Ebondeath, Dracolich MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityMythic
TypeLegendary Creature — Zombie Dragon
Abilities Flying, Flash
Power 5
Toughness 2

Key Takeaways

  1. Revives from the graveyard, presenting recurrent board power without needing additional hand cards.
  2. Instant speed resurrection enables strategic blocks and surprise plays during opponent’s turns.
  3. Demands thoughtful graveyard management, pairing well with sacrifice and death-trigger strategies.
Flash card art

Guide to Flash card ability

Explore the dynamic Flash ability in Magic: The Gathering (MTG), a feature that allows you to cast spells at lightning speed, often leaving your opponents reeling and your strategy several steps ahead. This versatile ability can turn the tide of a game, providing the element of surprise and tactical advantage. It places a premium on timing and foresight, transforming an ordinary deck into a formidable arsenal of instant threats and responses.

Text of card

Flash Flying Ebondeath, Dracolich enters the battlefield tapped. You may cast Ebondeath, Dracolich from your graveyard if a creature not named Ebondeath, Dracolich died this turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ebondeath Dracolich offers a unique form of advantage by allowing you to bring it back from the graveyard to the battlefield. This recurring nature ensures you can persistently maintain board presence without expending additional cards from your hand, effectively giving you multiple uses from a single card.

Resource Acceleration: While Ebondeath Dracolich itself doesn’t directly accelerate resources, its ability to resurrect upon a creature dying sets up strategic plays. You can better leverage sacrifice mechanics or death triggers within your deck, converting your creature losses into immediate board gains without using additional mana at that moment.

Instant Speed: The capability to return Ebondeath Dracolich to the battlefield at instant speed allows for sudden surprise blocks or the ability to capitalize on an opponent’s end-step, keeping mana open for other interactions or spells until the timing is just right. This level of flexibility offers strategic depth and unpredictability in every match.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Ebondeath Dracolich requires a creature card to be in your graveyard to exploit its reanimation ability. This can be restrictive, especially in the early game where your graveyard may not be well-stocked, leading to missed opportunities to cast it from the graveyard.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost for Ebondeath Dracolich includes two specific black mana symbols. This can be particularly taxing in multicolored decks that might struggle to produce the required black mana consistently, thereby limiting its inclusion to mostly mono-black or black-heavy decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of four mana, including two black, Ebondeath Dracolich stands on the higher end of the mana curve for creatures. While its abilities are potent, the mana investment is significant and might compete with other impactful four-mana spells in your deck.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Ebondeath Dracolich brings flexibility across various deck themes with its ability to return from the graveyard to the battlefield. This feature allows it to fit seamlessly into reanimator strategies and any deck that values resilience in its creatures.

Combo Potential: The card’s inherent synergies with death triggers and graveyard manipulation open up combo potential in both casual and competitive play. It can become a recurring threat that opponents must continually address, enhancing graveyard-based combos.

Meta-Relevance: With the shifting tides of the game, Ebondeath Dracolich remains a substantial threat. Its presence is particularly noteworthy in environments heavy with creature-based strategies, acting as both an enforcer and a deterrent, capable of impacting the board immediately upon entering from the graveyard.


How to beat

The Ebondeath Dracolich is a formidable card that brings resilience and power to the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. This undead dragon poses a significant threat due to its ability to return from the graveyard to the battlefield whenever another creature dies. To counter this tenacious creature, it’s essential to implement strategies that can either prevent it from hitting the graveyard or limit the number of creature deaths.

One efficient tactic is to use exile effects, removing Ebondeath Dracolich from the game entirely, thus bypassing its ability to return. Cards like Swords to Plowshares offer a clean answer. Additionally, graveyard hate cards, such as Relic of Progenitus or Rest in Peace, can prevent the Dracolich from making its recurring comebacks. Another strategy might involve controlling the number of creature deaths by utilizing board wipes selectively or employing instant-speed removal to manage the battlefield effectively.

It’s also beneficial to limit the creature triggers that allow Ebondeath Dracolich to return. Keeping the board clear or using cards that dictate when creatures can die, like Hushbringer, can severely hamper its effectiveness. By considering these approaches, players can devise strategies to overcome the resilience of Ebondeath Dracolich and maintain the upper hand in their duels.


BurnMana Recommendations

Exploring the depths of MTG deck building uncovers the crucible where power intersects with strategy, much like harnessing the might of Ebondeath Dracolich. With its capability to fortify your game through its resurrection mechanics, finding the ideal synergy within your deck is critical. Whether you aim to control the battlefield or execute a well-timed combo, integrating Ebondeath Dracolich can be a game-changer. We encourage you to continue refining your collection, and invite you to delve deeper into strategy articles, deck tech, and detailed card analysis. Let us guide your path to victory as you wield the might of formidable cards like Ebondeath Dracolich.


Cards like Ebondeath, Dracolich

Ebondeath Dracolich commands a unique position in the pantheon of reanimation creatures in Magic: The Gathering. Its closest kin might be the titanic Grave Titan, which also offers a recurring undead threat. Unlike the Dracolich, Grave Titan doesn’t flaunt the ability to fly or flash but compensates by creating 2/2 Zombie tokens each time it enters the battlefield or attacks.

Particularly, Reassembling Skeleton bears a resemblance with its ability to return to the battlefield from the graveyard. However, the Skeleton lacks the impacting presence Ebondeath Dracolich has, both in stats and board effect. Reassembling Skeleton requires a mana investment each return, whereas Ebondeath Dracolich hinges on another creature dying to trigger its resurgence, sans any additional cost.

Lastly, Nether Spirit is another card with a penchant for returning from the graveyard. This spirit makes a comeback only if it’s the only creature card in your graveyard, which is a more restrictive condition compared to the versatility provided by Ebondeath Dracolich’s recurring mechanism. Hence, the Dracolich often outperforms when considering flexibility and the power to influence the game’s state from beyond the grave.

Grave Titan - MTG Card versions
Reassembling Skeleton - MTG Card versions
Nether Spirit - MTG Card versions
Grave Titan - Magic 2011 (M11)
Reassembling Skeleton - Archenemy (ARC)
Nether Spirit - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)

Cards similar to Ebondeath, Dracolich by color, type and mana cost

Hell's Caretaker - MTG Card versions
Rag Man - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Debaser - MTG Card versions
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Scourge of Numai - MTG Card versions
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Dirty Wererat - MTG Card versions
Faceless Butcher - MTG Card versions
Hell's Caretaker - Chronicles (CHR)
Rag Man - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Phyrexian Debaser - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Slinking Skirge - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Gravedigger - The List (PLST)
Scandalmonger - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Urborg Shambler - Invasion (INV)
Whispering Shade - Odyssey (ODY)
Filth - Judgment (JUD)
Demon of Catastrophes - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Bold Plagiarist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Toxin Sliver - Legions (LGN)
Vampiric Spirit - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Nim Shambler - Mirrodin (MRD)
Bad Ass - Unhinged (UNH)
Scourge of Numai - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Deathgazer - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Dirty Wererat - Hachette UK (PHUK)
Faceless Butcher - Time Spiral Timeshifted (TSB)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ebondeath, Dracolich MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Secret Lair Drop, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Ebondeath, Dracolich and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Ebondeath, Dracolich Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2019-12-02 and 2021-07-23. Illustrated by 3 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 926922015normalblackLucas Graciano
22019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 10142015normalblackJustine Jones
32021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten Realms PromosPAFR 100a2015normalblackLars Grant-West
42021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten Realms PromosPAFR 100p2015normalblackLars Grant-West
52021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten Realms PromosPAFR 100s2015normalblackLars Grant-West
62021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten RealmsAFR 2922015normalborderlessLucas Graciano
72021-07-23Adventures in the Forgotten RealmsAFR 1002015normalblackLars Grant-West

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ebondeath, Dracolich has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
GladiatorLegal
PioneerLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Ebondeath, Dracolich card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2021-07-23 Casting Ebondeath, Dracolich from your graveyard follows the normal rules for casting that card. You must pay its costs, and you must follow all applicable timing rules.
2021-07-23 Ebondeath Dracolich cares what the creature's name was while it was last on the battlefield, not what it is in the graveyard. For example, if a creature with a different name becomes a copy of Ebondeath, Dracolich and then dies, you won't be able to cast Ebondeath, Dracolich from your graveyard.
2021-07-23 Ebondeath, Dracolich's last ability cares only whether a creature not named Ebondeath, Dracolich died during the turn, even if Ebondeath, Dracolich wasn't in your graveyard when that happened. It doesn't matter if a creature named Ebondeath, Dracolich also died, and it doesn't matter what happens to the creature after it dies. For example, if the creature that died is a token or the creature card leaves the graveyard later in the turn, you can still cast Ebondeath, Dracolich.

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