Corpse Churn MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 5 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeInstant
Abilities Mill

Key Takeaways

  1. Corpse Churn offers card advantage, strategic graveyard fills, and instant speed play, enhancing deck capabilities.
  2. Potential cons include the discard of valuable cards, mana specificity, and higher costs compared to alternatives.
  3. Strategically valuable in graveyard-focused decks, Corpse Churn augments resilience and enables powerful card combos.

Text of card

Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard, then you may return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

"The distraction of your life has ended. Now your service begins." —Kalitas, thrall of Ulamog


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Corpse Churn provides players with the opportunity to potentially bring back a key creature from the graveyard to the hand, promoting an effective way to maintain card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: The ability of Corpse Churn to fill your graveyard can rapidly accelerate resource availability, setting up for powerful plays with cards that thrive on graveyard interactions.

Instant Speed: The flexibility offered by Corpse Churn’s instant speed allows players to make strategic decisions in response to the evolving state of the game, ensuring resources are used at the most opportune moment.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Corpse Churn requires you to put a number of cards from the top of your library into your graveyard. This can sometimes backfire by burying key cards you might need later in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Corpse Churn has a black mana requirement, meaning it’s primarily suited for decks that run black mana sources and can strain mana flexibility in multicolored decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At two mana for its effect, Corpse Churn can be a bit pricey, especially when compared to other graveyard manipulation spells that may offer similar or better effects at a lower mana cost.


Reasons to Include Corpse Churn in Your Collection

Versatility: Corpse Churn can be easily integrated into a variety of deck types, particularly those that rely on graveyard strategies or need to recycle specific creatures or cards back from the graveyard to the hand.

Combo Potential: This card has great synergy with abilities that benefit from cards entering the graveyard, such as Delirium or Threshold, thus enabling and enhancing intricate combo plays that can turn the tide of a game.

Meta-Relevance: In a game environment where graveyard interaction is prevalent, Corpse Churn proves to be a useful tool. The ability to recover key components post-removal can make it a strategic asset in matchups where resilience is crucial.


How to beat

Corpse Churn, a card players frequently encounter in Magic: The Gathering, offers an intriguing edge to graveyard strategies. Its ability to bring creatures back to hand from the graveyard not only recovers lost resources but also enables various combos. To effectively counteract this card, it’s essential to disrupt your opponent’s graveyard. Graveyard hate cards like Tormod’s Crypt can exile cards from the graveyard, nullifying the benefits Corpse Churn could provide. Maintaining pressure on your opponent’s hand can also limit the use of Corpse Churn, as it requires a creature target to be most effective.

Another efficient strategy involves controlling the board state. If there are no advantageous creatures to bring back or the board is not favorable for them, Corpse Churn loses its potential impact. Artifact removal tools can also be a thorn in the side for decks relying on Corpse Churn, especially if they use artifacts to capitalize on the returned creatures. Cards like Nature’s Claim can deal with such threats effectively. While Corpse Churn can be a key piece in creature-focused decks, a well-timed grave disruption or board control can turn the tides to your favor.


BurnMana Recommendations

With Corpse Churn offering both risks and rewards in your MTG strategy, refining your approach is crucial. Consider the potential this card brings for card advantage and how it can support graveyard-based plays. Yet, be mindful of balancing your deck to mitigate discard risks and mana constraints. For those looking to optimize their playstyle, understanding when and how to integrate such versatile spells can make a significant difference. If you’re eager to explore more about how to leverage Corpse Churn effectively in your deck or to find alternatives and counter-strategies, delve deeper with us at BurnMana, where every turn counts towards victory.


Cards like Corpse Churn

Corpse Churn steps into the realm of graveyard manipulation in Magic: The Gathering, offering players a unique spin on deck recycling mechanics. Its kin, Grisly Salvage, invites a similar comparison, with both featuring the ability to dig through the top portion of a deck. However, Corpse Churn’s forte lies in its potential to selectively retrieve a creature card from the graveyard to hand, while Grisly Salvage extends the offer to include a creature or land card straight to your hand from the top five cards of your library.

Another peer, Winding Way, also paves a path for players to selectively churn creature cards into their hand. Winding Way provides the option to reveal a greater number of cards, four, increasing the chances to hit creature spells, yet it lacks the direct graveyard interaction that Corpse Churn enables. Lastly, consider the classic Commune with the Gods; this spell shares a fascination with top-library exploration and fetching creature or enchantment cards, though it places them into the graveyard rather than the hand like Corpse Churn.

Decks that emphasis on graveyard strategies will find Corpse Churn’s precision and control over creature card recovery invaluable. In a game where every card choice counts, this ability to salvage and reconstruct from past plays can become a strategic linchpin in MTG.

Grisly Salvage - MTG Card versions
Winding Way - MTG Card versions
Commune with the Gods - MTG Card versions
Grisly Salvage - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Winding Way - Modern Horizons (MH1)
Commune with the Gods - Theros (THS)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Corpse Churn MTG card by a specific set like Oath of the Gatewatch and Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, 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 Corpse Churn and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Corpse Churn Magic the Gathering card was released in 5 different sets between 2016-01-22 and 2024-02-23. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12016-01-22Oath of the GatewatchOGW 832015normalblackMagali Villeneuve
22020-04-24Ikoria: Lair of BehemothsIKO 812015normalblackLars Grant-West
32020-11-20Commander LegendsCMR 1132015normalblackMagali Villeneuve
42022-12-02Jumpstart 2022J22 3892015normalblackMagali Villeneuve
52024-02-23Ravnica: Clue EditionCLU 1072015normalblackLars Grant-West

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Corpse Churn has restrictions

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

Rules and information

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

DateText
2020-11-10 Because Corpse Churn doesn't target the creature card in your graveyard, you may choose one of the three cards you put there from your library if applicable.

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