Squirming Emergence
Sorcery
Fathomless descent — Return to the battlefield target nonland permanent card in your graveyard with mana value less than or equal to the number of permanent cards in your graveyard.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BG
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
- Price
- $0.43
- EDHREC rank
- #4805
Squirming Emergence puts a creature from your graveyard directly onto the battlefield — not your hand — at the cost of milling yourself equal to that creature's mana value first. In The Mycotyrant decks, that mill cost is fuel, not a drawback, making this a reanimation spell that actively advances your gameplan rather than taxing it.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Mycotyrant
The Mycotyrant turns every fungi and mill trigger into board presence, so Squirming Emergence does double work — it mills creatures that feed future Mycotyrant triggers while simultaneously reanimating the fattest thing in the yard.
Grist, Voracious Larva
Grist, Voracious Larva kills creatures and wants them in the graveyard to recur value, and Squirming Emergence closes that loop by pulling the most impactful insect or threat back onto the battlefield at instant speed of a sorcery investment.
Zask, Skittering Swarmlord
Zask, Skittering Swarmlord rewards insect death and graveyard density, and Squirming Emergence converts that accumulated graveyard into a free threat while milling even more insects into reach.
Old Stickfingers
Old Stickfingers mills a stack of creatures into the yard on cast, and Squirming Emergence is the payoff — it reanimates the highest-value creature that mill just deposited.
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord wants oversized creatures in the graveyard to sacrifice for lethal damage, and Squirming Emergence reanimates the biggest target so Jarad can throw it at opponents a second time.
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 |
Squirming Emergence is legal in every major constructed format but has found almost no foothold outside Commander — the mill-then-reanimate structure is too slow and conditional against the interaction density of Legacy and Vintage, and Pioneer and Modern have cheaper, more reliable reanimation lines. Standard is the one exception worth watching: if a self-mill or graveyard deck emerges in the format, Squirming Emergence could slot in as a curve-topper that converts mill into board presence. Commander is where it belongs — graveyard synergies are denser, games go long enough for sorcery-speed reanimation to matter, and the mill clause is often a feature rather than a cost.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.43 bulk tier
At $0.43, Squirming Emergence is deep bulk — you're paying for a functional reanimation spell in a color pair that already has plenty of competition at this price point. It holds that floor comfortably as long as Mycotyrant and insect-tribal decks stay popular, but don't expect movement in either direction.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- The Mycotyrant
- Grist, Voracious Larva
- Zask, Skittering Swarmlord
- Old Stickfingers
- Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.