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Merfolk Cave-Diver LCI 0065 · uncommon

Merfolk Cave-Diver · {2}{U} · Creature — Merfolk Scout · Whenever a creature you control explores, this creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn and can't be blocked this turn. · Power / toughness: 2/4 · "Learn all you can of this underground sea. I suspect more secrets of our ancestors lie waiting in its depths."
—Tishana

Merfolk Cave-Diver · {2}{U} · Creature — Merfolk Scout · Whenever a creature you control explores, this creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn and can't be blocked this turn. · Power / toughness: 2/4 · "Learn all you can of this underground sea. I suspect more secrets of our ancestors lie waiting in its depths." —Tishana

Price
from $0.191 printing
Win rate
53.4% GIH 12,456 instances · Premier Draft
Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023 · 17Lands
Draft
◆ Key pickExploration makes it unblockable for the turn, so use a Map before combat when you need damage.

Game-in-hand win rate, all deck colors. 6,652 wins in 12,456 card-in-hand instances.

11,548 distinct games · 4,181 distinct drafts · games recorded Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023.

17Lands file dated Dec 27, 2023 · 100-instance minimum · 17Lands public data ↗

Play

River Herald Expedition · Blue–GreenRiver Herald Expedition plan →

Exploration makes it unblockable for the turn, so use a Map before combat when you need damage.

How this changes your picks

Rules-derived
Take it when
Explore repeatedly to improve draws and grow creatures, then force through damage with an evasive reward. Look for support such as Cenote Scout and Waterwind Scout.
What to take next
Use Scout’s Map to explore: revealing a land can put a land from your hand into play tapped; a nonland grows Nicanzil.
Wrong pick
Explore is not always a counter. If your plan needs a bigger creature, account for revealing a land instead.
Mana & splash
Count the colored sources needed to cast this card on time; a synergy payoff is not a reason to weaken an otherwise consistent mana base.

More

One-pick Draft
Exploration makes it unblockable for the turn, so use a Map before combat when you need damage.

Draft data

53.4%when drawn (GIH)

−1.9 pp vs 55.3% average · 12,456 instances

Premier Draft · Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023 · average from 823,614 games

#173 of 251 nonland cards by win rate · last seen around pick 6.2 on average (95,739 packs).

29 of 41 blue cards · 11 of 14 blue uncommon cards.

Taken at pick8.713,621 picks
Makes the deck36.2%13,621 picks with known usage
When played52.7%25,580.5 matchesBenched 55.5%
42,795.5 matches
When drawn53.4%12,456 instances

Pick and maindeck observations: Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023. Played/benched cells use matches when available; the drawn cell uses game instances.

○ Opening hand 52.8% · 5,152 instances
● Drawn later 53.8% · 7,304 instances

In hand 53.4% · 12,456 instances
Unseen in deck 51.8% · 17,623 instances
+1.6 percentage points when drawn

Compared with blue cards

Win rate when drawn53.4%12,456 instances29 of 41
Opening hand52.8%5,152 instances25 of 41
Drawn later53.8%7,304 instances29 of 41
In the deck52.5%30,266 instances30 of 41
Without seeing it51.8%17,623 instances31 of 41
Improvement when drawn+1.6 pp12,456 instances / 17,623 instances15 of 41
When benched55.5%42,795.5 matches26 of 41
Makes the deck36.2%13,621 picks with known usage27 of 41
Pick (last seen)6.295,739 packs24 of 41
Taken at8.713,621 picks25 of 41

Ranks require 100 observations for that metric; comparisons are descriptive, not a pick order. Pick ranks put earlier picks first.

Best decks for it

no-splash decks only · card-level in-hand rates · 100 minimum

River Herald Expedition UG54.7%4,175 instancesOltec Ingenuity WU54.0%2,255 instancesEchoes of the Dead UB53.0%1,237 instancesPirates' Plunder UR49.4%1,407 instances

Each tick is this card’s all-decks rate (53.4% · 12,456 instances). A high card rate does not prove that splashing it will improve your deck.

Best with

Adjusted associations, ranked by confidence.

Lodestone Needle+4.5 pp9,135 games with both in the deck · 1,895 both drawn
How to read this

Observational, not a causal bonus. Both cards must be in the deck. Drawn means opening hand or normally drawn; each card counts once per game. Game-level approximate intervals do not account for repeated games by the same drafter.

At least 100 games in each of four drawn/not-drawn groups; adjusted for game length and screened by the lower confidence bound. Do not add these points to a card’s win rate.

Where it sits in the set

Above 31% of 251 nonland cards with 100+ instances, in win-rate order.

30% or lowerWin rate94% or higher

17Lands public datasets ↗ · CC BY 4.0 ↗ · Nov 9–Dec 25, 2023

Collect

1 printingScryfall USD, snapshot Oct 25Pack odds →

Pick a printing for its prices and pull odds.

Prices

LCI 0065 · Regular printingListings ↗
FinishFound inPrice
Nonfoildraft · set · Commander Deck Display · Commander Deck Explorers of the Deep · Commander Deck Set of 4$0.19
FoilCollector Booster · draft · set$0.28

Foil in a Collector Booster · Modeled · About 1 in 31 packs (3.26%) · 32.8% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

Foil in a draft · Modeled · About 1 in 1,104 packs (0.09%) · 3.2% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

Nonfoil in a draft · Modeled · About 1 in 27 packs (3.75%) · 74.7% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

Foil in a set · Modeled · About 1 in 368 packs (0.27%) · 7.8% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

Nonfoil in a set · Modeled · About 1 in 28 packs (3.63%) · 67.0% per display · MTGJSON model Oct 25, 2026 · How it’s modeled →

How to pull it

Official rates for the whole category, not this card.

BoosterSlotPer packCategory
Draft BoosterCommon or traditional foil33%Traditional foil of any rarity
Draft BoosterUncommons100% per positionUncommons
Set BoosterUncommons100% per positionUncommons
Set BoosterTraditional foil of any rarity100%Traditional foil of any rarity
Set BoosterWildcards100% per positionWildcards
Collector BoosterTraditional foil uncommons100% per positionTraditional foil uncommons

Wizards · Collecting The Lost Caverns of Ixalan ↗ · Oct 29, 2026

Details & sources

Legal in
Standard · Historic · Timeless · Pioneer · Modern · Legacy · Vintage · CommanderLimited eligibility depends on the event and its booster pool.
Illustration
Fesbra, LCI 65 · Scryfall ↗
More like this
River Herald Expedition cards → · Regular printing printings →
Sources
Wizards · Collecting The Lost Caverns of Ixalan · Oct 29, 2026
Scryfall USD, snapshot Oct 25
Comprehensive Rules ↗