Animate Dead is an iconic MTG card that lets you bring back creatures from your graveyard. Here are 5 more MTG cards like animate dead that you need to know about, read on below!
Top 5 MTG Cards Like Animate Dead
1. The Eldest Reborn
The first card on our list of MTG cards like Animate Dead is an uncommon black Enchantment Saga. It has a medium-high casting cost of 4 colorless and 1 black mana.
As a Saga Enchantment, the card lasts for 3 turns after the one it enters the battlefield. On phase one, each player (but you) sacrifices a creature or planeswalker.
Phase two sees each opponent discard 1 card each. The third and final phase allows you to put a creature or planeswalker from your graveyard back into play on the battlefield.
2. Exhume
The second card on our list is an iconic one; the black Sorcery card, Exhume.
When Exhume is cast, each player at the table gets to bring back a creature from their graveyard into play on the battlefield.
The card costs only 1 colorless and 1 black mana to cast.
The only real downside is that your enemies all get to animate a dead creature for free as well.
3. Reanimate
Reanimate is another classic among MTG cards like Animate Dead and Exhume. It is a rare Sorcery card with a single black mana for its casting cost.
When you play Reanimate, you may put a creature from your graveyard back onto the battlefield.
The downside, and primary reason the mana cost is so low, is that you lose life points equal to the animated creature’s mana cost.
4. Victimize
Victimize is an old-school black Sorcery MTG card of the uncommon school. It costs 2 colorless and 1 black mana to cast (and is worth every land spent!)
When you cast Victimize, you must sacrifice a creature as an additional casting cost.
If you do sacrifice a creature, you may put two creatures from your graveyard onto the battlefield tapped.
The drawback is sacrificing a creature, but can actually sometimes be an advantage.
For example, if a creature is poisoned, or otherwise enchanted or affected by the spells and abilities of an opponent. The ability to sacrifice that creature becomes an advantage.
5. Dance of the Dead
Last but not least, Dance with the Dead is an affordable alternative MTG card like Animate Dead. It has a low casting cost of 1 colorless and 1 black mana.
Dance with the Dead is an Enchant Dead Creature card from back in the day. Casting it brings a creature back on the battlefield from the dead with a +1/+1 counter on it.
The catch to this card is that at the beginning of your turn each round, you must pay an additional 1 colorless and 1 black mana to upkeep the creature.
If you choose not to, forget, or don’t have enough mana to pay for the upkeep cost each turn, you must return the creature to the graveyard.
Common Questions About Cards Like Animate Dead
What Does The MTG Card Animate Dead Do?
MTG card Animate Dead is a clever uncommon black Enchantment Aura that allows you to bring a creature back from the dead. When it is cast, it is attached to a creature in your graveyard.
When the card is attached to a creature card, the creature returns to the battlefield. The price is that the creature gets a -1/-0 counter. The animated creature must be sacrificed if the Animate Dead Enchantment Aura is destroyed or removed.
How Many Cards Like Animate Dead Are There in MTG?
There are very few cards that are closely similar to the Animate Dead card (maybe 2 or 3). The main reason it is so uncommon is that it’s an Enchantment Aura that is attached only to creatures in graveyards. However, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of cards that allow you to bring creatures back to life without the use of an Aura.
Is Animate Dead And Pseudo-Animate Dead Cards Worth It?
Animate Dead and MTG cards like Animate Dead are worth it for players that enjoy having seemingly undying creatures. With a handful of pseudo-Animate Dead cards in your all-black MTG deck, your opponents will loathe more each time a creature crawls out of the graveyard and back into play under your control.