Walk with the Ancestors MTG Card


Enables recovering multiple creatures, significantly shifting game dynamics and strengthening board presence. Can cast at instant speed for strategic advantages, offering unexpected maneuvers and tactical plays. Despite requiring a card discard and specific mana, it’s a tactical choice for various MTG deck strategies.
Walk with the Ancestors - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Discover
Released2023-11-17
Set symbol
Set nameThe Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Set codeLCI
Number218
Frame2015
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred byLoïc 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.

Rally the Ancestors - MTG Card versions
Unearth - MTG Card versions
Proclamation of Rebirth - MTG Card versions
Rally the Ancestors - MTG Card versions
Unearth - MTG Card versions
Proclamation of Rebirth - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Walk with the Ancestors by color, type and mana cost

Double Play - MTG Card versions
Plow Under - MTG Card versions
Restock - MTG Card versions
Tranquil Path - MTG Card versions
Parallel Evolution - MTG Card versions
Stunted Growth - MTG Card versions
Shamanic Revelation - MTG Card versions
Primal Command - MTG Card versions
Rebuking Ceremony - MTG Card versions
Feast of Worms - MTG Card versions
Natural Spring - MTG Card versions
Predatory Focus - MTG Card versions
Cyclical Evolution - MTG Card versions
Overrun - MTG Card versions
Incremental Growth - MTG Card versions
Savage Conception - MTG Card versions
Rude Awakening - MTG Card versions
Bestial Menace - MTG Card versions
Overwhelming Stampede - MTG Card versions
Predatory Rampage - MTG Card versions
Double Play - MTG Card versions
Plow Under - MTG Card versions
Restock - MTG Card versions
Tranquil Path - MTG Card versions
Parallel Evolution - MTG Card versions
Stunted Growth - MTG Card versions
Shamanic Revelation - MTG Card versions
Primal Command - MTG Card versions
Rebuking Ceremony - MTG Card versions
Feast of Worms - MTG Card versions
Natural Spring - MTG Card versions
Predatory Focus - MTG Card versions
Cyclical Evolution - MTG Card versions
Overrun - MTG Card versions
Incremental Growth - MTG Card versions
Savage Conception - MTG Card versions
Rude Awakening - MTG Card versions
Bestial Menace - MTG Card versions
Overwhelming Stampede - MTG Card versions
Predatory Rampage - MTG Card versions

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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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Walk with the Ancestors has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
AlchemyLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

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.