Call from the Grave 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
Put a random creature from a random graveyard into play under your control. Call from the Grave deals to you an amount of damage equal to that creature's casting cost.
Complete guide
Call from the Grave is a high-risk, high-reward playtest sorcery that brings the unpredictability of the underworld to your tabletop. By pulling a random creature from a random graveyard, it can turn the tide of a game in an instant, though it always demands a blood price. This card is perfect for players who love letting fate decide the outcome of their reanimation spells.
Randomness and Resolution
When Call from the Grave resolves, you do not choose the target. Instead, you must first identify all graveyards that contain at least one creature card. From that pool, you randomly select one graveyard. Once the graveyard is determined, you then randomly select one creature card from within it to put onto the battlefield under your control.
Calculating the Damage
After the creature enters the battlefield, Call from the Grave deals damage to you equal to that creature's mana value (formerly known as casting cost). This damage is based on the mana value of the permanent as it exists on the battlefield. If for some reason the card fails to enter the battlefield—perhaps because the graveyard was emptied in response to the spell—no damage is dealt.
Strategic Considerations
Because this spell selects a graveyard and a creature card only upon resolution, your opponents cannot easily stop you by removing a single specific creature in response, unless they clear all creatures from all graveyards. However, you must be prepared to lose a significant chunk of life if a massive creature is randomly selected.
Interaction examples
Demonic Tutor
Toxic DelugeIf you use Toxic Deluge to clear the board, you fill multiple graveyards with potential targets for Call from the Grave. While Demonic Tutor can help you find your reanimation spell, remember that Call from the Grave doesn't let you pick the best creature you found; it will pull a random one from the carnage you created.
Suppose your opponent has a high-cost creature that died to your Toxic Deluge earlier in the game. If Call from the Grave randomly selects that creature, it enters the battlefield under your control, but you immediately take damage equal to its mana value. If you paid a lot of life for the Deluge earlier, be careful not to accidentally knock yourself out of the game!
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Call from the Grave
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
To choose a random creature from a random graveyard, first choose a random graveyard with at least one creature card in it. Then choose a random creature card from that graveyard.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
The choices of random creature and random graveyard are made as Call from the Grave resolves.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
The amount of damage Call from the Grave deals is determined by the casting cost . . . er, mana value of the permanent that was put onto the battlefield by Call from the Grave (even if it’s not a creature at that time). In the case where no permanent was put onto the battlefield, Call from the Grave won’t deal any damage.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
Playtest cards aren’t legal for play in any tournament format other than Mystery Booster Limited formats. On the other hand, we expect they will spice up a wide variety of non-tournament games (as long as everyone’s on the same page about using them!).
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
Playtest cards use a modified version of game symbols, such as
and 
. These modified symbols should be treated as the standard symbols during play.No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
For many playtest cards, you’ll need to make a generous assumption that basic game rules would be updated to allow them to work. The Mystery Booster 2 Playtest Card Notes section (reproduced here in individual Gatherer rulings) provides guidance for fitting these cards into the existing rules structure.
No other card is named in this ruling.
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Meta decks with Call from the Grave
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.