The 30 Best Gravedigger Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on October 19, 2026

Gravedigger | Illustration by Dermot Power

Sometimes your best creature dies. Sometimes it gets countered, discarded, or milled before you even get to use it… and sometimes you mill or discard it yourself.

The graveyard is not the end of the road for a creature card, though, and that’s where gravediggers come in: creatures that bring other creatures back to your hand. Some gravediggers do a one-time job, others provide repeatable recursion, and a few turn your graveyard into a second hand.

Let’s dig into the best gravediggers in Magic!

What Are Gravediggers in MTG?

Graveshifter | Illustration by Jakub Kasper

Gravediggers are creatures with abilities that return creature cards from your graveyard to your hand. They’re nicknamed after Gravedigger, the 4-mana zombie that returns a creature card from your graveyard when it enters. They are overwhelmingly black, green, or both, with a dash of white or blue.

This ranking considers any creature that returns a creature from the graveyard to your hand, but expanded to include any type of ability, not just ETB triggers. So activated abilities, death triggers, and other forms of recursion all count. We’re also including creatures that can return any type of card from your graveyard to your hand, since that naturally includes creatures.

We’re sticking with just creature cards for this ranking: We won’t include other types of cards, like Phyrexian Reclamation or Bala Ged Recovery. Also, we’re looking strictly at effects that move creatures from your graveyard to your hand. No reanimation effects here, since those move creatures from your graveyard to the battlefield. Some of our gravediggers do have reanimation abilities, but they all have a way to return creature cards to your hand and as such qualify as real ‘diggers.

Commander is our main focus for this ranking, although cards with meaningful competitive histories get extra credit.

#30. Gravedigger

The original Gravedigger debuted in Tempest in 1997: Four mana for a 2/2 zombie that returns a creature card from your graveyard to your hand. Modern Commander offers cheaper or more versatile alternatives, but you can’t have a gravedigger ranking without the creature that gave the whole category its name!

#29. Bonebind Orator

Bonebind Orator has an unusual gravedigger ability: It works from the graveyard. For 4 mana, you can exile the Orator from your graveyard to return another creature card to your hand.

That makes it useful in self-mill decks, where you don’t even have to cast the squirrel first. But it’s expensive for a one-shot recursion effect.

#28. Courier Bat

In a lifegain deck or with a commander like Zoraline, Cosmos Caller, Courier Bat is a huge improvement over the original Gravedigger: Exact same effect and stats, but costs less and flies!

It does nothing if you haven’t gained life that turn, though, which makes it pretty niche.

#27. Paleoloth

Paleoloth‘s gravedigging is much slower since it needs you to play a second big creature, but the effect is repeatable. That can add up to a lot of value in green stompy decks with a commander like Slinza, the Spiked Stampede, or one like Omnath, Locus of Rage that creates large creature tokens.

#26. Undertaker

Another repetitive gravedigger, Mercadian Masques‘ Undertaker lets you tap it, pay , and discard a card to return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand. You’re exchanging one card for another (rather than generating card advantage), but the repeatable effect is pretty useful in madness decks and other strategies that actually want to discard cards.

#25. Karai, Future of the Foot

Karai, Future of the Foot, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, returns a creature card from your graveyard to your hand whenever it deals combat damage to a player. Cast it for its sneak cost, though, and it can instead reanimate that creature directly to the battlefield.

#24. Cadaver Imp

Cadaver Imp trades the original Gravedigger‘s 2/2 body for a 1/1 with flying that costs 1 mana less for the exact same effect. And the 1/1 stats are even a bonus with a commander like Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker, who can reanimate it by the end of the turn (and let the imp dig another creature from the grave!).

#23. Order of Midnight

We’re cheating a bit here, since Alter Fate is a sorcery… but since it’s an adventure stapled to Order of Midnight, which you can cast from exile after grave-digging with Alter Fate, I guess it’s not cheating that much!

All in all, getting recursion and a 2/2 flier for , which you can pay in two installments, is a solid deal.

#22. Glissa’s Retriever

The gravedigger effect here is pretty conditional, but has a huge ceiling: In a four-player game, Glissa's Retriever can potentially recover three cards. And notice it’s any three cards, not just creature cards. It’s too conditional outside poison or proliferate decks, but it’s a lot of value with the right setup.

Glissa's Retriever is also a 6/6 with haste and toxic 3, which is definitely not nothing!

#21. Ravos, Soultender

Ravos, Soultender does many things: mass-pumps your creatures, flies, and grave-digs at the start of your turn.

It’s a great package, but 5 mana for a 2/2 is steep, and you have to keep Ravos alive until your next upkeep to start recovering creatures.

#20. Genesis

Like Bonebind Orator, Genesis works directly from the graveyard. But unlike the Orator, Genesis’s effect is repeatable (and cheaper!).

It’s slow since you need to wait until the start of your turn, but otherwise this green incarnation gets the job done reliably and repetitively.

#19. Emeritus of Abundance

This one may seem like cheating at first glance, but it really isn’t! Secrets of Strixhaven‘s Emeritus of Abundance enters prepared, and then you can cast its prepared Regrowth. So, although technically speaking you have to cast a sorcery here, in practice this is basically a creature with an activated ability.

A big plus: This is another gravedigger that can actually dig any card (not just creatures!). And a small plus: The grave-digging is repeatable, although there’s a pretty big hoop to jump (this elf druid needs to survive an attack, and you have to have 8+ lands).

#18. Aerith, Last Ancient

Yeah, this is that Aerith; the one from Final Fantasy!

This is a great option for Selesnya () lifegain decks (and she helps in that regard with her lifelink): Aerith, Last Ancient grave-digs at the beginning of your end step if you’ve gained life that turn, or reanimates a creature directly to the battlefield if you gained 7 or more.

Four mana is reasonable for a repeatable engine, provided you can consistently gain life.

#17. Extus, Oriq Overlord / Awaken the Blood Avatar

Extus, Oriq Overlord, from the original Strixhaven: School of Mages, grave-digs whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery. There’s no additional cost, and no “once per turn” limitations, so cheap spells can let you dig repeatedly. The one caveat is that the creature needs to be non-legendary.

Cherry on top, Extus has another face, Awaken the Blood Avatar. It supports a very different gameplan, but additional flexibility is always a plus, and overall makes for a pretty good Mardu commander.

#16. Undead Butler

Undead Butler mills three cards when it enters, then can exile itself when it dies to return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand. That’s an excellent 2-drop for sacrifice and self-mill strategies: It fills the graveyard and then recovers something useful.

#15. Den Protector

Den Protector has megamorph, so you can cast it face down as a 2/2 creature for 3 mana, then turn it face up for 2 more to recover any card from your graveyard.

#14. Veinwitch Coven

Veinwitch Coven, originally from Commander 2021 and reprinted in Secrets of Strixhaven, lets you pay to return a creature card from your graveyard whenever you gain life. And, importantly, it triggers for each separate lifegain event, with no “once per turn” limitation.

With cards like Soul Warden or Blood Artist, you can grave-dig several creatures in one turn. You’ll have to pay for every return, but Veinwitch Coven‘s repeatable recursion is an excellent lifegain payoff.

#13. Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm

Like Undead Butler, Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm blends milling and grave-digging: A nice deal since you get to fill your graveyard before getting something out.

The good news is that Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm‘s digging is extremely efficient: You can return two creatures rather than the usual one (and notice you can return any creature in your yard, not just one of those you’ve just milled).

The bad news is that it can only grave-dig rats, which makes Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm pretty niche.

#12. Colossal Skyturtle

And odd blue-leaning gravedigger, Colossal Skyturtle is a huge flier but its channel abilities are what we’re here for. Discard it for to bounce a creature, or discard it for to recover any card from your graveyard.

Colossal Skyturtle gives Simic decks recursion or interaction without committing to an expensive creature. And since channel is an activated ability, most counterspells can’t stop it. The flexibility makes the Skyturtle far more useful than its 7-mana cost suggests.

#11. Greenwarden of Murasa

Greenwarden of Murasa returns any card from your graveyard when it enters, which is obviously a plus over grave-digging just creatures. And it does it again when it dies, putting you ahead on card advantage.

The 6-mana 5/4 is on the expensive side. But the extra death trigger gives Greenwarden of Murasa ample value in decks with sacrifice outlets or ways to reuse ETB effects.

#10. Skullwinder

Skullwinder is an odd case. It returns any card from your graveyard to your hand when it enters, all for 3 mana on a 1/3 with deathtouch. That’s nearly Eternal Witness territory… but with a major drawback: One opponent also gets a card back.

Fortunately, you choose which opponent benefits, so you can pick someone with an empty graveyard, or use it to grease the wheel of some political negotiation. That flexibility makes Skullwinder a very interesting gravedigger, although certainly not without risk.

#9. Lost Monarch of Ifnir

Lost Monarch of Ifnir gives your other zombies afflict 3, making them painful to block. And at the beginning of your second main phase, if a zombie (not necessarily the Monarch) dealt combat damage to a player, this creature mills three cards and grave-digs.

The “zombie has to punch face” requirement is a tad too specific outside zombie decks… but for a zombie commander like Temmet, Naktamun's Will, that’s exactly what they want to be doing every attack!

#8. Spawnbed Protector

A bit like Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, but for Eldrazi: Spawnbed Protector grave-digs at your end step, and returns an Eldrazi from your graveyard to your hand.

It also creates two Eldrazi Scion tokens (even if your graveyard is empty). Spawnbed Protector is quite specialized, but excellent at what it does.

#7. Graveshifter

Graveshifter is exactly like Gravedigger, from cost to ability and stats, but with a clear upgrade: As a changeling, it’s every creature type, everywhere.

Which means Graveshifter fits any black-leaning typal deck. Elf, goblin, zombie, or dragon payoffs can all interact with it. Four mana isn’t the most efficient recursion rate anymore, but the creature type flexibility gives Graveshifter a home in far more decks than its ancestor.

#6. Golbez, Crystal Collector

Another rare gravedigger leaning blue, and a pretty popular Dimir commander, Final Fantasy‘s Golbez, Crystal Collector crams a lot into 2 mana. For starters, it surveils whenever you put an artifact in play, both providing card filtering and filling your graveyard. And when you control 4+ artifacts, it grave-digs at your end step.

Treasures, Clues, and other cheap artifacts make the threshold very  manageable, and if you get to 8+ artifacts it adds life loss for the whole table on top.

#5. Witch of the Moors

Hailing from the original Jumpstart, Witch of the Moors combines gravedigging with something much nastier: a repeatable edict. At the beginning of your end step, if you’ve gained life that turn, every opponent sacrifices a creature, and then you return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

In a Commander game, Witch of the Moors can remove three opposing creatures while recovering one of your own, every turn. Edicts give your opponents room to maneuver and sac something trivial, above all if they play a lot of tokens; but forcing them to sacrifice bypasses hexproof and ward.

This witch is probably too expensive and slow if you need the grave-digging effect, but taken as a whole, it is an excellent value engine.

#4. Honest Rutstein

“It ain’t much,” says Honest Rutstein, but they’re being modest: They do a really good job! Grave-digging on ETB, plus your creatures costing less while it’s on the board. And you get the package for just !

Honest Rutstein is an excellent addition to Golgari () sacrifice decks and self-mill decks. It can work as a Golgari commander although, modest as it is, it shines in the 99. If your deck plans to cast a lot of creatures, few gravediggers offer this much utility at such a low cost.

#3. Nyx Weaver

Nyx Weaver is both a graveyard enabler and a gravedigger. This 3-mana enchantment creature mills two cards at the beginning of your upkeep, steadily stocking the graveyard, and whenever you find what you need, you can pay 3 mana and exile the Weaver to return any card from your graveyard to your hand.

You only get one card back but can let Nyx Weaver keep milling until the timing is right. And as with the best gravediggers in this list, it’s any card: Creature, removal spell, land, combo piece, or whatever’s in your yard that your hand needs.

#2. Timeless Witness

Timeless Witness is basically Eternal Witness with an expensive resurrect clause. It costs 4 mana rather than 3, but also has eternalize: Once Timeless Witness is in your graveyard, you can pay 7 mana to exile it and create a 4/4 zombie token copy. That token has the same ETB ability, so you get another card back from your graveyard.

Timeless Witness is an excellent late-game option for self-mill and recursion decks, and there’s only one gravedigger that I’d place above it.

#1. Eternal Witness

Much as we Magic players like to growl about power creep (and, truth be told, Gravedigger kinda proves that sometimes later cards are much better)… other times you just can’t best the oldies: Our best gravedigger has been the standard for more than two decades! Eternal Witness, which debuted in Fifth Dawn back in 2004, remains one of Magic’s most efficient recursion creatures.

For 3 mana, you get a 2/1 that returns any card from your graveyard to your hand. There’s no restriction, additional cost, or waiting for your next turn. That makes it excellent in almost any green Commander deck, whether you’re recovering removal, a destroyed permanent, or a combo piece. It’s competitive in Modern, seems some competitive play in Legacy, and is a powerhouse in top-tier cEDH decks with Thrasios, Triton Hero in the command zone.

Other gravediggers may offer bigger bodies or more specialized effects, but none matches E-Wits’s efficiency, simplicity, and breadth of play.

Best Gravedigger Payoffs

Gravediggers are already pretty useful on their own. As long as you have something in your graveyard, they are a textbook case of card advantage: You put a card into play without going down a card in hand. And with a well-stocked graveyard, you also get a lot of choice about what to recur.

They become much more powerful when your deck is built to take advantage of repeatedly recovering creatures from the graveyard.

The most obvious synergy is sacrifice. Cards like Viscera Seer, Ashnod's Altar, and Phyrexian Altar let you sacrifice creatures for additional value. Then your gravediggers recover those creatures so you can cast them again. Add a payoff like Blood Artist or Zulaport Cutthroat, and the entire process can also drain your opponents’ life totals.

Blink effects are usually another excellent choice: Many gravediggers have ETB abilities (and on top of that you can focus on recurring ETB creatures). Ephemerate and Conjurer's Closet let you reuse ETB abilities, while Panharmonicon doubles them, giving you even more value from your Eternal Witnesses and Graveshifters.

And, of course, there’s self-mill. Cards like Stitcher's Supplier, Mesmeric Orb, and Altar of Dementia help fill your graveyard with creatures and spells worth recovering.

The general idea is pretty straightforward: The more useful your graveyard becomes, and the quicker you can fill it up, the more valuable your gravediggers are.

Wrap Up

Gravedig | Illustration by Drew Baker

Gravediggers have come a long way since Tempest: Today we have everything from self-milling spiders to cost-reducing gravediggers.

The core design has remained pretty stable, though, and hasn’t really surpassed Eternal Witness. If you’re giving gravediggers a try, I’d start there: It’s efficient, flexible, fits in every green deck, and it’s been reprinted often enough that you can find cheap copies. Nyx Weaver and Honest Rutstein are also excellent (and cheap in every sense). 

Are there any great gravediggers I’ve missed? Or do you think some of these deserve a higher ranking? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter, The Daily Upkeep.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this deep dive into Magic’s best gravediggers, and good luck out there!