Ghoulcaller's Chant MTG Card


Ghoulcaller's Chant - Innistrad
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Released2011-09-30
Set symbol
Set nameInnistrad
Set codeISD
Number101
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byRandy Gallegos

Key Takeaways

  1. Ghoulcaller’s Chant provides card advantage by retrieving creature cards, ensuring sustained play.
  2. It accelerates resource availability, crucial for rebuilding the battlefield quickly.
  3. The spell’s low mana cost promotes strategic turn optimization in MTG.

Text of card

Choose one — Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand; or return two target Zombie cards from your graveyard to your hand.

"The living are born small and weak. The dead rise ready to serve. The choice is obvious." —Gisa, ghoulcaller of Gavony


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Ghoulcaller’s Chant effectively replenishes your hand by retrieving two creature cards from your graveyard. This strategic retrieval can tilt the momentum of the game back in your favor, especially when reclaiming high-value targets.

Resource Acceleration: While the chant itself does not generate mana, it accelerates your resource availability by bringing creatures back to your hand. This sets you up to repopulate the battlefield without spending draws on new cards.

Instant Speed: Ghoulcaller’s Chant is a sorcery, and while it can’t be played at instant speed, its low mana cost allows for fluid play, giving players the ability to maximize their turn by casting the chant and still having mana available for other critical plays.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Ghoulcaller’s Chant requires you to select a creature card from your graveyard, which means if you have no creatures in your graveyard, its effect is nullified. This can sometimes force you into unfavorable gameplay decisions just to meet the card’s conditions.

Specific Mana Cost: This spell’s cost requires one black mana, so it is inherently constrained to black mana decks or those that can reliably produce black mana. Players running decks without black mana sources will find this card incompatible with their strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the mana cost of Ghoulcaller’s Chant may seem low at only one black mana, it must be considered that this cost is for a very specific effect: returning creatures from your graveyard. In the mana-efficient world of MTG, there may be more versatile or impactful cards that could fit the same slot in your deck.


Reasons to Include Ghoulcaller’s Chant in Your Collection

Versatility: Ghoulcaller’s Chant excels in resilience, providing a way to reclaim key creatures from your graveyard. This opens the door for varying strategies, whether in a slow-paced control setup or an aggressive undead-themed deck.

Combo Potential: This card has synergy with strategies that revolve around sacrificing creatures for value. It allows you to continually recur these creatures, maximizing your advantage and enabling intricate combos.

Meta-Relevance: In metas where attrition wars are common and every resource counts, Ghoulcaller’s Chant shines by retrieving creatures after board clears or trades. This ensures sustained presence and persistency on the battlefield.


How to beat

Ghoulcaller’s Chant is a niche card in MTG that has the power to bring creatures back from the graveyard. Its strength lies in its low cost and ability to return zombies, making it a staple in decks focusing on undead synergy. To effectively counter Ghoulcaller’s Chant, it’s essential to limit the opportunities for graveyard recursion. Employing graveyard-hate cards like Rest in Peace or Relic of Progenitus can help keep opponents’ graveyards empty, rendering Ghoulcaller’s Chant ineffective. Additionally, continuously applying pressure and managing the board state with removal can disrupt your opponent’s strategy, making it difficult for them to capitalize on the card’s benefits.

Another strategic play is using counterspells to prevent Ghoulcaller’s Chant from resolving in the first place. Counterspells like Negate are powerful tools to have in your arsenal because they can target not just Ghoulcaller’s Chant but also other problematic sorceries and instants. Direct disruption methods such as Thoughtseize can also give you the advantage by allowing you to pick and discard Ghoulcaller’s Chant from your opponent’s hand before they have the chance to cast it. Mastery over these strategies will help fortify your gameplay against decks that rely on Ghoulcaller’s Chant.


Cards like Ghoulcaller's Chant

Ghoulcaller’s Chant is a unique spell in the realm of creature retrieval in Magic: The Gathering. It shares a common goal with other reanimation spells like Disentomb, which allows you to return a creature from your graveyard to your hand. However, Ghoulcaller’s Chant excels when playing with a deck heavy in Zombie creatures, as it can potentially bring back two creatures for the cost of one mana if both are Zombies.

When compared to Raise Dead, another one-mana spell that returns a single creature from your graveyard, Ghoulcaller’s Chant offers additional value for those invested in the Zombie tribe. Similarly, Macabre Waltz also allows the retrieval of two creatures but at the expense of higher mana costs and the added step of discarding a card. Ghoulcaller’s Chant manages to circumvent these limitations by directly targeting Zombies and sticking to a low mana requirement.

Analyzing the efficiency and conditions of these reanimation spells, Ghoulcaller’s Chant emerges as a potent addition to Zombie-themed decks in MTG, providing a cost-effective and potentially higher yield recovery option.

Disentomb - MTG Card versions
Raise Dead - MTG Card versions
Macabre Waltz - MTG Card versions
Disentomb - Magic 2010 (M10)
Raise Dead - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Macabre Waltz - Dissension (DIS)

Cards similar to Ghoulcaller's Chant by color, type and mana cost

Raise Dead - MTG Card versions
Mind Twist - MTG Card versions
Contract from Below - MTG Card versions
Spoils of War - MTG Card versions
Tendrils of Despair - MTG Card versions
Bloodcurdling Scream - MTG Card versions
Organ Harvest - MTG Card versions
Duress - MTG Card versions
Bubbling Muck - MTG Card versions
Reanimate - MTG Card versions
Soul Strings - MTG Card versions
Restless Dreams - MTG Card versions
Cabal Therapy - MTG Card versions
Confront the Past - MTG Card versions
Stir the Grave - MTG Card versions
Cry of Contrition - MTG Card versions
Deathmark - MTG Card versions
Call to the Netherworld - MTG Card versions
Raven's Crime - MTG Card versions
Imperial Seal - MTG Card versions
Raise Dead - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Mind Twist - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Contract from Below - Foreign Black Border (FBB)
Spoils of War - Ice Age (ICE)
Tendrils of Despair - Weatherlight (WTH)
Bloodcurdling Scream - Portal Second Age (P02)
Organ Harvest - Unglued (UGL)
Duress - Innistrad: Double Feature (DBL)
Bubbling Muck - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Reanimate - Jumpstart (JMP)
Soul Strings - Prophecy (PCY)
Restless Dreams - Torment (TOR)
Cabal Therapy - Premium Deck Series: Graveborn (PD3)
Confront the Past - Strixhaven: School of Mages Promos (PSTX)
Stir the Grave - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)
Cry of Contrition - Guildpact (GPT)
Deathmark - Coldsnap (CSP)
Call to the Netherworld - Time Spiral (TSP)
Raven's Crime - Eventide (EVE)
Imperial Seal - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Ghoulcaller's Chant MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad, 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 Ghoulcaller's Chant and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Ghoulcaller's Chant has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PennyLegal

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