Dawnbreak Reclaimer MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost6
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Angel
Abilities Flying
Power 5
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Dawnbreak Reclaimer grants strategic card advantage through recurring end-step creature recovery.
  2. The card demands careful hand management due to its associated discard requirement.
  3. Remarkably versatile, it’s a valuable addition to Commander decks with graveyard synergies.

Text of card

Flying At the beginning of your end step, choose a creature card in an opponent's graveyard, then that player chooses a creature card in your graveyard. You may return those cards to the battlefield under their owners' control.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Dawnbreak Reclaimer lets players end their turn by bringing a creature back from the graveyard, giving them an edge by reusing powerful monsters or key combos.

Resource Acceleration: By reclaiming creatures, this card effectively bypasses mana costs associated with casting creatures directly from hand, indirectly accelerating resource availability.

Instant Speed: This commander-centric angel makes use of its ability as a somewhat political tool, it can be utilized at the end of your turn, thus leaving mana open for responses and creating favorable negotiations among players.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing Dawnbreak Reclaimer requires strategic hand management, as its ability necessitates discarding a card. This can be a setback if you are holding critical spells or when your hand is nearly empty, potentially leaving you at a disadvantage.

Specific Mana Cost: With a mana cost that includes two white mana symbols, the Dawnbreak Reclaimer is specialized for decks heavily invested in white mana. This limits its flexibility across various deck builds and can be a hindrance in decks with a wider color palette.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Clocking in at six mana to cast, this card comes with a high cost compared to other reanimation options available. This makes it a late-game play, potentially slowing down your overall game plan and giving opponents time to establish their board or counter your strategy.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Dawnbreak Reclaimer shows impressive versatility, as it’s a card that can seamlessly fit into an array of Commander decks. Its power to selectively retrieve creatures from graveyards each turn offers constant value, adapting to various board states and providing a steady engine for creature-based strategies.

Combo Potential: This card presents vast combo potential, as it pairs well with cards that have enter-the-battlefield effects or those that gain you advantage when creatures leave the graveyard. It can set up powerful plays and synergizes with a plethora of strategies that seek to exploit graveyard mechanics.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where games are decided over the long term, Dawnbreak Reclaimer stands out. Its ability to recurrently influence the board makes it a relevant choice in metas that favor grindy, attrition-based play. This makes it a formidable pick for players looking to make an impact in such settings.


How to beat

Dawnbreak Reclaimer is a powerful angel commander in Magic: The Gathering that can create quite the impact on the battlefield. Its intriguing ability allows players to resurrect a creature from their graveyard during each end step, which can completely alter the course of the game. Facing off against this card requires a specific strategy to ensure your opponent’s graveyard doesn’t become an arsenal of endless threats.

To effectively combat Dawnbreak Reclaimer, gravitate towards exile effects or graveyard hate cards that can neutralize its ability. Tormod’s Crypt, for example, can wipe an opponent’s graveyard clean, nullifying the advantage Dawnbreak Reclaimer provides. Leyline of the Void is another potent option, as it prevents the opponent’s cards from hitting the graveyard in the first place, severely limiting the Dawnbreak Reclaimer’s utility. Ensnaring its abilities early on will save you from a late-game spiral, where your opponent’s board is teeming with resurrected creatures.

Making sure Dawnbreak Reclaimer never hits the field is also a viable strategy. Counterspells like Counterspell itself or Mana Leak can prevent it from ever resolving, sparing you from its formidable end-step ability. In the end, when confronting a strategy centered around Dawnbreak Reclaimer, your focus should be on controlling your opponent’s graveyard and maintaining a steady means of disruption to thwart their game plan.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering the game of MTG goes beyond understanding the basics. As a player, you know that every card you add to your deck can drastically influence your chances of victory. Dawnbreak Reclaimer is such a card that promises an edge with each turn, reanimating powerful allies from the graveyard. The key to capitalizing on its strengths lies in building around it—consider investing in synergy and countering its cons. If you’re interested in optimizing your commander deck and want to explore strategies that incorporate Dawnbreak Reclaimer, or if you’re looking for tactical advice on how to best its abilities in play, we’re here to guide you. Delve deeper into MTG strategy with us and make every card count.


Cards like Dawnbreak Reclaimer

Dawnbreak Reclaimer is a distinctive option among Magic: The Gathering’s reanimator-style creatures. Sporting a similar resurrection ability, Emeria Shepherd is notable for its landfall-triggered returns of creatures from graveyard to battlefield. Yet it lacks Dawnbreak Reclaimer’s reciprocal element, which allows both players to benefit, fostering a more strategic environment within the game. Another relative is Defy Death, granting the resurrection of a single creature plus bolstering it with additional counters—but again, missing the interactive gameplay angle that Dawnbreak Reclaimer encourages.

Resolute Archangel stands out for returning a player’s life total to its starting amount upon entering the battlefield, a different angle of game recovery yet without interaction with graveyard mechanics. While Resolute Archangel affects the health aspect, Dawnbreak Reclaimer focuses on the resource advantage through creature recovery. Karmic Guide shares the theme by bringing back creatures directly upon entering the battlefield, but unlike Dawnbreak Reclaimer, it ensures only your benefit without gifting advantages to the opponent.

Assessing their unique facets and tactical implications in gameplay, Dawnbreak Reclaimer shines in decks where player interaction and strategic depth are appreciated, distinguishing it from similar MTG creatures focused on one-sided gains or singular effects.

Emeria Shepherd - MTG Card versions
Defy Death - MTG Card versions
Resolute Archangel - MTG Card versions
Karmic Guide - MTG Card versions
Emeria Shepherd - Battle for Zendikar (BFZ)
Defy Death - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Resolute Archangel - Magic 2015 Promos (PM15)
Karmic Guide - Urza's Legacy (ULG)

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Dawnbreak Reclaimer MTG card by a specific set like Commander 2015 and Legendary Cube Prize Pack, 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 Dawnbreak Reclaimer and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Dawnbreak Reclaimer Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2015-11-13 and 2019-12-02. Illustrated by Tyler Jacobson.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12015-11-13Commander 2015C15 22015normalblackTyler Jacobson
22015-11-18Legendary Cube Prize PackPZ1 32015normalblackTyler Jacobson
32018-06-08Commander Anthology Volume IICM2 242015normalblackTyler Jacobson
42019-12-02Secret Lair DropSLD 13462015normalblackTyler Jacobson

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Dawnbreak Reclaimer has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2015-11-04 If any opponent has a creature card in their graveyard as Dawnbreak Reclaimer’s ability resolves, then you must choose one of those cards. You can’t choose a different opponent with no creature cards in their graveyard to avoid returning one of those cards.
2015-11-04 If there are no creature cards in any opponent’s graveyard as Dawnbreak Reclaimer’s ability resolves, you’ll still have the option to return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. You choose which opponent will choose a creature card in your graveyard.

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