You’re staring at a graveyard full of monsters. You have two mana. Most players reach for Animate Dead because it's the gold standard, the card everyone knows. But then there’s MTG Dance of the Dead. It’s the jankier, slightly more confusing cousin from the Ice Age expansion that people often overlook because the rules text looks like a legal contract written by someone having a fever dream.
Honestly, it’s a powerhouse.
If you play Commander or even high-powered Cube, you’ve probably realized that redundancy is everything. If you need to bring something back from the dead, having a second copy of a low-cost reanimation spell is life or death. But Dance of the Dead isn't just a "backup" Animate Dead. It’s a unique tool with its own set of baggage, perks, and weird interactions that can actually benefit you if you know how to manipulate the stack.
The Complicated Reality of MTG Dance of the Dead
Let’s look at the card. It costs one Black and one Generic. That’s cheap. For two mana, you get to put a creature from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. But it enters tapped. And it stays tapped.
Wait. Why would you want that?
Well, the card grants the creature +1/+1, which is a nice little bump. However, the "downside" is that it doesn't untap during your untap step normally. Instead, you have to pay one Black and one Generic during your upkeep to untap it. If you’re playing a massive Eldrazi or a Griselbrand, paying two mana to untap your win-condition feels like a small price to pay.
The Oracle text—the modern updated wording—is a bit of a nightmare. It’s an Enchantment — Aura with "Enchant creature card in a graveyard." When it enters, you put that creature onto the battlefield and the Aura attaches to it. If Dance of the Dead leaves the battlefield, you sacrifice the creature. This makes it vulnerable to Disenchant effects, sure, but so is every other premium reanimation spell in the game.
Why People Get This Card Wrong
Most players see the "enters tapped" clause and run away. They think it's too slow. In a fast-paced game of Magic, waiting a full turn cycle and then paying more mana just to swing sounds like a losing proposition.
But here is the thing: many of the best creatures to reanimate have "Enter the Battlefield" (ETB) triggers. If you are bringing back an Archon of Cruelty or a Grave Titan, you don’t necessarily need them to attack the moment they hit the dirt. You want the triggers. You want the value. MTG Dance of the Dead gets you that value for the exact same mana investment as Animate Dead.
The Worldgorger Dragon Combo
You can't talk about this card without mentioning the infamous "Worldgorger Combo." It’s one of the most polarizing interactions in the history of the game.
It works like this:
- You have Worldgorger Dragon in your graveyard.
- You cast Dance of the Dead targeting the Dragon.
- The Dragon enters the battlefield. Its ETB trigger fires, exiling all your other permanents—including Dance of the Dead.
- Because the Aura left the battlefield, the Dragon is sacrificed.
- When the Dragon leaves, all your exiled permanents return to the battlefield untapped.
- Dance of the Dead returns, targets the Dragon again, and you repeat the loop.
This creates infinite mana by tapping your lands in response to the exile trigger. It also triggers any "enters the battlefield" effects an infinite number of times. If you have a Sunscorched Desert or a Piranha Marsh, you just win. Right there. On the spot.
Is it risky? Absolutely. If someone kills the Dragon while the exile trigger is on the stack, all your permanents stay exiled forever. You’re left with nothing but a salt-flavored story to tell at the game store. But in high-power EDH (cEDH), this is a premier win condition.
Comparing the "Big Three" Reanimation Auras
Every Black deck designer eventually has to choose between the trio of low-cost Auras.
Animate Dead is the king. It gives -1/-0, but the creature enters untapped. It’s the most efficient. Necromancy is the weird one—it costs three mana but you can cast it at Flash speed to use a creature as a surprise blocker or to snag a win on someone else's turn.
Then there is Dance of the Dead.
It sits in the middle. It’s cheaper than Necromancy but clunkier than Animate Dead. Yet, in a deck that wants to maximize its chances of seeing a reanimation spell in the opening hand, you run all three. You don't pick and choose. You saturate the deck so that your Entomb actually has a purpose.
The Power of the +1/+1 Buff
Don't sleep on the power buff. While Animate Dead weakens your creature, MTG Dance of the Dead makes it beefier.
I’ve seen games where a 1/1 utility creature became a 2/2 and survived a Pyroclasm specifically because of this aura. It’s rare, but it happens. More importantly, in a deck that uses +1/+1 counters or cares about power (like Selvala, Heart of the Wilds), that extra point of power can actually net you more mana or more cards than the "better" alternatives.
Historical Context and Why It’s Not Reprinted
We haven't seen a functional reprint of this card in a main set in forever. Why? Because Wizards of the Coast hates tracking "tapped/untapped" states via Auras now. It’s messy. It creates board state confusion.
Ice Age was a weird time for Magic. The developers were still figuring out how to balance cards. They thought the "pay to untap" mechanic was a fair trade-off for the power of reanimation. Today, we know that two-mana reanimation is essentially "broken" by modern standards. Most modern reanimation spells like Rise from the Adherent or Zombify cost four or five mana.
This makes Dance of the Dead a "relic" of a high-power era. It’s a Reserved List-adjacent card in spirit, even if it’s technically been reprinted in Special Guests or Masters sets. Its existence allows players to bypass the modern mana curve.
Strategic Tips for Playing Dance of the Dead
If you're going to slot this into your deck, you need to play it smart.
First, use it on creatures with Vigilance. If a creature has Vigilance, it doesn't tap to attack. This completely bypasses the downside of the card. You don't have to pay the upkeep cost to untap it because it never gets tapped in the first place. This makes cards like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or Avacyn, Angel of Hope terrifying targets.
Second, remember that you can choose not to untap it. If you’re low on mana and just need the creature to sit there and provide a passive effect—like a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse—just leave it tapped. You still get the life drain. You still get the card draw punishment. You don't need to attack to win.
Third, watch out for "protection from Black." Because Dance of the Dead is a Black Aura, if the creature gains protection from Black, the Aura falls off and the creature dies. This is a common way for savvy opponents to 2-for-1 you.
The Verdict on Value
Is it worth the $5 to $10 it usually costs? Yes.
If you are playing Black in any capacity in Commander, you want this card. It provides a level of consistency that "fair" Magic cards simply can't match. It’s a piece of history that still functions at the highest levels of play.
The art by Jesper Myrfors is also iconic. It captures that 90s dark fantasy aesthetic that modern Magic often moves away from. There’s something visceral about seeing those skeletons dancing in the moonlight that really sets the tone for a Necromancy-themed deck.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Deck
If you're ready to integrate MTG Dance of the Dead into your repertoire, here is how you do it effectively:
- Audit your "Enter the Battlefield" triggers: Ensure at least 60% of your reanimation targets provide value the moment they hit the board so the "tapped" status doesn't stall your momentum.
- Check for Vigilance synergy: If you run Aurelia, the Warleader or Sun Titan, Dance of the Dead becomes significantly more powerful because the "pay to untap" clause becomes irrelevant.
- Update your Oracle knowledge: Keep a tab open or a printout of the modern wording. Your opponents will ask how it works, and being able to explain the "Enchant creature card in a graveyard" transition to "Enchant creature put onto the battlefield" will save you ten minutes of arguing.
- Evaluate your mana base: Since the untap cost requires Black mana, ensure your mana rocks and lands can support an extra $B$ during your upkeep without choking your ability to cast new spells.
Don't let the wall of text on the original card scare you off. It's a premier piece of Black's color pie and one of the most efficient ways to cheat the graveyard system ever printed.