Experimental Augury
Instant
Look at the top three cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One
- Price
- $0.39
- EDHREC rank
- #1305
Experimental Augury digs two cards deep, puts a counter on something, and replaces itself in hand — all for two mana. Under Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus that proliferate doubles, turning a cantrip into a two-counter engine that also filters your draws.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus
Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus doubles every proliferate trigger, so Experimental Augury's single counter becomes two — on anything you choose — while still replacing itself in hand. At 90% inclusion across Tekuthal lists, it's essentially a staple.
Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres
Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres cares about +1/+1 counters proliferating onto his creatures, and Experimental Augury delivers a free counter trigger on top of card selection for two mana. Nearly 80% of Ezuri lists run it because the floor is a cantrip and the ceiling is a meaningful counter step forward.
Kilo, Apogee Mind
Kilo, Apogee Mind rewards stacking counters across permanents, and Experimental Augury slots in as cheap, self-replacing proliferate that advances that plan without consuming a full card. It shows up in over 60% of Kilo lists precisely because it does two jobs at once.
Inspirit, Flagship Vessel
Inspirit, Flagship Vessel builds around accumulating counters on permanents, and Experimental Augury is the kind of low-cost proliferate spell that keeps the engine ticking without losing card parity. Sixty percent inclusion signals it's a reliable role-player rather than a fringe pick.
Jin-Gitaxias
Jin-Gitaxias leans on proliferating poison and other counter types to close games, and Experimental Augury fits as cheap, interactive proliferate that digs toward combo pieces while adding a counter along the way. Over half of Jin-Gitaxias lists include it because the card selection alone justifies the slot.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Experimental Augury is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is the format where it actually earns a slot. In 60-card formats the bar for a two-mana cantrip that doesn't guarantee card advantage is too high — Ponder and Preordain do more for less in the formats where they're legal, and where they're not, the competition is still stiff. Pauper is the one 60-card exception worth noting: if you're building a dedicated proliferate shell at common, Experimental Augury is a real option. Commander is where it belongs, specifically in counter-centric strategies where the proliferate rider turns a simple cantrip into a tempo-positive play.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.39 bulk tier
At $0.39, Experimental Augury sits firmly in bulk territory — pick it up without thinking twice if you're running any proliferate commander. Bulk rares with high inclusion rates in popular archetypes tend to stay cheap, so don't expect this to spike, but don't expect a reprint to tank it further either.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.