MagicTheGathering.fyi

Not Dead After All

Instant

Until end of turn, target creature you control gains "When this creature dies, return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner's control, then create a Wicked Role token attached to it." (Enchanted creature gets +1/+1. When this token is put into a graveyard, each opponent loses 1 life.)

CMC
1
Mana cost
{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
common
Set
Wilds of Eldraine
Price
$1.65
EDHREC rank
#1076
Buy on TCGplayer
Not Dead After All card art
Not Dead After All returns a creature to the battlefield at instant speed for one black mana, tacking on a free Zombie token to replace whatever you just saved — that's an extraordinary rate for protection, recursion, and sacrifice fodder in a single card. The combo ceiling is real too: Dualcaster Mage copying it mid-resolution produces infinite enters-the-battlefield triggers, and Deadpool, Trading Card treats it as a personal respawn button that fuels his own damage engine.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Deadpool, Trading Card

Deadpool, Trading Card

44.5% of decks · synergy 0.36

Not Dead After All is purpose-built for Deadpool, Trading Card — it lets Deadpool die, reenter, and immediately start accumulating counters again while the Zombie token pads your board and feeds sacrifice outlets. At 44% inclusion across 15,000+ decks, it's one of the most natural fits in the format.

02
Eriette of the Charmed Apple

Eriette of the Charmed Apple

38.5% of decks · synergy 0.34

Eriette of the Charmed Apple wants enchanted creatures to stay alive long enough to drain opponents, and Not Dead After All doubles as protection that also produces a Zombie to enchant on the way back. Blinking or reattaching Auras onto a freshly returned creature keeps the drain engine cycling.

03
Judith, Carnage Connoisseur

Judith, Carnage Connoisseur

42.8% of decks · synergy 0.34

Judith, Carnage Connoisseur wants creatures dying on a schedule, and Not Dead After All gives you a creature death plus a fresh body in a single one-mana spell. The Zombie token that comes with it is just another bullet for Judith to fire.

04
Hidetsugu and Kairi

Hidetsugu and Kairi

34.4% of decks · synergy 0.32

When Hidetsugu and Kairi dies, it mills cards and copies a spell — Not Dead After All lets you cash in that death trigger, rebuy the commander for another swing, and pocket a Zombie in the process. It keeps the loop going without requiring a full recast.

05
Yargle and Multani

Yargle and Multani

31.3% of decks · synergy 0.29

Yargle and Multani typically closes games by being sacrificed to a damage outlet for 18 power's worth of effect, and Not Dead After All lets you repeat that loop by returning it to the battlefield before the dust settles. The Zombie token left behind is a fine secondary sacrifice body.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Not Dead After All is legal across every major format, but Commander is clearly its home — the combination of creature recursion, instant speed, and a free token is most exploitable in a multiplayer game where you need both protection and fodder. In competitive Commander it slots into Dimir and Rakdos combo shells as a redundant protection piece that doubles as a combo enabler via Dualcaster Mage. In Pauper, where it's also legal, one-mana instant-speed recursion is potent enough to see experimentation in black sacrifice lists. Legacy and Modern treat Not Dead After All as a niche piece rather than a format staple — slower, more resilient formats don't reward the Zombie token the way sacrifice-centric Commander decks do.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$1.65 cheap tier

At $1.65, Not Dead After All sits in the cheap tier and punches well above its price — this is a card with genuine combo potential and broad utility across dozens of commanders. It's unlikely to spike dramatically, but it's also unlikely to get cheaper given how widely it's played.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

← All cards

Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.