Proctor of Potential is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.

Official card text

Whenever this creature or another creature you control enters, surveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put it into your graveyard.) : Return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. Activate only if you've scried or surveilled this turn. (If a creature with a finality counter on it would die, exile it instead.)

Complete guide

Proctor of Potential is a versatile Human Cleric that rewards you for expanding your board while providing excellent graveyard recursion. By combining efficient library manipulation with the ability to return to the fray, it ensures your draws remain consistent throughout the game. This card is a powerhouse for decks that rely on deck thinning and repeatable creature triggers.

Filtering Your Future

The primary role of Proctor of Potential is its triggered ability. Whenever it or another creature you control enters the battlefield, you surveil 1. This allows you to look at the top card of your library and choose to leave it there or put it into your graveyard. This is an excellent way to dig for specific answers or set up graveyard synergies while simply playing your normal creature-based game plan.

Returning from the Grave

Proctor of Potential features a self-recursion ability for just two mana. If it is in your graveyard, you can pay one white and one blue mana to return it to the battlefield, provided you have already scried or surveilled earlier in the turn. Note that it returns with a finality counter, meaning if it would die again, it is exiled instead of returning to the graveyard. This ability is an activated ability that can only be used during your turn or an opponent's turn if you have met the condition.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

A frequent mistake is attempting to activate the recursion ability without first performing a scry or surveil action that turn. The game checks if the action occurred at any point prior to the activation, even if the source of the scry or surveil is no longer on the battlefield. Additionally, remember that the finality counter only exiles the creature if it would 'die' (move from the battlefield to the graveyard). If the creature is exiled or returned to your hand by another spell, the finality counter simply disappears as the object changes zones.

Strategic Timing

To maximize Proctor of Potential, you should aim to trigger its surveil ability as often as possible. Playing low-cost creatures early helps you sculpt your hand for the mid-game. If the Proctor is destroyed, look for ways to scry or surveil cheaply—perhaps through its own trigger from another card—to bring it back and maintain board presence.

Interaction examples

Setting the Curve

Esper Sentinel

If you have Proctor of Potential on the battlefield and then cast Esper Sentinel, the Proctor's ability triggers. You surveil 1 immediately, helping you find the lands or spells you need for your next turn while establishing a tax on your opponent's noncreature spells.

Mana and Setup

Ornithopter of Paradise

When Ornithopter of Paradise enters the battlefield, Proctor of Potential triggers, allowing you to surveil 1. If you choose to put a card into your graveyard during this surveil, you have now met the condition to activate the Proctor's recursion ability later in the turn if it were to be destroyed, using the mana generated by the Ornithopter itself.

Self-Triggering Recursion

If you have two copies of Proctor of Potential and one is on the battlefield while the other is in the graveyard, you can cast a creature to trigger the first Proctor's surveil. Once you have surveilled, the condition for the second Proctor in the graveyard is met, allowing you to pay its mana cost to bring it back to the battlefield.

Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.