Emet-Selch of the Third Seat wants a deck that fills its discard pile and plays cards back out of it. It also suits a deck that brings big creatures back from the discard pile.
Mana cost
Blue, Black ()
Power / toughness3 / 4
RarityRare
Spells you cast from your graveyard cost less to cast.
Whenever one or more opponents lose life, you may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. Do this only once each turn.
Picked for what they do in Emet-Selch of the Third Seat's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Emet-Selch of the Third Seat's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
explain how Emet-Selch of the Third Seat works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary
Wizards of the Coast6 Jun 2025
The cost reduction applies only to generic mana in the total cost of spells you cast from your graveyard.
Wizards of the Coast6 Jun 2025
To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying (such as a flashback cost), add any cost increases (such as kicker costs), then apply any cost reductions (such as that of Emet-Selch of the Third Seat's first ability). The mana value of the spell is determined by only its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast that spell was.
Wizards of the Coast6 Jun 2025
You choose whether to cast the target card while Emet-Selch of the Third Seat's second ability is still on the stack. You can't wait to cast it later in the turn. Timing restrictions based on the card's type are ignored.
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUBPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, B for black. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Graveyard/Self-MillGraveyard decks fill their own graveyard on purpose, then play cards from it as if it were a second hand. Moving cards from the top of your own deck straight into the graveyard is called self-mill.Open the Graveyard/Self-Mill pageCast from GraveyardLets you cast spells or play lands straight from your graveyard, so the graveyard becomes a second hand. This is different from Reanimation, which puts a creature card onto the battlefield without casting it. Karador, Ghost Chieftain, Muldrotha, the Gravetide, Yawgmoth's WillOpen the Cast from Graveyard pageRecursionBrings cards back from the graveyard: to your hand, to the battlefield, or letting them be cast again from where they lie. Eternal Witness, Reanimate, VictimizeOpen the Recursion pageLife DrainAn opponent loses life and you gain that life from the same effect. Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat. It lets Aristocrats decks win without ever attacking. Every drain card is also tagged Life Gain; this tag is the part where the life comes out of somebody.Open the Life Drain pageReanimatorReanimator decks put big creatures into their own graveyard early, then bring them back onto the battlefield without paying their cost. It gets a huge creature into play far sooner than you could afford to cast it.Open the Reanimator pageCost ModificationChanges what a spell costs to cast: cheaper for you, or more expensive for everyone. It is the broad family; Cost Reducer and Spell Tax say which direction a given card goes. Herald's Horn, Foundry InspectorOpen the Cost Modification pageAristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats page
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