Back from the Brink MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 6 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Enchantment |
| Released | 2011-09-30 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Innistrad |
| Set code | ISD |
| Number | 44 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Anthony Palumbo |
Key Takeaways
- Enables continual reuse of creatures, significantly increasing long-term game value and options.
- Translates discarded creatures into a dynamic battlefield presence, bolstering your MTG strategy.
- Instant-speed capabilities present, leveraging your graveyard as a tactical resource during play.
Text of card
Exile a creature card from your graveyard and pay its mana cost: Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of that card. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
On Innistrad, death is just a career change.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Back from the Brink provides excellent value by allowing you to reutilize creatures from your graveyard. Rather than a one-time effect, it gives ongoing access to a wider range of tactical options every turn, ensuring you can outlast opponents in a prolonged game.
Resource Acceleration: This enchantment offers a strategic advantage by converting graveyard resources into potential creature plays. By using your graveyard as a resource, you effectively accelerate your board presence without depleting your hand, keeping pressure on your adversaries.
Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, Back from the Brink allows you to exploit the creatures it revives at instant speed, assuming they have flash or you have the means to give it to them. This transforms your graveyard into a hidden arsenal, ready to spring surprises on an unsuspecting opponent and shift the tide of the match in your favor.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: One limitation of Back from the Brink is that it requires players to discard a creature card to utilize its effect. This prerequisite could deplete your hand, especially if you’re already low on cards, which undeniably reduces your strategic options as the game progresses.
Specific Mana Cost: Back from the Brink has a specific mana requirement, needing both blue mana and generic mana to cast. This need for blue mana may exclude it from a variety of decks, particularly those not running blue or without sufficient mana fixing, thus limiting its versatility across different archetypes.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost totaling six mana, Back from the Brink can be considered mana-intensive. There are alternate cards with lower casting costs that can offer similar or even better value, making Back from the Brink a potential strain on your mana resources which could slow your game tempo significantly.
Reasons to Include Back from the Brink in Your Collection
Versatility: Back from the Brink offers the unique ability to cast creatures from your graveyard, which can be a powerful and versatile tool in decks that focus on milling or self-discard strategies. Its applicability in multiple deck archetypes makes it a flexible addition to any collection.
Combo Potential: This card opens up opportunities for various synergistic plays, especially in decks that capitalize on enter-the-battlefield effects or those that require creatures in play to activate their abilities. Pairing it with creatures that have potent effects when they enter the battlefield or die can lead to game-changing combos.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta characterized by frequent board wipes or heavy control, Back from the Brink provides resilience by allowing you to continually utilize your creatures even after they’ve been dealt with. This continuous threat can give you an edge in such an environment.
How to Beat
Back from the Brink offers players in Magic the Gathering a unique opportunity to replay creatures from their graveyard. This card has the potential to turn the tide of a game by providing a steady stream of creatures as long as you have enough mana and exiled creatures. It’s a high-value card in decks that capitalize on creature cards in play.
To effectively counter Back from the Brink, it’s important to target the card directly or disrupt the graveyard strategy. Enchantment removal spells like Naturalize or Disenchant are traditional methods to remove troublesome cards like Back from the Brink. Alternatively, employing graveyard hate cards, such as Relic of Progenitus or Tormod’s Crypt, can prevent players from utilizing their graveyard as a resource pool, effectively nullifying the advantage of Back from the Brink. By taking these measures, you can significantly reduce the card’s impact on the game.
It’s crucial to be proactive; waiting too long can give your opponent the chance to overwhelm you with creatures. Timing your removal spells and keeping an eye on the state of both graveyards are key to keeping Back from the Brink in check.
Cards like Back from the Brink
Back from the Brink provides a unique mechanic to Magic: The Gathering players, allowing them to cast creatures from their graveyard. This feature echoes the functionalities of cards like Dread Return, which also brings creatures back, but it comes with the added requirement of sacrificing other creatures. Back from the Brink, meanwhile offers a repeatable use without the need for a sacrifice, setting it apart.
In the realm of creature recursion, we witness the existence of the Miraculous Recovery card. It resurrects a creature card from the graveyard to the battlefield with an extra +1/+1 counter. Though it offers an immediate power boost, it lacks the sustainable utility of Back from the Brink. Then there’s the card Stitch Together, which provides a similar return-from-graveyard ability, but it hinges on having threshold, which might not always be active like the consistent mechanism of Back from the Brink.
Overall, when considering cards that reanimate creatures, Back from the Brink stands out due to its non-restrictive and reusable nature, providing strategic depth and continuous value on the battlefield for Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts.
Cards similar to Back from the Brink by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Back from the Brink MTG card by a specific set like Innistrad, 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 Back from the Brink and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- 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
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Back from the Brink has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Back from the Brink card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2011-09-22 | Although you’re paying the card’s mana cost, you aren’t casting that card. Abilities that reduce the cost to cast a creature spell won’t apply, and additional costs to cast that creature can’t be paid. Alternative costs that affect what it costs to cast a creature spell, such as evoke, can’t. |
| 2011-09-22 | Any enters-the-battlefield abilities of the creature will trigger when the token enters the battlefield. Any “as -his creature] enters the battlefield” or “ -his creature] enters the battlefield with” abilities of the creature will also work. |
| 2011-09-22 | If the exiled creature card has in its mana cost, X is considered to be zero. |
| 2011-09-22 | If you exile a double-faced creature card this way, you’ll pay the mana cost of the front face. The token will be a copy of the front face and it won’t be able to transform. |
