CC BY 4.0).
| Set | GIH WR | vs set | IWD | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI), Premier Draft | 54.9% | -0.5 | -0.1 | 69454 |
| The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI), Sealed | 57.2% | +1.6 | +2.5 | 3344 |
- 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