Lie in Wait
Sorcery
Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. Lie in Wait deals damage equal to that card's power to target creature.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BGU
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Tarkir: Dragonstorm
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #13064
Lie in Wait lets you flash in a creature from your graveyard tapped and attacking — bypassing summoning sickness and ambushing combat in the same action. The three-mana cost is reasonable, but this card lives or dies on whether your deck has a meaningful threat in the bin at instant speed.
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, Lie in Wait is a niche reanimation trick that rewards graveyard-forward decks — you're flashing in a haymaker during an attack you weren't the target of, which creates real political leverage. Outside Commander, the card sees essentially no competitive play: Pioneer, Modern, and Legacy all have faster and more reliable reanimation lines that don't require a creature already in the graveyard at the right moment. Standard is the one context where Lie in Wait could sneak into a tempo-oriented self-mill shell, but the ceiling is low. The card's home is clearly Commander, where the slower clock makes the setup cost tolerable and surprise factor actually matters.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Lie in Wait is bulk by any measure — no financial hesitation needed if it fits your list. Bulk rares with narrow applications rarely appreciate, so treat this as a pure inclusion decision, not a speculation.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.