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Moxonomy

Goblin Researcher

Creature — Goblin Wizard3 generic manaRed mana

Impulse-draw with a leash. The card exiled on entry does not sit there waiting to be spent whenever: you only get to play it during a turn you attacked with this Goblin, which welds the card advantage to an aggressive posture and denies it to a defender content to hang back and dig. That is a sharper constraint than most red card-draw creatures carry. The usual model hands you the card unconditionally, whether it is Elvish Visionary in green or the countless red cantrips-on-a-stick; this one makes you commit the body to combat first, then rewards the turn you did. A body that dies before it swings leaves the exiled card stranded, so the ability functions as a payoff for keeping the attacker alive and pressuring, not something you drip out at leisure. The two clauses are also worth reading carefully: the exile happens on the enters trigger, the permission to play the card is a separate linked ability, and both are tied to this object. Blink it or reanimate it and you get a fresh object with a fresh exile, but the card the original trigger stashed away is now orphaned; no attack with the new copy will unlock it. The interest is entirely in tying the payoff to the attack step, turning a would-be card-advantage creature into a standing reason to keep pushing damage.

Goblin Researcher (j22)
J22 · #34common
Pricing
Normal: $0.09
Foil:
Oracle Text

Rules text

When this creature enters, exile the top card of your library. During any turn you attacked with this creature, you may play that card.
Legalities

Format Status

Standard
N/A
Pioneer
N/A
Modern
N/A
Legacy
Legal
Vintage
Legal
Commander
Legal
Pauper
Legal
Brawl
Legal
Historic
Legal
Alchemy
N/A
Timeless
Legal
Standard Brawl
N/A
More formats
Old School
N/A
Premodern
N/A
PreDH
N/A
Pauper Commander
Legal
Oathbreaker
Legal
Gladiator
Legal
Penny Dreadful
N/A
Duel Commander
Legal
Future Standard
N/A
COMPETITIVEBRAWL
Legal
TLR
N/A
Printings elsewhere

Other printings

1 set
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