Geological Appraiser MTG Card
2023-11-17 - Number 407
2023-11-17 - Number 150
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Creature — Human Artificer |
| Abilities | Discover |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Text of card
When Geological Appraiser enters the battlefield, if you cast it, discover 3.
Cards like Geological Appraiser
Geological Appraiser has carved its niche in the world of Magic: The Gathering land utility cards. It steps into a field occupied by notable predecessors like Solemn Simulacrum, offering both the advantage of land fetching ability and adding an extra card into your hand upon meeting its condition. Unlike Solemn Simulacrum, Geological Appraiser requires an active role in selecting a nonbasic land card, ramping up your strategic plays as opposed to Solemn’s guarantee of basic lands.
Oreskos Explorer is another card to consider alongside Geological Appraiser. It too allows land retrieval, specifically Plains cards, though it’s limited by the number of lands your opponents control. In comparison, Geological Appraiser does not limit your choices, providing broader utility across various deck types. Tireless Tracker is another benchmark for comparison, encouraging land plays by granting clues that can later be cashed in for card draws, a scenario that can be more lucrative over time compared to the one-time effect of the Appraiser.
Analyzing these options reflects Geological Appraiser’s unique position, balancing immediate land search with the potential for card advantage, a solid combo attractive in decks that favor precise land mechanics and card economy.
Cards similar to Geological Appraiser by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Geological Appraiser provides a notable edge by allowing you to repeatedly investigate, paving the way to draw extra cards. This consistent access to card draw can significantly boost your hand, ensuring you’re never short on options.
Resource Acceleration: By creating Clue tokens, the Geological Appraiser aids in ramping up your resources. These tokens can be cashed in for additional land drops, which can be crucial in outpacing your opponents and efficiently deploying your strategy.
Instant Speed: The versatility of Geological Appraiser shines with its instant speed capability, granting you the flexibility to adapt to the evolving battlefield. This allows you to make the most informed decisions at the optimal moment, whether it’s during your turn or in response to your opponents’ actions.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One of the drawbacks of Geological Appraiser is its need for a card to be discarded to activate its ability. This can pose a challenge when your hand is nearly depleted or when each card in your hand is critical for your game plan.
Specific Mana Cost: The Geological Appraiser comes with a mana cost that requires both generic and red mana. This specificity demands a commitment to red mana sources within a player’s deck, potentially restricting deck-building options and making it less flexible in multicolored decks that don’t heavily feature red.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a mana value to cast and activate its ability, Geological Appraiser can be considered mana-intensive compared to other options in the game. Players might find that other cards provide similar effects with more favorable mana economy, leaving Geological Appraiser overshadowed in terms of efficiency.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Geological Appraiser offers a flexible role in various deck archetypes, proficient in filtering your draws while also acting as a reliable blocker in the early game.
Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with decks that capitalize on land-based strategies or graveyard play, opening the door for powerful interactions with landfall mechanics or recursion abilities.
Meta-Relevance: Its ability to interact with the graveyard makes it a pertinent choice in a meta where graveyard strategies are prevalent, providing slight edge in matches and maintaining deck consistency.
How to beat
The Geological Appraiser brings unique utility to player decks with its artifact-imbued enter-the-battlefield effect, allowing for card filtering and potential card advantage. However, like all cards, the Appraiser has its vulnerabilities. Controlling when this creature hits the board is key, utilizing removal spells or counters to prevent its activation or to keep the battlefield clear of artifacts it can target.
Timing disruption through instant-speed interaction is also an effective strategy. Since the Appraiser’s ability hinges on the battlefield presence of artifacts, artifact removal becomes critical. Cards that specifically destroy artifacts without triggering the Appraiser’s ability can mitigate its impact, directly countering the card advantage it seeks to offer. By neutralizing artifacts or the Appraiser itself pre-emptively, the mechanism this creature employs can be rendered less effective or even useless.
Ultimately, staying one step ahead by tracking your opponent’s artifact count and keeping removal options at the ready can undermine the Geological Appraiser’s presence. Mastering these tactics ensures players can reduce the Appraiser’s impact, maintaining an edge over opponents who seek to leverage its card interaction strengths.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Geological Appraiser MTG card by a specific set like The Lost Caverns of Ixalan and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Geological Appraiser and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
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Printings
The Geological Appraiser Magic the Gathering card was released in 1 different sets between 2023-11-17 and 2023-11-17. Illustrated by Alix Branwyn.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023-11-17 | The Lost Caverns of Ixalan | LCI | 407 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alix Branwyn | |
| 2 | 2023-11-17 | The Lost Caverns of Ixalan | LCI | 150 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Alix Branwyn |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Geological Appraiser has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Restricted |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Pioneer | Banned |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Banned |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Geological Appraiser card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2023-11-10 | "Discover N" means "Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value N or less. That card is the "discovered" card. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost if the resulting spell's mana value is less than or equal to N. If you don't cast it, put that card into your hand. Put the remaining exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order." |
| 2023-11-10 | A spell's mana value is determined only by its mana cost. Ignore any alternative costs, additional costs, cost increases, or cost reductions. |
| 2023-11-10 | Geological Appraiser's triggered ability triggers if you cast it from any zone. It doesn't trigger if you put Geological Appraiser onto the battlefield without casting it. |
| 2023-11-10 | If the discovered card has in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost. |
| 2023-11-10 | If you can't cast the discovered card (perhaps because there are no legal targets for the spell), you'll put it into your hand. |
| 2023-11-10 | If you cast a spell "without paying its mana cost", you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the spell has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those to cast it. |
| 2023-11-10 | If you discover an adventurer card, split card, or modal double-faced card, you might be able to cast that card with either set of characteristics depending on the effect's discover value. For example, if you discover 4 and reveal Galvanic Giant (an adventurer card from Wilds of Eldraine with a mana value of 4), you could cast Galvanic Giant, but not Storm Reading (its Adventure, which has a mana value of 7). If you discover 7 and reveal Galvanic Giant, you could cast either Galvanic Giant or Storm Reading. |
| 2023-11-10 | Some spells and abilities that cause you to discover may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve and you won't discover. |
| 2023-11-10 | The mana value of a split card is determined by the combined mana cost of its two halves. If discover allows you to cast a split card, you may cast either half (as long as its mana value is less than or equal to the effect's discover value) but not both halves. |
| 2023-11-10 | When you discover, you must exile cards. The only optional part of the ability is whether you cast the exiled card or put it into your hand. |
| 2023-11-10 | You exile the cards face up. All players will be able to see them. |