Excava, the Risen Past

Oracle Text

Flying, haste
Whenever Excava attacks, return up to one target artifact, creature, or non-Aura enchantment card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. It's a 1/1 Spirit creature with flying in addition to its other types. (If a creature with a finality counter on it would die, exile it instead.)

Card Details

3/3Power / Toughness

2RWMana Cost

1Prints

Set

Secrets of Strixhaven Commander · View all prints →

Character Background

Excava, the Risen Past is a clean Boros value-tempo threat that rewards you for turning combat into recursion. A 3/3 flier with haste already pressures planeswalkers and life totals, but the real strength is that every attack can rebuy a cheap artifact, creature, or non-Aura enchantment from your graveyard and put it straight back onto the battlefield. Because the return comes with a finality counter, Excava favors permanents with strong enters-the-battlefield effects or pieces you’re happy to cash in once. Think mana rocks, utility creatures, or small enchantments like removal and token engines; cards such as Mishra’s Bauble-style artifacts, Dockside-adjacent value pieces, or self-sacrificing tools become especially appealing. In Commander, it shines in a proactive shell that curves out, trades resources early, then reanimates key engines while continuing to attack. Pair it with sacrifice outlets or effects that mill yourself to stock the graveyard, and you get a steady loop of pressure plus card advantage.

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