Walk with the Ancestors MTG Card
Mana cost | |
Converted mana cost | 5 |
Rarity | Common |
Type | Sorcery |
Abilities | Discover |
Released | 2023-11-17 |
Set symbol | |
Set name | The Lost Caverns of Ixalan |
Set code | LCI |
Number | 218 |
Frame | 2015 |
Layout | Normal |
Border | Black |
Illustred by | Loïc Canavaggia |
Text of card
Return up to one target permanent card from your graveyard to your hand. Discover 4. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 4 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
Cards like Walk with the Ancestors
Walk with the Ancestors is a unique spell in Magic: The Gathering that resonates with the spirit of white mana’s tradition of creature support. It shares its space with cards like Rally the Ancestors, which also brings creatures back into play temporarily. However, Walk with the Ancestors has no mana cost restrictions, allowing for a broader range of creatures to be summoned for a climactic turn. Unlike Rally, participants return to the hand rather than the battlefield, setting up potential for future plays.
Unearth is another card that functions with a revival theme, bringing back smaller creatures from the graveyard. Though Unearth offers a cheaper resurrection cost, it restricts the power of creatures it can target, while Walk with the Ancestors does not carry such limitations. On the other hand, Proclamation of Rebirth gives players the option to return multiple low-cost creatures to the battlefield permanently. It’s a powerful tool but comes with specific cost constraints and targeting compared to the more flexible approach of Walk with the Ancestors.
In weighing the options, Walk with the Ancestors stands out for its capacity to affect a wide range of creatures, ensuring its place as a versatile choice in decks that seek to leverage the full spectrum of their graveyard’s potential.
Cards similar to Walk with the Ancestors by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Walk with the Ancestors offers a strategic benefit that can potentially bring multiple creatures back into play, ensuring a significant shift in table dynamics and improving your standing with a replenished board presence.
Resource Acceleration: By returning creatures from your graveyard to your hand, this spell sets the stage for a rapid deployment of forces in subsequent turns, effectively bypassing the usual tempo of drawing and playing one creature at a time.
Instant Speed: The flexibility to cast Walk with the Ancestors at the end of your opponent’s turn, or in response to a removal spell, provides a layer of unpredictability and strategic depth, allowing for surprise comebacks and tactical shifts.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Walk with the Ancestors requires you to pitch another card to play it, potentially draining your hand when resources might be better preserved for future turns or responses.
Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of Walk with the Ancestors includes colored mana, which could limit the card’s inclusion to decks that can reliably produce this type of mana, thereby reducing its overall flexibility in various deck types.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Weighed against other cards that could provide similar or greater impact, Walk with the Ancestors has a mana investment that might be considered steep for the advantage it grants, possibly making it a less favorable option in a finely-tuned deck where efficiency is key.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Walk with the Ancestors offers a unique twist on spell play, making it adaptable across various decks. It provides a key advantage in strategies that revolve around tapping and untapping creatures or using them for various sacrifice mechanics.
Combo Potential: This card can be a lynchpin in combos, particularly when aiming to generate a large burst of mana or activate powerful abilities multiple times in a single turn. Its ability to instantly populate the battlefield makes it a pivotal piece in intricate combo chains.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta dominated by decks that aim to outpace opponents or establish board control quickly, Walk with the Ancestors can tip the scales by repopulating the field or enabling surprise blocks, making it a tactical addition to match the ebb and flow of current competitive play.
How to Beat Walk with the Ancestors
Understanding how to counter Walk with the Ancestors can give you a considerable advantage during your MTG matchups. This spell is adept at reviving creatures from the graveyard, which could swing the tide of battle against you. However, one effective strategy entails focusing on graveyard disruption to inhibit the spell’s effectiveness. Cards such as Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can prevent the reanimation ability of Walk with the Ancestors entirely by exiling cards before they get the chance to return to the battlefield. Additionally, utilizing counter spells like Negate or Dovin’s Veto when Walk with the Ancestors is cast can be critical in keeping your opponent’s graveyard under control and the playing field level. By employing these strategies, you’ll mitigate the impact of this potent ancestral call, maintaining dominance over the course of the duel.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Walk with the Ancestors MTG card by a specific set like The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, 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 Walk with the Ancestors and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
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- MTG Mint Card
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- Card Hoarder Magic Online
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Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Walk with the Ancestors has restrictions
Format | Legality |
---|---|
Standard | Legal |
Historicbrawl | Legal |
Historic | Legal |
Legacy | Legal |
Paupercommander | Legal |
Oathbreaker | Legal |
Gladiator | Legal |
Alchemy | Legal |
Pioneer | Legal |
Commander | Legal |
Modern | Legal |
Pauper | Legal |
Vintage | Legal |
Duel | Legal |
Explorer | Legal |
Brawl | Legal |
Penny | Legal |
Timeless | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Walk with the Ancestors card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
Date | Text |
---|---|
2023-11-10 | "Discover N" means "Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value N or less. That card is the "discovered" card. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost if the resulting spell's mana value is less than or equal to N. If you don't cast it, put that card into your hand. Put the remaining exiled cards on the bottom of your library in a random order." |
2023-11-10 | A spell's mana value is determined only by its mana cost. Ignore any alternative costs, additional costs, cost increases, or cost reductions. |
2023-11-10 | If the discovered card has in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost. |
2023-11-10 | If you can't cast the discovered card (perhaps because there are no legal targets for the spell), you'll put it into your hand. |
2023-11-10 | If you cast a spell "without paying its mana cost", you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the spell has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those to cast it. |
2023-11-10 | If you discover an adventurer card, split card, or modal double-faced card, you might be able to cast that card with either set of characteristics depending on the effect's discover value. For example, if you discover 4 and reveal Galvanic Giant (an adventurer card from Wilds of Eldraine with a mana value of 4), you could cast Galvanic Giant, but not Storm Reading (its Adventure, which has a mana value of 7). If you discover 7 and reveal Galvanic Giant, you could cast either Galvanic Giant or Storm Reading. |
2023-11-10 | Some spells and abilities that cause you to discover may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve and you won't discover. |
2023-11-10 | The mana value of a split card is determined by the combined mana cost of its two halves. If discover allows you to cast a split card, you may cast either half (as long as its mana value is less than or equal to the effect's discover value) but not both halves. |
2023-11-10 | When you discover, you must exile cards. The only optional part of the ability is whether you cast the exiled card or put it into your hand. |
2023-11-10 | You exile the cards face up. All players will be able to see them. |