Empty the Catacombs
Sorcery
Each player returns all creature cards from their graveyard to their hand.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Ravnica: City of Guilds
- Price
- $0.31
- EDHREC rank
- #21364
Empty the Catacombs returns all creature cards from all graveyards to their owners' hands — a mass recursion effect that scales with how long the game has gone. The cost is steep: you discard your hand first, so it rewards decks that either have no hand to lose or can reload immediately.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Empty the Catacombs does its best work — three opponents means three graveyards worth of creatures refilling your hand, and late-game graveyards are typically stacked. The discard-your-hand clause punishes you least when you're already hellbent or running a madness or discard-synergy shell. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is legal but faces stiff competition from Yawgmoth's Will and Reanimate effects that simply do more for less. Oathbreaker mirrors the Commander read: high ceiling in multiplayer, awkward when you're ahead on cards.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.31 bulk tier
At $0.31, Empty the Catacombs is deep bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in or from a bargain bin. That price is stable; this is a niche role-player with a small audience, so don't expect movement in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.