Animate Dead Price
26 printings · 23 sets · first printed 1993
Animate Dead has been printed 26 times across 23 sets, first in 1993 and most recently in 2026. Right now the cheapest printing is Secrets of Strixhaven Commander #207 at $7.25, while the most expensive is Limited Edition Beta #93 at $293.32 — about 40× more. The median across 18 priced printings is $25.81. Reprint risk: HIGH RISK — Reprinted 26x, including dedicated reprint sets like Secrets of Strixhaven Commander, Murders at Karlov Manor Commander.
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Every Animate Dead Printing, Compared
Cheapest first · unpriced last| Printing | Year | Price | Dealer Buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secrets of Strixhaven Commander #207 (U) Cheapest | 2026 | $7.25 | $4.70 |
| Revised Edition #93 (U) | 1994 | $7.30 | $5.50 |
| The List #EMA-78 (U) | 2021 | $7.43 | $3.40 |
| Murders at Karlov Manor Commander #125 (U) | 2024 | $7.60 | $3.80 |
| Premium Deck Series: Graveborn #16 (U) Foil | 2011 | $7.73 | $6.00 foil |
| Eternal Masters #78 (U) | 2016 | $7.83 | $5.00 |
| Fourth Edition #118 (U) | 1995 | $8.27 | $5.00 |
| Fifth Edition #140 (U) | 1997 | $9.52 | — |
| 30th Anniversary Edition #92 (U) | 2022 | $23.22 | $7.50 |
| Unlimited Edition #93 (U) | 1993 | $28.41 | $19.00 |
| Collectors' Edition #93 (U) | 1993 | $34.64 | $19.50 |
| Secret Lair Drop #2189 (R) | 2025 | $44.63 | $30.00 |
| Foreign Black Border #93 (U) | 1994 | $59.99 | — |
| Intl. Collectors' Edition #93 (U) | 1993 | $60.03 | $24.00 |
| Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border #118 (U) | 1995 | $61.51 | — |
| Judge Gift Cards 2022 #7 (R) Foil | 2022 | $76.20 | $60.00 foil |
| Limited Edition Alpha #92 (U) | 1993 | $282.40 | $330.00 |
| Limited Edition Beta #93 (U) | 1993 | $293.32 | $275.00 |
| The Zeta Set #276 (U) | 2026 | — | — |
| The Zeta Set #155 (U) | 2026 | — | — |
| The Zeta Set #34 (U) | 2026 | — | — |
| 30th Anniversary Edition #389 (U) | 2022 | — | — |
| Vintage Masters #104 (U) | 2014 | — | — |
| Magic Online Theme Decks #A36 (U) | 2010 | — | — |
| Masters Edition #57 (U) | 2007 | — | — |
| Summer Magic / Edgar #93 (U) | 1994 | — | — |
Prices are the latest nightly market price; a printing with no tracked price shows a dash. Dealer buylist is Card Kingdom's current offer via MTGJSON, shown where one exists.
When this Aura enters, if it's on the battlefield, it loses "enchant creature card in a graveyard" and gains "enchant creature put onto the battlefield with this Aura." Return enchanted creature card to the battlefield under your control and attach this Aura to it. When this Aura leaves the battlefield, that creature's controller sacrifices it.
Enchanted creature gets -1/-0.
Legality is a property of the card, not the printing, so it is identical for all 26 versions.
Official Judge Precedents
5 PrecedentsIf the creature put onto the battlefield has protection from black—or if the creature can't legally be enchanted by Animate Dead for another reason—Animate Dead won't be able to attach to it. It will be put into the graveyard as a state-based action, causing its delayed triggered ability to trigger. When the trigger resolves, if the creature's still on the battlefield, its controller will sacrifice it.
Animate Dead is an Aura, albeit with an unusual enchant ability. You target a creature card in a graveyard when you cast it. It enters the battlefield attached to that card. Then it returns that card to the battlefield, and attaches itself to the card again (since the card is a new object on the battlefield). Animate Dead itself never moves into a graveyard during this process.
If Animate Dead isn't on the battlefield as its triggered ability resolves, none of its effects happen. The creature card won't be returned to the battlefield.
Once the creature is returned to the battlefield, Animate Dead can't be attached to anything other than it (unless Animate Dead somehow manages to put a different creature onto the battlefield). Attempting to move Animate Dead to another creature won't work.
Abilities such as shroud and protection function only on the battlefield unless otherwise specified. A creature card with shroud may be targeted by Animate Dead, and Animate Dead will become attached to the creature that enters the battlefield.