Deadeye Tracker MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Human Pirate
Abilities Explore
Power 1
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Grants card advantage by allowing exploration and potentially drawing extra cards while filtering your deck.
  2. Activates at instant speed, offering flexibility and mastery over the timing of your plays.
  3. Can hinder opponent strategies by exiling cards from their graveyard, disrupting their game plan.

Text of card

, : Exile two target cards from an opponent's graveyard. Deadeye Tracker 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.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Deadeye Tracker provides card advantage by allowing you to explore, potentially drawing you an additional card and filtering your deck.

Resource Acceleration: By using the Tracker’s ability to exile cards from an opponent’s graveyard, you not only disrupt their strategies but also power up your own plays by giving you access to more mana through land exploration, advancing your board position swiftly.

Instant Speed: The ability to activate Deadeye Tracker at instant speed awards you the flexibility to utilize your mana efficiently at the end of your opponent’s turn, therefore keeping your options versatile and your strategy adaptive.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Deadeye Tracker’s ability to investigate requires a card to be exiled from an opponent’s graveyard first, potentially hampering its utility if graveyards are not stocked with targets or if your strategy doesn’t synergize with graveyard manipulation.

Specific Mana Cost: Deadeye Tracker’s casting and activated abilities both require black mana, making it less flexible for decks that are not heavily invested in black or that operate on a more diverse mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: For a one-drop creature, Deadeye Tracker’s activated ability has a relatively steep mana investment, especially when considering the cost-to-benefit ratio in fast-paced environments where mana efficiency is key to maintaining board presence.


Reasons to Include Deadeye Tracker in Your Collection

Versatility: Deadeye Tracker offers a unique range of abilities that allow it to be a useful tool across various deck types. Its ability to exile cards from an opponent’s graveyard and then explore puts it at a tactical advantage, particularly in formats where graveyard strategies are prevalent. This adaptability provides significant value in different game situations.

Combo Potential: This card can serve as an integral part of combos that capitalize on manipulating the graveyard. With the right setup, Deadeye Tracker can help filter your draws through the explore mechanism while weakening opponents’ graveyard-dependent strategies, synergizing well with cards that reward you for exploring or controlling your opponent’s graveyard contents.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where graveyard recursion or delve strategies are common, Deadeye Tracker becomes an even more critical addition. Its ability to disrupt opponents’ plans while providing you with potential card quality improvement can be a game-changer, making it a relevant and powerful piece in certain metagames.


How to beat

Deadeye Tracker emerges as an intriguing card for players who appreciate graveyard manipulation. This creature enables you to explore, possibly filtering your deck and growing in strength while exiling cards from opponents’ graveyards. To overcome this strategy, one should consider minimizing the number of valuable targets in their graveyard. Cards with graveyard shuffling abilities, such as Elixir of Immortality, can be vital. By reshuffling your graveyard back into your library, you reduce the effectiveness of the tracker’s ability.

Silencing the Tracker before it activates is another tactic. Swift removal spells like Path to Exile or Fatal Push can dispose of the Tracker before it has the opportunity to disrupt your graveyard. Equally important is the management of the board state. By maintaining control and applying pressure, you force your opponent to decide between using their mana to fuel the Deadeye Tracker’s ability or to stabilize the board, often derailing their strategy.

Remember, understanding the timing and knowing when to neutralize threats like Deadeye Tracker can be as crucial as the spells in your hand. With smart play and the right answers at your disposal, overcoming the challenge posed by this card is entirely within reach.


Cards like Deadeye Tracker

Deadeye Tracker steps into the world of Magic the Gathering as a unique creature card, inviting comparisons with other graveyard interaction cards. Like the Deadeye Tracker, cards such as Scavenging Ooze also interact with graveyards but in differing ways. While Scavenging Ooze can target multiple graveyard cards and gains you life along with becoming larger with its +1/+1 counters, Deadeye Tracker’s explore mechanic allows you to potentially draw a card and deepen its own power.

With Deathrite Shaman, players have another efficient graveyard manager that can also accelerate their mana or drain opponent’s health, albeit without the card advantage potential of the Deadeye Tracker. Then, there’s Nihil Spellbomb, offering one-shot graveyard exiling utility at the cost of not being a repeatable creature play. The Spellbomb can also refill your hand, aligning it somewhat with Deadeye Tracker’s card advantage capabilities.

Ultimately, while each of these cards provides valuable interaction with the graveyard, Deadeye Tracker’s ability to semi-consistently filter your deck and grow itself makes it a distinct and interesting option in your MTG strategy for sustained, incremental advantage.

Scavenging Ooze - MTG Card versions
Deathrite Shaman - MTG Card versions
Nihil Spellbomb - MTG Card versions
Scavenging Ooze - Commander 2011 (CMD)
Deathrite Shaman - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Nihil Spellbomb - Scars of Mirrodin (SOM)

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Vebulid - Urza's Saga (USG)
Zodiac Rat - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
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Carrion Rats - Torment (TOR)
Foulmire Knight // Profane Insight - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
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Bile Urchin - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Rimebound Dead - Coldsnap (CSP)
Plague Beetle - Salvat 2011 (PS11)
Festering Goblin - Modern Masters (MMA)
Sleeper Agent - Tenth Edition (10E)
Knucklebone Witch - Lorwyn (LRW)
Nightshade Stinger - Lorwyn (LRW)
Smolder Initiate - Shadowmoor (SHM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Deadeye Tracker MTG card by a specific set like Ixalan Promos and 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 Deadeye Tracker and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Deadeye Tracker Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2017-09-29 and 2017-09-29. Illustrated by Deruchenko Alexander.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-09-29Ixalan PromosPXLN 99p2015normalblackDeruchenko Alexander
22017-09-29IxalanXLN 992015normalblackDeruchenko Alexander
32017-09-29Ixalan PromosPXLN 99s2015normalblackDeruchenko Alexander

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Deadeye Tracker 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 Deadeye Tracker card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2017-09-29 If each target card is an illegal target by the time Deadeye Tracker’s ability resolves, the entire ability doesn’t resolve. Deadeye Tracker won’t explore.
2017-09-29 If one target card is an illegal target by the time Deadeye Tracker’s ability resolves, the remaining legal target is exiled and Deadeye Tracker explores.
2017-09-29 You can’t activate Deadeye Tracker’s ability without targeting two cards in a single opponent’s graveyard.
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.

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