Price$7.39 – $18.73
Buy on TCGplayerReanimate
Sorcery
LegalRank #57
Put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. You lose life equal to that card's mana value.
Why is this card good?
Reanimate is one of the best reanimation spells ever printed and a staple in nearly any black deck looking to cheat big creatures into play. For a single mana, you turn a fatty in any graveyard into a battlefield threat — that's an enormous rate, easily netting you 8+ mana of value on turn one or two.
The life loss is real but mostly irrelevant in a 40-life format. Reanimator decks built around discard/self-mill (Liliana, Chainer, Sheoldred, Meren, etc.) love it, but it's also splashable in any black deck running a few bombs as backup. Don't sleep on stealing opponents' creatures — graveyards aren't yours alone.
When NOT to play it: low-curve aggro or token/aristocrats lists with no big targets get little payoff, and in fast cEDH pods the life loss off a turn-one Griselbrand can genuinely matter. You also want graveyard enablers — without a way to fill yards, it's a do-nothing in your opening hand.
Related cards
Animate Dead
Cheap reanimation enchantment with similar role.
Necromancy
Flexible reanimation at instant speed option.
Exhume
Two-mana symmetric reanimation spell.
Persist
One-black mana reanimation, sacrifice the creature later.
Dance of the Dead
Cheap aura reanimation similar to Animate Dead.
Victimize
Reanimate multiple creatures by sacrificing one.
Unburial Rites
Reanimation with flashback for value.
Stitch Together
Cheap reanimation with threshold.
Printings (16)
Show all 16 printingsShow fewer
Played by these commanders
Terra, Herald of Hope100% of 2
Sauron, Lord of the Rings100% of 1
Mirko, Obsessive Theorist100% of 1
Winter, Cynical Opportunist100% of 1
Combos (4)
- K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Buried Alive + Reanimate + Chainer, Dementia Master + Viscera Seer + Gray Merchant of Asphodel
→ Infinite death triggers, Infinite ETB, Infinite lifegain
- K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Buried Alive + Reanimate + Chainer, Dementia Master + Viscera Seer + Kokusho, the Evening Star
→ Infinite death triggers, Infinite ETB, Infinite lifegain
- Inalla, Archmage Ritualist + Spellseeker + Culling the Weak + Shallow Grave + Burnt Offering + Finale of Promise + Reanimate + Entomb + Archaeomancer + Unearth
→ Infinite creature tokens with haste, Infinite death triggers, Infinite ETB
- Spellweaver Helix + Grave Researcher // Reanimate + Reanimate + Children of Korlis
→ Infinite turns, Lock