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Relentless Dead

Creature — Zombie

Menace (This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
When this creature dies, you may pay {B}. If you do, return it to its owner's hand.
When this creature dies, you may pay {X}. If you do, return another target Zombie creature card with mana value X from your graveyard to the battlefield.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
mythic
Set
Shadows over Innistrad Promos
Price
—
EDHREC rank
#4931
Buy on TCGplayer
Relentless Dead card art
Relentless Dead earns its slot by being its own recursion engine — when it dies, you pay one black mana to return it to hand, and an additional black to bring a cheaper Zombie up from the graveyard alongside it, turning every board wipe into a refund. Under Rooftop Storm, both triggers cost nothing, and Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver turns every non-token Zombie death into a Decayed token that fuels the loop all over again.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver

Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver

37.5% of decks · synergy 0.34

Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver generates a Decayed Zombie token whenever a non-token Zombie dies, and Relentless Dead is exactly the kind of recursive non-token Zombie that keeps that engine spinning — it dies, replaces itself from the graveyard, and Wilhelt throws another token into the pile.

02
Varina, Lich Queen

Varina, Lich Queen

30.6% of decks · synergy 0.29

Varina, Lich Queen rewards you for attacking with Zombies and pitching cards to refuel, and Relentless Dead is the kind of threat that never truly leaves the battlefield — it attacks, trades, and immediately queues itself back to hand for a black mana.

03
Zul Ashur, Lich Lord

Zul Ashur, Lich Lord

31.1% of decks · synergy 0.29

Zul Ashur, Lich Lord scales on the number of Zombies you've had die, so a card like Relentless Dead that loops in and out of the graveyard inflates that count faster than almost anything else in the tribe.

04
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born

Grimgrin, Corpse-Born

32.1% of decks · synergy 0.28

Grimgrin, Corpse-Born needs a steady supply of Zombies to sacrifice for counters and to untap, and Relentless Dead refills that supply from the graveyard each time it's fed to him — the two form a self-sustaining sacrifice loop that only costs black mana.

05
Ghoulcaller Gisa

Ghoulcaller Gisa

26.2% of decks · synergy 0.24

Ghoulcaller Gisa taps to sacrifice a Zombie and flood the board with 2/2s, and Relentless Dead is a renewable sacrifice target — spend a black mana after it dies and it's back in hand, ready to be deployed and sacrificed again next turn.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

In Commander, Relentless Dead is a genuine engine piece rather than a role-player — any Zombie deck with a sacrifice or death-trigger theme wants it because the recursion is free value that compounds over a long game. Modern and Legacy Zombie lists have considered it, but the two-mana body is undersized for those formats' tempo demands and the recursion triggers are too slow to matter when games end on turn three or four. Pioneer Zombies is more forgiving on curve, and the card sees fringe play there as a resilient threat that blanks removal. Across all formats, the ceiling is Commander, where the late-game graveyard value is unrestricted and the tribal synergies are densest.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

unknown tier

Pricing data for Relentless Dead isn't available in the current feed, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the live number before buying. Historically it has sat in the $2–5 range for non-foil copies, which is reasonable given how consistently it shows up in competitive Zombie builds.

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Sources

Mentioned

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