Raise Dead
Sorcery
Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Starter 1999
- Price
- $0.14
- EDHREC rank
- #9075
Raise Dead returns one creature from your graveyard to your hand for one black mana — that's the whole transaction, and it's a bad one. Every format has better options at this cost, and in Commander especially, one-for-one sorcery-speed recursion that replaces itself with nothing is a slot you can't afford to waste.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Raise Dead is legal across Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but legal and playable are different things. In Commander, the bar for single-target recursion is cards like Reanimate or Animate Dead that put the creature directly onto the battlefield — returning it to hand means you're paying the mana cost again, and that tempo loss matters. In Pauper, where the card pool is narrow enough that budget recursion sees more play, Raise Dead still loses to Unearth or Disturb effects that generate immediate board presence. Across every format where it's legal, Raise Dead is outclassed by cards that cost the same or less and do strictly more.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.14 bulk tier
At $0.14, Raise Dead sits firmly in bulk territory, and the price reflects the power level accurately. Don't expect the value to move — there's no competitive home driving demand, and reprints are frequent enough that supply stays high.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.