Shallow Grave

Instant

Return the top creature card from your graveyard to play. That creature gains haste until end of turn. Remove it from the game at end of turn.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

SufferFromEDHD on Kaalia of the Funk

1 week ago

Haha wow you are right. I never really digested what it is doing. 3 life for 1 colorless with an IF trigger. Perma haste... It's hard to argue with you because it's crucial to this strategy but Mardu needs color mana so badly. If this strategy was running Urborg I wouldn't be questioning your suggestion.

Entomb is the last piece of the reanimation shell that remains. Corpse Dance is Kaalia #2 in this list. Reanimate is probably going to get upgraded to Shallow Grave again. All that said, I'm not sure if I'm running enough graveyard centric cards to support it anymore.

DreadKhan on Why Does WotC No Longer …

6 months ago

One reason that I think they moved away from it and towards things like cast triggers (which can still be abused, it's just harder) is that there are some old instant speed reanimation effects that can technically reanimate a creature that is in the graveyard, so if a card is good enough to warrant the effort you can still cheat them out, so the idea didn't actually work in practice if the goal was to force people to actually cast the card.

The most extreme solution I can think of is adding a clause on the cast trigger, which already exists here and there iirc 'If you cast {card} using _____ mana', or 'if you cast from hand' type stuff, this type of clause makes it incredibly hard to cheese something, so the effect can be truly game breaking if it's enough mana. There are ways to cheat on casting from hand, but they tend to be more mana than a card like Shallow Grave, which can be played (with Entomb or Putrid Imp) turn 1 via Dark Ritual, it's harder to cheat Omniscience out turn 1 I'd argue, and technically you're better off with Shallow Grave if you can cheat something like a Blightsteel out and only need to hit your opponent once, so maybe WotC has recognized that that design space isn't as safe as they once thought?

demon_vayu on Reanimator?! I Barely Vohar!

7 months ago

Training Grounds would be bonkers with that second ability, just saying. As for what to cut for it, I would recommend one of the bigger creatures - not nezahal but something similar on curve. Shallow Grave could be a good replacement for rescue from the underworld, even though it's a sorcery it does give haste - and likely the creature won't stick around to get exiled! You could run the Basalt Monolith + Mesmeric Orb combo to mill yourself, putting fuel in the graveyard both to reanimate or cast off your commander. Cuts for the artifacts are iffy, but honestly I kinda think some more high drops but that's up to you

Rocketman988 on Demon Till Your Dreams Come True

9 months ago

ragincajun129, I've been playing and fine tuning the deck for over 5 years now, and the land count is correct for the deck. If you remove the cards that are not intended to be hard cast from hand or have alternate casting methods, the true average CMC of the deck is around 2.2. The entire point of the deck is to function with minimal lands on board, since Rakdos's sacrifice effect keeps the deck on 2 to 3 mana sources most of the time anyways. Also, you did not include the mdfc lands in your count, so the true land count in the deck is 34.

Whip of Erebos is a potential add, but I have not needed another source of lifegain besides Gray Merchant of Asphodel, which the deck has many ways of finding. Whip is incredibly inefficient as a reanimation effect, since it requires an 8 mana investment just to get one creature back to board. Further, it exiles the reanimated creature and there is no easy way around that, unlike Shallow Grave. This means no multiple reanimate options, and I try to avoid that because it limits the power of mass reanimation.

Regarding mana rocks, I only run mana positive mana rocks, as I have found that ritual effects are better for the deck. The whole point of mana rocks in most decks is to function as cheap and efficient reusable mana sources, but Rakdos the Defiler negates that entirely. If artifact ramp does not generate more mana than it cost to play, it is worse than a ritual in the deck. Mana Vault is the only cheap artifact ramp I decided against for the moment, since the 3 colorless isn't helpful for casting Rakdos, and the other demons are better to reanimate.

Here's an example to illustrate my point: I need 6 mana to cast Rakdos, so say I have 3 lands and 3 signets, I'll have to sacrifice 3 permanents to Rakdos. Instead, say I generate the same 6 mana with Dark Ritual, Graven Cairns, a random land that taps for black, and a Sol Ring/Mana Crypt. Now, I'll only sacrifice 2 permanents to Rakdos on the swing. Not only did I sacrifice less permanents to Rakdos in the second example, but it's possible to do that a turn or two faster, which means I've already hit two players by the time the signet ramp even lets me get Rakdos on the board.

somerandomguych on Pattern Recognition #281 - Order …

11 months ago

Shallow Grave Corpse Dance are Powerhouses

king-saproling on

11 months ago

You might like these: Shallow Grave, Birgi, God of Storytelling  ^Flip, Cerulean Wisps, Mirage Mockery, Phyrexian Altar, Blasting Station, Return to Action, Refocus, Firebrand Archer, Serum-Core Chimera

SufferFromEDHD on Volrath: No School, like Old School

1 year ago

Dooope. I'm a huge fan of deck building with restrictions. You are running some classic creatures.

Corpse Dance > Shallow Grave

Devouring Strossus is Lord of the Pit #2.

Dust Bowl? I only suggest it because I tend to run it when 50% of more of my mana base is basic.

Phyrexian Tower pays for a Volrath activation.

Skull of Ramos pays for a Volrath activation.

crucible of world not old school enough? Useful alongside that amazing Null Brooch.

zAzen7977 on K'rrik the Masochist

1 year ago

Hey theyounghansolo, I have a lot of experience playing K’rrik competitively and I have a few suggestions to help you improve your competitiveness:

ssteves1069 is spot on, Chainer, Dementia Master is crucial to this deck’s functionality. Since his ability is an activated ability, it bypasses Rule of Law and counterspells, which are this deck’s greatest weakness. To use Chainer, you need a proper sacrifice outlet like Dimir House Guard or Razaketh, the Foulblooded. Once you have Chainer, Guard/Razaketh, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel on the board, you’ve assembled an infinite combo and drain each opponent to death. You can also accomplish this with Buried Alive and Necrotic Ooze.

Final Parting targeting Reanimate in hand and Vilis, Broker of Blood in the grave usually wins you the game. Scheming Symmetry should never be run in a competitive setting since you are likely providing an opponent with a combo piece or counterspell.

Beacon of Unrest is too slow, I’d replace it with Shallow Grave. Recurring your artifacts is not critical to your strategy.

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse has the same functionality as Aetherflux Reservoir, but is a creature and can be reanimated. She pairs perfectly with Vilis. Plus Shelly and Peer into the Abyss either gains you lots of life or usually eliminates another player.

To be continued…