Dread Return MTG Card
2006-10-06 - Number 104
2010-11-08 - Number A41
2011-11-18 - Number 23
2014-11-07 - Number 142
2016-02-26 - Number 55
2019-11-07 - Number 636
2020-08-07 - Number 89
2021-03-19 - Number 111
2022-10-07 - Number 200★
2022-10-07 - Number 200
2023-01-13 - Number 302
2023-01-13 - Number 80
2023-08-04 - Number 153
2023-08-04 - Number 637
2002-06-24 - Number 60482
2020-09-26 - Number DDQ-55
2023-08-04 - Number 36
| Card sets | Released in 17 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Sorcery |
| Abilities | Flashback |
Text of card
Return target creature card from your graveyard to play. Flashback— Sacrifice three creatures. (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)
Those who forget the horrors of the past are doomed to re-meet them.
Cards like Dread Return
Dread Return, a standout card from the Magic: The Gathering roster, allows players to return a creature card from the graveyard to the battlefield, shaping the tide of the game. Its close kin would be the card Unburial Rites, which has a similar reanimation effect. However, Unburial Rites comes with an added flash back ability presenting increased flexibility, albeit at a higher mana cost. Conversely, Dread Return has an alternative flashback cost that sacrifices creatures, potentially presenting a strategic advantage at a potentially lower monetary cost.
Exhume is another card that shares the reanimation theme but differs in that both players get to partake, bringing back a creature from their respective graveyards. This symmetry can either work in your favor or against it. Zombify follows the same path of returning a valued creature from the graveyard but limits the action to just your own creatures and lacks an alternate casting option altogether, making Dread Return a more versatile choice in various gameplay scenarios.
In summary, while each card offers pathways to reclaim lost creatures, Dread Return stands out by providing a delicate balance between cost and flexibility, cementing its place in decks designed around graveyard strategy within the MTG universe.
Cards similar to Dread Return by color, type and mana cost
Decks using this card
MTG decks using Dread Return. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.
| # | Name | Format | Archetype | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Cephalid Breakfast | Legacy | Cephalid Breakfast | Legacy League 2024-04-28 |
 | WBRG | Pauper | Pauper League 2024-04-29 | |
 | Oops! All Spells | Legacy | Oops! All Spells | Legacy Challenge 32 2024-05-01 |
 | Dredge | Vintage | Dredge | Vintage Qualifier 2024-05-05 |
| WUBG | Legacy | Legacy Challenge 64 2024-05-05 | |
| UBG | Legacy | Legacy League 2024-04-29 | |
 | LED 5c | Legacy | LED Dredge | Legacy League 2024-05-01 |
| BG Dredge | Pauper | Monthly Tournament #38 @ Paper Pauper Magic Discord |
Card Pros
Card Advantage: With Dread Return, you’re given the powerful ability to retrieve a creature from your graveyard and put it directly onto the battlefield. This effect not only can swing the board state in your favor but also represents a significant card advantage by effectively turning one card into a potentially game-changing creature.
Resource Acceleration: Dread Return can be cast using its alternative flashback cost by sacrificing three creatures. This method transforms otherwise insignificant creatures into valuable resources, accelerating your strategy especially in decks designed to leverage the graveyard. It’s a pivotal synergy piece in decks that capitalize on creature sacrifice.
Instant Speed: While Dread Return itself is a sorcery, its capacity to return a creature to the battlefield on your turn enables immediate interaction with numerous instant-speed spells and abilities within the same phase, setting up potential combos or disrupting opponent’s plans before they have a chance to untap and regain resources.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One potential downside to Dread Return is that it asks for a sacrifice of three creatures for its flashback ability. This can be a steep price, especially when your board presence is scarce.
Specific Mana Cost: Its casting cost of two generic plus two black mana may not seem overly restrictive, but it does mandate a heavy commitment to black mana sources, potentially limiting the card’s flexibility in multi-colored decks.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a total cost of four mana, Dread Return can be considered costly for reanimation spells. Within the vast pool of such spells across the MTG landscape, players might find other options with lower mana requirements to bring back creatures from the graveyard.
Reasons to Include Dread Return in Your Collection
Versatility: Dread Return offers flexibility in deckbuilding, proving to be a significant asset in graveyard-centric decks. It can reanimate key creatures from the graveyard, effectively allowing you to bypass traditional casting requirements.
Combo Potential: The card shines in combo strategies, capable of returning combo pieces like “Narcomoeba” or large threats such as “Flame-Kin Zealot” to play, often enabling game-winning interactions in a single turn.
Meta-Relevance: In metas with a strong graveyard theme, Dread Return holds its weight by providing consistent value. Its synergies with mechanics like dredge or persist make it a timeless choice for competitive play.
How to beat
Dread Return is a powerful card in Magic: The Gathering that brings creatures back from the graveyard. To circumvent its potential, players should consider maintaining graveyard control. Graveyard hate cards such as Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can be instrumental in preventing Dread Return from being utilized to its full extent. Additionally, countering Dread Return with spells like Counterspell or Mana Leak when it’s cast can be an effective strategy to keep your opponent’s graveyard in check.
Another approach is to be proactive in removing key creatures before they become targets for Dread Return. Cards with exile effects, like Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares, can help ensure that there are no valuable targets for Dread Return to bring back. Remember, the key to beating Dread Return lies in limiting your opponent’s graveyard resources or disrupting their ability to successfully cast the spell.
By incorporating these strategies into your deck and gameplay, you can minimize the impact Dread Return has on the game and maintain control over the match. Understanding how to disrupt this powerful reanimation spell is essential for maintaining an advantage in any MTG duel where such tactics might arise.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Dread Return MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Time Spiral, 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 Dread Return and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Dread Return Magic the Gathering card was released in 14 different sets between 2006-10-06 and 2023-08-04. Illustrated by 4 different artists.
Show/hide all sets| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 60482 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Svetlin Velinov | ||
| 2 | 2006-10-06 | Time Spiral | TSP | 104 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 3 | 2010-11-08 | Magic Online Theme Decks | TD0 | A41 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 4 | 2011-11-18 | Premium Deck Series: Graveborn | PD3 | 23 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 5 | 2014-11-07 | Commander 2014 | C14 | 142 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 6 | 2016-02-26 | Duel Decks: Blessed vs. Cursed | DDQ | 55 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Svetlin Velinov | |
| 7 | 2019-11-07 | Mystery Booster | MB1 | 636 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Svetlin Velinov | |
| 8 | 2020-08-07 | Double Masters | 2XM | 89 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 9 | The List | PLST | DDQ-55 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Svetlin Velinov | ||
| 10 | 2021-03-19 | Time Spiral Remastered | TSR | 111 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 11 | 2022-10-07 | Warhammer 40,000 Commander | 40K | 200★ | 2015 | Normal | Black | L J Koh | |
| 12 | 2022-10-07 | Warhammer 40,000 Commander | 40K | 200 | 2015 | Normal | Black | L J Koh | |
| 13 | 2023-01-13 | Dominaria Remastered | DMR | 302 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 14 | 2023-01-13 | Dominaria Remastered | DMR | 80 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 15 | 2023-08-04 | Commander Masters | CMM | 153 | 2015 | Normal | Black | Kev Walker | |
| 16 | 2023-08-04 | Commander Masters | CMM | 637 | 2015 | Normal | Borderless | Thomas M. Baxa | |
| 17 | Commander Masters Art Series | ACMM | 36 | 2015 | Art series | Borderless |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Dread Return has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Banned |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Dread Return card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2021-03-19 | A spell cast using flashback will always be exiled afterward, whether it resolves, is countered, or leaves the stack in some other way. |
| 2021-03-19 | If a card with flashback is put into your graveyard during your turn, you can cast it if it's legal to do so before any other player can take any actions. |
| 2021-03-19 | To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost (such as a flashback cost) you're paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was. |
| 2021-03-19 | You can cast a spell using flashback even if it was somehow put into your graveyard without having been cast. |
| 2021-03-19 | You must still follow any timing restrictions and permissions, including those based on the card's type. For instance, you can cast a sorcery using flashback only when you could normally cast a sorcery. |
| 2021-03-19 | “Flashback -ost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying -ost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.” |
| 2022-12-08 | You choose the target for Dread Return before paying any of its costs, so it’s not possible to cast it using flashback and bring back one of the creatures you sacrifice. |