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Intrepid Paleontologist

Intrepid Paleontologist

Creature — Human Druid

rare

: Add one mana of any color. : Exile target card from a graveyard. You may cast Dinosaur creature spells from among cards you own exiled with this creature. If you cast a spell this way, that creature enters with a finality counter on it. (If a creature with a finality counter on it would die, exile it instead.)

2/2

$0.46 ✦ $0.47View on Scryfall →

Semantic Tags

Cares about +1/+1 counters — places, moves, doubles, or benefits from counters on creatures.

Graveyard Hatemechanical

Exiles cards from graveyards or prevents graveyard interaction. Shuts down recursion, flashback, and graveyard-matters strategies.

Cares about cards in the graveyard, puts cards into the graveyard, or benefits from things dying.

Mana Dorkmechanical

Creatures that tap to produce mana. Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise, Elvish Mystic.

Mana Fixingmechanical

Helps produce colors you need. Includes multicolor lands, color filtering, and 'any color' mana sources.

Mana Sinkmechanical

A permanent with a repeatable activated ability that converts excess mana into value.

Permanentmechanical

A card or token on the battlefield. See rule 110, “Permanents.”

Format Legality

commanderlegal
oathbreakerlegal
modernlegal
pioneerlegal
standardlegal
legacylegal
vintagelegal
paupernot legal
historiclegal
explorernot legal
alchemynot legal

Price history

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Printings (4)

Related Rules

106.5

If an ability would produce one or more mana of an undefined type, it produces no mana instead.

106.7

Some abilities produce mana based on the type of mana another permanent or permanents “could produce.” The type of mana a permanent could produce at any time includes any type of mana that an ability of that permanent would produce if the ability were to resolve at that time, taking into account any applicable replacement effects in any possible order. Ignore whether any costs of the ability could or could not be paid. If that permanent wouldn’t produce any mana under these conditions, or no type of mana can be defined this way, there’s no type of mana it could produce.

106.12

To “tap [a permanent] for mana” is to activate a mana ability of that permanent that includes the {T} symbol in its activation cost. See rule 605, “Mana Abilities.”

106.12a

An ability that triggers whenever a permanent “is tapped for mana” or is tapped for mana of a specified type triggers whenever such a mana ability resolves and produces mana or the specified type of mana.

106.12b

A replacement effect that applies if a permanent “is tapped for mana” or tapped for mana of a specific type and/or amount modifies the mana production event while such an ability is resolving and producing mana or the specified type and/or amount of mana.

107.3m

If an object’s enters-the-battlefield triggered ability or replacement effect refers to X, and the spell that became that object as it resolved had a value of X chosen for any of its costs, the value of X for that ability is the same as the value of X for that spell, although the value of X for that permanent is 0. This is an exception to rule 107.3i.

107.5

The tap symbol is {T}. The tap symbol in an activation cost means “Tap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already tapped can’t be tapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.

107.6

The untap symbol is {Q}. The untap symbol in an activation cost means “Untap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already untapped can’t be untapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.

Rulings

2023-11-10

Intrepid Paleontologist must be under your control in order to start casting a Dinosaur creature spell using its last ability, but it doesn't need to stay under your control throughout that process or be under your control as the spell resolves. If, for example, you sacrifice Intrepid Paleontologist to pay an additional cost of the spell or it's destroyed in response, the spell will still resolve normally.

2023-11-10

Finality counters aren't keyword counters, and a finality counter doesn't give any abilities to the permanent it's on. If that permanent loses its abilities and then would go to a graveyard, it will still be exiled instead.

2023-11-10

Multiple finality counters on a single permanent are redundant.

2023-11-10

Finality counters don't stop permanents from going to zones other than the graveyard from the battlefield. For example, if a permanent with a finality counter on it would be put into its owner's hand from the battlefield, it does so normally.

2023-11-10

Finality counters work on any permanent, not only creatures. If a permanent with a finality counter on it would be put into a graveyard from the battlefield, exile it instead.

2023-11-10

You must still pay all costs and follow any timing restrictions and permissions for Dinosaur creature spells you cast from exile this way. Normally, you'll be able to cast them only during your main phase while the stack is empty.