Pathfinding Axejaw MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Dinosaur |
| Abilities | Explore |
| Released | 2023-11-17 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | The Lost Caverns of Ixalan |
| Set code | LCI |
| Power | 4 |
| Toughness | 3 |
| Number | 206 |
| Frame | 2015 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Raoul Vitale |
Text of card
When Pathfinding Axejaw enters the battlefield, 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.)
When you don't know what dangers you'll face, bring the biggest danger with you.
Cards like Pathfinding Axejaw
Pathfinding Axejaw finds its home among the roster of impactful creature cards in MTG. It’s often juxtaposed with cards like Charging Monstrosaur, which delivers immediate board presence with its haste attribute. While both creatures boast significant power, Pathfinding Axejaw offers a unique landfall trigger that can provide consistent value every time a land enters play under your control. Charging Monstrosaur, while fast and furious, doesn’t benefit from such strategic land play.
Another card that echoes the Axejaw’s land synergy is Territorial Scythecat. Similarly utilizing the landfall mechanic, the Scythecat gains a permanent power boost with each land, forming a threat that continuously grows. However, Pathfinding Axejaw separates itself with trample, ensuring that excess damage can spill over to opponents, a key difference that can affect the outcome of the game.
Looking at these comparable cards helps to appreciate the nuances of Pathfinding Axejaw. Its combination of size, trample, and interaction with land plays makes it a considerable option in decks designed around landfall, highlighting its potential to become a formidable force on any battlefield.
Cards similar to Pathfinding Axejaw by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Pathfinding Axejaw can potentially generate substantial card advantage by offering repeated dinosaur discovery as you fulfill its enrage mechanic. Successfully triggering this ability during gameplay can keep your hand stocked with formidable dinosaur creatures, allowing you to outpace opponents in resources over time.
Resource Acceleration: By putting a dinosaur directly onto the battlefield, Pathfinding Axejaw accelerates your resource deployment, bypassing mana costs associated with high-cost creatures. This efficient resource allocation can lead to a powerful board state much quicker than usual, giving you an edge in pacing the game.
Instant Speed: Although the Axejaw itself isn’t an instant, its enrage ability can be triggered during your opponent’s turn through instant-speed interaction. This means you don’t have to commit to a single course of action until necessary, maintaining flexibility and strategic advantage as the game progresses.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: The Pathfinding Axejaw requires discarding a card, which can be problematic when your hand is already running thin. Relinquishing your grip on potential answers or threats can have a sharp impact on your game strategy.
Specific Mana Cost: Needing precise mana colors to cast, it demands a rigid commitment to its specific color identity in your deck, which can restrict flexibility and deck building.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Its mana cost is on the higher end for its abilities, which could be a significant drawback especially when compared to other creatures in the same slot. It challenges deck builders to weigh the card’s abilities against the speed of play and the opportunity cost of potentially more efficient alternatives.
Reasons to Include Pathfinding Axejaw in Your Collection
Versatility: Pathfinding Axejaw’s adaptability stems from its varying modes of play. Whether you’re ramping up for a big creature-heavy deck or seeking to outpace aggro opponents, this card can find a place in your strategy, providing useful options in multiple situations.
Combo Potential: With the ability to synergize with other cards that benefit from having high-powered creatures or interacting with dinosaur-type cards, Pathfinding Axejaw offers intriguing combo possibilities that can be the cornerstone of powerful and unique decks.
Meta-Relevance: As the metagame evolves, the presence of a robust creature like Pathfinding Axejaw may shift the tide in your favor, particularly if smaller creatures dominate the battlefield. Its capability to stand against prevalent threats makes it a valuable asset in adapting to the competitive landscape.
How to beat
Pathfinding Axejaw emerges as a formidable creature within the MTG realm, boasting abilities that can shift the advantage to its wielder’s side of the board. This particular dinosaur has the potential to become a persistent threat when supported by a deck that capitalizes on its power and enables its quest effect. Tackling such a beast calls for precise strategizing and card selection.
Ensuring removal options are on hand is crucial. Cards with exile effects, like Swords to Plowshares, bypass the Axejaw’s resilience, while enchantments such as Pacifism can neutralize it without triggering death-related abilities. It’s wise to incorporate board wipes, which can clear multiple threats, including the Axejaw, in one fell swoop. Cards like Wrath of God can be particularly helpful in this regard.
Controlling the pace of the game is another key tactic. Delaying the casting of heavy hitters until sufficient answers are available can keep the Axejaw at bay. Employing counterspells if playing blue or using hand disruption to remove it before it’s even played can also tilt the scale in your favor. With considered planning and the right answers at the ready, Pathfinding Axejaw can be managed effectively.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Pathfinding Axejaw MTG card by a specific set like 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 Pathfinding Axejaw and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
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- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
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- Card Hoarder Magic Online
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Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Pathfinding Axejaw has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Standard | Legal |
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Future | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Explorer | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Pathfinding Axejaw 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 | 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. |
| 2023-11-10 | 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. |
| 2023-11-10 | If no card is revealed, most likely because that player's library is empty, the exploring creature receives a +1/+1 counter. |
| 2023-11-10 | 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.) |
| 2023-11-10 | 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. |
| 2023-11-10 | 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. |