Ongoing Investigation MTG Card


Ongoing Investigation encourages active play through creature combat, enhancing card draw opportunities. Instant-speed utility offers strategic flexibility in response to the evolving battlefield conditions. While potent, it demands careful hand and mana management to fully capitalize on its potential.
Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityUncommon
TypeEnchantment
Abilities Investigate

Text of card

Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, investigate. (Put a colorless Clue artifact token onto the battlefield with ", Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.") , Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Investigate. You gain 2 life.


Cards like Ongoing Investigation

Ongoing Investigation offers a unique blend of abilities for players looking to maximize their strategy in Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to investigate whenever one of your creatures deals combat damage to a player resembles cards like Trail of Evidence. While both enchantments allow you to create clue tokens, Trail of Evidence provides this benefit whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, not just from combat damage.

Then we have Tireless Tracker, a creature that also synergizes with land drops to produce clue tokens. Unlike Ongoing Investigation which requires attacking creatures, Tireless Tracker generates clues passively by simply playing lands and provides a body on the board that grows as you sacrifice those clue tokens. Additionally, Tamiyo’s Journal can be considered akin in function, granting the ability to search your library for a card with the sacrifice of multiple clues, but lacks the combat interaction that Ongoing Investigation promotes.

The comparison reveals that Ongoing Investigation’s design is distinct for creating opportunities for both card advantage and board presence through combat, giving it a flexible position in decks aimed at leveraging creature interactions, that stands on its own among its similar counterparts in Magic: The Gathering.

Trail of Evidence - MTG Card versions
Tireless Tracker - MTG Card versions
Tamiyo's Journal - MTG Card versions
Trail of Evidence - MTG Card versions
Tireless Tracker - MTG Card versions
Tamiyo's Journal - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Ongoing Investigation by color, type and mana cost

Thelon's Curse - MTG Card versions
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The Three Seasons - MTG Card versions
Thelon's Curse - MTG Card versions
Simic Ascendancy - MTG Card versions
Favor of the Overbeing - MTG Card versions
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Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ongoing Investigation provides a steady card advantage by enabling you to investigate whenever one of your creatures deals combat damage to a player. Each Clue token created is a potential new card, which can be crucial for outpacing your competition.

Resource Acceleration: Although not a direct form of resource acceleration, Ongoing Investigation can indirectly boost your mana resources. Each Clue it creates can be converted into card draw, potentially revealing additional land or ramp spells to further your game plan.

Instant Speed: Ongoing Investigation’s secondary ability works at instant speed, allowing you to exile a creature card from your graveyard to investigate. This means you can wait to use it until the end of your opponent’s turn, keeping your mana free for other instant-speed interactions and giving you the flexibility to respond to changes in the game state.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Ongoing Investigation requires you to discard a card to activate one of its abilities. This can hinder your hand advantage and put you at a strategic disadvantage if you’re already trailing behind in card resources.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands both blue and colorless mana, which potentially restricts its inclusion to decks that can support such mana requirements consistently, often limiting its utility to blue-centric or two-color decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At two mana to cast and additional costs for its abilities, Ongoing Investigation may be less efficient compared to other investigatory or card advantage options available. Players might find the initial investment steep when trying to establish or maintain board presence in the early game.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Ongoing Investigation offers utility across a range of strategies, easily slotting into decks that capitalize on investigating mechanics or use clues to drive card advantage.

Combo Potential: It pairs with cards that benefit from tokens being created or sacrificed, further opening avenues for crafting inventive and powerful combo plays.

Meta-Relevance: With a focus on long-game value and incremental advantage, Ongoing Investigation holds its ground in environments where games are not decided in the early turns.


How to beat

Ongoing Investigation stands out in the world of utility enchantments for its ability to fuel both card draw and life gain. This card changes the dynamic by allowing a player to investigate whenever one or more creatures they control deal combat damage to a player. It opens up the floor to an army of Clue tokens, which can be sacrificed later to draw cards.

Yet, for those who face it across the battlefield, there are savvy strategies to undermine its advantage. Key is prioritizing enchantment removal spells in your deck, efficient ways to address threats like Ongoing Investigation. Consider running cards such as Naturalize or Disenchant, which can easily dispatch enchantments at a low cost. In addition, cards that limit creature attacks or block effectively can mitigate the card’s benefits by preventing the combat damage condition from being met.

As you build your game plan, remember the importance of card interactions and anticipating your opponent’s strategy. By managing your resources wisely and having answers to cards like Ongoing Investigation, you can maintain control and diminish your opponent’s ability to capitalize on their investigation mechanic. Achieving this balance is critical in ensuring your path to victory in the complex and ever-evolving environment of MTG.


BurnMana Recommendations

The enchanting world of MTG is full of ways to gain the upper hand, and Ongoing Investigation is a card that can offer consistent value over the course of a match. With each attack potentially turning into a clue token, your path to victory is paved with additional draws. Versatile and unique, it is a gem for decks centered on creature interaction and can be a game-changer in the right setup. We encourage you to explore how Ongoing Investigation can be the detective in your deck, uncovering the clues to success. Dive deeper into its potential and let it guide you to a triumphant match outcome. Learn more and let the investigation lead you to mastery in MTG.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ongoing Investigation MTG card by a specific set like Shadows over Innistrad and Shadows over Innistrad Remastered, 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 Ongoing Investigation and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Ongoing Investigation Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2016-04-08 and 2024-02-09. Illustrated by Bud Cook.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-04-08Shadows over InnistradSOI 772015NormalBlackBud Cook
22023-03-21Shadows over Innistrad RemasteredSIR 842015NormalBlackBud Cook
32024-02-09Murders at Karlov Manor CommanderMKC 1142015NormalBlackBud Cook

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ongoing Investigation has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Ongoing Investigation card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2016-04-08 If you sacrifice a Clue for another card’s cost or effect, such as that of Angelic Purge or Tamiyo’s Journal, you can’t also pay and sacrifice it to draw a card.
2016-04-08 In a Two-Headed Giant game, if you control more than one creature that can attack, you may have them attack different opponents so that Ongoing Investigation’s first ability triggers twice.
2016-04-08 The token is named Clue and has the artifact subtype Clue. Clue isn’t a creature type.
2016-04-08 The tokens are normal artifacts. For example, they can be sacrificed to cast Angelic Purge or targeted by Root Out.