Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin MTG Card


Search for Azcanta provides consistent card selection and later, transformation into a resourceful land. The card facilitates strategic plays with its instant speed ability post-transformation. Despite its strengths, it requires careful play around discard and mana costs.
Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeLegendary Enchantment
Abilities Surveil,Transform

Text of card

At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top card of your library. You may put it into your graveyard. Then if you have seven or more cards in your graveyard, you may transform Search for Azcanta.

The Sunken Ruin houses all the learning of a long-forgotten age.


Cards like Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin

Search for Azcanta stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a transformative card, with its ability to flip into a potent land, Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, influencing deck building and gameplay. A card to consider alongside it is Thassa’s Intervention. While both provide card selection, Thassa’s Intervention offers instant speed flexibility, either acting as a counter or a dig tool, which Azcanta can’t match in terms of instantaneity.

Another comparable spell is Anticipate, allowing you to look at the top three cards of your library and pick one. It’s a faster, more immediate effect compared to the gradual filtering Search for Azcanta offers. Yet, it lacks the long-term value that Azcanta’s transformation brings. Sylvan Library is an enchantment with a somewhat similar effect, giving you access to more cards each turn and some degree of selection. However, it doesn’t have the game-altering potential of flipping into a powerful land.

When considering the flexibility and power level of cards that sculpt the hand and library, Search for Azcanta occupies a unique role due to its enduring board presence and the sheer advantage it can generate over time in Magic: The Gathering.

Thassa's Intervention - MTG Card versions
Anticipate - MTG Card versions
Sylvan Library - MTG Card versions
Thassa's Intervention - MTG Card versions
Anticipate - MTG Card versions
Sylvan Library - MTG Card versions

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Card Pros

Card Advantage: Search for Azcanta enables players to consistently sift through their library, offering valuable card selection each turn. Upon transforming, it turns into Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, which digs deeper into the deck to access noncreature spells, drastically improving card quality and advantage.

Resource Acceleration: As Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin, it contributes to resource acceleration by potentially providing an additional “land” that taps for colorless mana. More crucially, it accelerates your game plan by filtering through your library to find essential spells that can further your board position or combo potential.

Instant Speed: The transformed version has an activated ability that can be used at instant speed, allowing you to hold up mana for counterspells or other interactive plays, and then utilize the ability to find more action if no immediate threats need to be answered. This flexibility ensures that you are constantly making the most of your available resources.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In the progression of a game where resource management is crucial, the requirement to discard cards to transform Search for Azcanta can pose a strategic setback. Strategically, this might force a player to make tough choices about which cards to keep and which to discard, especially in the early to mid-game where each card’s value is significant.

Specific Mana Cost: Search for Azcanta’s initial mana cost necessitates a commitment to blue mana, which could restrict deck-building options. Players looking to incorporate this card must adapt their mana base accordingly, favoring blue sources more strongly and possibly narrowing the diversity of strategies within the deck.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the two blue mana to activate Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin may seem manageable, it is higher than some of the other card advantage options available. When efficiency is key, the mana investment required for continuous activation may compete with other critical plays in a turn, potentially slowing down the player’s tempo and impacting overall performance in fast-paced games.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Search for Azcanta is a card that easily finds a home in blue-based control and midrange decks. Its ability to filter through your deck in the early game and transform into a powerful land in the later stages makes it exceptionally adaptable to various game scenarios.

Combo Potential: In combination with cards that care about the number of cards in the graveyard or benefit from self-mill, Search for Azcanta can become a pivotal piece of intricate decks engineered to extract value from the graveyard or to assemble key pieces for a winning combo.

Meta-Relevance: Given the utility of recurring card advantage in nearly all MTG formats, Search for Azcanta remains relevant, particularly where longer games and strategic plays dominate. Its applicability in current meta environments where information and the right answers at the right time are king, cannot be overstated.


How to beat Search for Azcanta

Search for Azcanta is a highly strategic enchantment card in Magic: The Gathering, known for its potential to transform into the powerful land, Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin. To tackle this card, disrupting your opponent’s graveyard is key. By employing graveyard hate cards such as Tormod’s Crypt or Leyline of the Void, you can prevent the accumulation of cards in the graveyard, which is essential for the transformation of Search for Azcanta.

Another effective strategy is to use enchantment removal spells like Disenchant or Naturalize, enabling you to deal with the Search for Azcanta before it can flip or right after the transformation. Though it requires precise timing, it ensures the power of Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin is never unleashed. Additionally, countering the card upon cast with spells like Negate or Cancel can prevent your opponent from setting this powerful engine on the board altogether.

Severing the synergy between Search for Azcanta and your opponent’s deck demands a proactive approach. Whether through smart graveyard interaction, direct removal, or countering it at the right moment, handling this card effectively can mitigate the advantage it provides over the course of the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

Exploring the depths of MTG deck building, Search for Azcanta is a treasure trove for players who appreciate the art of strategy and long-term planning. Its transformative ability, from a blue enchantment to a powerful land, can be the key to unlocking your deck’s full potential. Understand the nuances it brings to gameplay, embrace the card advantage it offers and consider the tactical approaches to making the most of this gem. Ready to dive deeper and enhance your MTG prowess? We’re here to guide your quest as you tailor your deck with Search for Azcanta’s dynamic capabilities.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin MTG card by a specific set like Ixalan and Ixalan Promos, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2017-09-29 and 2023-05-08. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12017-09-29IxalanXLN 742015TransformBlackMagali Villeneuve
22017-09-29Ixalan PromosPXLN 74s2015TransformBlackMagali Villeneuve
32019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 15022015TransformBorderlessJonas De Ro
42023-05-08From Cute to BrutePCTB 132015TransformBlackMagali Villeneuve

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2017-09-29 If a seventh card is put into your graveyard by something other than resolving Search for Azcanta’s triggered ability, you won’t transform it yet. You’ll have to wait until your next upkeep.
2017-09-29 If you don’t put the top card of your library into your graveyard while resolving Search for Azcanta’s triggered ability, you’ll leave it on top of your library (and probably draw it during your draw step).
2017-09-29 If you have seven or more cards in your graveyard, you may transform Search for Azcanta while resolving its triggered ability even if you choose not to put the top card of your library into your graveyard.
2018-01-19 For more information on double-faced cards, see the Ixalan mechanics article (http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/ixalan-mechanics).