Necromantic Summons MTG Card


Necromantic Summons - Magic Origins
Mana cost
Converted mana cost5
RarityUncommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Spell mastery
Released2015-07-17
Set symbol
Set nameMagic Origins
Set codeORI
Number110
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byRyan Yee

Key Takeaways

  1. Necromantic Summons provides immediate board impact by resurrecting creatures, with added benefits if you have Spell Mastery.
  2. The card’s mana cost is balanced by its ability to cheat expensive creatures onto the battlefield, speeding up your game plan.
  3. Despite its power, the card necessitates a creature in the graveyard and has a specific, sometimes prohibitive, mana cost.

Text of card

Put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. Spell mastery — If there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard, that creature enters the battlefield with two additional +1/+1 counters on it.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Necromantic Summons stands out by bringing a creature from any graveyard directly to the battlefield, effectively providing immediate board presence. This form of reanimation is a powerful play, offering you a potentially significant creature without the cost of casting it from your hand. Additionally, if you have Spell Mastery, you gain even more value by adding +2/+2 counters to the summoned creature, making it a formidable force on the board and swinging the momentum in your favor.

Resource Acceleration: Though Necromantic Summons requires an initial investment of five mana, the ability to reanimate a high-cost creature easily offsets this. The summoning acts as a shortcut to putting expensive creatures into play, sidestepping their traditional casting cost and potentially accelerating your win condition, by amassing powerful creatures faster than normal.

Instant Speed: While Necromantic Summons is a sorcery, its effects are best appreciated in the context of its impact at a key moment in the game. Strategically returning a game-changing creature to the battlefield can instantly alter the state of play, demanding an immediate response from your opponent and often giving you the advantage of surprise, as if it had been cast at instant speed.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Casting Necromantic Summons often necessitates having a creature card in your graveyard, which can sometimes translate to a demand for self-discard strategies or waiting for suitable creatures to be destroyed, possibly hindering the card’s spontaneity and speed.

Specific Mana Cost: Necromantic Summons requires both black mana and generic mana, which can be restrictive if your deck isn’t tailored to generate the necessary types of mana efficiently, possibly affecting casting opportunities and overall mana curve flexibility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The card’s relatively steep mana cost totals five, including two black mana, which may deter players considering the tempo of the game and alternative lower-cost reanimation spells that could be more immediately impactful within the early to mid-game stages.


Reasons to Include Necromantic Summons in Your Collection

Versatility: Necromantic Summons brings flexibility to any black-centered deck, allowing players to bring back crucial creatures from the graveyard. This card is a game-changer in any scenario where reanimation is key.

Combo Potential: This card synergizes well with strategies that thrive on graveyard manipulation. Its potential to trigger enter-the-battlefield effects or strengthen graveyard-based synergies makes it a must-have for inventive combo decks.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta filled with fast-paced aggro or complex control decks, the ability to recover and replay influential creatures can shift the tide of the game in your favor, marking Necromantic Summons as a smart addition to your lineup.


How to beat Necromantic Summons

Necromantic Summons finds its niche within the broader scope of reanimation spells in Magic: The Gathering. It offers a strategic revival of creatures from any graveyard granting an immediate presence on the battlefield, potentially with additional strength from its Spell Mastery feature. This has obvious synergies within decks focused on large creatures, enhancing the overall power level compared to a common reanimation spell.

To counter this, grave hate cards like Rest in Peace or Relic of Progenitus disrupt this strategy by removing the target from the game altogether before the Summon can take effect. Exiling key creatures from your opponent’s graveyard could pivot the course of the game in your favor. Similarly, countermagic such as Negate or Dispel can be timely shields against such potent sorceries, stopping the spell before it ever resolves. It’s crucial to anticipate and thwart the play before the creature hits the field, as dealing with a powered-up, returned creature might be much harder afterward.

Overall, when facing Necromantic Summons, key disruption tactics along with a carefully planned response will be essential to maintain control and prevent your opponent’s graveyard from becoming an extension of their hand.


Cards like Necromantic Summons

Necromantic Summons shines in the realm of creature reanimation within Magic the Gathering. Its closest relative in effect might be Zombify, a card that also brings creatures back from the graveyard to the battlefield. Necromantic Summons, however, adds a layer of versatility with its Spell Mastery feature. If there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard, the creature comes back even stronger.

Another card, Rise from the Grave, also follows this theme of returning fallen creatures to play. It shares the same mana cost with Necromantic Summons, but instead of potentially putting a +1/+1 counter on the creature, it turns it into a black Zombie in addition to its other types. Animate Dead is yet another competitor in this marketplace of necromancy, with a lower cost and an enduring legacy format presence. While it attaches to a creature card in a graveyard and brings it back into the game, the reanimated creature gets -1/-0, which could be significant in tight game situations.

Altogether, Necromantic Summons stands out for its ability to bring creatures back bigger than before if conditions are right, offering MTG players a strategic edge in late-game scenarios when those extra counters can have a tremendous impact on the outcome.

Zombify - MTG Card versions
Rise from the Grave - MTG Card versions
Animate Dead - MTG Card versions
Zombify - Odyssey (ODY)
Rise from the Grave - DCI Promos (PDCI)
Animate Dead - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)

Cards similar to Necromantic Summons by color, type and mana cost

Reign of Terror - MTG Card versions
Soul Shred - MTG Card versions
Living Death - MTG Card versions
Beacon of Unrest - MTG Card versions
Final Punishment - MTG Card versions
Soul Feast - MTG Card versions
Sever Soul - MTG Card versions
Patriarch's Bidding - MTG Card versions
Aether Snap - MTG Card versions
Dance of Shadows - MTG Card versions
Brainspoil - MTG Card versions
Head Games - MTG Card versions
Promise of Power - MTG Card versions
Rise from the Grave - MTG Card versions
Incremental Blight - MTG Card versions
Dakmor Plague - MTG Card versions
Spread the Sickness - MTG Card versions
Monomania - MTG Card versions
Diabolic Revelation - MTG Card versions
Crux of Fate - MTG Card versions
Reign of Terror - Mirage (MIR)
Soul Shred - Portal (POR)
Living Death - The List (PLST)
Beacon of Unrest - Warhammer 40,000 Commander (40K)
Final Punishment - Scourge (SCG)
Soul Feast - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Sever Soul - Hachette UK (PHUK)
Patriarch's Bidding - Modern Horizons 2 Promos (PMH2)
Aether Snap - Commander 2014 (C14)
Dance of Shadows - Champions of Kamigawa (CHK)
Brainspoil - Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV)
Head Games - Tenth Edition (10E)
Promise of Power - Commander 2014 (C14)
Rise from the Grave - Zendikar Rising Commander (ZNC)
Incremental Blight - Archenemy (ARC)
Dakmor Plague - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Spread the Sickness - Mirrodin Besieged (MBS)
Monomania - Magic 2012 (M12)
Diabolic Revelation - Magic 2013 (M13)
Crux of Fate - Commander 2017 (C17)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Necromantic Summons MTG card by a specific set like Magic Origins, 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 Necromantic Summons and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Necromantic Summons has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2015-06-22 Check to see if there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard as the spell resolves to determine whether the spell mastery ability applies. The spell itself won’t count because it’s still on the stack as you make this check.

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