Séance MTG Card
2012-02-03 - Number 20
2017-03-17 - Number 22
2023-03-21 - Number 12
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Enchantment |
Text of card
At the beginning of each upkeep, you may exile target creature card from your graveyard. If you do, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of that card except it's a Spirit in addition to its other types. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
Cards like Séance
Séance is an intriguing aspect of the creature recursion genre in MTG, with a unique presence in graveyard manipulation strategies. Its nearest relatives include cards like Mimic Vat and Animate Dead, which also leverage the vast creature resources in a player’s graveyard. Séance, however, differentiates itself by creating token copies that vanish at the beginning of the next end step, whereas Mimic Vat locks down a single creature to create tokens and Animate Dead brings the creature back onto the battlefield permanently with a minor power reduction.
Another cousin in this graveyard-centric category is Whisper, Blood Liturgist, offering targeted revival at the cost of sacrificing two other creatures. This is a more definitive resurrection compared to the temporary nature of Séance’s token creation. In the landscape of MTG, the strategic preference often leans towards the permanence of Animate Dead or the utility of Mimic Vat, yet Séance carves out its niche by allowing for a fleeting yet potentially game-altering impact without the long-term commitment of board space.
Assessing all these options, Séance holds a distinctive position, challenging players to capitalize on its ephemeral nature for creative and potentially powerful plays that can sway the course of a match.
Cards similar to Séance by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Séance offers a unique twist on card advantage, allowing you to temporarily access creatures from your graveyard. This reanimation can lead to powerful board states without depleting cards from your hand.
Resource Acceleration: Through Séance, you gain the ability to put creatures onto the battlefield at no mana cost each upkeep, providing a form of resource acceleration that can outpace your opponents’ development.
Instant Speed: While Séance itself isn’t an instant, it creates creatures at the beginning of your upkeep, effectively giving you instant-speed access to those creatures’ abilities. Additionally, being able to use the reanimated creature’s abilities or attack with them during your turn without spending mana that turn is akin to an instant speed payoff.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: The Séance card necessitates the departure of creatures from your graveyard, which might leave you bereft of strategic resources when you need them most.
Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both white and colorless mana, Séance can complicate your mana base, demanding a precise combination and potentially hindering the card’s incorporation into multi-colored decks.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Commanding a total of four mana, including two that are color-specific, Séance pits itself against a plethora of options in the same bracket that may provide more immediate board presence or disruptive capabilities.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Séance has the unique capacity to harness the power of your graveyard, offering a variety of strategic plays in decks that thrive on recursion or utilize the graveyard as a resource.
Combo Potential: This card opens up the floor for numerous combo possibilities, with its ability to temporarily resurrect creatures allowing for surprise synergies and potentially game-winning interactions.
Meta-Relevance: In a game state where the graveyard becomes an extension of the hand, Séance can exploit these conditions to keep opponents guessing and your tactics fresh and unpredictable.
How to beat Séance
Séance represents a unique challenge on the battlefield in MTG, being an enchantment that can reanimate creatures from your graveyard at each upkeep, granting you a token copy with haste to utilize immediately. Prevailing against Séance often necessitates strategic foresight and an understanding of graveyard interaction. Keeping Séance in check is all about preventing or limiting graveyard shenanigans. Cards that exile cards from the graveyard such as Scavenging Ooze or Bojuka Bog can be instrumental in undermining Séance’s effectiveness.
Additionally, employing enchantment removal spells like Disenchant or Naturalize can directly target and destroy Séance, curtailing its ability to impact the game. Control decks that include counterspells also hold an advantage, as they can prevent Séance from ever hitting the field. Tempo plays are crucial; removing Séance before the combat phase denies the opponent the chance to capitalize on the newly minted creature token.
Understanding the pivotal timing to disrupt your opponent’s tactics forms the essence of overcoming the card. With the right balance of graveyard management and enchantment removal, you can dismantle the foundation of Séance-based strategies and preserve your position in the game.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Séance MTG card by a specific set like Dark Ascension and Modern Masters 2017, 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 Séance 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
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Printings
The Séance Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2012-02-03 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by David Rapoza.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2012-02-03 | Dark Ascension | DKA | 20 | 2003 | Normal | Black | David Rapoza | |
| 2 | 2017-03-17 | Modern Masters 2017 | MM3 | 22 | 2015 | Normal | Black | David Rapoza | |
| 3 | 2023-03-21 | Shadows of the Past | SIS | 12 | 2015 | Normal | Black | David Rapoza |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Séance has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Historicbrawl | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
| Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Séance card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2017-03-14 | If the card copied by the token had any “when -his permanent] enters the battlefield” abilities, then the token also has those abilities and will trigger them when it’s created. Similarly, any “as -his permanent] enters the battlefield” or “ -his permanent] enters the battlefield with” abilities that the token has copied will also work. |
| 2017-03-14 | If the copied card has in its mana cost, X is considered to be 0. |
| 2017-03-14 | The delayed triggered ability that exiles the token isn’t a characteristic of the token. If an effect such as populate copies the token, the new copy won’t be exiled. |
| 2017-03-14 | The token copies exactly what was printed on the original card and nothing else. It doesn’t copy any information about the object the card was before it was put into your graveyard. |
| 2017-03-14 | The token doesn’t have haste (unless the card it’s copying has haste) and usually won’t be able to attack. |
| 2017-03-14 | The token is a Spirit in addition to its other types. This is a copiable value of the token that other effects may copy. |