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Meticulous Excavation

~$0.18 low · ~$0.36 high

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White. Enchantment

one white mana

016 · BRO · U · ENWhat the codes mean

Meticulous Excavation

The Brothers' War #16 · Illustrated by Lucas Graciano

What is Meticulous Excavation worth?

Cheapest copy

~$0.18

Non-foil · The Brothers' War #16

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Highest TCGplayer price

~$0.36

Foil · The Brothers' War #16

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2 prices from $0.18 to $0.36. Every price is in the printings table below.

TCGplayer market prices in USD, updated October 14, 2026. Each price is for one printing and one finish.

Oracle text

two generic manaone white mana: Return target permanent you control to its owner's hand. If it has unearth, instead exile it, then return that card to its owner's hand. Activate only during your turn.

"Remember, students, if it's glowing, humming, or whirring, don't touch it!"

The only printing of Meticulous Excavation

PrintingRarityNon-foilFoilCardmarket (EUR)My collection

Prices are TCGplayer market prices in USD for each printing and finish, via Scryfall. They are a guide, not an appraisal.

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Card details

First printed
2022
Printings
1
Mana value
1
EDHREC rank
#13,936 on EDHREC (Commander popularity)
Artist
Lucas Graciano

What the codes mean

The small print at the bottom of the The Brothers' War card (#16).

016 · BRO · U · EN

  • 016Collector number: this card's place in the set list. Main-set cards print it over the set's card count.
  • BROSet code for The Brothers' War
  • UUncommon
  • ENPrinted in English

How to read a Magic card: every part and code, on real cards.

Rulings (6)

  1. October 14, 2022

    Unearth grants haste to the permanent that's returned to the battlefield (even if it's not a creature card). However, neither of the "exile" abilities is granted to that permanent. If that permanent loses all its abilities, it will still be exiled at the beginning of the next end step, and if it would leave the battlefield, it is still exiled instead.

  2. October 14, 2022

    If you activate a card's unearth ability but that card is removed from your graveyard before the ability resolves, that unearth ability will do nothing as it resolves.

  3. October 14, 2022

    If the target permanent has unearth and was put onto the battlefield using its unearth ability, this effect can still exile it and return it to its owner's hand.

  4. October 14, 2022

    Activating a card's unearth ability isn't the same as casting that card. The unearth ability is put on the stack, but the card is not. Spells and abilities that interact with activated abilities (such as Defabricate's second mode) will interact with unearth, but spells and abilities that interact with spells (such as Scatter Ray) will not.

  5. October 14, 2022

    At the beginning of the next end step, a permanent returned to the battlefield with unearth is exiled. This is a delayed triggered ability, and it can be countered by effects such as Defabricate that counter triggered abilities. If the ability is countered, the permanent will stay on the battlefield and the delayed triggered ability won't trigger again. However, the replacement effect will still exile the permanent if it eventually leaves the battlefield.

  6. October 14, 2022

    If a permanent returned to the battlefield with unearth would leave the battlefield for any reason, it's exiled instead—unless the spell or ability that's causing the permanent to leave the battlefield is actually trying to exile it! In that case, it succeeds at exiling it. If that spell or ability later returns the card to the battlefield (as Static Net might, for example), the permanent card will return to the battlefield as a new object with no relation to its previous existence. The unearth effects will no longer apply to it.

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