Phyrexian Reclamation MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 7 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityUncommon
TypeEnchantment

Key Takeaways

  1. Offers sustainable card advantage by retrieving key creatures from the graveyard to hand.
  2. Activation at instant speed allows for strategic plays and mana efficiency.
  3. Restrictions apply due to life cost, mana specificity, and competitive alternatives.

Text of card

o1o B, Pay 2 life: Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

Death is no excuse to stop working.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Phyrexian Reclamation offers a sustainable source of card advantage, letting you return creatures from your graveyard to your hand. This can be a crucial tactic for maintaining your hand’s resources over the course of a game, especially in strategy formats that revolve around key creatures.

Resource Acceleration: While the card itself doesn’t directly accelerate your mana resources, its low activation cost allows for efficient use of mana, potentially enabling you to return multiple creatures in a single turn cycle. This can effectively accelerate your board state without a significant mana investment.

Instant Speed: Its ability can be activated at instant speed, providing flexibility in when you choose to retrieve your creatures. This means you can wait until just before your turn to bring a creature back, keeping mana available for other spells and adding an element of surprise against your opponents.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: One drawback of Phyrexian Reclamation is that it doesn’t require the player to discard, but rather pay life, which can be a significant resource to manage, especially in the later stages of the game where health totals can be a deciding factor.

Specific Mana Cost: With its black mana cost, Phyrexian Reclamation is best suited for black-centric or black-inclusive deck builds. This specificity can limit the card’s flexibility in various deck compositions that can’t afford or don’t support the color requirement.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The activation cost, in addition to its initial casting expense, may add up over time, making it a substantial investment for the return of creatures from the graveyard to hand. Especially when compared to other lower-cost graveyard interaction spells available in the MTG card pool, Phyrexian Reclamation’s cumulative cost can be restrictive in fast-paced or mana-tight scenarios.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Phyrexian Reclamation offers a robust utility that can be slotted into a wide array of black-based decks. Its ability to return creatures from the graveyard to hand is a powerful mechanic, making it relevant in both casual and competitive formats where creatures are key.

Combo Potential: This card shines in strategies revolving around sacrificing creatures for value or reusing enter-the-battlefield effects. The low cost of Phyrexian Reclamation allows for seamless integration into combo engines, amplifying their potency each turn.

Meta-Relevance: Given the prevalence of creature-centric decks across numerous metagames, Phyrexian Reclamation holds its ground as a crucial piece. It provides continuous recovery from board wipes and targeted removal, ensuring your pivotal creatures are always within reach.


How to beat

Phyrexian Reclamation is a powerful enchantment in Magic: The Gathering that allows players to return creatures from their graveyard to their hand. This constant threat of recurring creatures makes it essential to employ strategies that can tackle graveyard manipulation. Rest in Peace is an excellent card that you might consider, as it removes all cards in graveyards from the game. This shuts down Phyrexian Reclamation’s ability to function by stripping its resource pool.

Another effective strategy is to target the enchantment directly. Disenchant, for instance, can remove Phyrexian Reclamation from the battlefield at a low cost. Besides that, countering it upon casting can save you the trouble from the beginning. Counterspell, a classic blue spell, can make sure Phyrexian Reclamation never hits the battlefield. Keeping up mana for such reactive spells is critical when you suspect your opponent has access to this potent card.

Ultimately, Phyrexian Reclamation thrives in a game where it can operate unchecked. By proactively managing your opponent’s graveyard and being prepared to deal with the enchantment itself, you can take control and prevent your opponent from leveraging their graveyard as a resource extension.


BurnMana Recommendations

Strategizing with MTG cards like Phyrexian Reclamation can be a game-changer, providing sustainable resource gains and giving you tactical advantages that often lead to victory. When employing this card, its potential in both aggressive and control strategies becomes clear, making it a versatile asset in your arsenal. Crafting the perfect deck with such tools takes finesse and comprehension of complex MTG interactions. Elevate your deck-building skills and ensure your strategies are ironclad. Dive deeper with us, refine your gameplay, and utilize Phyrexian Reclamation’s capabilities to dominate the battlefield.


Cards like Phyrexian Reclamation

Phyrexian Reclamation is a unique utility card that allows players to recover creatures from their graveyard. It’s often stacked up against other recursion spells like Animate Dead, which directly brings a creature back to the battlefield. However, Animate Dead has a limitation of enchanting the chosen creature. Phyrexian Reclamation grants more flexibility by returning the creature to hand, allowing for strategic plays without committing to the board immediately.

Another comparison is with Eternal Witness, a creature card that also facilitates the return of cards from the graveyard. While Eternal Witness can retrieve any card, not just creatures, and directly places it into your hand, its one-time effect pales next to the repeatable use offered by Phyrexian Reclamation. Moreover, Reclamation stays on the battlefield inconspicuously, ready to be activated multiple times, a subtle power not to be underestimated.

Assessing these various options, Phyrexian Reclamation holds its own in decks that benefit from graveyard interactivity. Its low mana cost and versatility make it highly effective in prolonging the value of your creature pool, confirming its esteemed position in the array of black spells dedicated to recycling valuable assets in Magic: The Gathering.

Animate Dead - MTG Card versions
Eternal Witness - MTG Card versions
Animate Dead - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Eternal Witness - Fifth Dawn (5DN)

Cards similar to Phyrexian Reclamation by color, type and mana cost

Paralyze - MTG Card versions
Unholy Strength - MTG Card versions
Evil Presence - MTG Card versions
Weakness - MTG Card versions
Imprison - MTG Card versions
Thrull Retainer - MTG Card versions
Torture - MTG Card versions
Death Watch - MTG Card versions
Leshrac's Rite - MTG Card versions
Sadistic Glee - MTG Card versions
Sarcomancy - MTG Card versions
Dread of Night - MTG Card versions
Tortured Existence - MTG Card versions
Volrath's Motion Sensor - MTG Card versions
Sicken - MTG Card versions
Darkest Hour - MTG Card versions
Withering Hex - MTG Card versions
Genju of the Fens - MTG Card versions
Vampiric Link - MTG Card versions
Bloodchief Ascension - MTG Card versions
Paralyze - Vintage Masters (VMA)
Unholy Strength - Duel Decks Anthology: Divine vs. Demonic (DVD)
Evil Presence - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Weakness - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Imprison - Legends (LEG)
Thrull Retainer - Masters Edition (ME1)
Torture - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Death Watch - Visions (VIS)
Leshrac's Rite - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Sadistic Glee - Tempest (TMP)
Sarcomancy - Vintage Masters (VMA)
Dread of Night - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Tortured Existence - Stronghold (STH)
Volrath's Motion Sensor - Unglued (UGL)
Sicken - Urza's Saga (USG)
Darkest Hour - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Withering Hex - Onslaught (ONS)
Genju of the Fens - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Vampiric Link - Planar Chaos (PLC)
Bloodchief Ascension - Commander Masters (CMM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Phyrexian Reclamation MTG card by a specific set like Urza's Legacy and Commander 2013, 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 Phyrexian Reclamation and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Phyrexian Reclamation Magic the Gathering card was released in 7 different sets between 1999-02-15 and 2022-12-02. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11999-02-15Urza's LegacyULG 631997normalblackrk post
22013-11-01Commander 2013C13 882003normalblackrk post
32015-11-13Commander 2015C15 1332015normalblackrk post
42019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 7332015normalblackrk post
52020-07-17JumpstartJMP 2672015normalblackrk post
62020-09-26The ListPLST C15-1332015normalblackrk post
72022-12-02Jumpstart 2022J22 1242015normalblackIrina Nordsol

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Phyrexian Reclamation has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
GladiatorLegal
TimelessLegal

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