Price$0.32 – $3.47
Buy on TCGplayerVillage Rites
Instant
LegalCard DrawRank #194
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Draw two cards.
Why is this card good?
Village Rites is one of the best one-mana draw spells in black, full stop. The instant speed and cheap cost make it incredibly flexible: you draw two cards for whenever a creature is about to die, gets exiled, or you just need gas.
The real magic is turning liabilities into value. Respond to targeted removal or a board wipe by sacrificing the doomed creature — you "save" it as cards. It also enables death triggers, so it's premium glue in aristocrats decks (Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat), token strategies with expendable bodies, and reanimator lists that want creatures in the yard anyway.
Combo decks love it too as a cheap, instant-speed engine to dig toward pieces while feeding a sac outlet.
When to skip it: decks light on creatures or that can't profitably part with them — heavy artifact, enchantment, or spellslinger builds. If you don't have a steady stream of fodder, this is just a worse Sign in Blood. Otherwise, near-auto-include in black.
whenever a creature is about to die, gets exiled, or you just need gas.
The real magic is turning liabilities into value. Respond to targeted removal or a board wipe by sacrificing the doomed creature — you "save" it as cards. It also enables death triggers, so it's premium glue in aristocrats decks (Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat), token strategies with expendable bodies, and reanimator lists that want creatures in the yard anyway.
Combo decks love it too as a cheap, instant-speed engine to dig toward pieces while feeding a sac outlet.
When to skip it: decks light on creatures or that can't profitably part with them — heavy artifact, enchantment, or spellslinger builds. If you don't have a steady stream of fodder, this is just a worse Sign in Blood. Otherwise, near-auto-include in black.Related cards
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Printings (11)
Played by these commanders
Clavileño, First of the Blessed100% of 1
Rulings (1)
- 2021-02-05
You must sacrifice exactly one creature to cast this spell; you can't cast it without sacrificing a creature, and you can't sacrifice additional creatures.