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Contents hide How adventures work in MTG Fizzle An Adventure Special rulings for adventures in MTG How do commanders with adventure work in MTG Double The Value Adventures MTG FAQs

Adventures are a mechanic in MTG that was first introduced in the Throne Of Eldraine set.

Since then, there have been plenty of new cards with Adventure that have made an impact across multiple formats. While they do not appear in every set, Adventures have popped in when it makes flavorful sense to do so. Adventures appear on multiple permanent types, and have quickly become a staple of Magic: The Gathering since their introduction.

Adventures have some complexity to them. And this guide will tell you everything you need to know about how adventures work. Our best precon MTG Commander Decks will give you a headstart if you’re considering the Commander game mode. And if you’re new to it, here’s how to play Commander in MTG.

How adventures work in MTG

Adventures are permanent cards that have an instant or sorcery attached to them. The Adventure part of a card is the left half of the text box where it tells you how much the Adventure is to cast. When you cast a card on an Adventure, it is exiled rather than going to the graveyard. At any point it is legal to, you can cast the card that went on an Adventure as its permanent form. If the card is removed from the battlefield, it will always go to the graveyard. In addition, if a card with Adventure is exiled, unless you cast its Adventure side it will remain exiled and you cannot cast it. 

While Adventures are both instant/sorceries and permanents, the non-Adventure side is what it is considered in all zones other than the stack. For example, Beanstalk Giant is always a creature unless you cast it for its Adventure. Then, it is a sorcery as it resolves before going back to being a creature.

You can opt to not cast the Adventure side at all and instead cast the permanent part of the spell straight away. Its printed mana cost in the top right is what is required to cast the permanent side. If you play it as a permanent, you cannot use the Adventure side. This is because you cannot cast a spell that is already cast.

✓ Johnny’s Judgement

Fizzle An Adventure

If a player casts an Adventure that requires certain conditions to be met, such as targeting a creature, you can blank this spell by removing the target and making the Adventure unable to resolve. If this happens, the card will go directly to the graveyard and it cannot be cast as its permanent side since it did not successfully go on the Adventure.

An MTG card of the Bramble Familiar. Image captured by VideoGamer.

Special rulings for adventures in MTG

Since Adventures count as both their permanent type and an instant or sorcery it has special rulings. If a card lets you cast an instant or sorcery from the graveyard or the top of your library, you can cast the Adventure side with these effects. If you do so, they will go into exile. You will be able to cast the permanent side later as if you had cast the Adventure normally. However, you cannot cast the permanent side this way as it is not considered an instant or sorcery. This also works in the opposite direction. You cannot cast the Adventure side if an effect lets you play permanents from another zone. 

If a card lets you play a spell without paying its mana cost, you can choose to either cast the Adventure side or permanent side for free. If you choose to play the Adventure side, it will be exiled and you will have to pay the mana cost for the permanent part to cast it for free. The exception to this rule is with cascade. When you cascade, you exile cards until you exile a card with a lower mana value and can cast it for free. With Adventures, it looks at the mana value of the permanent and not the Adventure.

When you cascade into a card with Adventure, the part of the spell you cast has to be less than the value you cascade for. For example, if you trigger cascade with a mana value of four and you cascade into a Bramble Familiar that has a mana value of two, you can cast Bramble Familiar for free since its mana value is less than four. But you cannot choose to cast its Adventure side since its mana value is seven. However, if you cascade into Bonecrusher Giant, you can cast either side. This is because the permanent part is three mana and the Adventure is two mana. Whatever side you cast has to have a lower mana value than the spell that cascaded. 

An MTG Beluna Grandsquall card. Image captured by VideoGamer.

How do commanders with adventure work in MTG

Some legendary creatures have Adventure that you can use as your commander in the Commander format. These have special rulings when it comes to the commander tax. Whenever you cast a card with Adventure from the command zone, it will cost two more mana to play when you cast it from there again, regardless of what side you cast it for. If you choose to use the Adventure side, it will be exiled and you can cast it as a creature. 

When you cast your commander’s Adventure side, you have the option to keep it exiled to cast later or return it to the command zone. It is important to note that if you choose to return it to the command zone it will cost two more mana to cast, even if you choose to cast it as a creature next time.

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Double The Value

A commander with Adventure lets you essentially have two separate cards in the command zone that support a strategy. You rarely want to put your commander back in the command zone after using the Adventure as this makes the commander tax rack up quickly.

That concludes our guide. Cards with Adventures are very strong since they have two different usages depending on the game state. Some decks even let you play the more expensive side of the card by utilizing cards that cast spells for free. There are no shortages of Adventures that see widespread play across formats. They are a large staple of Pioneer and Historic in particular. That is everything there is you need to know about how Adventures work. If you’re just starting out, here’s how to play Magic: The Gathering. And here are the best MTG Commander decks.

Adventures MTG FAQs

Do adventure spells count as instants?

No, they are not instants. You won’t be able to use them whenever you’d like, and will act more as a sorcery or creature card, cast only after your upkeep stage.

Can you cast adventures more than once?

If they return to your hand, you can cast them as a creature or an adventure again.

About the Author

Johnny Garcia

Magic: The Gathering

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