Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands
Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands: Creature - Avatar, Strixhaven: School of Mages. Printings, prices, and format legality on Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {5}
- Mana value
- 5
- Type
- Creature - Avatar
- Colour identity
- Colourless
- Power / toughness
- 4/4
- Rarity
- Rare
- Set
- Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX)
- Released
- 2021-04-23
- Collector number
- 6
- Artist
- Wayne Reynolds
Build around this card with Grover
About Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands
Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare colourless creature from Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX), an expansion set released in April 2021. It is collector number 6 in that set, with art by Wayne Reynolds. It costs {5} (five generic mana) to cast, for a mana value of 5. It is a 4/4 creature. It has no colour identity. It is legal in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Historic, Timeless, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful. It has been printed in 3 sets. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $7.97 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).
Card text
Whenever an opponent casts an instant or sorcery spell, they may pay {2}. If they don't, you may copy that spell. You may choose new targets for the copy.
"Fly the path of nine birds."
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $7.97 (as of 2026-10-23).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Pioneer | Legal |
|---|---|
| Modern | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Penny Dreadful | Legal |
Other printings of Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands
Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands has been printed in 3 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Magic Online Promos (PRM) #90338 | Rare | 2021 |
| Strixhaven: School of Mages Promos (PSTX) #6s | Rare | 2021 |
| Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX) #286 | Rare | 2021 |
Official rulings
Three official rulings apply to Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands, newest first.
- For Wandering Archaic's triggered ability, the opponent chooses whether to pay {2} before their spell resolves. If they don't pay {2}, your copy will resolve before the original spell.
- Explore the Vastlands has received an update to its Oracle text. Specifically, revealing either a land card or an instant or sorcery card is optional. Any player who can't reveal a card or chooses not to simply puts all cards they looked at on the bottom of their library in a random order. Each player gains 3 life whether they revealed a card or not.
- While resolving Explore the Vastlands, first the active player reveals the cards they are going to put into their hand. Then each other player in turn order does the same, knowing choices made before they choose.
Similar cards
Other creature cards with no colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.