Path of Discovery MTG Card


Path of Discovery - Rivals of Ixalan
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeEnchantment
Abilities Explore
Released2018-01-19
Set symbol
Set nameRivals of Ixalan
Set codeRIX
Number142
Frame2015
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byHoward Lyon

Key Takeaways

  1. Delivers card advantage by revealing cards and ensuring consistent land drops for players.
  2. Boosts resource acceleration, essential in land-centric or creature-heavy MTG decks.
  3. Encourages versatile deck-building, making it a valuable asset in variable strategies.

Text of card

Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, 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 the creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Path of Discovery provides a significant boost by revealing the top card of your library whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control. If it’s a land card, it goes into your hand, securing card advantage and ensuring you don’t miss land drops.

Resource Acceleration: With each creature that enters your domain, Path of Discovery offers the potential for an extra land in hand, accelerating your resource development. This is particularly beneficial in decks that thrive on playing multiple lands or creatures in a single turn.

Instant Speed: Although Path of Discovery operates at sorcery speed, it synergizes with creatures that can be cast at instant speed. This allows you to set up surprise interactions and explore the top card of your library even during your opponent’s turn, keeping you a step ahead in resource planning.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Path of Discovery does not directly impose a discard requirement, but to fully utilize its explore mechanic you often have to have creatures entering the battlefield. This can be challenging if you’re facing hand-disruption tactics or any situation where your hand or board is sparse.

Specific Mana Cost: The card demands a specific mana investment, including one green mana. For players not running a green-based or multicolored deck, this makes Path of Discovery less accessible, potentially restricting its inclusion only to certain strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, including one green, Path of Discovery competes with other four-drop power plays within green and other colors. Considering the setup time needed to benefit from its effect, some may prefer more immediate impact cards at the same mana value.


Reasons to Include Path of Discovery in Your Collection

Versatility: Path of Discovery offers a unique and flexible enchantment that can be utilized across a multiplicity of deck archetypes. Whether in a creature-heavy strategy to glean additional value from each creature you play or within decks that focus on entering and leaving the battlefield effects, this card earns its place by enhancing various in-game actions.

Combo Potential: This card shines in combination setups, where its explore mechanic can help manipulate the top of your library and generate +1/+1 counters. In conjunction with token generators, Path of Discovery can quickly turn a modest board presence into a threatening swarm of powered-up creatures.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment that rewards players for establishing and maintaining a formidable board presence, Path of Discovery’s ability to continuously offer card advantage and board state improvement is especially pertinent. It keeps decks resilient against removal-heavy opponents and increases the longevity of your threats in the game.


How to beat

Path of Discovery is a unique enchantment in the realm of MTG, known for its ability to bolster creatures as they enter the battlefield. Each creature you control explores when it enters under your command, potentially drawing you cards and bolstering your creatures’ power. To effectively counter this card, it’s important to limit its impact.

Focus on removal spells that can deal with enchantments directly, such as Naturalize or Disenchant. These cards will swiftly eliminate Path of Discovery from the battlefield, stalling your opponent’s strategy. Control decks can rely on counterspells to prevent Path of Discovery from ever taking effect. Consider negating this enchantment with cards like Cancel or Negate, which are staples in control decks for their versatility and power.

Lastly, adapt your tactics to play around the exploration mechanic. Since Path of Discovery relies on creatures entering the battlefield, utilising board wipes like Wrath of God or Damnation can work wonders, clearing out all creatures and indirectly negating the benefits gathered from the enchantment. Timing these removals can turn the tide of the game, especially in formats where Path of Discovery sees play.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG is a journey of strategic growth and continuous learning. Having absorbed the strengths and limitations of Path of Discovery, it’s clear that this card can be a game-changer in the right deck. It’s crucial to understand the enchantment’s potential for card advantage and board presence enhancement. As you build and refine your collection, consider how Path of Discovery can synergize with your strategies, offering both a challenge to opponents and a path to victory for you. Spotlights on deck building, strategic insights, and tips for utilizing cards like Path of Discovery await. Ready to optimize your gameplay? Dive deeper with us and sculpt your ultimate MTG deck.


Cards like Path of Discovery

Path of Discovery is an intriguing enchantment in Magic: The Gathering, inviting comparisons with other cards that elevate creature strategies. One such card is Zendikar’s Roil, which interacts splendidly with landfall, creating elemental tokens that empower your board presence. While both cards are aimed at maximizing the value of creatures, Zendikar’s Roil requires land drops to trigger, whereas Path of Discovery triggers whenever a creature enters the battlefield, regardless of how it got there.

Moving to the realm of deck manipulation, we encounter Courser of Kruphix. Like Path of Discovery, this card provides valuable insight into your upcoming draws and offers a similar synergy with the top of your library. However, Courser’s ability is restricted to revealing and potentially playing lands from the top, whereas Path of Discovery allows for a broader exploration, potentially filtering cards of any type, and bolstering your creatures in the process.

With a focus on enhancing your creatures and the added benefit of sculpting your upcoming plays, Path of Discovery holds its own among cards that manipulate the top of the library and strengthen creature-based strategies in MTG.

Zendikar's Roil - MTG Card versions
Courser of Kruphix - MTG Card versions
Zendikar's Roil - MTG Card versions
Courser of Kruphix - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Path of Discovery MTG card by a specific set like Rivals 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 Path of Discovery and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Path of Discovery has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2018-01-19 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 you control explores” trigger if appropriate.
2018-01-19 If no card is revealed, most likely because that player’s library is empty, the exploring creature receives a +1/+1 counter.
2018-01-19 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.
2018-01-19 Path of Discovery’s triggered ability triggers along with any other abilities that say that the creature explores when it enters the battlefield, including abilities that come from the creature itself or from multiples of Path of Discovery. You may take actions between each resolving ability’s exploration.

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