Brought Back
Instant
Choose up to two target permanent cards in your graveyard that were put there from the battlefield this turn. Return them to the battlefield tapped.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Core Set 2020 Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #4840
Brought Back returns two permanents that hit your graveyard this turn — at instant speed, for two mana — making it one of the most mana-efficient recovery spells white has ever printed. It doesn't care whether those permanents died or were sacrificed, so it slots into any deck that wants to exploit both modes in a single turn; the cost is the setup requirement, not the card itself.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Brion Stoutarm
Brion Stoutarm sacrifices creatures as a resource, and Brought Back lets you snap two of them back at end of turn — turning what looked like a one-shot attack into a repeatable threat loop the moment you have the mana open.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Brought Back does its best work: the format's fetch lands, sacrifice outlets, and self-mill create a constant stream of permanents entering the graveyard on your opponents' turns, and instant speed means you can hold up interaction and still cash in the effect. In Legacy and Vintage, the competition from Snapcaster Mage and more powerful recursion pushes it out of most lists, though dedicated white-based permanent-recursion shells occasionally find room for it. Modern and Pioneer have explored Brought Back in sacrifice and land-destruction strategies, particularly alongside fetchlands that let you retrigger landfall or artifact ETB effects in the same turn. It's not a format staple anywhere outside Commander, but it's never truly unplayable — the floor is too high for a two-mana instant that can rebuy any two permanents.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
The Mirari ConjectureBrought BackTemporal Manipulation
Infinite turns; Lock
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Lion's Eye DiamondBrought BackEternal WitnessBlasting Station
Infinite colored mana; Infinite damage; Return some permanent cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped
View combo details →
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available at the moment, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for the current market rate. Brought Back has historically been an affordable pickup given its narrow but real Commander demand, and it hasn't spiked into unreachable territory.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.