First printed in Murders at Karlov Manor (2024)

All 4 prints

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• Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) #35, 2024
• Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) #392, 2024
• Murders at Karlov Manor Promos (PMKM) #35p, 2024
• Murders at Karlov Manor Promos (PMKM) #35s, 2024

Unyielding Gatekeeper

Creature — Elephant Cleric

Disguise (You may cast this card face down for as a 2/2 creature with ward . Turn it face up any time for its disguise cost.)
When this creature is turned face up, exile another target nonland permanent. If you controlled it, return it to the battlefield tapped. Otherwise, its controller creates a 2/2 white and blue Detective creature token.

3/2

Illustrated by

Borja Pindado

Legality

Legal in

Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Future Standard, Historic, Timeless, Penny Dreadful, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Standard Brawl, Competitive Brawl

Not legal in

Pauper, Alchemy, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Pauper Commander, PreDH

Rulings (14)

• 2024-02-02 Any time you have priority, you may turn the face-down creature face up by revealing what its disguise cost is and paying that cost. This is a special action. It doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to. Only a face-down permanent can be turned face up this way; a face-down spell cannot.
• 2024-02-02 You must ensure that your face-down spells and permanents can be easily differentiated from each other. You're not allowed to mix up the cards that represent them on the battlefield to confuse other players. The order in which they entered the battlefield should remain clear, as well as what ability caused them to be face down. (This includes disguise, cloak, and in games involving older cards, morph and manifest, as well as a few other effects that turn cards face down.) Common methods for doing this include using markers or dice, or simply placing them in order on the battlefield.
• 2024-02-02 A permanent that turns face up or face down changes characteristics but is otherwise the same permanent. Spells and abilities that were targeting that permanent and Auras and Equipment that were attached to that permanent aren't affected unless the new characteristics of the object change the legality of those targets or attachments.
• 2024-02-02 Because the permanent is on the battlefield both before and after it's turned face up, turning a permanent face up doesn't cause any enters-the-battlefield abilities to trigger.
• 2024-02-02 If the controller of Unyielding Gatekeeper's last ability controlled the target permanent at the time the ability began to resolve, the permanent will return to the battlefield tapped under that player's control, regardless of who its owner is.
• 2024-02-02 If a face-down creature loses its abilities, it can't be turned face up with a disguise ability because it will no longer have a disguise ability (or a disguise cost) once face up.
• 2024-02-02 Turning a permanent face up or face down doesn't change whether that permanent is tapped or untapped.
• 2024-02-02 At any time, you can look at a face-down spell or permanent you control. You can't look at face-down permanents or spells you don't control unless an effect instructs or allows you to do so.
• 2024-02-02 The creature spell is a 2/2 creature spell with ward that has no name, mana cost, or creature types. The resulting creature is a 2/2 creature with ward that has no name, mana cost, or creature types. Both the spell and the resulting creature are colorless and have a mana value of 0. Other effects that apply to the spell or creature can still grant it any characteristics it doesn't have or change the characteristics it does have.
• 2024-02-02 Because face-down creatures don't have a name, they can't have the same name as any other creature, even another face-down creature.
• 2024-02-02 If a face-down spell leaves the stack and goes to any zone other than the battlefield (if it was countered, for example), you must reveal it. Similarly, if a face-down permanent leaves the battlefield, you must reveal it. You must also reveal all face-down spells and permanents you control if you leave the game or the game ends.
• 2024-02-02 The face-down spell has no mana cost and a mana value of 0. When you cast a face-down spell, put it on the stack face down so no other player knows what it is, and pay to cast it. This is an alternative cost.
• 2024-02-02 If you controlled the target permanent earlier in the turn but not at the time Unyielding Gatekeeper's last ability resolves, you won't return it to the battlefield tapped. The player who controlled that permanent at the time it was exiled will create a Detective.
• 2024-02-02 A disguise ability lets you cast a card face down by paying and announcing that you are using a disguise ability. Any time you have priority, you can turn a face-down permanent with disguise face up by paying its disguise cost.

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 Unyielding Gatekeeper in Limited

Set	GIH WR	vs set	IWD	Games
Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM), Premier Draft	58.0%	+3.1	+2.8	20770
Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM), Sealed	57.7%	+3.2	+0.7	1917

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

• Official Oracle text on Gatherer (Wizards of the Coast)
• View on Scryfall