Desecrated Tomb
Artifact
Whenever one or more creature cards leave your graveyard, create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Magic Online Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #4100
Desecrated Tomb turns every creature leaving your graveyard into a free 1/1 Bat with flying — stack that trigger repeatedly and you have an air force that costs nothing extra per piece. Two mana to cast, zero mana to activate, and it goes infinite the moment Phyrexian Altar or a similar free-sacrifice outlet enters the loop; Zoraline, Cosmos Caller decks in particular treat it as a mandatory include because the Bats feed right back into her payoff triggers.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Zoraline, Cosmos Caller
Zoraline, Cosmos Caller mills creatures into the graveyard and then casts them, which means every creature that makes the trip from yard to battlefield — or back out of it — can trigger Desecrated Tomb; at nearly 69% inclusion across Zoraline, Cosmos Caller decks, it's practically a staple.
Syrix, Carrier of the Flame
Syrix, Carrier of the Flame cares about Phoenixes leaving the graveyard, and Desecrated Tomb layers a free Bat token onto each of those exits, giving Syrix, Carrier of the Flame both a damage trigger and a sacrifice fodder pipeline in the same slot.
Grolnok, the Omnivore
Grolnok, the Omnivore exiles creatures from graveyards as part of its mill engine, and Desecrated Tomb converts those exiles into Bat tokens — roughly 37% of Grolnok, the Omnivore lists pick it up for exactly that reason.
Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker
Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker returns creatures from the graveyard at end of turn, and each of those returns fires Desecrated Tomb; with Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker looping multiple small creatures per turn cycle, you can flood the board with Bats without spending a single extra mana.
Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer
Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer discards cards to cast them, and creatures cycling through the graveyard en route to the stack give Desecrated Tomb repeated triggers; it's the value-rider pickup in roughly 16% of Oskar, Rubbish Reclaimer lists.
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 |
Desecrated Tomb is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but in practice it only sees meaningful play in Commander. In Modern and Pioneer the trigger condition — creatures leaving your graveyard — requires dedicated graveyard synergy infrastructure that faster, more efficient strategies simply outcompete; the two-mana artifact slot has too many rivals doing more powerful things. Legacy and Vintage have the raw power to build around it, but the format speed makes a one-toughness Bat token an unconvincing payoff. Commander is where Desecrated Tomb earns its keep: the multiplayer game is slower, reanimation and self-mill are full archetypes, and a free Bat per trigger compounds across a 40-life table in ways that shorter formats never allow.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Phyrexian AltarDesecrated TombReassembling Skeleton
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Tortured ExistencePhyrexian AltarDesecrated Tomb
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite self-discard triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Nether TraitorPhyrexian AltarDesecrated Tomb
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite colored mana; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Tortured ExistencePitiless PlundererAshnod's AltarDesecrated Tomb
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite self-discard triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Phyrexian AltarDesecrated TombCult Conscript
Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Desecrated Tomb isn't available right now, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for the current market rate. Historically it has been an affordable pickup given its niche application, but demand spikes whenever a new graveyard-centric commander gets released.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.