Necromancer's Familiar MTG Card


Necromancer’s Familiar offers card advantage through resurrecting creatures, enhancing battlefield resilience. Its synergy with necromancy-themed decks accelerates resource generation, optimizing in-game economy. Flash ability inclusion turns Necromancer’s Familiar into a surprise element, elevating tactical gameplay.
Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeCreature — Bird Spirit
Abilities Flying,Hellbent
Power 3
Toughness 1

Text of card

Flying Hellbent — Necromancer's Familiar has lifelink as long as you have no cards in hand. , Discard a card: Necromancer's Familiar gains indestructible until end of turn. Tap it.


Cards like Necromancer's Familiar

Necromancer’s Familiar offers a fresh angle on creature utility for Magic: The Gathering aficionados. It’s nestled in a niche similar to Apprentice Necromancer, both catering to strategies that manipulate the graveyard. Necromancer’s Familiar stands out with its inherent resilience, returning to the owner’s hand if it would die, while rewarding the player for their sorcery and instant spell plays. Apprentice Necromancer allows for a more direct, albeit ephemeral, reanimation effect, bringing creatures back for an immediate impact.

Gravecrawler also shares traits with Necromancer’s Familiar, especially in decks heavy with Zombies. Gravecrawler can be cast from the graveyard, ensuring its presence on the board. However, while Gravecrawler excels at recurrence, it lacks the versatility that comes with Necromancer’s Familiar’s triggered ability.

Assessing these counterparts, it’s clear Necromancer’s Familiar offers a unique combination of longevity and synergy in player decks that favor spell-based strategies alongside their creature tactics, marking its own territory in the landscape of MTG reanimation and graveyard manipulation mechanics.

Apprentice Necromancer - MTG Card versions
Gravecrawler - MTG Card versions
Apprentice Necromancer - MTG Card versions
Gravecrawler - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Necromancer's Familiar by color, type and mana cost

Hell's Caretaker - MTG Card versions
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Phyrexian Debaser - MTG Card versions
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Whispering Shade - MTG Card versions
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Dirge Bat - MTG Card versions
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Nim Shambler - MTG Card versions
Bad Ass - MTG Card versions
Scourge of Numai - MTG Card versions
Deathgazer - MTG Card versions
Dirty Wererat - MTG Card versions
Hell's Caretaker - MTG Card versions
Rag Man - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Debaser - MTG Card versions
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - MTG Card versions
Slinking Skirge - MTG Card versions
Gravedigger - MTG Card versions
Scandalmonger - MTG Card versions
Urborg Shambler - MTG Card versions
Whispering Shade - MTG Card versions
Filth - MTG Card versions
Demon of Catastrophes - MTG Card versions
Bold Plagiarist - MTG Card versions
Dirge Bat - MTG Card versions
Toxin Sliver - MTG Card versions
Vampiric Spirit - MTG Card versions
Nim Shambler - MTG Card versions
Bad Ass - MTG Card versions
Scourge of Numai - MTG Card versions
Deathgazer - MTG Card versions
Dirty Wererat - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Necromancer’s Familiar provides an edge in the battlefield through its ability to potentially return another creature card from your graveyard to your hand when it dies. This cycle of revival sustains your hand resources, offering a form of card advantage that keeps your game resilient against removal strategies by opponents.

Resource Acceleration: While Necromancer’s Familiar on its own may not directly produce additional mana, its synergy with other cards that benefit from creature death or sacrifice can lead to indirect resource acceleration. This acceleration can manifest through various graveyard interactions that are central to necromancy-themed decks, ensuring you’re consistently maximizing your resources.

Instant Speed: A key capability of Necromancer’s Familiar is its deployment at instant speed if a flash-enabling card is on the field. This makes the familiar a versatile and unpredictable force, as you can hold mana for counterplays and respond immediately to your opponent’s actions, catching them off guard and potentially swinging the tide of the game in your favor.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Necromancer’s Familiar demands a card discard to activate certain abilities, which can be counterproductive when your hand is already dwindling in size. This can disrupt your game plan, especially if you are forced to throw away a pivotal piece of your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost for Necromancer’s Familiar includes black mana, which may not be ideal for all deck types. Decks without black mana or those that are mana-color restrictive might find it challenging to integrate this card efficiently into their strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Investing three mana, including both generic and black mana, for a creature of its caliber can be steep. Considering the investment, players must weigh if the cost is justified by the benefits, particularly when other cards could potentially provide a better performance to mana cost ratio for similar or even lesser mana investments.


Reasons to Include Necromancer’s Familiar in Your Collection

Versatility: This creature card easily slips into numerous deck archetypes, particularly those favoring graveyard manipulation or requiring reliable blockers. Its capacity to provide consistent benefits each turn makes it a flexible addition to any black-themed deck.

Combo Potential: Necromancer’s Familiar interacts synergistically with strategies that leverage creature sacrifices or death triggers. It can serve as both enabler and beneficiary in a well-tuned combo setup, providing fuel for various powerful interactions.

Meta-Relevance: Given that creature-based decks are frequently encountered across different formats, the Familiar’s ability to stave off aggression while slowly grinding advantages can tip the scales in matchups, potentially shifting the dynamics of local and broader metagames.


How to beat

Necromancer’s Familiar is a uniquely resilient creature in the world of Magic the Gathering. This card presents a challenge with its potential to return to the battlefield, creating a recurring obstacle for opponents. To effectively counter this card, players should consider using exile effects or graveyard hate strategies, which prevent the card from returning once it hits the graveyard. Cards such as Leyline of the Void can stop creatures from hitting the graveyard in the first place, while instant removal like Path to Exile ensures that Necromancer’s Familiar stays out of play. Utilizing these strategies is essential as simply destroying the creature won’t guarantee it won’t come back. On top of that, continuous board control is vital to prevent the Familiar from leveraging its undying ability.

Additionally, countering the spells or abilities that intend to bring Necromancer’s Familiar back from the graveyard is also a viable option. This can be achieved through counter spells or abilities that specifically target actions on the graveyard. As a player facing Necromancer’s Familiar, it’s crucial to keep a close eye on graveyard interactions and maintain a set of control tools ready to handle its undying mechanic.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Necromancer's Familiar MTG card by a specific set like Modern Horizons 2 and Jumpstart: Historic Horizons, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Necromancer's Familiar and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Necromancer's Familiar Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2021-06-18 and 2021-08-26. Illustrated by Paul Scott Canavan.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12021-06-18Modern Horizons 2MH2 942015NormalBlackPaul Scott Canavan
22021-08-26Jumpstart: Historic HorizonsJ21 3642015NormalBlackPaul Scott Canavan

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Necromancer's Familiar has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderRestricted
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
GladiatorLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Necromancer's Familiar card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2021-06-18 You may activate the last ability even if Necromancer's Familiar is already tapped or it has indestructible.