Grave Betrayal MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	7
Rarity	Rare
Type	Enchantment
Released	2012-10-05
Set symbol
Set name	Return to Ravnica
Set code	RTR
Number	67
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Lucas Graciano

Key Takeaways

Grave Betrayal converts enemy creature deaths into a formidable army for its controller.
Hefty mana cost and specific color requirements limit the card’s early-game utility.
Powerful synergy potential with sacrifice and death-triggered abilities enhances gameplay.

Text of card

Whenever a creature you don't control dies, return it to the battlefield under your control with an additional +1/+1 counter on it at the beginning of the next end step. That creature is a black Zombie in addition to its other colors and types.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Grave Betrayal positions you to benefit from each creature your opponents lose by bringing them under your control. This ongoing effect can quickly escalate your board presence while depleting your opponents’ resources.

Resource Acceleration: By amassing an army of fallen opponents’ creatures, you effectively accelerate your available resources. Each creature revived on your side of the field adds to your pool of attackers, blockers, and potential abilities to exploit.

Instant Speed: While Grave Betrayal itself doesn’t operate at instant speed, the mechanic it sets in play triggers instantly upon the death of opponents’ creatures. This swift reaction alters the board state unexpectedly, often providing strategic advantages mid-combat or during complex turns.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Grave Betrayal doesn’t require you to discard, but it does necessitate having creatures die to gain any benefit. This can be tricky if the battlefield is locked down or your opponents have sparse creatures.

Specific Mana Cost: Grave Betrayal’s mana cost is quite specific, requiring two black and five other mana. This heavy color weighting can be challenging for multi-color decks to accommodate, especially in the early to mid-game.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a seven-mana value to get onto the battlefield, Grave Betrayal is considered high-cost, particularly when measured against other enchantments or creatures with immediate board impact. This can make it a dead draw in the early stages of a game or when quick responses are necessary.

Reasons to Include Grave Betrayal in Your Collection

Versatility: Grave Betrayal can be seamlessly integrated into any black-focused deck, particularly those centered around strategies of reanimation or control. Its broad applicability allows it to reconfigure game states across a multitude of playstyles.

Combo Potential: The card’s ability to resurrect opposing creatures under your control on their demise enhances synergies with sacrifice outlets and death-triggered abilities, creating opportunities for powerful combinations.

Meta-Relevance: In environments with frequent creature combat, Grave Betrayal shines by continually restocking your army. This card gains additional value in metas with high creature turnover, making it an asset in many Commander games and similar formats.

How to beat Grave Betrayal

Grave Betrayal is a formidable enchantment that can significantly tilt the battlefield to one player’s advantage in Magic: The Gathering. Once active, it allows the controller to snatch creatures from opponents whenever they die, bringing them back under their control with an added bonus – a +1/+1 counter and a Zombified existence. This snowball effect enables a player to gain a massive army while simultaneously stripping opponents of their forces.

To counter such a powerful effect, players should consider enchantment removal spells like Disenchant or Naturalize. As Grave Betrayal sits at seven mana, fast-paced decks might overpower the player before they can cast it. Another strategic move is to use cards like Relic of Progenitus or Rest in Peace to prevent cards from hitting the graveyard in the first place, nullifying Grave Betrayal’s mechanic. Graveyard hate cards are crucial in this battle, ensuring that creatures never reach the point of betrayal. Ultimately, staying ahead of this card requires a mix of speed, tactical enchantment destruction, and graveyard manipulation.

BurnMana Recommendations

Grave Betrayal exemplifies the power of strategy and adaptability in MTG. For those inclined towards a black-aligned deck with a flair for control and resurrection, this card offers a gateway to turn the tide of battles by using your opponents’ losses to your benefit. If you’re looking to enrich your collection with a card that can potentially multiply your resources and dominate the game, consider how Grave Betrayal could synchronize with your existing deck mechanics. Eager to evolve your gameplay and leverage the full potential of your graveyard strategies? Dive deep with us into building the ultimate MTG deck that masters the art of betrayal.

Cards like Grave Betrayal

Grave Betrayal stands as a unique enchantment within Magic: The Gathering, inviting a strategic shift in how players handle the demise of creatures. It echoes shades of other cards, like Mimic Vat, for instance. Mimic Vat also capitalizes on creatures dying by exiling them and creating a token copy. Unlike Grave Betrayal, Mimic Vat requires an activation cost and only temporarily brings the creature back under your control, whereas Grave Betrayal grants permanent control and gives it a +1/+1 counter, adding to its power for each fallen creature your opponents lose.

Debtor’s Knell is another enchantment that revisits the concept of reanimation, although it functions on a more individual scale. It allows you to reanimate a creature during each of your upkeeps, but only one. The broad and continuous effect of Grave Betrayal, which applies to all opponent creatures and happens automatically without further costs, contrasts with Debtor’s Knell’s selective nature.

Undeniable in the realm of creature control, Grave Betrayal offers a proactive approach for players looking to benefit from every enemy creature’s demise. It’s a testament to the game’s depth and complexity, providing an edge to those who admire tactics that turn their opponent’s losses into their gains.

Cards similar to Grave Betrayal by color, type and mana cost

Arvinox, the Mind Flail - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Grave Betrayal MTG card by a specific set like Return to Ravnica, 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 Grave Betrayal and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Grave Betrayal has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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

Date	Text
2012-10-01	Each creature you don’t control that dies causes a delayed triggered ability to trigger at the beginning of the next end step. If there are multiple such abilities, you can put them on the stack in any order. The creatures will return to the battlefield one at a time as each ability resolves. The last ability you put on the stack will be the first one to resolve.
2012-10-01	Grave Betrayal doesn’t overwrite any previous colors or types. Rather, it adds another color and another creature type.
2012-10-01	If a creature you don’t control dies during the end step, that creature won’t return to the battlefield until the beginning of the next end step.
2012-10-01	If the creature card leaves the graveyard before the delayed triggered ability resolves, it won’t return to the battlefield. This is also true if the card leaves the graveyard and returns to the graveyard before that ability resolves.
2012-10-01	If the creature is normally colorless, it will simply be black. It won’t be both black and colorless.
2012-10-01	In a multiplayer game, if more than one player controls a Grave Betrayal and a creature controlled by none of those players dies, each Grave Betrayal will create a delayed triggered ability at the beginning of the next end step. The first such ability to resolve will return the creature. Usually, this will be one controlled by the player furthest from the active player in turn order.
2012-10-01	The phrase “with an additional +1/+1 counter on it” means that the creature enters the battlefield with one more +1/+1 counter than it would normally enter the battlefield with. It doesn’t keep any counters it had on it when it died.