Hallowed Burial MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityRare
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides card advantage by disrupting graveyard strategies and managing indestructible threats.
  2. Indirectly accelerates your resources by resetting opponent’s creature-based board state.
  3. Demands white mana and a substantial mana investment, affecting deck construction and play choices.

Text of card

Put all creatures on the bottom of their owners' libraries.

"I'd rather hear the screams of battle than the quiet that follows." —Talara, elvish safewright


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Hallowed Burial stands out as a premier board wipe that neatly tucks creatures away into the player’s library rather than sending them to the graveyard. This essentially diminishes the potential for graveyard-based strategies to take advantage of creature deaths and ends up netting significant card advantage by dealing with recurring and indestructible threats in one clean sweep.

Resource Acceleration: Although Hallowed Burial may not directly accelerate resources in the conventional sense of producing mana or ramping, the advantage gained by effectively resetting your opponent’s creature-based progress can indirectly boost your own board state and tempo relative to your opponent’s.

Instant Speed: While Hallowed Burial operates at sorcery speed, the strategic depth it provides can’t be understated. It allows players to reset the board on their terms and forces opponents to reconsider their deployment of creature threats, knowing that their board can be invalidated regardless of their creatures’ protective abilities.


Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Hallowed Burial demands a precise mana combination including white, which could restrict its inclusion in decks that are not based around those colors or lack sufficient mana fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Costing five mana to cast, this can be quite costly, especially when you need to respond quickly to threats on the board. In fast-paced games, this might hinder your tempo and leave you vulnerable.

Discard Requirement: While Hallowed Burial does not have a direct discard requirement, its high mana cost implies a heavy investment. This can lead to situations where casting it necessitates forgoing other potential plays, which is akin to a discard in terms of opportunity cost.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Hallowed Burial doesn’t just wipe the board, it tucks creatures away into the library. This unique approach makes it a potent tool against decks relying on graveyard strategies or creatures that are otherwise difficult to permanently remove using traditional destruction methods.

Combo Potential: In decks where you control the top of your opponent’s library through cards like Lantern of Insight, Hallowed Burial can act as a pseudo-exile effect. The ability to control the flow of your opponent’s draws after a board wipe adds a strategic level to your gameplay.

Meta-Relevance: If the battlefield is often cluttered with indestructible or regenerate-able creatures, Hallowed Burial can bypass those abilities by shifting creatures out of play entirely. This ensures a cleaner reset against decks that thrive on those mechanics, keeping you one step ahead in the current meta.


How to beat

Hallowed Burial is a potent spell in the realm of Magic: The Gathering, mainly due to its ability to reset the battlefield. Unlike other board wipes that send creatures to the graveyard, Hallowed Burial tucks them neatly into the library, effectively bypassing any death triggers or graveyard synergies that many decks rely on. This attribute can make overcoming the card rather challenging.

To effectively counter Hallowed Burial, deck builders often include tools like counterspells or hand disruption techniques. These approaches prevent Hallowed Burial from being cast in the first place. For instance, the inclusion of spells such as Negate or Thoughtseize in your deck can provide an early defense against such sweeping removal.

Additionally, having resilient creatures that can either regenerate or return to the battlefield from the library can mitigate the impact of Hallowed Burial. Prioritizing permanents with effects that protect your creatures or those that offer benefits when they leave the battlefield can strengthen your position against such powerful cleansing spells.

Overall, outmaneuvering Hallowed Burial involves preemptive strategy, with proper threat assessment and the implementation of potentially disruptive elements to preserve your board state.


Cards like Hallowed Burial

Hallowed Burial is an intriguing choice for those looking to control the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. It finds companionship with other sweeping board clears such as Day of Judgment or Wrath of God, both of which systematically destroy all creatures. What makes Hallowed Burial distinct is its ability to tuck creatures into the bottom of their owners’ libraries instead of destroying them, bypassing indestructibility and dodging graveyard-triggered effects.

Terminus is another card that shares a similar outcome to Hallowed Burial, yet it can be cast for its miracle cost at a significantly reduced rate. This can turn the tides unexpectedly in a match. Supreme Verdict also commands attention by not only wiping out all creatures but with the added benefit of being uncounterable. This guarantees an impact on the game, unlike Hallowed Burial, which can be thwarted by counterspells.

While each board clear has its strategic advantages, Hallowed Burial stands out for its unique method of handling problematic creatures, effectively resetting the board and offering a clean slate approach to the late game strategies in Magic: The Gathering.

Day of Judgment - MTG Card versions
Wrath of God - MTG Card versions
Terminus - MTG Card versions
Supreme Verdict - MTG Card versions
Day of Judgment - Zendikar (ZEN)
Wrath of God - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Terminus - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Supreme Verdict - Return to Ravnica Promos (PRTR)

Cards similar to Hallowed Burial by color, type and mana cost

Purify - MTG Card versions
Global Ruin - MTG Card versions
Rout - MTG Card versions
March of Souls - MTG Card versions
Lonesome Unicorn // Rider in Need - MTG Card versions
Slash the Ranks - MTG Card versions
Promise of Loyalty - MTG Card versions
Saltblast - MTG Card versions
Three Dreams - MTG Card versions
Evangelize - MTG Card versions
Iona's Judgment - MTG Card versions
Increasing Devotion - MTG Card versions
Defy Death - MTG Card versions
Angelic Edict - MTG Card versions
End Hostilities - MTG Card versions
Fell the Mighty - MTG Card versions
Winds of Rath - MTG Card versions
Planar Outburst - MTG Card versions
Righteous Confluence - MTG Card versions
Wave of Reckoning - MTG Card versions
Purify - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Global Ruin - Invasion (INV)
Rout - Commander 2021 (C21)
March of Souls - Planeshift (PLS)
Lonesome Unicorn // Rider in Need - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Slash the Ranks - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Promise of Loyalty - Murders at Karlov Manor Commander (MKC)
Saltblast - Planar Chaos (PLC)
Three Dreams - Planechase Anthology (PCA)
Evangelize - Time Spiral (TSP)
Iona's Judgment - Commander Legends (CMR)
Increasing Devotion - Phyrexia: All Will Be One Commander (ONC)
Defy Death - Avacyn Restored (AVR)
Angelic Edict - Jumpstart (JMP)
End Hostilities - Khans of Tarkir (KTK)
Fell the Mighty - Murders at Karlov Manor Commander (MKC)
Winds of Rath - Forgotten Realms Commander (AFC)
Planar Outburst - Zendikar Rising Commander (ZNC)
Righteous Confluence - Commander Masters (CMM)
Wave of Reckoning - Commander 2016 (C16)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Hallowed Burial MTG card by a specific set like Eventide and Conspiracy: Take the Crown, 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 Hallowed Burial and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Hallowed Burial Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2008-07-25 and 2016-08-26. Illustrated by Dave Kendall.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12008-07-25EventideEVE 72003normalblackDave Kendall
22016-08-26Conspiracy: Take the CrownCN2 912015normalblackDave Kendall

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Hallowed Burial has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2008-08-01 All creatures leave the battlefield simultaneously. They’re not destroyed; they’re just put on the bottom of their owners’ libraries. This includes token creatures, though they’ll cease to exist as soon as Hallowed Burial finishes resolving.
2008-08-01 Each player chooses the relative order of the cards they are putting on the bottom of their library, regardless of who controlled them while they were on the battlefield. Players don’t reveal this order to other players.

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