Quest Counters in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Quest for Ancient Secrets | Illustration by Mike Bierek

There’s nothing quite like the dopamine hit of a completed quest and a massive experience points dump. All that grinding finally pays off, and you get to reap its rewards and bask in its glory.

Quests have been a part of fantasy since long before fantasy itself, going back to the myths and legends that inspired their tropes. Look no further than the 12 labors of Hercules. Just, uh… don’t look too deeply into why he had 12 labors.

In Magic, quests are represented on a number of cards that track your game actions with quest counters and reward you for reaching a certain number. But which of these should you pick up, and which quest cards should you leave pinned to the tavern wall? Let’s find out!

How Do Quest Counters Work?

Quest for the Necropolis | Illustration by Jorge Jacinto

Permanents that use quest counters usually have at least two abilities: a triggered ability to gain quest counters, then a second ability that rewards you for collecting them.

For example, Quest for the Nihil Stone gains quest counters whenever your opponents discard cards. Then, at the beginning of their upkeeps, if they have no cards in hand and the Quest has two or more counters, you can choose to have that player lose 5 life.

Some quest counter cards like Quest for the Gemblades require you to sacrifice them to activate their payoff ability.

Because they need to maintain their counters, your opponents can disrupt quest counter cards with flicker and bounce spells.

The History of Quest Counters in MTG

Quest counters first appeared in 2009’s Zendikar on three cycles: Ascensions, Quests, and Expeditions. Ascensions are flavored to show an adventurer’s journey from nobody to somebody, quests are meant to be the long and winding road to a reward, and expeditions are quests that gain their counters through landfall.

Quest counters returned in Worldwake on a 4-card cycle of Quests, though these ones don’t need you to sacrifice them like the original ones. Much later, in 2024, Modern Horizons 3 printed Quest for the Necropolis.

Fallout printed a few legendary creatures that use quest counters, while Avatar: The Last Airbender has a 4-card cycle of Ascensions for each of the four bending arts. Quest counters returned in The Hobbit on Last Light of Durin's Day.

Gallery and List of Quest Counter Cards

• Airbender Ascension
• Arcade Gannon
• Archmage Ascension
• Beastmaster Ascension
• Bloodchief Ascension
• Craig Boone, Novac Guard
• Duchess, Wayward Tavernkeep
• Earthbender Ascension
• ED-E, Lonesome Eyebot
• Firebender Ascension
• Ior Ruin Expedition
• Khalni Heart Expedition
• Last Light of Durin's Day
• Luminarch Ascension
• Moira Brown, Guide Author
• Overseer of Vault 76
• Pyromancer Ascension
• Quest for Ancient Secrets
• Quest for Pure Flame
• Quest for Renewal
• Quest for the Gemblades
• Quest for the Goblin Lord
• Quest for the Gravelord
• Quest for the Holy Relic
• Quest for the Necropolis
• Quest for the Nihil Stone
• Quest for Ula's Temple
• Sierra, Nuka's Biggest Fan
• Soul Stair Expedition
• Sunspring Expedition
• Waterbender Ascension
• Yes Man, Personal Securitron
• Zektar Shrine Expedition

Can You Proliferate Quest Counters?

Yes! You can proliferate any type of counter. Just keep in mind that you’ll proliferate all counter types that are on that permanent.

For example, you can proliferate the quest counters on Yes Man, Personal Securitron to increase the number of soldier tokens you make when it leaves the battlefield. If it has a +1/+1 counter on it, you’ll also proliferate those, but the same is also true for -1/-1 counters.

Can You Move Quest Counters Between Different Permanents?

Yes! Cards like Nesting Grounds allow you to move counters of any type between permanents of any type.

What if a Quest Counter Ends Up on a Permanent That Doesn’t Use Them?

Nothing specific happens without some niche payoff going on. The most obvious case is Moira Brown, Guide Author. Moira spreads quest counters among your permanents when you attack and creates a Wasteland Survival Guide token that pumps up the creature it equips. Hundred-Battle Veteran cares about the different types of counters on it, which can include +1/+1 and keywords, but also utility counters like quest counters.

Quest counters also count as modifications, so you could move a quest counter onto a creature to get a modified payoff like Golden-Tail Trainer’s stat buff.

Is Quest a Card Type?

No. According to Mark Rosewater, quests were explored in design as an enchantment subtype during Zendikar and Throne of Eldraine, but it has only ever appeared on a playtest card, Map to Lorthos's Temple.

What Are Ascension Enchantments?

Ascension enchantments are meant to show a character’s growth over time. They gain counters for a consistent game action; once you’ve put in the time to earn enough quest counters, an Ascension’s full rewards are available to you.

The original Zendikar Ascensions have triggered abilities that allow them to gain quest counters, and a second ability that pays you off for them. For example, Archmage Ascension gains a quest counter at the end of any turn during which you’ve drawn two or more cards. Once it has six or more counters, every instance of card draw becomes a tutor instead.

The Avatar: The Last Airbender Ascensions follow a similar template, but a few of them bundle the payoff into the trigger. Firebender Ascension gains quest counters as your creatures’ attack triggers go off, and eventually copies them.

Best Quest Counter Cards

#11. Quest for Ula’s Temple + Quest for the Goblin Lord

Quest for Ula's Temple has a place in my heart as an enabler for my sea creatures deck. Your opponents have to answer it, or else you’ll start plopping chonky (and hungry) abyssal monsters onto the battlefield for free. You need to hit a creature on your upkeeps, but that’s what scrying and Brainstorms are for.

Quest for the Goblin Lord isn’t quite as essential for goblin decks, but it can be a decent grindy card that keeps the curve and the budget low.

#10. Last Light of Durin’s Day

Call this slot an “Early Days Tax”, since The Hobbit isn’t fully spoiled at the time of writing.

Last Light of Durin's Day is templated like the Expeditions from Zendikar, though mountaincycling is a nice addition. It cares about when your mountains enter the battlefield, and eventually you’ll trade it for a dragon. Yeah… this is going straight into Smaug the Magnificent to fetch Hellkite Tyrant.

This enchantment gets harder to use the more colors you run, of course, unless you have a fully fetchable mana base, but I like the shenanigans you can get up to with this and a Crop Rotation.

#9. Quest for Renewal

Green is an odd color for vehicles, spacecraft, and planets, but watch for Quest for Renewal to skyrocket if there’s ever a better green vehicle commander than Samut, the Driving Force. Besides that, the obvious application for untapping your creatures every turn is mana dorks, especially ones that generate more than 1 mana, and decks that want their beaters both to attack and defend.

#8. Khalni Heart Expedition

The best of the common Expeditions from Zendikar, Khalni Heart Expedition has plenty of applications. You can trade it in for two lands, which means two more landfall triggers that turn. It grabs any basic, so it can act as budget color fixing. It’s definitely slower than our favorite green ramp spells like Rampant Growth or Three Visits, but it does the job at lower power tables.

#7. Waterbender Ascension

As a hybrid of Curiosity and Rogue's Passage, Waterbender Ascension has all kinds of homes in saboteur and ninja style decks. I also like the idea of that waterbend ability in a pirate deck, where you’re probably going to gain Treasure for connecting with your opponents. You can just tap Treasure rather than sac and spend it for waterbending abilities, so you aren’t losing progress to your Revel in Riches win condition.

#6. Yes Man, Personal Securitron

Yes Man, Personal Securitron makes the game just a little more interactive. It doesn’t move around the table in turn order; you and an opponent could pass it between yourselves and cut everyone else out. But if a player has hexproof, they can’t gain control of Yes Man through its ability… including yourself. The board swing when Yes Man leaves can matter, and it also makes this robot a decent blink target.

#5. Firebender Ascension

We love Isshin, Two Heavens as One, so another copy of its trigger doubling that we can stick into any red deck was a very welcome addition to the game. The only restriction is that the creature itself has to have the ability; watch for the exact wording on your equipment and auras, because they might not work.

#4. Luminarch Ascension

It’s good on it’s own, but Luminarch Ascension is a fantastic source of extra board presence in an angel deck. It’s also good when you bundle yourself in a full pillow fort strat. In Commander, Teferi's Protection, Flare of Fortitude, and Perch Protection make time to accumulate quest counters, and then you can start to pump out angel tokens.

#3. Airbender Ascension

Since airbending is flicker adjacent, it would make sense that Airbender Ascension both takes advantage of your creatures entering and blinks them itself. Depending on the loops you have going, you can even blink Airbender Ascension as part of it.

For the combo-minded among you, The Legend of Kuruk has a few combos with this enchantment that generate infinite turns, including one in Standard that involves Innkeeper's Talent.

#2. Bloodchief Ascension

Bloodchief Ascension has a few infinite combos, including one with Mindcrank that mills your opponents out on the spot. You can also take advantage of it in a forced discard deck, since discard also helps to reduce your opponent’s ability to respond to it.

#1. Beastmaster Ascension

Beastmaster Ascension has become a staple of green decks that attack with a large number of creatures. It basically works like an overrun; because it’s an attack trigger that counts each attacking creature, you can go from 0 to 7 quest counters before your opponents can declare their blockers.

Quest Complete

Luminarch Ascension | Illustration by Michael Komarck

And with that, time for a hydrating refreshment. I love the flavor of quest counters overall, and I think they come back at about the right frequency. It’s a mechanic that designers shouldn’t mess with unless they have flavor reasons and a specific plan in mind.

Which of these cards do you run in your decks? Are they main quests that are part of what the deck wants to do already, or are they more like side quests? Let me know in the comments below, or tell your tale on the Draftsim Discord. And don’t forget to subscribe to The Daily Upkeep for news and radiant quests.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think Starlight Drive In needs my help (again).