Call a Surprise Witness
Sorcery
Return target creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. Put a flying counter on it. It's a Spirit in addition to its other types.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Murders at Karlov Manor
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #10923
Call a Surprise Witness reanimates any creature from your graveyard and gives it lifelink until end of turn — all for three mana at instant speed. That flexibility is real, but three mana to reanimate just until end of turn puts it well behind permanent recursion options in most competitive lists.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Call a Surprise Witness earns its slot in aristocrats and sacrifice-heavy builds that want to rebuy an ETB trigger or swing for lethal with a dead fatty while gaining a chunk of life — instant speed is the key differentiator over sorcery-speed alternatives. Outside Commander, it's legal in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but the temporary nature of the recursion makes it a fringe combat trick rather than a constructed staple in any of those formats. Aggressive strategies in shorter formats rarely want to spend three mana on a one-turn reanimation when cheaper pump spells or permanent recursion exist.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Call a Surprise Witness is deep bulk — you're paying almost nothing to try it. Bulk rares with narrow applications don't tend to climb without a breakout combo, so treat this as a throwaway inclusion rather than a pickup with upside.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.