Spellmorph Raise Dead MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityRare
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Recurs creatures, refilling your hand and providing a constant flow of options.
  2. Accelerates resources, enabling more efficient plays and strategic deployments.
  3. Instant speed casting allows for flexibility and reactive gameplay dynamics.

Text of card

Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. Spellmorph (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for . Cast it any time for its spellmorph cost.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Spellmorph Raise Dead offers players the ability to recur creatures from their graveyard directly to their hand. This action refills your hand, effectively ensuring that you’re never falling behind in resources and always have options at your disposal.

Resource Acceleration: While Spellmorph Raise Dead doesn’t directly produce mana, it accelerates your resources by retrieving key creatures that can help you ramp up or provide cost reductions on future plays. This can lead to more efficient turns and quicker deployment of your strategy.

Instant Speed: The advantage of being able to cast Spellmorph Raise Dead at instant speed is twofold. Firstly, it allows for surprise plays and unexpected swing turns by bringing back creatures at the end of your opponent’s turn, keeping them off guard. Secondly, it ensures that your mana isn’t tied up unnecessarily, allowing for greater flexibility and the ability to respond to your opponent’s actions in real time.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Spellmorph Raise Dead mandates a discard from the player’s hand upon casting, which may not be ideal for those situations when conserving every card is crucial to maintaining an advantage.

Specific Mana Cost: Its casting cost necessitates black mana, potentially making it a less flexible option for multicolor decks that might struggle with mana fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Utilizing Spellmorph Raise Dead comes at a higher mana cost than some alternative reanimation spells, possibly rendering it a less attractive choice when curating a deck with cost-efficient revival strategies.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Spellmorph Raise Dead shines in its ability to adapt to varied game situations. Whether you’re retrieving a crucial creature in a pinch or skillfully setting up your next moves, this card can be a linchpin in your graveyard strategy decks.

Combo Potential: With the ability to return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand, Spellmorph Raise Dead can seamlessly integrate into combos, particularly those that capitalize on creature synergies and recurring abilities.

Meta-Relevance: Given the fluctuating dynamics of MTG play, Spellmorph Raise Dead maintains relevance by offering consistent value. Against decks that focus on attrition, having the ability to reclaim your key pieces can swing the match in your favor.


How to Beat

Spellmorph Raise Dead is an intriguing mechanic that brings versatility and strategic depth to Magic: The Gathering. It functions both as a clandestine threat and a resourceful recovery tool. To outmaneuver this card, players should pay close attention to graveyard management – it’s pivotal to limit its effectiveness. Cards that can exile graveyards or specific cards within them, such as Relic of Progenitus or Bojuka Bog, can be instrumental in your arsenal. Additionally, navigating around its morph ability requires a sense of timing. Consider holding onto removal until the opponent commits to flipping the card face up as it demands mana investment from them. This can lead to a tempo advantage in your favor.

Spellmorph Raise Dead also adds a layer of mind games. Predicting when your opponent will attempt to use its raised creature can inform your strategy. Instant-speed removal allows you to respond effectively to their play and maintain control of the battlefield. Employing strategic foresight and the appropriate countermeasures will dramatically increase your odds of overcoming the adaptable nature of this spellmorph card. Keeping a keen eye on the graveyard and staying ready to react at a moment’s notice will guide you to victory.


Cards like Spellmorph Raise Dead

The allure of Spellmorph Raise Dead lies in its utility within the pantheon of creature recursion spells in Magic: The Gathering. It’s often weighed against the likes of Disentomb or Raise Dead itself, both serving a similar purpose of returning a creature card from graveyard to hand. What truly sets Spellmorph Raise Dead apart is its Spellmorph feature, allowing players to cast it face down as a 2/2 creature for a more flexible use of mana and a strategic advantage.

Exploring beyond the basic comparisons, we find Macabre Waltz, which shares the creature recovery aspect but also demands the discard of a card, which can be an advantage or setback, depending on the situation. Macabre Waltz, however, recovers two creatures, offering a potential edge in card economy. Another parallel can be drawn with Ghoulcaller’s Chant, which targets only Zombie creatures but can bring back two at the cost of one mana, a steep competition in decks focused on tribal synergy.

Factoring in these differing strategical applicabilities, Spellmorph Raise Dead holds its ground within the Magic: The Gathering meta by combining recursion with concealable tactics, marking its unique spot in a player’s arsenal.

Disentomb - MTG Card versions
Raise Dead - MTG Card versions
Macabre Waltz - MTG Card versions
Ghoulcaller's Chant - MTG Card versions
Disentomb - MTG Card versions
Raise Dead - MTG Card versions
Macabre Waltz - MTG Card versions
Ghoulcaller's Chant - MTG Card versions

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Spellmorph Raise Dead MTG card by a specific set like Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2019 and Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021, 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 Spellmorph Raise Dead and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Spellmorph Raise Dead Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2019-11-07 and 2021-08-20. Illustrated by Seth Conley.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-11-07Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2019CMB1 462015NormalBlackSeth Conley
22021-08-20Mystery Booster Playtest Cards 2021CMB2 462015NormalBlackSeth Conley

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2019-11-12 Are you still reading? That’s awesome. Face-down cards are tricky. One more ruling to go.
2019-11-12 Because face-down creatures don’t have a name, they can’t have the same name as any other creature or share any creature types with any other creature, even another face-down creature.
2019-11-12 If a card with spellmorph is manifested, you can cast it from the battlefield.
2019-11-12 If a face-down creature with spellmorph loses all abilities, it can’t be cast from the battlefield.
2019-11-12 If a face-down permanent you control leaves the battlefield, you must reveal it. If a face-down spell you control leaves the stack other than by resolving, you must reveal it. You must also reveal all face-down spells and permanents you control if you leave the game or if the game ends. The game doesn’t count them as being turned face up when you reveal them this way.
2019-11-12 If an effect tries to return a face-down creature to the battlefield after it leaves (such Momentary Blink or Adarkar Valkyrie’s delayed triggered ability), that effect returns the card face up. If it tries to put an instant or sorcery card onto the battlefield this way, that card remains in its current zone instead.
2019-11-12 Spellmorph is a variant of morph. A spellmorph ability is a morph ability, and a spellmorph cost is a morph cost. All rules and rulings for morph apply to spellmorph, except for how to turn it face up.
2019-11-12 The controller of the face-down creature with spellmorph can cast it, regardless of who cast the face-down creature spell.
2019-11-12 The face-down characteristics of a permanent are copiable values. If another object becomes a copy of a face-down creature or if a token is created that’s a copy of a face-down creature, that new object is a 2/2 colorless face-up creature with no abilities.
2019-11-12 There are no cards in this set that would turn a face-down instant or sorcery card face up, but some older cards can try to do this. If something tries to turn a face-down instant or sorcery card on the battlefield face up, reveal that card to show all players it’s an instant or sorcery card. The permanent remains on the battlefield face down. Abilities that trigger when a permanent turns face up won’t trigger, because even though you revealed the card, it never turned face up.
2019-11-12 To cast a spell with a morph ability, you turn it face down before determining whether it’s legal to cast. The face-down spell (and the permanent it becomes) is a 2/2 creature with no name, mana cost, creature types, or abilities. It’s colorless and has a converted mana cost of 0, and the cost to cast the spell is . Other effects that apply to the spell or permanent can still grant or change any of these characteristics.
2019-11-12 To cast a spell with spellmorph from the battlefield, first reveal that it has a spellmorph cost. If it does, ignore all effects that are affecting it to determine whether it’s legal to cast; it’s no longer a creature. If it’s legal to cast, move it to the stack. If you realize that you can’t legally cast the spell, the game rewinds and it remains face down on the battlefield.
2019-11-12 You must ensure that your face-down spells and permanents can easily be differentiated from each other. You're not allowed to mix them up on the battlefield to confuse other players. The order they entered the battlefield should remain clear. Common methods for indicating this include using markers or dice, or simply placing them in order on the battlefield.

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