Get Any Creature From Your Graveyard
by Christina Page
Though there are many different recursion cards, ones that can return any creature from the graveyard and place it into your hand are among the most heavily played choices. While not all such cards are tournament-worthy, the greater flexibility and other resource benefits they provide make many of them stand out from recursion cards that have more restrictive target ranges. Not surprisingly, all of the "recur any creature" graveyard retrieval cards hail from the Darkness civilization. Let’s take a look.
First up, Dark Reversal costs 2 mana, and lets you grab any creature from your graveyard to address the needs of your game position. If simply tossing another blocker in his way would check your opponent’s offense, then Dark Reversal can fish out a Bloody Squito to handle that task. Since Dark Reversal is so cheap, it’s easier to hard-cast it in the late game, and then summon the creature it recurs on the same turn, (provided your mana zone is as stocked as it should be). Making those plays on the same turn offers fewer chances for your opponent to disrupt your plays. However, even though Dark Reversal costs 2 mana, it doesn’t have solid early game utility; it’s likely to become mana early in the duel. Instead, Dark Reversal is often a late-game play; you’ll have more creature targets for the spell after you’ve lost some critters in battle, or due to your opponent’s card effects.
Dark Reversal also offers a chance to reap some mana advantage--by playing it for free as a shield trigger you save 2 mana. That, in turn, frees up some mana that can be used to summon a creature or cast a spell that grants you more resource advantage. Plus, Dark Reversal is a nifty recursion target itself, as it can be combined with Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian to ensure that you’re able to continuously recur spells or creatures from your graveyard.
Corpse Charger is similar to Dark Reversal, but delivers mana advantage in an entirely different manner. Corpse Charger lets you recur any creature from your graveyard, and then becomes a source of mana due to its Charger ability. So, it provides two resources—a replacement card that is a decidedly better option, and mana to accelerate your plays. The mana advantage it provides isn’t a one-time shot like Dark Reversal--Corpse Charger remains in your mana zone to accelerate more expensive plays--like Apocalypse Vise)--and could possibly help you play another card on the same turn if you have been accelerating your mana earlier with cards like Faerie Life. Corpse Charger also helps you circumvent needing to build mana using the cards from your hand, and does so non-randomly, unlike using Bronze-Arm Tribe to produce more mana.
As recursion cards are stronger draws in the late game when you have ample targets in your graveyard, Corpse Charger’s four mana price tag is very fitting, since it usually won’t be played until the mid- to late-game. Plus, it has stellar synergy with cards that can retrieve options from your mana zone. Retrieving Corpse Charger from your mana zone with Thrash Crawler enables you to have that Darkness spell on hand to recur Thrash Crawler, which then gives you shots at continuing to recycle both cards.
Amber Piercer really doesn’t see any competitive play these days. But, when it was first released, it was utilized in quick attack Darkness/Fire decks to help keep the pressure on an opponent. Whenever Amber Piercer attacks, you may return a creature from your graveyard to your hand. It’s like a cheaper, smaller Gamil, Knight of Hatred that isn’t limited to only Darkness creatures. Because Darkness/Fire’s small creatures like Marrow Ooze are easy to destroy, or have self-sacrificial effects, having a way to keep your hand stocked over several turns proves very useful, provided Amber Piercer survives its summoning sickness and can hang around. Amber Piercer can recur creatures even when it is destroyed while attacking, . Plus, you can recur another Amber Piercer to give yourself shots at recurring two creatures in one attack phase. Unfortunately, Amber Piercer’s 2000 power for 4 mana and lack of an at-summoned effect keeps it from warranting play in the current metagame.
Gigargon was once deemed undesirable due to being pricey, but has received reconsideration thanks to some ingenious use of the creature at the North American Continental Championship. Considering that cards like Bronze-Arm Tribe and the Chargers can help get it into play faster, the 8 mana Gigargon is becoming a more attractive recursion choice. When you summon Gigargon, you can recur up to 2 creatures. At the core, it provides the service of two Dark Reversals, minus the mana advantage--you get to grab back two creatures to advance your plays, based on what you need the most. You can grab back two blockers to drag the duel on longer, or an Evolution creature like Crystal Lancer and its evolution material to have a game-winning play next turn. Or, you can recur some at-summoned effect creatures like Phal Eega and Forbos that can lead to even more card advantage oriented plays.
What really makes Gigargon a great recursion play for some Control decks is the fact that it’s not a spell. Gigargon provides a 3000-power body in your battle zone, so you don’t "waste" your 8 mana when you summon it for its recursion effect. It grants a hefty amount of card advantage, as it immediately provides two optimal card choices in hand and a creature to attack with (or to use as a target for cards like Aqua Sniper). If your opponent cannot discard the creatures you recur with Gigragon, then he may be faced with several new threats to answer.
Keeping your hand stocked with options is extremely important, as it helps you out-maneuver your opponent and expand your range of motion. Recursion cards offer greater control over what type of options you’ve able to accumulate in hand. Though the tactic is usually more pronounced in Control decks--as they are more focused on maintaining superior card options than other strategies--recursion cards can help many different deck strategies. When building your next killer deck, check to see if any of the recursion cards we covered can be useful to your strategy and worked into your deck. Hopefully, one of them can help you throw your opponent off-track and weaken the impact of his most powerful play counters (like Lost Soul).
