The 43 Best Adventure Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on August 6, 2026

Brazen Borrower | Illustration by Alexandre Chaudret

Adventures started off as a card type to demonstrate the journey of a particular character or creature, and we've seen them evolve beyond their origins in Throne of Eldraine, to the point where you expect to see at least a few adventure cards every couple of sets.

Let’s look at some of the best adventure cards and see exactly what makes the mechanic so interesting and powerful.

What Are Adventure Cards in MTG?

Questing Druid | Illustration by Jason A. Engle

Adventure cards are mostly permanents that have an instant or sorcery attached. Players have the choice of casting the spell for the cost printed at the top, or the adventure spell found on the bottom left side. If you cast the spell as its adventure version, the card is placed into exile, and you can cast its non-adventure side from exile.

Adventure cards debuted in Throne of Eldraine and came back on our second visit to the plane, cementing it as a theme of Eldraine sets. It has also appeared in sets like Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate and in the Doctor Who Commander decks, as well as actual adventuring sets like The Hobbit.

#43. Giant Killer

Giant Killer has a good bit of utility without being too powerful. Its removal side can be very helpful later in the game, or you can use it to stall one of your opponent’s best creatures. I wouldn’t say it’s useless in Constructed play, but I don’t really see it being anyone’s first choice unless you’re specifically building around adventure cards.

#42. Woodland Acolyte

Woodland Acolyte is another solid bit of recursion, and in a color combination that isn’t as good at it as black. The fact that Mend the Wilds is an instant makes this card a lot better, since you can cast it right before your turn and most likely get to draw whichever permanent you got back from your graveyard.

#41. Promise of Aclazotz

Promise of Aclazotz upgrades creatures from weenies into 4/3s—or better, if you can populate stronger tokens like the 5/5 demon from Unholy Annex//Ritual Chamber or 10/10 Eldrazi from Ulamog's Dreadsire. Even without those peaks, I like it for a token deck that can steadily convert 1/1s into 4/3s.

#40. James, Wandering Dad

James, Wandering Dad understands that Wizards keeps printing cards with activation costs and this dad can be a bit of a dork. The other exciting part is the instant-speed adventure that investigates a bunch and begs for both artifactfall and artifact sacrifice synergies.

#39. An Unexpected Party

An Unexpected Party might be the adventure card that cares the least about its adventure; making dwarves is nice and all but I expect most decks to just play a massive typal anthem at a good rate.

#38. Beanstalk Giant

Beanstalk Giant’s adventure, Fertile Footsteps, is a pretty good ramp spell. Even though it costs more than most spells that find a single land, the fact that it comes in untapped is huge. This can be especially helpful when trying to mana fix if you really just need one specific color. And you're guaranteed a big creature when you eventually get around to casting the giant.

#37. Brightcap Badger

Bloomburrow Commander brought Brightcap Badger and the spoils of saproling support, adding up to a solid little midrange package.

#36. Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy

Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy is a fine role-player for Simic and Temur decks interested in an Explore that comes with an artifact and a card to cast from exile. I also quite like it as a commander; its adventure gives you something to do on turn 2 in a companioned Keruga, the Macrosage deck.

#35. Realm-Cloaked Giant

Realm-Cloaked Giant isn’t the most impressive 7-mana card, but I like that it has a board wipe stapled to it. It’s nice to know you’ll have at least one threat to cast in the future when wiping the board. It’s a bit of insurance if your hand doesn’t have too much gas but you still really need to take out the threats that are currently in play.

#34. Pollen-Shield Hare

I could see playing Pollen-Shield Hare in most of my Selesnya tokens decks. You’ll get a potentially big buff off its first ability depending on when you draw it, or it’s just a solid anthem for a small amount of mana as a creature. Both parts of this card are cheap enough that you could easily do both later in the game, giving you an eventful combat step for a turn.

#33. Hearth Elemental

Hearth Elemental plays well with small spells like Sleight of Hand and Consider. It doesn’t take long for this to cost a single mana for a major threat. Even if your opponent hits you with some graveyard hate, the adventure makes it a reasonable top-deck to get the graveyard started again.

#32. Lovestruck Beast

Lovestruck Beast is a solid early game play, especially in decks that use low to the ground creatures or create a lot of 1/1 tokens. While it can create its own token, I think it's more effective when you have multiple 1/1s at your disposal, since players will likely try to take out any creature that helps it attack.

#31. Karvanista, Loyal Lupari

Karvanista, Loyal Lupari works well in pretty much any human-themed Commander deck. Its adventure can keep your creatures safe for a turn at a fair price, and this card’s attack trigger is also great in a deck type that usually goes wide. The alien dog's also a strong attacker in its own right.

#30. Bramble Familiar

When an adventure side of a card is the more powerful and expensive of the two, it somewhat takes away from the best elements of the mechanic. However, Bramble Familiar has a built-in solution for this, since you can simply return it to your hand once you’re able to afford its Fetch Quest cost. The raccoon’s an okay early mana rock, so it has great utility on both ends.

#29. Hildibrand Manderville

Hildibrand Manderville does a great job of repeatedly giving you zombies. The anthem for tokens is very strong to have on a 2-drop and the resilience of getting to spend to get a 2/2 and the opportunity to bring back the detective is excellent for sacrifice decks.

#28. Beluna Grandsquall

If you really enjoy adventure spells then Beluna Grandsquall is the commander for you. You’ll notice that a lot of the best adventure spells on this list fit into Temur colors, giving it the perfect color identity, and its cost reduction makes cards like Brazen Borrower and Bonecrusher Giant even faster than they already are. I also really appreciate the artistic references to original Throne of Eldraine with cards like Enchanted Carriage, which provide a sense of scale for Beluna.

#27. Final Fantasy Adventure Towns

These adventure lands from Final Fantasy have powerful effects with a range of costs. Most are situational enough that they don't universally go in every deck of their color, but they're nice additions to decks that care about what they're doing thematically.

#26. Callous Sell-Sword

Fling is a very strong effect at 2 mana, so getting it for 1 on Burn Together is fantastic. It’s such an efficient threat that some mono-red decks run Callous Sell-Sword with no ability to cast the actual creature.

#25. Two-Handed Axe

Two-Handed Axe works really well in Boros equipment builds, especially when you can attach it to creatures without having to pay full cost. Its adventure is also a very powerful combat trick for dealing extra damage with an unblocked creature or removing an attacker/blocker that opponents thought was safe based on the board.

#24. Horn of Valhalla

Apart from being a very fun D&D magic item, Horn of Valhalla is perfect for token decks. Not only can it generate tokens, it also allows you to give one of your creatures a big buff once you’ve filled the board. It’s also in the right color for most token decks.

#23. Elusive Otter

While maybe not as competitive in a Constructed setting, I still think Elusive Otter makes a good addition to any Simic or Bant build that uses +1/+1 counters and other ways to buff your creatures. It's something to put counters on early, or the counter distributor if you draw it late.

#22. Altar of Bhaal

Altar of Bhaal gives you a repeatable form of reanimation. This is an excellent tool for any sacrifice deck that naturally has some good fodder for cards like this. It’s also great for cheating out big creatures in self-mill or dredge decks. Really my main complaint about this card is that it isn’t just called the “Bhaaltar”.

#21. Monster Manual

Monster Manual is an excellent way to cheat out a big creature. Even if you pay the full 6 mana to do it all at once, there are plenty of larger creatures that make this a good deal. It's also self-synergistic, as the adventure gives you a chance to hit a big creature to cheat out later.

#20. Mosswood Dreadknight

Mosswood Dreadknight was once an important part of the Standard metagame. You can choose to use its adventure right away if you need more cards, or you can drop it for a good early-game attacker. If it dies you can easily get it back after casting it as an adventure from your graveyard. While you may often have better plays by that point, it’s still a really nice option for grinding out card advantage in the mid- to late-game.

#19. Kellan, Daring Traveler

I like Kellan, Daring Traveler’s attack trigger for both weenies decks or decks that use graveyard interaction. Map tokens are perfectly fine, but the adventure's more or less free here; you might even consider Kellan for a deck that had no green sources at all.

#18. Most Decrepit Old Bird

Speak Secrets is a perfectly playable adventure for archetypes that want to fill the graveyard. The actual creature, Most Decrepit Old Bird is a fine payoff for the archetype its adventure enables. Milling a bunch of cards, then getting 2/2 fliers puts ample pressure on your opponents.

#17. Picklock Prankster

Picklock Prankster is Most Decrepit Old Bird’s predecessor and still the stronger card; while the creature is worse, having your draw spell be an instant is worlds better. They still go in the same archetypes like Izzet Phoenix that need a full graveyard, though.

#16. Virtue of Strength

The virtue cycle from Wilds of Eldraine includes some of the better adventure cards in the game. Virtue of Strength is a solid card for Commander even just for its adventure. Enchantment themed decks with cost reduction or just decks that ramp pretty fast can drop the 7-mana version in time for it to be relevant in a more casual Commander game.

#15. The Arkenstone

The Arkenstone has potential as an anthem that also draws cards, but artifacts like this have the extreme downside of being slow: They don’t do anything for the first few turns of the game so they can rot in your hand. The adventure solves this problem by giving The Arkenstone mid-game relevance as a legendary tutor.

#14. Decadent Dragon

As a 4/4 flying trampler that makes Treasures, Decadent Dragon would already have my attention as a nice budget alternative to Goldspan Dragon. Add in its adventure, Expensive Taste, and this card gets even better. Not only are you giving yourself a few options to play in the future, but you’re also taking those cards away from your opponent. Depending on what you hit, it might even be worth just leaving it in exile so they have no chance of getting them back.

#13. My Precious

My Precious exemplifies how a good adventure can make a card; Allure of Power is perfectly playable and many black sacrifice decks run similar effects. A draw spell that comes with decent equipment has a lot of potential in more casual decks that don’t need the cutthroat efficiency of 1-mana versions of the effect.

#12. Kellan, the Fae-Blooded

Kellan, the Fae-Blooded is a good choice for a Boros equipment Commander. Having an aura/equipment tutor in the command zone is a good way to start your game off, and it can hit the ground early as a creature. This version of Kellan lends itself to a bit of a Voltron build thanks to double strike and its ability to buff your other creatures based on how suited up it is.

#11. Imodane’s Recruiter

“Mythic uncommon” is a coveted term for Limited uncommons with the impact and power of a bomb rare. Playing Wilds of Eldraine Limited, I often wondered if Imodane's Recruiter didn’t deserve a new classification. The adventure is amazing, as is the creature. It still sees play in convoke decks capable of building a board from nothing with cards like Gleeful Demolition. Your opponent goes from 10 to dead like lightning with this.

#10. Virtue of Loyalty

Virtue of Loyalty’s ability to continue buffing your creatures and giving you a strong defense can have a big impact on your game. It’s also great when paired with creatures who tap to activate abilities, as this card gives you a second chance to use them each turn. While its adventure isn’t overwhelmingly good, it’s still nice to be able to put this card in exile early and protect it from being forcibly discarded.

#9. Murderous Rider

A 3-mana removal spell for creatures or planeswalkers is the kind of card you’d likely consider putting in a deck as is. Murderous Rider is just that plus the option to maybe have a creature later on. Even with the life loss, I’d play this over a card like Murder or Hero's Downfall any day thanks to the added utility.

#8. Virtue of Courage

A lot of burn commanders can make good use of Virtue of Courage. It allows you to spend your mana on damaging your opponents while getting free card draw as a bonus. This is also good for later in the game when you likely have more mana than cards to spend it on. You can continue drawing into more ways to do damage and subsequently get more impulsive draws.

#7. Virtue of Persistence

Virtue of Persistence’s adventure is a pretty cheap removal spell and can take out some decent early game threats. It can also get around pesky indestructible creatures like Brash Taunter. It'll be a lightning rod for removal once the enchantment arrives, but it'll take over in no time if they fail to remove it.

#6. Virtue of Knowledge

There are plenty of activated abilities that you can copy with Virtue of Knowledge for a major impact. Timestream Navigator and Time Sieve are just two that come to mind. This is also strong in its enchantment form and is the perfect addition to a Yarok, the Desecrated Commander deck.

#5. Glamdring, Foe-hammer

The adventure on Glamdring, Foe-hammer is mostly flavor text; decks running this care about the nasty equip ability. Every flavor of spellslinger wants this cost reduction. Storm-style decks love cards like Seething Song and Hex Magic costing while decks interested in bigger spells want to shave as much off the cost of Aminatou's Augury and Breach the Multiverse as possible to hold up copy spells.

#4. Scalding Viper

As Magic grows more efficient, decks are more likely to cast many cheap, high-impact spells, the exact play pattern Scalding Viper seeks to punish. It’s much harder to sit on Vivi Ornitier and cast 30 flavors of Opt when taking damage the entire time. The adventure provides a nice tempo play to finish things off, or force your opponent to slow down until you can land the Viper.

#3. Bonecrusher Giant

Bonecrusher Giant is perfectly on pace for Red Deck Wins. It can act as removal or just a bit of direct damage on your second turn, then it’s a big creature for only 3 mana on turn 3. If you’re dealing a lot of fast damage, deciding whether to target this creature for removal might trip up some opponents.

#2. Questing Druid

Questing Druid cemented its high spot with plenty of Constructed play. A cheap draw spell and a cheap threat is exactly what the fast-paced Magic of today wants. The adventure is an effective 2-mana draw-3 since you still get to cast the Questing Druid. Since red aggro these days often leans on prowess, it even represents some amount of damage for cards like Monastery Swiftspear and Emberheart Challenger.

#1. Brazen Borrower

Brazen Borrower was an absolute beast in Standard when it originally came out, which was true for a lot of Throne of Eldraine cards. It’s perfect for control decks and tempo decks that make good use of the Petty Theft adventure to stall opponents. Brazen Borrower can also be a solid threat or a situational surprise blocker. There’s just so much you can do with this card, and it really exemplifies what makes adventure cards so good.

Best Adventure Card Payoffs

Some of the best adventure card payoffs specifically want you to cast cards with the subtype. These include Gorion, Wise Mentor, Storyteller Pixie, Edgewall Innkeeper, Chancellor of Tales, and Lucky Clover. Lozhan, Dragons' Legacy gives you a few options of how to trigger its ability, allowing you to mix adventure with dragons to make a dual-themed deck out of the card types.

You’ll also want to look out for cards that pay you off when you cast cards from exile. Passionate Archaeologist is a nice way to do some extra damage when playing with adventure cards, especially because the permanent side often costs more. Nalfeshnee also synergizes well with adventures as it copies any you cast from exile. Prosper, Tome-Bound is one of the stronger payoffs for running adventures.

Appa, Steadfast Guardian, Fire Lord Zuko, Gwen Stacy/Ghost-Spider, and Urianger Augurelt are additional examples of play-from-exile payoffs. While these may seem mild at a +1/+1 counter, a 1/1 creature, or 2 life, these add up fast.

A separate category of cards return adventure cards back to your hand so you can replay the adventure. Run Away Together or This Town Ain't Big Enough rebuy your adventure while messing with an opponent's permanent. Regrowth and gravedigger effects do the same thing after your card's gone to the graveyard.

Adventures are also sneakily good at enabling cards that want you to cast multiple spells in a turn. Payoffs like Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff, The Council of Four, and Cosmogrand Zenith work great with adventures because one card with an adventure represents two spells, making it easier to enable them.

Wrap Up

Decadent Dragon | Illustration by Wylie Beckert

Adventure cards are an excellent example of a flashy mechanic done right. Not only does it add fun flavor to sets that are themed around characters going on quests, but these are versatile cards that can be very powerful.

What’s your favorite adventure card? Do you think the mechanic could become evergreen, or is it better when printed in moderation? Let me know in the comments or in the Draftsim Discord. And check out The Daily Upkeep newsletter to stay up to date on all the latest MTG news.

Thank you for reading, let's go there and back again!