Top 5 MTG Cards Like Animate Dead


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This article will be an in-depth review of the five best cards like Animate Dead. The goal is to provide a list of cards that would be good for a new player or someone looking for a replacement card.

Animate Dead is a card in the Magic: The Gathering (MTG) game that allows players to bring back a creature from the graveyard. Necromancy is a type of magic that deals with the power of death and resurrection. Read more in detail here: necromancy mtg.

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Animate Dead is a well-known MTG card that allows you to return creatures from your graveyard back to life. Here are 5 more MTG cards similar to animate dead that you should be aware of, so keep reading!

Top 5 MTG Cards That Are Similar to Animate Dead

1. The Most Elderly Reborn

The Eldest Reborn - Dominaria

An uncommon black Enchantment Saga is the first card on our list of MTG cards that are similar to Animate Dead. It has a casting cost of 4 colorless and 1 black mana, which is a medium-high cost.

The card’s Saga Enchantment lasts for three turns after it enters the battlefield. Each player (except you) sacrifices a creature or planeswalker in the first phase. 

In phase two, each opponent discards one card. You may bring a creature or planeswalker from your graveyard back into play on the battlefield in the third and final phase.

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2. Exhume

Magic The Gathering - Exhume - Urza's Saga

Exhume, the black Sorcery card, is the second card on our list and is a classic. 

Each player at the table gets to bring a creature from their graveyard into play on the battlefield when Exhume is played.

Casting the card only costs 1 colorless and 1 black mana. 

The only drawback is that all of your opponents get to animate a dead monster for free.  

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3. Resurrect

Magic: The Gathering - Reanimate - Ultimate Masters - Rare

Reanimate, like Animate Dead and Exhume, is a classic MTG card. It’s a rare Sorcery card that costs a single black mana to cast.

You may bring a creature from your graveyard back onto the battlefield when you play Reanimate. 

The disadvantage, and the main reason for the cheap mana cost, is that you lose a number of life points equal to the animated creature’s mana cost.

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4. Become a victim

Magic The Gathering - Victimize (113/249) - Eternal Masters

Victimize is an uncommon black Sorcery card from the old school of MTG. Casting it costs 2 colorless and 1 black mana (and is well worth every land invested!)

As an extra casting cost, you must sacrifice a creature while casting Victimize.

You may tap two monsters from your graveyard into the battlefield if you sacrifice a creature.

The disadvantage is that you must sacrifice a creature, although this may also be a benefit in certain cases. 

For example, if a creature is poisoned, charmed, or impacted by an opponent’s spells and abilities. It becomes advantageous to be able to sacrifice the creature.

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5. The Afterlife’s Dance

Magic The Gathering - Dance of The Dead - Ice Age

Last but not least, Dance with the Dead is a cost-effective MTG card that may be used in place of Animate Dead. It only costs 1 colorless and 1 black mana to cast.

Back in the day, there was an Enchant Dead Creature card called Dance with the Dead. When you cast it, a creature from the grave returns to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it.

The catch is that to keep this creature alive, you must spend an extra 1 colorless and 1 black mana each round at the start of your turn.

You must return the creature to the graveyard if you choose not to, forget, or don’t have enough mana to pay the upkeep cost each round.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Animate Dead

What Does The Animate Dead MTG Card Do?

Animate Dead is a brilliant uncommon black Enchantment Aura that enables you to bring a creature back from the dead in Magic: the Gathering. It is linked to a creature in your graveyard when it is cast. 

The creature card returns to the battlefield when the card is linked to it. The cost is a -1/-0 counter for the monster. If the Animate Dead Enchantment Aura is destroyed or withdrawn, the animated monster must be sacrificed. 

In MTG, how many cards are similar to Animate Dead?

There are only a handful cards that are almost identical to Animate Dead (maybe 2 or 3). The fact that it’s an Enchantment Aura linked exclusively to creatures in graveyards is the primary reason for its rarity. There are, however, dozens, if not hundreds, of cards that enable you to resurrect creatures without using an Aura.

Is It Worth It To Buy Animate Dead And Pseudo-Animate Dead Cards?

For players who like having apparently immortal creatures, Animate Dead and MTG cards like Animate Dead are well worth it. With a few pseudo-Animate Dead cards in an all-black MTG deck, your opponents will become increasingly enraged each time a creature creeps back into play under your control from the graveyard.

The return all creatures from graveyard to battlefield is a powerful card in the Magic: The Gathering (MTG) game. It allows players to bring back all of their creatures that are currently on the graveyard, and play them again.

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