The 26 Best Graveyard Protection Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 19, 2024

Back for More | Illustration by Daarken

Experienced Magic players know that the graveyard is rarely the end for your cards. Recurring cards from your grave to the field or cheating out expensive spells by casting them from the graveyard is a tried-and-true strategy. Loading up the graveyard and reanimating creatures is a strong strategy featured in archetypes across every format.

But graveyards are especially susceptible to removal these days. Bojuka Bogs litter the field, and Leyline of the Voids and Rest in Peaces hit the field early and often. And that’s just a few of the threats you’ll face. Targeted removal can pull single cards out from under you as you try to Reanimate that Desolation Twin.

So let’s dive right into the best ways to protect your graveyard in each color!

What Is Graveyard Protection?

Elixir of Immortality | Illustration by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

I’m going to define “graveyard protection” as anything that saves a card (or cards) from being removed from your graveyard by an opponent’s effect and ensures you can access it later on. There are a few broad categories these cards fit into: cards that stop you or the cards in your graveyard from being targeted, instant-speed effects to counter or quickly return a card from your graveyard, and cards that return spells from exile.

Best White Graveyard Protection

The best way to protect your graveyard in white is preventing your opponents from targeting you with removal.

#4. Aegis of the Gods

Aegis of the Gods is the quickest but also the most vulnerable way to give yourself hexproof. A 2/1 body with both the creature and enchantment types means it’s susceptible to a large swath of removal in the game.

#3. Mana Tithe

Consider the humble Mana Tithe. I’ve found that a lot of opponents won’t expect a response to their graveyard removal. It’s seen as a fun and safe zone to use and remove (unlike, say, lands). A sneaky Mana Tithe on their afterthought Cremate is a low-stakes exchange for what could be a key card in your reanimator deck.

#2. Pull From Eternity

Pull From Eternity is your go-to if you just need that one card back from exile. This extra bit of insurance helps protect fragile combos.

#1. Leyline of Sanctity

Leyline of Sanctity is nature’s way of saying “do not interact.” It’s still a fair choice to protect yourself at four mana, even if you don’t get to drop it from your opening hand.

Best Blue Graveyard Protection

Blue’s graveyard protection mainly takes the form of instant-speed responses and reshuffle effects.

#3. Counterspell (and equivalents)

Blue’s biggest advantage is its easy access to counterspells. Besides the eponymous Counterspell, some other graveyard-themed counters are also useful. Consider Countervailing Winds and Circular Logic to stop an opponent’s Ashiok, Dream Render before it can hit the field.

A lot of cards exile graveyards with activated or triggered abilities. The best response blue has access to is Stifle.

#2. Psychic Spiral

Similar to Clear the Mind, Psychic Spiral shuffles your graveyard back into your library. It also mills target player for the same number of cards for two extra mana. There are a few instances where this is useful.

You can mill yourself and have a pretty good chance of exchanging them for unneeded cards if you only need to save the specific set of cards in your graveyard. You can also mill an opponent quite aggressively as retribution for losing access to your graveyard.

#1. Read the Runes

Read the Runes is one of the few blue cards for graveyard protection that doesn’t need to be played right away. While it’s limited to returning instants and sorceries with flashback, most mill decks run a plethora of flashback spells to recast from the graveyard anyway.

Best Black Graveyard Protection

The best way black protects its graveyard is by removing those cards itself. Remember, it’s best to wait as long as possible before filling up your ‘yard with vulnerable creatures.

#4. Gravegouger

Torment’s Gravegouger is a weird one. For three mana you can effectively Oblivion Ring two cards from your graveyard until this card leaves play. Exile some key cards from your graveyard and then sacrifice it when you’re ready to use them.

It even gets bonus points for being a nightmare, getting +1/+1 from Chainer, Dementia Master. But you won’t be able to respond quickly with this card since it doesn’t have flash. It's a mixed bag with weird outcomes.

#3. Death Denied

Death Denied is an instant-speed X spell that returns just the right number of creatures from your graveyard to your hand. It’s obviously most effective when you have a ton of mana available since Reaping the Graves will outclass it in most instances until you spend five or more.

#2. Reaping the Graves

Reaping the Graves is an instant-speed Disentomb with storm. Used in response to an opponent’s graveyard hate, you’ll return at least two creatures from your graveyard to your hand. Use it at the end of a busy turn and you’re looking at four or more creatures back into your hand!

#1. Chainer, Dementia Master

Chainer, Dementia Master has one of the strongest reanimation abilities in Magic. You can grab a creature from any graveyard at instant speed and put it onto the battlefield under your control for three black mana and three life. Chainer can also be your commander as a legendary creature, giving you easily repeatable access to this ability.

Best Red Graveyard Protection

Red’s graveyard protection revolves around redirecting targeted graveyard hate back at your opponents.

#3. Reroute

Reroute has the least utility of red’s protection. It can only change the target of an activated ability so it’ll whiff against Bojuka Bog or Rest in Peace. But it’s not completely useless.

Popular graveyard hate cards like Ashiok, Dream Render, The Scarab God, and Nezumi Graverobber all use activated abilities to devastate opponents' graves. Plus it’s a cantrip!

#2. Bolt Bend

Bolt Bend changes the target of a single spell or ability and can be cast for very cheap if you control a creature with power 4 or greater. It’s good and is only beat by…

#1. Deflecting Swat

The best of the best when it comes to protecting anything in red. Deflecting Swat redirects a spell or ability and usually costs no mana in your Commander deck! It’s one of the all-around best cards in red as well, so expect to see hundreds of other uses for it in-game.

Best Green Graveyard Protection

Green isn’t known for its graveyard protection mechanics but there are a few uncommon effects it can use.

#3. Riftsweeper

Riftsweeper’s unique ability allows you to shuffle a single exiled card back into your library. Chances are you’ll run back into that card while milling yourself. Combine it with Conjurer's Closet and you could feasibly return quite a few of your favorite cards from exile.

#2. Ground Seal

Ground Seal is another interesting one. This card saves your graveyard from targeted removal in reanimator decks but might also shut down your own recursion abilities. It’s a swingy card that requires interaction of some kind to work properly. That’s why I also recommend…

#1. Nature's Claim

Not only is Nature's Claim cheap removal for Rest in Peace and Leyline of the Void, it can also turn off your Ground Seal with an upside.

Best Multicolored Graveyard Protection

Interestingly, the best graveyard protection spells fall mostly in mono-color spells. But a few of those basic strategies can show up in multicolor ‘vards and make good choices for doubling down on different protection strategies

#3. Wear // Tear

Perhaps the quintessential Boros () removal, Wear // Tear removes both the Grafdigger's Cages and Weathered Runestones, plus those Leyline of the Voids.

#2. Back for More

Ikoria’s Back for More is an instant-speed reanimator with an upside. Use it in response to some targeted removal and put that Apex Altisaur right back onto the battlefield instead.

#1. Fracture

Fracture hits each of the major permanents players use as graveyard hate. Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, and Ashiok, Dream Render are all susceptible to this card’s removal.

Best Colorless Graveyard Protection

Colorless has access to the best static graveyard protection, and they can be included in any color identity!

#6. Silent Gravestone

Silent Gravestone is graveyard protection and graveyard hate all in one. It suffers from the same disadvantage as Ground Seal, and its built-in way to remove itself unfortunately takes your whole graveyard with it.

#5. Elixir of Immortality

I love Elixir of Immortality. A cheap reshuffle with a not-insignificant amount of lifegain on an uncommon. What more could you want? Sure, it’s slow, but that’s fine.

#4. Orbs of Warding

Orbs of Warding is a slower Leyline of Sanctity with a bit of damage prevention to boot. It’s a good card if you don’t have access to another way to give yourself hexproof, but the extra ability isn’t as universally useful.

#3. Thran Foundry

A slightly slower Feldon's Cane, Thran Foundry has the added advantage of letting you reshuffle an opponent’s graveyard in a pinch. This has a lot of uses.

Did they just tutor something to the top of their deck? Maybe they just Brainstorm’d and set up a miracle? Or you can deny them access to their graveyard by shuffling it back in the graveyard deck mirror match!

#2. Feldon's Cane

Feldon's Cane is the simplest iteration of a reshuffle effect in Magic. It's no-cost ability is the quickest and cheapest way to put your graveyard back into your library.

#1. Perpetual Timepiece

The absolute best protection piece you can run alongside your graveyard deck is Perpetual Timepiece. Besides letting you choose exactly the cards you want to shuffle back into your library, you can also use it to dig through your library until you need to respond.

Best Graveyard Protection Payoffs

Also known as the best graveyard payoffs since the typical “reward” for protecting your graveyard is using your graveyard.

Tormod, the Desecrator

Similar to Syr Konrad, the Grim, Tormod, the Desecrator rewards you when cards leave your graveyard. Surprise your opponents with an army of Zombie tokens after they remove your graveyard from the game.

Syr Konrad, the Grim

A lot of graveyard-focused decks already run a copy of Syr Konrad, the Grim, but I wanted to examine some graveyard protection scenarios where it’s useful. First it dumps a ton of damage on your opponents when they Bojuka Bog your graveyard. If they’re too disincentivized to wipe your graveyard, do it yourself with Clear the Mind or do double damage by targeting yourself with Psychic Spiral.

Rise of the Dark Realms

One of my favorite strategies is milling a ton of creatures into my graveyard and then reanimating everything at once with Rise of the Dark Realms. It’s a no-brainer win condition for mill decks and synergizes great with the aforementioned Syr Konrad, the Grim and Tormod, the Desecrator.

Muldrotha, the Gravetide

Finally, I have to mention the best self-mill commander in Magic, Muldrotha, the Gravetide. Muldrotha’s great because it doesn’t need to target to take advantage of your graveyard so it can be used alongside Ground Seal and similar effects.

Wrap Up

Clear the Mind | Illustration by David Palumbo

Graveyard disruption spells have become auto-includes in most Commander decks. Bojuka Bog and Silent Gravestone claim the same popularity as Sol Ring and Arcane Signet. With so many hosers available in the format, protecting your graveyard is essential to the success of any self-mill deck.

Did I miss any graveyard protection strategies? Are there any graveyard hate cards these spells won’t protect you from? Let me know in the comments or over on Draftsim’s Twitter.

Thanks for reading, and for reanimating!