Excavation Technique

Excavation Technique card image

Excavation Technique: Sorcery, Commander 2021. Demonstrate. Destroy target nonland permanent. Its controller creates two Treasure tokens. On Mana Grove.

Mana cost
{3}{W}
Mana value
4
Type
Sorcery
Colour identity
White (W)
Rarity
Rare
Set
Commander 2021 (C21)
Released
2021-04-23
Collector number
16
Artist
Francisco Miyara
Commander rank
11,950 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Keywords
Demonstrate, Treasure

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About Excavation Technique

Excavation Technique is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare white sorcery from Commander 2021 (C21), a Commander product released in April 2021. It is collector number 16 in that set, with art by Francisco Miyara. It costs {3}{W} (three generic and one white mana) to cast, for a mana value of 4. Its colour identity is white. It is legal in Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander and Oathbreaker. It has been printed in 3 sets, from The List (2020) to Commander 2021 (2021). The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.34 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-11).

Card text

Demonstrate (When you cast this spell, you may copy it. If you do, choose an opponent to also copy it. Players may choose new targets for their copies.)

Destroy target nonland permanent. Its controller creates two Treasure tokens.

"Stand back. This part gets messy."

Market price

Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $0.34 (as of 2026-11-11).

The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.

Format legality

Legality of Excavation Technique by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
CommanderLegal
Duel CommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal

Other printings of Excavation Technique

Excavation Technique has been printed in 3 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.

PrintingRarityYear
The List (PLST) #C21-16Rare2026
Magic Online Promos (PRM) #89996Rare2021
Commander 2021 (C21) #343Rare2021

Official rulings

Five official rulings apply to Excavation Technique, newest first.

  • If the spell requires targets, you choose the target of the original spell as you cast it. If you create a copy of the spell, you may choose new targets for the copy as you create that copy. Similarly, the opponent you chose to create a copy may choose new targets for that copy as it’s created. In other words, your opponent will know the targets of your original spell and your copy when choosing the new targets, if any, for their copy.
  • If you cast the spell and choose not to copy it, no opponent will get to copy it either.
  • If you copy a spell with demonstrate, you then immediately choose an opponent. If they copy the spell, it goes on top of the stack.
  • This means that if you cast a spell with demonstrate and both you and an opponent copy it, the opponent’s copy will resolve first, then your copy will resolve, and finally the original spell will resolve.
  • You choose whether to make a copy as the demonstrate ability resolves. This happens before the original spell resolves. Your copy goes on the stack above the original spell.

Similar cards

Other sorcery cards with a white colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.

In these precons

Excavation Technique is in the decklist of these preconstructed Commander decks.

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