Adventures in MTG: Rules, History, and FAQ

Last updated on February 5, 2026

Lucky Clover | Illustration by John Stanko

Once Upon a Time, there was this game called Magic: The Gathering. The creators of this game decided to take fairytale-type stories and mend them with this game. The result was Throne of Eldraine. And with the fairytale-MTG mashup came an awesome and amazing mechanic: adventure.

This mechanic gives fun and exciting gameplay, good flavor, and access to extra spells. It’s been one of my favorite mechanics since I’ve started in Magic. Let’s talk everything adventure.

How Does Adventure Work?

Adventure is an instant or sorcery you can cast before you get to the main card. When you first take a look at a card with the adventure mechanic, you can immediately tell that it’s different.

Wait, it has two spells on it? Is this a split card? Is it double-faced? Nope! These, my friend, are adventures. You undoubtedly have questions, but it’s easier than you think.

You can cast either spell on the card for its indicated mana cost. You have to choose one of the spells, though. You can’t cast both at the same time. The cost of the main spell (which is almost always a permanent) is indicated as it is on most cards in the upper right corner. There are a few adventures on lands, and you can play them as lands under normal timing restrictions. The cost of the adventure spell is indicated on the inset spell.

Take Brazen Borrower as an example. The Borrower is the creature spell, and Petty Theft is the adventure spell. If you cast the creature, the spell is cast and resolved as normal. But if you cast the adventure spell, it resolves differently.

Can Adventures Be Cast from Exile?

You can cast the main spell of the card from exile if you resolved the inset spell, the one labeled “adventure.” Both spells must follow the appropriate casting time rules.

That’s it. It’s only weird because it’s not very typical for Magic, but it’s pretty natural once you do it. It's not entirely unlike the hideaway mechanic with some obvious differences.

In the comprehensive rules for Magic, adventures are described in the glossary as “cards with a two-part card frame (one part of which is inset of the left) on a single card.” We’ll talk about and clarify some frequently asked questions in just a second, but if you want to take a look at the nitty gritty of adventures check out Rule 715.

What Happens if an Adventure Spell Is Countered?

If an adventure spell is countered, it does not resolve. It goes to the graveyard like any other spell that’s been countered would and doesn’t get exiled, so you can’t cast the other part of the card later. The adventure mechanic states: “As it resolves, its controller exiles it.” The part to focus on here is “as it resolves.”

Do Adventures Count as Instants or Sorceries?

The only time an adventure card is an instant or sorcery is when the inset spell has been cast and is on the stack. In all other locations (library, hand, battlefield, graveyard, exile), it has the characteristics of the main spell.

Twice Upon a Time is an exception since the main spell is actually a sorcery too.

Do Adventure Spells Have Summoning Sickness?

Yes, the creature portion of an adventure card can’t attack or tap the same turn it entered the battlefield. Summoning sickness applies no matter if it was cast from your hand or from exile. Unless it has haste, of course.

Can You Cast Adventure Spells from the Graveyard?

No, the permanent side of adventure spells can be cast from exile. If it has been discarded from your hand, milled from your deck, or killed off the battlefield, you need to return it to your hand to have the option for the adventure.

Do Adventures Count As Abilities?

No, an adventure spell is cast like other spells, and is not a trigger, static, or activated ability.

What Happens When I Copy an Adventure?

While the copy created by Twincast would technically go into exile upon resolution, a copy of an instant or sorcery can only exist on the stack. Once the copy goes into exile it ceases to exist and you won’t be able to cast the main card portion of that copy later. The original spell that was copied will be exiled as an adventure spell normally is and you can cast the other half later by paying its cost. Assuming it resolves.

What Happens When an Adventure Card is Cast Without Paying Its Mana Cost?

Congrats, you get access to two spells if you can cast an adventure card. When you cast an adventure card, you choose whether you play the main card or the adventure. You can choose the adventure portion when resolving Electrodominance’s effect. Then the adventure card follows the path and stays in exile for you to cast at a later time.

Is an Adventure an Instant or Sorcery in the Graveyard?

No. While a card with adventure is in the graveyard, it’s not an instant or a sorcery. It maintains the characteristics of the main spell in any zone other than the stack.

Adventure vs. Omen

The omens from Tarkir: Dragonstorm tweaked how the inset text on adventures work. With both adventures and omens you get both spells as options to play from your hand. However, when an omen resolves the whole card gets shuffled into your deck rather than go to exile for on-demand re-play. Bramble Familiar can go Fetch Quest, then potentially be cast as a creature that same turn.Marang River Regent on the other hand can Sift but would need to be drawn again, or tutored for to get replayed.

Can You Discover into an Adventure?

A spell or ability with discover lets you flip cards from the top of your library until you reveal a card with mana value equal to or less than the specified discover number. This gets a little tricky with adventures, but the first important thing to remember is that you're only using the mana value in the upper right corner of the card to determine if your adventure spell meets the discover criteria.

Once you've landed on an adventure card that falls in the discover range, you can either cast it as normal, or cast the adventure spell if its mana value also falls in the appropriate range. You cannot cast an adventure spell that's more expensive than the discover number, even if the main part of the adventure spell is less.

For example, you cast Geological Appraiser, which has discover 3. Here's your options if you revealed the following adventure cards:

• Young Blue Dragon: You would continue to reveal cards with discover. Young Blue Dragon has a mana value of 5 and therefore can't be “found” with discover 3.
• Bramble Familiar: Discover 3 sees that you landed on a 2-mana spell, so you can cast Bramble Familiar from exile. You cannot cast Fetch Quest, since it has a mana value of 7.
• Heartflame Duelist: Discover 3 sees Heartflame Duelist as a 2-mana spell, so you may cast that creature. You could also instead cast the Heartflame Slash adventure since it also matches the discover 3 restriction.
• Midgar, City of Makot: Gets skipped because discover only goes for nonland cards.

In other words, the main spell has to meet the discover criteria first, then you may choose to cast the adventure instead if it also meets that criteria.

Can Tournament Grounds Tap for a Colored Mana to Cast the Adventure Portion of a Card like Murderous Rider?

No. When casting the adventure portion, it only has the characteristics of the adventure spell. While Swift End is on the stack, it is a black instant with not other characteristics of Murderous Rider. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a knight and colored mana from Tournament Grounds couldn't be used to cast it.

Do the Multiple Card Types on an Adventure Card Count Toward Effects like Delirium or Tarmogoyf?

No. While an adventure card is in the graveyard, it maintains the characteristics of the main spell. It will only count as its main spell for abilities that care about card types like delirium.

History of Adventure Cards

Adventure Awaits | Illustration by Billy Christian

The adventure mechanic came to Magic with Throne of Eldraine in 2019. It's heavily associated with Eldraine and branched out to enchantments with Wilds of Eldraine. Both sets were designed around popular fairytales that you’ve probably heard of. For example, WotC created Embercleave as the Magic universe’s version of Excalibur. I think the integration was done really well and made for a fun and interesting set. And the flavor of these cards going on an “adventure” goes perfectly with the fairytale theme.

Adventures were also heavily featured in Dungeons & Dragons: Battle for Baldur's Gate, and the following sets all feature at least one adventure card:

• Final Fantasy + Final Fantasy Commander
• Duskmourn Commander
• Bloomburrow Commander
• Doctor Who
• Fallout
• The Lost Caverns of Ixalan + LCI Commander
• Murders at Karlov Manor
• Unfinity
• Modern Horizons 3

Safe to say this is a fairly popular mechanic. According to the Storm Scale, it's likely to come back in future Standard sets. WotC wants to find the right place for it, though. We probably won’t see it very often. It’s low on the scale as it is and it seems like Wizards may view the flavor of the mechanic as pretty specific to Eldraine, so they might not give it another go until there’s another space they like for it.

Notable Adventure Cards

Some adventure cards are super powerful and make an impact in multiple formats. Fae of Wishes, Brazen Borrower and Bonecrusher Giant were huge players in their Standard. Some of these still see Eternal play as light disruptive spells with meaningful bodies attached to them, and Fae of Wishes in particular is a sign of a combo deck.

Virtue of Persistence and Virtue of Loyalty are both strong players in many decks, and each of them work well with Lucky Clover and Edgewall Innkeeper.

Beluna Grandsquall is notable as a Temur commander that cares specifically about adventure spells, while having an adventure of its own.

Twice Upon a Time from Doctor Who is notable as the first adventure that isn't a permanent on the base card. It's a sorcery adventure attached to another sorcery.

Happily Ever After

Bonecrusher Giant | Illustration by Victor Adame Minguez

I hope we see more adventure cards in the future, though I don’t necessarily expect to see them again soon.

Adventure cards can be incredibly versatile and give you access to extra spells compared to decks without them. I think it’s a very well-designed mechanic for both Limited and Constructed. We’ll see when WotC decides to bless us with it again.

That’s all I have for you today! What’s your favorite adventure card? Let me know in the comments. And don’t forget to keep an eye on us for more awesome stuff. Check out our Discord and Twitter to keep the conversation going!

Thank you for your time, and have a good one!