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  3. Amalia Benavides Aguirre

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Amalia Benavides Aguirre

Amalia Benavides Aguirre

Legendary Creature — Vampire Scout

Amalia Benavides Aguirre wants a deck that gains life over and over and gets rewarded for it. It also suits a deck that answers everything its opponents play, then wins late.

  • Mana costwhiteblack
  • White, Black ()
  • Power / toughness2 / 2
  • RarityRare

Ward—Pay 3 life.

Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all other creatures if its power is exactly 20. (To have this creature explore, reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)

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Archetypes

Cards That Fit Amalia Benavides Aguirre

Picked for what they do in Amalia Benavides Aguirre's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Amalia Benavides Aguirre's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

Rulings for Amalia Benavides Aguirre

explain how Amalia Benavides Aguirre works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

Amalia Benavides Aguirre's power is checked only once, as the triggered ability resolves. If it is no longer on the battlefield at that point, use its power as it last existed on the battlefield.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

Amalia Benavides Aguirre's power must be exactly 20 during the resolution of its last ability after it finishes exploring in order to destroy all other creatures. If it's more or less than 20, nothing is destroyed.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

If a resolving spell or ability instructs a specific creature to explore but that creature has left the battlefield, the creature still explores. If you reveal a nonland card this way, you won't put a +1/+1 counter on anything, but you may put the revealed card into your graveyard. Effects that trigger "whenever a creature explores" trigger as appropriate.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

If an ability instructs a creature to explore, its controller reveals the top card of their library. If it's a land card, they'll put it into their hand. Otherwise, they'll put a +1/+1 counter on that creature, then choose to either leave that card on top of their library or put it into their graveyard.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

If multiple creatures with lifelink you control deal combat damage at the same time, the damage dealt by each of those creatures is a separate life-gaining event and Amalia Benavides Aguirre's ability will trigger that many times.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

If no card is revealed, most likely because that player's library is empty, the exploring creature receives a +1/+1 counter.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

In some unusual cases, noncreature permanents may explore. For example, if the creature card returned by Defossilize is somehow not a creature once it's on the battlefield, it can still explore. You'll take all the same actions, and you may end up putting a +1/+1 counter on the permanent. (Note that some effects target a creature, and those effects would still require a legal target to have it explore.)

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

Once an ability that causes a creature to explore begins to resolve, no player may take any other actions until it's done. Notably, opponents can't try to remove the exploring creature after you reveal a nonland card but before it receives a counter.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

Some spells or abilities might cause a creature to explore multiple times in a row. If you reveal a nonland card when a creature explores and leave it on top of your library, then the creature explores again immediately afterwards, you'll reveal the same card again.

Wizards of the Coast 10 Nov 2023

The instruction for Amalia Benavides Aguirre to explore and the effect that occurs if Amalia Benavides Aguirre's power is exactly 20 are all part of the same ability. Players do not get to chance to respond to the ability after knowing the result of the explore.

10 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Amalia Benavides Aguirre, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWBPlayers write colors as letters: W for white, B for black.LifegainLifegain decks gain life over and over and use cards that reward each gain with extra cards, creatures or damage to opponents. Everyone starts at 40 life in Commander, so the extra life also keeps you safe while you set up.Open the Lifegain pageLifegain PayoffTurns life gain into an actual effect: draining opponents, drawing cards, or growing creatures each time you gain life. Without one of these, gaining life mostly just delays things. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Sanguine BondOpen the Lifegain Payoff pageControlControl decks answer what everyone else plays, stopping spells and removing dangerous cards, then win slowly once they are in charge. Expect lots of removal, spells that cancel other spells, and extra card draw.Open the Control pageBoard WipeA spell that destroys, exiles, or otherwise removes all creatures at once. Also called a sweeper or a wrath, after Wrath of God. One that deals damage or gives -X/-X counts only at 7 or more, enough to kill almost every creature people play, like Blasphemous Act. A smaller one is a Mini Sweeper.Open the Board Wipe pageProtectionA creature with protection from something, like a color, is safe from anything with that quality. It cannot be damaged, enchanted or equipped, blocked, or targeted by it, and players remember the four with the word DEBT. It does not stop effects that neither target nor damage, like a board wipe that destroys every creature. ProgenitusOpen the Protection pageLibrary ManipulationCards that let you look at, rearrange or play from the top of your deck, so you control what you draw next.Open the Library Manipulation pageExploreWhen a creature explores, you reveal the top card of your library. If it is a land, it goes to your hand; if not, the creature gets a +1/+1 counter and you may put that card into your graveyard.Open the Explore pageLife Pay EngineCards that let you pay life instead of mana, or pay life for an extra effect, treating your life total as something to spend.Open the Life Pay Engine page