Abstruse Archaic card art

Abstruse Archaic

Creature — Avatar MV 4

Tracked across real Commander games played through TurnZero HQ.

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What it doesCombosRulingsIn the 99Every version

What it does

Vigilance

1, T: Copy target activated or triggered ability you control from a colorless source. You may choose new targets for the copy. (Mana abilities can't be targeted.)

Combos with Abstruse Archaic

The lines this card is part of, what it needs alongside it, and what the cards do together. An infinite result is the one that moves a deck's bracket.

Combo data from Commander Spellbook, the community-maintained database of Magic combos. Mirrored nightly.

Rulings

11 official rulings, in the order Wizards published them.

  • 2023-07-28

    In some cases involving linked abilities, an ability requires information about "the exiled card." When this happens, the ability gets multiple answers. If these answers are being used to determine the value of a variable, the sum is used. If an ability attempts to create a token that is a copy of "the exiled card," it creates a token for each card exiled this way that is a copy of that card.

  • 2023-07-28

    Abstruse Archaic's ability can copy activated and triggered abilities of dungeons, emblems, planes, and phenomenons. It can't copy the Planechase-specific "planeswalking ability" or the triggered abilities associated with the monarch or initiative designations, as those abilities have no source.

  • 2023-07-28

    If the activated ability's cost contains a choice, such as a creature to sacrifice or a number of counters to remove, the copy uses that same information. You can't pay the cost again, even if you want to.

  • 2023-07-28

    The source of the copy is the same as the source of the original ability.

  • 2023-07-28

    If the ability is modal (that is, if it says, "Choose one —" or similar), the mode is copied and can't be changed.

  • 2023-07-28

    If the ability divides damage or distributes counters among a number of targets, the division and number of targets can't be changed. If you choose new targets, you must choose the same number of targets.

  • 2023-07-28

    Activated abilities contain a colon. They're generally written "[Cost]: [Effect]." Some keyword abilities (such as equip) are activated abilities and will have colons in their reminder text. An activated mana ability is one that produces mana as it resolves, not one that costs mana to activate.

  • 2023-07-28

    If an ability is linked to a second ability, copies of that ability are also linked to that second ability. If the second ability refers to "the exiled card," it refers to all cards exiled by the ability and the copy. For example, if Tidehollow Sculler's enters-the-battlefield ability is copied and two cards are exiled, they both return when Tidehollow Sculler leaves the battlefield.

  • 2023-07-28

    Any choices made when the ability resolves won't have been made yet when it's copied. Any such choices will be made separately when the copy resolves. If a triggered ability asks you to pay a cost, you pay that cost for the copy separately.

  • 2023-07-28

    Triggered abilities use the word "when," "whenever," or "at." They're often written as "[Trigger condition], [effect]." Some keyword abilities are triggered abilities and will have "when," "whenever," or "at the beginning of" in their reminder text.

  • 2023-07-28

    Abstruse Archaic's ability targets an ability that is on the stack and creates another instance of that ability on the stack. It doesn't cause any object to gain an ability.

Rulings are Wizards of the Coast's own, mirrored from Scryfall and refreshed nightly.

In the 99

Every deck whose current list includes Abstruse Archaic, whatever its commander.

Decks running it 1
Games played 0
Win rate — Fewer than 5 completed games, which is not enough to publish a rate yet.
Confirmed on board 0 Games where a board photo caught it actually in play.

Most played under

Commander Decks Games Win rate
Zhulodok, Void Gorger 1 0 —

Colors it shows up in

  • Colorless 1 deck

Every version of Abstruse Archaic

2 printings, newest first. Prices are the market figures Scryfall publishes, refreshed nightly. A printing with no figure shows a dash rather than a zero, because Scryfall publishes none for some of them.

Prices from Scryfall, which tracks the TCGplayer and Cardmarket markets. They move daily and are a guide rather than a quote. Search TCGplayer for Abstruse Archaic. It runs a name search across every version, which covers the printings TCGplayer publishes no direct link to.

Aggregated from Commander games tracked in TurnZero HQ. Every figure counts decks and games only. No individual deck list, player or playgroup is identified. Win rates are withheld below 5 completed games, where the sample is too small to mean anything.