Fated Return MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost7
RarityRare
TypeInstant
Abilities Scry

Key Takeaways

  1. Fated Return grants indestructibility, offering a persistent battlefield presence and strategic resilience.
  2. It’s an instant-speed spell that can surprise opponents and dodge common removals during their turn.
  3. Despite its power, the card’s high mana cost and color commitment can limit its versatility.

Text of card

Put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. It gains indestructible. If it's your turn, scry 2. (Look at the top two cards of your library, then put any number of them on the bottom of your library and the rest on top in any order.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Fated Return provides a robust way to turn the tide in your favor by reanimating any creature in the graveyard. This effect not only gives you an additional creature on the battlefield but the indestructible bonus ensures its longevity, bolstering your defensive and offensive strategies.

Resource Acceleration: Though it doesn’t directly offer traditional forms of mana acceleration, the reanimation of a high-value target can be a game-changer, effectively giving you access to powerful effects or abilities that can dominate the game without spending additional mana in your subsequent turns.

Instant Speed: The capacity to cast Fated Return at instant speed presents a strategic advantage, allowing you to wait until the most opportune moment during your opponent’s end phase to surprise them with a formidable, indestructible ally, thus circumventing sorcery speed removal and ensuring your reanimated creature’s impact on the game.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Fated Return doesn’t come into play without a substantial investment, as you’ll need to have a creature in the graveyard. This precondition may hinder your strategy, especially when your graveyard lacks viable targets.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a stringent color commitment with three black mana symbols in its casting cost. This specificity can be challenging for multicolored decks to manage, often requiring a heavily skewed mana base or specific acceleration tools.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Seven mana for resurrection is steep, even with the added bonus of indestructibility. In formats where tempo and efficiency are key, the cost of Fated Return may be too high when compared with other reanimation spells that return creatures to the battlefield for less mana.


Reasons to Include Fated Return in Your Collection

Versatility: Fated Return provides a powerful effect that can reanimate any creature from any graveyard, making it a valuable addition to decks that capitalize on bringing back high-impact creatures.

Combo Potential: The card’s indestructible boon can work in synergy with other cards that benefit from tough-to-remove threats, combining well with strategies that aim to lock down the board or protect key creatures from mass removals.

Meta-Relevance: In game environments where removal spells are frequent and the battlefield is constantly changing, the resilience offered by Fated Return ensures that your key creature not only returns to the fray but stays there, often tipping the scales in your favor.


How to beat

Fated Return is a powerful reanimation spell with a significant presence in MTG games. Its strength lies not only in bringing back a creature from the graveyard but also in granting it indestructible. This means that once a creature is resurrected with Fated Return, it becomes a formidable obstacle that can resist many of your removal strategies.

To counter Fated Return, it’s crucial to prevent key creatures from hitting the graveyard in the first place. Graveyard hate cards such as Rest in Peace can neutralize its potential before it even starts. Another strategy is to deploy countermagic like Negate or Dispel, targeting Fated Return directly to prevent its casting. If the creature has already returned, exile effects like Path to Exile or board wipes that get around indestructibility, such as Merciless Eviction, can help manage the threat. In essence, disruption and preemptive control are your best tools to ensure Fated Return doesn’t swing the game in your opponent’s favor.

Understanding the timing and resources required for your opponent to successfully cast Fated Return is also key. At seven mana, this spell demands a significant investment, so maintaining pressure and forcing your opponent to use resources elsewhere can prevent them from ever stabilizing with their resurrected creature. Remember, careful planning and strategic disruption can keep Fated Return from sealing your fate in an MTG match.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG is a journey, and Fated Return is a must-know card for players who enjoy complexity and control. The potential to turn a game in your favor with instant speed resurrection is immense. Whether you dabble in casual play or compete in tournaments, understanding how to leverage such powerful spells can define your path to victory. As you continue to refine your deck and adapt to the evolving meta, consider how Fated Return fits into your strategy. Ready to dive deeper into the intricacies of gameplay and optimize your deck with every draw? Join us at BurnMana for insights, tips, and more to boost your MTG prowess.


Cards like Fated Return

Fated Return stands out in the realm of reanimation spells within Magic: The Gathering. This card brings to mind other resurrection spells like Zombify, which similarly allows for the return of a creature from your graveyard to the battlefield. Despite this, Fated Return steps ahead with its ability to confer indestructibility on the resurrected creature, a powerful edge that Zombify lacks.

Comparably, Rise from the Grave is another household spell in this category. It, too, revives a creature but differs by turning it into a Black Zombie in addition to its other colors and types. While it doesn’t grant indestructibility, it does provide a thematic twist. On closer inspection, we also have Beacon of Unrest, a spell that also reanimates not just creatures but artifacts as well. Though it shuffles back into the library after use, it doesn’t protect your creature like Fated Return does.

Each option plays a unique role – whether it’s the straightforward utility of Zombify, the unusual transformation of Rise from the Grave, or the repeatable nature of Beacon of Unrest. Fated Return in comparison excels in its protective measure, ensuring the permanence of your returned threat on the battlefield.

Zombify - MTG Card versions
Rise from the Grave - MTG Card versions
Beacon of Unrest - MTG Card versions
Zombify - Odyssey (ODY)
Rise from the Grave - Wizards Play Network 2009 (PWP09)
Beacon of Unrest - Fifth Dawn (5DN)

Cards similar to Fated Return by color, type and mana cost

Soul Spike - MTG Card versions
Needlebite Trap - MTG Card versions
Grave Endeavor - MTG Card versions
Hezrou // Demonic Stench - MTG Card versions
Soul Spike - Coldsnap (CSP)
Needlebite Trap - Zendikar (ZEN)
Grave Endeavor - Forgotten Realms Commander (AFC)
Hezrou // Demonic Stench - Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate (CLB)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Fated Return MTG card by a specific set like Born of the Gods and Zendikar Rising Commander, 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 Fated Return and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Fated Return Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2014-02-07 and 2020-09-25. Illustrated by Peter Mohrbacher.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12014-02-07Born of the GodsBNG 692003normalblackPeter Mohrbacher
22020-09-25Zendikar Rising CommanderZNC 422015normalblackPeter Mohrbacher

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Fated Return has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2013-09-15 Scry appears on some spells and abilities with one or more targets. If all of the spell or ability’s targets are illegal when it tries to resolve, it won’t resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won’t scry.
2013-09-15 When you scry, you may put all the cards you look at back on top of your library, you may put all of those cards on the bottom of your library, or you may put some of those cards on top and the rest of them on the bottom.
2013-09-15 You choose how to order cards returned to your library after scrying no matter where you put them.
2013-09-15 You perform the actions stated on a card in sequence. For some spells and abilities, that means you’ll scry last. For others, that means you’ll scry and then perform other actions.
2014-02-01 The effect that causes the creature to gain indestructible doesn’t have a duration. It lasts until the creature leaves the battlefield.
2014-02-01 The indestructible granted by Fated Return isn’t part of the creature’s copiable values. If the creature is copied, the copy won’t have indestructible (unless the creature otherwise has indestructible).

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