Buried Alive is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Search your library for up to three creature cards, put them into your graveyard, then shuffle.
Complete guide
Buried Alive is a powerful black sorcery that serves as a cornerstone for graveyard-based strategies. By allowing you to hand-pick exactly which creatures go from your library to your graveyard, it sets up devastating reanimation plays or resource loops.
What It Does
Buried Alive is a tutor effect that targets your library but places the found cards directly into your graveyard instead of your hand. You search for up to three creature cards, meaning you can choose zero, one, two, or three creatures. After selecting the cards and moving them to the graveyard, you must shuffle your library.
Step-by-Step Resolution
When Buried Alive resolves, first, you open your library and search for the creature cards. Second, you move the chosen cards (up to three) from the library to the graveyard. Third, you shuffle your library. Note that your opponent does not get to see the order of your library, but they can see which cards you put into the graveyard as it is a public zone.
Common Mistakes
A common error is forgetting that the cards must be 'creature cards' while in the library; you cannot find non-creature cards like artifacts or enchantments unless they also have the creature type. Additionally, players sometimes forget to shuffle if they choose to find zero cards, but the shuffle instruction is mandatory regardless of how many cards were found.
Strategic Timing
Because this is a sorcery, you can only play it during your main phase when the stack is empty. It is best used to set up a 'toolbox' of creatures that have abilities in the graveyard or to find high-cost threats that you plan to bring back to the battlefield with a separate reanimation spell.
Interaction examples
You cast Buried Alive and search your library. You find three high-threat creatures and put them into your graveyard. This effectively turns your graveyard into a second hand for future reanimation effects.
Demonic TutorIf your goal is to get creatures into the graveyard, Buried Alive is more efficient than Demonic Tutor. While Demonic Tutor can find any card to your hand for two mana, Buried Alive puts three specific creatures in the zone where you need them for just three mana, saving you the extra steps of discarding them.
Toxic DelugeYou cast Buried Alive to put creatures with 'dies' triggers into your graveyard. Later, you cast Toxic Deluge to clear the opponent's board. Since your best creatures were already safely 'buried' in the graveyard, you avoid losing your main threats to your own board wipe while preparing to bring them back later.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Buried Alive
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
You can look in your library and then choose to find any number from zero to three creatures after you look at it.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Buried Alive + Reanimate + Chainer, Dementia Master
- 1Cast Buried Alive by paying
and two life, searching for Chainer, Viscera Seer, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. - 2Cast Reanimate by paying 2 life.
- 3returning Chainer onto the battlefield and causing you to lose five life.
- 4Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Viscera Seer from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 5Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Gray Merchant of Asphodel from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 6Gray Merchant of Asphodel enters the battlefield, causing each opponent to lose life equal to your devotion to black and causing you to gain life equal to the amount of life lost this way.
- 7Activate Viscera Seer by sacrificing Gray Merchant of Asphodel, scrying 1.
- 8Repeat from step 5.
K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Buried Alive + Animate Dead + Chainer, Dementia Master
- 1Cast Buried Alive by paying and two life, searching for Chainer, Viscera Seer, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
- 2Cast Animate Dead by paying
and two life. - 3Animate Dead enters the battlefield, returning Chainer onto the battlefield attached with Animate Dead.
- 4Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Viscera Seer from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 5Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Gray Merchant of Asphodel from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 6Gray Merchant of Asphodel enters the battlefield, causing each opponent to lose life equal to your devotion to black and causing you to gain life equal to the amount of life lost this way.
- 7Activate Viscera Seer by sacrificing Gray Merchant of Asphodel, scrying 1.
- 8Repeat from step 5.
K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Buried Alive + Necromancy + Chainer, Dementia Master
- 1Cast Buried Alive by paying and two life, searching for Chainer, Viscera Seer, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
- 2Cast Necromancy by paying and two life.
- 3Necromancy enters the battlefield, returning Chainer onto the battlefield attached with Necromancy.
- 4Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Viscera Seer from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 5Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Gray Merchant of Asphodel from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 6Gray Merchant of Asphodel enters the battlefield, causing each opponent to lose life equal to your devotion to black and causing you to gain life equal to the amount of life lost this way.
- 7Activate Viscera Seer by sacrificing Gray Merchant of Asphodel, scrying 1.
- 8Repeat from step 5.
K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Buried Alive + Reanimate + Chainer, Dementia Master
- 1Cast Buried Alive by paying and two life, searching for Chainer, Viscera Seer, and Kokusho.
- 2Cast Reanimate by paying 2 life.
- 3returning Chainer onto the battlefield and causing you to lose five life.
- 4Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Viscera Seer from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 5Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Kokusho from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 6Activate Viscera Seer by sacrificing Kokusho.
- 7Kokusho dies, causing each opponent to lose 5 life and causing you to gain life equal to the amount of life lost this way.
- 8Resolve the Viscera Seer, scrying 1.
K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Buried Alive + Animate Dead + Chainer, Dementia Master
- 1Cast Buried Alive by paying and two life, searching for Chainer, Viscera Seer, and Kokusho.
- 2Cast Animate Dead by paying and two life.
- 3Animate Dead enters the battlefield, returning Chainer onto the battlefield attached with Animate Dead.
- 4Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Viscera Seer from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 5Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Kokusho from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 6Activate Viscera Seer by sacrificing Kokusho.
- 7Kokusho dies, causing each opponent to lose 5 life and causing you to gain life equal to the amount of life lost this way.
- 8Resolve the Viscera Seer, scrying 1.
K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Buried Alive + Necromancy + Chainer, Dementia Master
- 1Cast Buried Alive by paying and two life, searching for Chainer, Viscera Seer, and Kokusho.
- 2Cast Animate Dead by paying and two life.
- 3Animate Dead enters the battlefield, returning Chainer onto the battlefield attached with Animate Dead.
- 4Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Viscera Seer from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 5Activate Chainer by paying nine life, returning Kokusho from your graveyard to the battlefield as a Nightmare in addition to its other creature types.
- 6Activate Viscera Seer by sacrificing Kokusho.
- 7Kokusho dies, causing each opponent to lose 5 life and causing you to gain life equal to the amount of life lost this way.
- 8Resolve the Viscera Seer, scrying 1.
Morophon, the Boundless + Buried Alive + Corpse Knight + Dauntless Bodyguard
- 1Cast Buried Alive to put Corpse Knight, Dauntless Bodyguard, and Haakon from your library into your graveyard.
- 2Cast Haakon from your graveyard.
- 3Cast Dauntless Bodyguard and Corpse Knight from your graveyard each for
. - 4Sacrifice Dauntless Bodyguard.
- 5Cast Dauntless Bodyguard from your graveyard.
- 6It enters, triggering Corpse Knight.
- 7Repeat steps 4-6.
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