Caves in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

alexis 27 days ago Collecting, MTG Cards, MTG Rules

Last updated on February 13, 2026

Sunken Citadel | Illustration by Matteo Bassini

Parents: Get your kids some books. Or an e-reader. Or a library card. Just get your kids reading, because it’s the easiest way to transport them to other worlds without leaving home. How else would I have learned the word “spelunking” as a child?

Speaking of, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan invites us to do our own caving (land) and cave diving (water), quite literally! Caves joined the Magic world as a land type, but what do they bring to the gaming table? I’m not, nor have I ever been a Magic judge, but I hope to light your way through these cave cards.

LCI gave us just under a dozen caves to explore, and I don’t think Fifty Feet of Rope will be enough…. Without further ado, let’s, uh, dive right in.

Table of Contents show

How Do Caves Work in Magic?

Hidden Courtyard | Illustration by Josu Solano

Caves are a nonbasic land type in Magic. No, they do not produce purple mana.

They’re utility lands, but they don’t have a specific linking mechanical identity. There is, however, a Hidden cycle of mono-color lands that can be sacrificed to discover 4 at sorcery speed. There are also a handful of caves that are on the reverse side of transforming permanents.

There are also several cards that mention caves in their rules text, namely:

The History of Caves in Magic

Caves are a land type in Magic introduced in 2023’s The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. This set gave us nearly all the cards that have the cave land type, although many cards before this include Caves or Caverns in their name.

Modern Horizons 3 brought about Urza's Cave and Sunken Palace through the MH3 Commander set.

Caves and Caverns Outside The Lost Caverns of Ixalan

Cave-flavored cards from other sets are not errata’d to have the cave subtype, and there’s no plan to do so.

Here’s a list of lands that are not caves despite their name.

And just to make things more confusing, LCI also reprinted Cavern of Souls, which is, you guessed it, not a cave. It does have Neon Ink printings, though (and it's one of best typal support cards!).

Why Are Caves Good?

Caves are good because of the cards that play well with them. First in line is Forgotten Monument, since it turns all of your other caves into color fixing.

Hidden Courtyard, Hidden Cataract, Hidden Necropolis, Hidden Nursery, and Hidden Volcano make up a cycle of mono-colored caves that all give you an option to sacrifice them to discover 4.

Descend is a whole mechanic that cares about permanents you own going to the graveyard, and caves that have a sacrifice ability give you another way to get some permanents in there.

I think the extra neat part is how a few of the cave-specific payoffs like Calamitous Cave-In care about the caves you have in your graveyard as well as on the field, so it’s unlikely that your cave is entirely useless if you’ve used it to discover something.

There’s also a few standout caves that don’t need other caves to be good, like the copy ability on Echoing Deeps and Sunken Citadel’s cost reduction for activating other lands’ abilities.

Caves have a couple of limitations, firstly that many of them come in tapped (but you can get around that with Spelunking). They don’t have a basic land type, so these lands are only searchable by effects that grab any land, nonbasic lands, or caves themselves.

What Are the Odds of Opening a Cave Card in Lost Caverns of Ixalan?

Per Wizards’ own guide to collecting LCI, caves appear in the land slot of Draft and Set boosters 70% of the time.

Predicting collector boosters is trickier since we only get the breakdown by rarity, but we know that none of the caves are mythic, so they can “only” appear in the common (7 possible caves), uncommon (7), and rare (4) slots of collector boosters.

How Many Caves Should You Play in Limited?

Caves are generally useful as lands in Limited.

I’m no Lost Caverns Limited expert, but the cycle of Hidden lands saw some play, and it's generally useful to have 1-2 caves in your deck.

Keep in mind that Lost Caverns is a set where your graveyard matters. Descend cares about permanents you own that go to the graveyard, including your lands. Sacrificing a Hidden land or a Promising Vein can help you get that end step descend payoff. If you make descend a core part of your strategy, you want as many as you can tolerate since most come in tapped.

You may even try to go all-in on caves, just like you might with gates. It’s a choice. It will feel a bit forced, but that's the jank in me wanting it to work.

If you opened Secret Tunnel in Avatar: The Last Airbender, you're contractually obligated to start the song if you know it. The TLA drafts are thirsty for unblockable creatures and this land was one of the best ways to fulfill that so it deserves a high pick.

Are Caves Connected with Any Creature Types?

No, caves don't play particularly well with any specific creature type, but bats are a natural fit.

Gallery and List of Cave Cards

Best Cave Cards

As a land that can copy other lands in any graveyard, Echoing Deeps pops up occasionally, and is not overpowered. Sunken Citadel is a fine mana fixer, great with other utility lands, and helps beyond with your cave abilities.

#7. Forgotten Monument

Forgotten Monument is a good example of the other caves-matter cards we’ve got with LCI. You get more bang in any non-singleton format where you can stuff as many as four of each cave into your deck.

#6. Pit of Offerings

Pit of Offerings can do some mid-game color fixing, although you need ways to get yours or your opponents’ cards into graveyards to even make this worthwhile. If you’re a mill deck, fine. If they’re a self-mill EDH deck, even better. If you’re a land destruction deck… you get the picture.

#5. Echoing Deeps

Echoing Deeps is an interesting land that will copy any land in any graveyard, so if an opponent sent a Strip Mine or Urza's Saga to the graveyard, or maybe cracked a fetch land, you're in good shape with options. Maybe you need to copy a land you cycled, the options are there and the upside is good.

#4. Secret Tunnel

The first line of rules text on Secret Tunnel about unblockibility doesn't make sense unless you run a land animation deck, or practice earthbending. Even if you don't use that sentence, the variant on Rogue's Passage is fine way to get out of stalled boards, trigger some great effects, or squeeze in the last damage you need.

#3. Urza's Cave

Urza's Cave is a bit more expensive than I like to pay for a land search. Bring in one of those nifty play lands from the graveyard cards and then I get much more excited for this Urza land.

#2. Tarrian’s Journal / The Tomb of Aclazotz

Tarrian's Journal is a neat and steady card draw option and sac outlet in black, and once your graveyard plenty of resources, you can flip it into The Tomb of Aclazotz so you can bring your creatures back, although as vampires that have finality counters on them.

#1. Brass’s Tunnel-Grinder / Tecutlan, the Searing Rift

Tecutlan, the Searing Rift lets you discover whenever you use it to cast permanents, although you need to descend a few times with Brass's Tunnel-Grinder on the field first. I know a few spots where I love this, like with a sacrifice or goblin commander.

Caves Matter

For caves-matter cards, Spelunking is one of the more impactful ones since it makes all your lands come in untapped. Glimpse the Core and Cosmium Confluence each have ways to grab you some caves, although the Confluence can also be a removal spell and a land animation spell.

Calamitous Cave-In can deal lots of damage around the board, while Compass Gnome and Scampering Surveyor can help to bring any cave from your library to your hand.

Return to Base Camp

Hidden Cataract | Illustration by Josu Solano

Caves are fascinating places to explore (with the proper etiquette and safety), and I think they make for an interesting land type. I like how Lost Caverns of Ixalan felt like an expedition with the interactions between the different zones. Cards move all over the place, especially when you sacrifice caves to discover.

I wonder if and how we see more caves. My gut tells me it’ll be like deserts, gates, and snow lands, where they return for a few sporadic appearances or very specific sets but are absent otherwise, but what do you think?

Thank you for coming along for our look at caves in Magic! Did you spot any hidden gems? Let me know in the comments or over on the Draftsim Discord server.

Stay safe, and stay hydrated!

Follow Draftsim for awesome articles and set updates:

Caves best cards Caves FAQ Caves history Caves top cards MTG MTG best cards MTG cards MTG caves MTG collection MTG FAQ MTG history MTG mechanic MTG rules MTG top cards

alexis

Alexis is an editor and writer for Draftsim who is still proud of pulling a Xenagos in their M15 Starter Kit. Their lack of poker face is best suited for casual tables. Just don’t let this collector bug near any stores that offer $1 mystery packs….