Behold in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Timothy Zaccagnino January 14, 2026 MTG Cards, MTG Rules

Last updated on January 14, 2026

Molten Exhale | Illustration by Nathaniel Himawan

Behold was introduced to us as a dragon-centric mechanic in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, but it was expanded to other creature types with the release of Lorwyn Eclipsed. In other words, behold seems like it’s here to stay, at least whenever WotC feels like using it. It’s a pretty elegant way to pay off a specific card type, and there’s probably still room to expand it beyond creature types in the future (ex: “behold artifact”).

All-in-all, it’s a simple mechanic that comes with the expected amount of rules baggage, so if you’ve got a question in mind, you can behold the answers for yourself.

Table of Contents show

How Does Behold Work?

Champion of the Clachan | Illustration by Edgar Sánchez Hidalgo

Behold is an additional cost that allows you to claim a benefit if you reveal a card of a specific type from your hand or control a permanent of that type. In some cases, you can’t even cast a spell without beholding first, and in others, it’s an optional cost that makes your effect stronger.

Basically, to behold, you simply have to point to something with the specified card type, whether that’s onboard or in your hand.

Behold is mostly used as an additional cost to cast a spell, but it can also be an action you take as part of the resolution of another ability. Behold is no longer tied directly to dragons. We only saw “behold a dragon” in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, but the mechanic now incorporates other card types.

The History of Behold in MTG

Behold was introduced in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, teased early in the set’s preview cycle on Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant. The developers talked about it as more of a textural part of the set, not a huge headlining mechanic. Behold wasn’t even used on any cards from the accompanying Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander set.

Lorwyn Eclipsed reused behold as a callback to the old champion mechanic, allowing you to tuck away a creature to cast a much stronger creature of the same type. This set used behold with elves, goblins, elementals, kithkin, and merfolk. It also introduced us to the first spells that could behold multiple cards at once, with Celestial Reunion and Kindle the Inner Flame.

Note that the mechanic existed in a non-keyworded form back in Dragons of Tarkir, where it appeared on cards like Silumgar's Scorn and Foul-Tongue Invocation. Behold dragons in Tarkir: Dragonstorm is an homage to these cards.

What if the Beheld Card Dies in Response?

If you reveal or choose a card as an additional cost, you’ll get your behold bonus regardless of what happens to that card. Even if an opponent somehow makes you discard the revealed card or kills the permanent you chose to behold, you’ve already paid the cost. Remember, behold asks you to reveal or choose as you cast the spell, so there’s no window when an opponent can interrupt the action.

The exception here is Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant, because the behold ability is tied to an enters trigger, not an additional cost. In the case of Sarkhan, your opponent could kill off any dragons you control before that ability resolved. If you didn’t have any dragons in hand to reveal, this would essentially shut off your ability to behold. However, they can’t let the ability resolve, wait for you to choose a dragon to behold, and then decide to interact, because by that point the behold ability has already resolved.

Can You Counter Behold?

No. You can counter a spell that has behold, but you can’t specifically target the behold ability. Stifle, for example, will have no effect against a card like Caustic Exhale, since there’s no activated or triggered ability to target.

Note that counterspells are especially effective againct the Lorwyn Eclipsed champions, since countering them will cause the beheld card to remain exiled.

Is Behold an Activated Ability?

No, though it’s possible that future cards use behold as the cost to use an activated ability.

Is Behold a Triggered Ability?

No, behold is just a keyword action you take when prompted to do so. It can be a part of a triggered ability, as seen on Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant, but behold itself is not a triggered ability.

Gallery and List of Behold Cards

Digital-Only Behold Cards

Best Behold Cards

#4. The Little Lorwyn Beholders

There’s a whole cycle of cheap creatures that cost 1-2 mana but require beholding a creature of their main type. These are excellent if you can behold, and pretty bad otherwise, so stick to your respective typal synergies and these will pay you off. I’ve got my eye on Soulbright Seeker as a way to effortlessly turn 3 mana into 4 mana.

#3. The Exhale Cycle

Tarkir: Dragonstorm‘s exhales are all tied directly to dragons, and go from replaceable to above-rate interaction if you can reliably behold a dragon.

For example, Quench is pretty weak, but Dispelling Exhale is actually quite pushed for a counterspell if you have the dragon mode online. Molten Exhale was a notable standout, but was quickly power crept by Sear. Caustic Exhale has also been used in Standard to good effect in various black dragon decks.

#2. Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant

Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant is another dragons-only card, but one that kickstarts their curve early and bashes late. It goes in exactly one style of deck, but it's very good in exactly that home.

#1. The Lorwyn Eclipsed Champions

Not unlike the exhales, the champions from Lorwyn Eclipsed are powerful cards that only slot into one deck each, so there’s not a lot of wiggle room. Champions of the Perfect is pretty nuts as a giant Beast Whisperer, and Champion of the Path has some potent burn potential for elementals. The rest I can take or leave, though you’ll be interested in their respective decks.

Behold: The End!

Soulbright Seeker | Illustration by Kev Fang

Behold ended up a minor part of Tarkir: Dragonstorm, but Lorwyn Eclipsed made it evident that WotC had bigger plans for the mechanic. It’s heavily tied to creature types right now, but there’s nothing saying it has to stay that way, and seeing it in two sets within twelve months of one another leads me to believe we’ll see behold a bit more often.

I predicted “behold brushwagg” at one point, and I’m still holding out hope, but I’ll be happy if we start to see it on broader card types, too. If you want to see more behold in the future, let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord!

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Timothy Zaccagnino

Timothy has been a Magic enthusiast since picking up the game in 2012, with a love of Limited and Commander. He's the co-creator of Jank Diver Gaming and host of The Jank Tank podcast. These days you can find him at the draft table, brewing his 20th EDH deck or cubing with friends on Arena.