Emperor’s Vanguard (XLN #189)
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Emperor's Vanguard is a rare printing from Ixalan (XLN #189), a Creature — Human Scout. Illustrated by Victor Adame Minguez.
Card text
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, 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.)
Details
| Mana cost | {3}{G} |
|---|---|
| Type | Creature — Human Scout |
| Power / Toughness | 4 / 3 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Set | Ixalan (XLN) |
| Collector number | 189 |
| Artist | Victor Adame Minguez |
| Released | 2017-09-29 |
Current price
As of 2026-10-19, Scryfall listed this printing at non-foil $0.17, foil $0.25 (USD). Prices change constantly, so check the live price before buying.
Buy Emperor's Vanguard on TCGplayer
Legality
| Standard | Not legal |
|---|---|
| Future Standard | Not legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Pauper | Not legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Penny Dreadful | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Standard Brawl | Not legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Competitive Brawl | Legal |
| Alchemy | Not legal |
| Pauper Commander | Not legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Old School | Not legal |
| Premodern | Not legal |
| PrEDH | Not legal |
| TLR | Not legal |
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Rulings
- January 19, 2018 — 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.
- January 19, 2018 — 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.
- January 19, 2018 — If no card is revealed, most likely because that player's library is empty, the exploring creature receives a +1/+1 counter.
- January 19, 2018 — 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.
- January 19, 2018 — 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.
- January 19, 2018 — 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.)
- January 19, 2018 — 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.
Other printings of Emperor’s Vanguard
Every MTGBrew page for another printing of Emperor’s Vanguard:
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