Discover in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Last updated on December 3, 2024

Chimil, the Inner Sun | Illustration by Gaboleps

Every new set brings us new abilities and keywords for Magic players to brew new decks and change the pace from otherwise stalled metagames regardless of the format.

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan introduced Map tokens, and a new keyword action, very reminiscent of cascade, that’s a favorite among many casual and competitive players.

This word is discover, and today, we dive into it, compare it to cascade, and ultimately, conclude if it’s better or worse than its counterpart.

Intrigued by what the results are? Let’s uncover it!

How Does Discover Work?

Caparocti Sunborn | Illustration by Donato Giancola

Discover X lets you exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with a mana value of X or less. Then, you may cast it for free or put it into your hand, and you put the rest of the exiled cards on the bottom of your library at random.

The History of Discover in MTG

Discover is an ability introduced in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan in November 2023. It was previewed on Quintorius Kand, a planeswalker that has discover 4 as one of its abilities.

This ability is very similar to cascade in the sense that both let you cast spells for free, with the difference is that the mana value of the cascade card determines what you can cast, and discover X is based on the value of X printed on the discover card.

It's not an evergreen mechanic. It’s thought to be an improvement on cascade, and despite the ban of Geological Appraiser in the Pioneer and Explorer formats it has powerful cards that appear in the Arena-exclusive Alchemy on Scalesoul Gnome and in Modern Horizons 3‘s Monstrous Vortex. So discover is a powerful mechanic that can see prints outside of Lost Caverns and is more likely to return than cascade.

Is Discover an Activated Ability?

No. While some cards like Hidden Courtyard require activation to discover X, the new mechanic itself is defined as a keyword action that resolves if the ability on the stack does.

Is Discover a Triggered Ability?

No. Discover is a keyword action, so it resolves if the ability on the stack does, similar to scry, mill, and surveil, among others.

Could Discover Allow Me to Cast a Non-instant on My Opponent's Turn?

Yes, you could end up casting a noninstant card outside of your turn. Say you chump blocked and paid for the triggered ability on Digsite Conservator or activated Sneak Attack during your opponent's turn with a Trumpeting Carnosaur, both are ways to ignore timing restrictions.

What Does Discover Mean by Put the Rest on the Bottom?

When you discover X, you reveal cards one at a time from the top of your library, so any cards that do not meet your discover value of X become “the rest” and essentially get shuffled before you place them at the bottom of your library.

Do I Get to Search My Entire Deck to Discover a Card with Value X?

No, you reveal cards from the top of your library and stop when you reach a card that meets your value of X.

Can You Leave the Discovered Card in Exile?

No, not without a workaround. Once you exile a card that meets the discover requirement, you can choose to cast it or put it into your hand, but unless you can’t put cards into your hand or can’t cast the spell for some reason as the ability is resolving, the card won’t remain exiled.

Can You Cast Adventures With Discover?

To cast adventures with discover, both the card and the adventure part of it have to be equal to or less than discover X. For example, you can’t cast the adventure part from Fae of Wishes with discover 3, but if it were discover 4, you could cast either part of the card.

In contrast, you can't cast the adventure side of Bonecrusher Giant with a discover 2, but you’d have no trouble with a discover 3.

Can You Cast Split Cards With Discover?

Yes. As long as the split card's total mana value is equal to or less than the discover X, you may cast the exiled split card or put it into your hand.

Does a Counterspell Work on a Card Cast With Discover?

Yes, your discovered card goes on the stack like other spells and can be countered and responded to.

Can You Pay Kicker Costs With Discover?

Yes! Since you’re casting the spell without paying its mana cost, you can always pay additional ones, like kicker, when casting it for free.

Can You Pay Bargain Costs With Discover?

Yes. As with kicker spells, you can pay additional costs like bargain when casting cards for free with discover.

Do “Play From Exile Cards” Work with Discover?

Yes, so Prosper, Tome-Bound sees that you exiled and cast a discovered card and would create a treasure.

What if Your Library Is Empty When You Discover?

If your library is empty, discover fails to find a target and doesn’t resolve.

What if You Fail to Find With Discover?

If you fail to find a card because your library is empty or the rest of the cards don’t meet the discover criteria, the action fails to resolve. If you searched your library, you would still shuffle it.

Can You Stifle Discover?

Unlike cascade, a triggered ability, you can't Stifle keyword actions like discover or scry. You can, however, Stifle the abilities that enable the keyword action.

Discover vs. Cascade

The main difference between discover and cascade is that the former is a keyword action as part of the resolution of an ability. Cascade, on the other hand, is a triggered ability that’s put into the stack, and unlike discover, it can be countered by the likes of Stifle.

Let's compare Bloodbraid Elf and Geological Appraiser.

In the cascade card’s case, its ability goes onto the stack first and resolves before the creature enters the battlefield. If you hit a Pyroclasm, your  Bloodbraid Elf is unharmed.

It’s a different story for Geological Appraiser, as for discover to resolve, the creature has to enter the battlefield first. From there, you can either cast the Pyroclasm if you reveal it or put it into your hand. If you choose to cast it, the Geological Appraiser is damaged along with the other creatures in the field.

With cascade, you can cast the spell or put it into the bottom along with the other exiled cards, while discover also gives you the option to put the discovered card into your hand. That option is rarely taken so I give an advantage to cascade as the stronger mechanic, and the fact that Magic R&D is less likely to bring it back makes it more rare and hints that it is better than discover.

Gallery and List of Discover Cards

• Brass's Tunnel-Grinder / Tecutlan, the Searing Rift
• Buried Treasure
• Caparocti Sunborn
• Chimil, the Inner Sun
• Contest of Claws
• Daring Discovery
• Digsite Conservator
• Dinosaur Egg
• Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists
• Etali's Favor
• Geological Appraiser
• Hidden Cataract
• Hidden Courtyard
• Hidden Necropolis
• Hidden Nursery
• Hidden Volcano
• Hit the Mother Lode
• Hurl into History
• Monstrous Vortex
• Pantlaza, Sun-Favored
• Primordial Gnawer
• Quintorius Kand
• Scalesoul Gnome
• Swashbuckler's Whip
• Trumpeting Carnosaur
• Walk with the Ancestors
• Zoetic Glyph
• Zoyowa's Justice

Best Discover Cards

#6. Caparocti Sunborn

Caparocti Sunborn is a creature that can repeatedly discover through the course of the game whenever it attacks, allowing you to cast spells for free in the combat phase. You can pair it with combat tricks or removal spells like Lightning Bolt to craft a powerful board presence. However, you must first have two untapped artifacts or creatures to trigger this card's ability.

#5. Quintorius Kand

Since Quintorius Kand is the very first planeswalker with a discover keyword, it only makes sense to put it on the list. Don't get me wrong, though. Its other two abilities, along with its static one, are very powerful ones that only make our elephant super friend better.

#4. Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists

I might be somewhat biased because I’m a big fan of Jurassic Park. Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists is one of my favorite cards with discover because it has a repeatable effect that can be used multiple times a game and even on the same turn if you manage to untap it and have enough creatures in the graveyard. It’s indeed a very fun card to play as your commander in Bant colors ().

#3. Trumpeting Carnosaur

I like Trumpeting Carnosaur as a big fattie that can put other threats onto the field in the right deck, similar to what Etali, Primal Conqueror does. Of course, the dream is to hit a Carnosaur out of an Etali trigger, but at worst you can count on the former ability to kill pesky little creatures or planeswalkers by discarding it from your hand, which comes very handy when you’re playing around counterspells other than Stifle.

#2. Pantlaza, Sun-Favored

Look, I’m a big fan of aggressive commanders, and Pantlaza, Sun-Favored is the perfect commander for a dinosaur-themed deck because it allows you to put multiple of them on the field in no time. The only drawback I see is that it only triggers once per turn, but it's still pretty sweet with other ones dinos like Etali, Primal Conqueror.

#1. Chimil, the Inner Sun

Chimil, the Inner Sun is a simple and straightforward artifact card that any deck benefits from. Free spells cards every turn, yes please! The first effect is important because the cards you cast can be countered, but not when you have Chimil out.

Wrap Up

Hi the Mother Lode | Illustration by Diego Gisbert

While similar to cascade, discover offers unique qualities that, in some cases, are better than its counterpart, while in other scenarios, like the ones I’ve described with Pyroclasm, it could end up being worse. Still, variance aside, it's thrilling to see revamped mechanics introduced so newer and seasoned players can enjoy and experience them.

What do you think? Is this mechanic better or worse than cascade? Would you like to see more cards with it in the future? Let me know in the comments!

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