Activating a creature card’s unearth ability isn’t the same as casting the creature card. The unearth ability is put on the stack, but the creature card is not. Spells and abilities that interact with activated abilities (such as Stifle) will interact with unearth, but spells and abilities that interact with spells (such as Remove Soul) will not.
If a creature returned to the battlefield with unearth would leave the battlefield for any reason, it’s exiled instead — unless the spell or ability that’s causing the creature to leave the battlefield is actually trying to exile it! In that case, it succeeds at exiling it. If it later returns the creature card to the battlefield (as Oblivion Ring or Flickerwisp might, for example), the creature card will return to the battlefield as a new object with no relation to its previous existence. The unearth effect will no longer apply to it.
Last observed on Scryfall 2 months ago at $0.34. Over the trailing 90 days the price moved between $0.02 and $0.34 across 50 observations. Cross-checked across TCGplayer, eBay sold, Cardmarket EU, and Star City.
This printing is one of 3 catalogued treatments from ALA — the lineup includes Foil and Nonfoil alongside the standard finish. Across our catalog the Rarix library tracks every variant in the same family so collectors can compare price, scarcity and demand inside a single lineage.
Card #103 of *Shards of Alara*, the set that shipped alongside the October 2008 Shards of Alara release.
Card type: Creature — Elemental, color identity red, printed at rare. Rares occupy the bottom-of-pack rare slot in standard boosters. Mana cost: {1}{R}{R} (3 converted). Keyword abilities: Flying, Unearth, and Haste.
Legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Commander.
EDHrec ranks this card #19,759 in Commander, putting it in the fringe-play tier of the format's playable pool.
Illustrated by Karl Kopinski. Rarix catalogs 804 other cards credited to this artist.
Magic: The Gathering · ™ & © Wizards of the Coast · Illus. Karl Kopinski
Card data via Scryfall. Rarix is fan-made; not endorsed by the rights holders.
At the beginning of the end step, a creature returned to the battlefield with unearth is exiled. This is a delayed triggered ability, and it can be countered by effects such as Stifle or Voidslime that counter triggered abilities. If the ability is countered, the creature will stay on the battlefield and the delayed trigger won’t trigger again. However, the replacement effect will still exile the creature when it eventually leaves the battlefield.
If you activate a card’s unearth ability but that card is removed from your graveyard before the ability resolves, that unearth ability will resolve and do nothing.
Unearth grants haste to the creature that’s returned to the battlefield. However, neither of the “exile” abilities is granted to that creature. If that creature loses all its abilities, it will still be exiled at the beginning of the end step, and if it would leave the battlefield, it is still exiled instead.
