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Animate Dead

Animate Dead

Enchantment — Aura

uncommon

Enchant creature card in a graveyard When this Aura enters, if it's on the battlefield, it loses "enchant creature card in a graveyard" and gains "enchant creature put onto the battlefield with this Aura." Return enchanted creature card to the battlefield under your control and attach this Aura to it. When this Aura leaves the battlefield, that creature's controller sacrifices it. Enchanted creature gets -1/-0.

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Semantic Tags

Aura Mattersmechanical

Aura and enchant creature focused strategies — constellation, heroic, bogles.

Cares about cards in the graveyard, puts cards into the graveyard, or benefits from things dying.

Permanentmechanical

A card or token on the battlefield. See rule 110, “Permanents.”

Powers up a single creature with equipment or auras. Includes equipment, aura payoffs, and suited-up creature effects.

Format Legality

commanderlegal
oathbreakerlegal
modernnot legal
pioneernot legal
standardnot legal
legacylegal
vintagelegal
paupernot legal
historicnot legal
explorernot legal
alchemynot legal

Price history

Pre-release printing — price history will appear once it's on the market.

Printings (24)

SetRarityTCGplayerCard KingdomCardmarket
The Zeta Set#276uncommon···
The Zeta Set#34uncommon···
The Zeta Set#155uncommon···
Secrets of Strixhaven Commander#207uncommon···
Secret Lair Drop#2189rare···
Murders at Karlov Manor Commander#125uncommon···
30th Anniversary Edition#389uncommon···
30th Anniversary Edition#92uncommon···
Judge Gift Cards 2022#7rare···
The List#EMA-78uncommon···
Eternal Masters#78uncommon···
Vintage Masters#104uncommon···
Premium Deck Series: Graveborn#16uncommon···
Magic Online Theme Decks#A36uncommon···
Masters Edition#57uncommon···
Fifth Edition#140uncommon···
Fourth Edition#118uncommon···
Summer Magic / Edgar#93uncommon···
Revised Edition#93uncommon···
Collectors' Edition#93uncommon···

Related Concepts

Enchant

A keyword ability that defines what an Aura spell can target and what an Aura permanent can be attached to. See rule 303, “Enchantments,” and rule 702.5, “Enchant.”

Related Rules

106.5

If an ability would produce one or more mana of an undefined type, it produces no mana instead.

106.7

Some abilities produce mana based on the type of mana another permanent or permanents “could produce.” The type of mana a permanent could produce at any time includes any type of mana that an ability of that permanent would produce if the ability were to resolve at that time, taking into account any applicable replacement effects in any possible order. Ignore whether any costs of the ability could or could not be paid. If that permanent wouldn’t produce any mana under these conditions, or no type of mana can be defined this way, there’s no type of mana it could produce.

106.12

To “tap [a permanent] for mana” is to activate a mana ability of that permanent that includes the {T} symbol in its activation cost. See rule 605, “Mana Abilities.”

106.12a

An ability that triggers whenever a permanent “is tapped for mana” or is tapped for mana of a specified type triggers whenever such a mana ability resolves and produces mana or the specified type of mana.

106.12b

A replacement effect that applies if a permanent “is tapped for mana” or tapped for mana of a specific type and/or amount modifies the mana production event while such an ability is resolving and producing mana or the specified type and/or amount of mana.

107.3m

If an object’s enters-the-battlefield triggered ability or replacement effect refers to X, and the spell that became that object as it resolved had a value of X chosen for any of its costs, the value of X for that ability is the same as the value of X for that spell, although the value of X for that permanent is 0. This is an exception to rule 107.3i.

107.5

The tap symbol is {T}. The tap symbol in an activation cost means “Tap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already tapped can’t be tapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.

107.6

The untap symbol is {Q}. The untap symbol in an activation cost means “Untap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already untapped can’t be untapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.

Rulings

2016-06-08

If the creature put onto the battlefield has protection from black—or if the creature can't legally be enchanted by Animate Dead for another reason—Animate Dead won't be able to attach to it. It will be put into the graveyard as a state-based action, causing its delayed triggered ability to trigger. When the trigger resolves, if the creature's still on the battlefield, its controller will sacrifice it.

2016-06-08

Animate Dead is an Aura, albeit with an unusual enchant ability. You target a creature card in a graveyard when you cast it. It enters the battlefield attached to that card. Then it returns that card to the battlefield, and attaches itself to the card again (since the card is a new object on the battlefield). Animate Dead itself never moves into a graveyard during this process.

2016-06-08

If Animate Dead isn't on the battlefield as its triggered ability resolves, none of its effects happen. The creature card won't be returned to the battlefield.

2016-06-08

Once the creature is returned to the battlefield, Animate Dead can't be attached to anything other than it (unless Animate Dead somehow manages to put a different creature onto the battlefield). Attempting to move Animate Dead to another creature won't work.

2016-06-08

Abilities such as shroud and protection function only on the battlefield unless otherwise specified. A creature card with shroud may be targeted by Animate Dead, and Animate Dead will become attached to the creature that enters the battlefield.