Card
Starving Revenant
Mana cost {2}{B}{B}
When this creature enters, surveil 2. Then for each card you put on top of your library, you draw a card and you lose 3 life. Descend 8 — Whenever you draw a card, if there are eight or more permanent cards in your graveyard, target opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
Part of 71 known combos, 4 of them two-card. 5 official rulings.
- Commander
- Legal
- Printing
- Rare · LCI · #123
- Cheapest printing
- €0.22
- EDHREC salt
- 0.41
- Color identity
- Black
- Keywords
- Surveil, Descend
Bracket
- B1 Exhibition — Not in the same deck as its two-card combo partners: Kefka, Court Mage // Kefka, Ruler of Ruin, Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel, Drogskol Reaver, Marina Vendrell's Grimoire
- B2 Core — Not in the same deck as its two-card combo partners: Kefka, Court Mage // Kefka, Ruler of Ruin, Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel, Drogskol Reaver, Marina Vendrell's Grimoire
- B3 Upgraded — Not in the same deck as its early two-card combo partners: Kefka, Court Mage // Kefka, Ruler of Ruin, Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel, Drogskol Reaver, Marina Vendrell's Grimoire
- B4 Optimized — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
- B5 cEDH — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
Why
- Two-card combo with Kefka, Court Mage // Kefka, Ruler of Ruin, Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel, Drogskol Reaver, Marina Vendrell's Grimoire (early with Kefka, Court Mage // Kefka, Ruler of Ruin, Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel, Drogskol Reaver, Marina Vendrell's Grimoire)
How Lotus Vault estimates a bracket
Bracket: Lotus Vault analysis, with Commander Spellbook flags
Combos
71 known combos, 4 of them two-card.
- Kefka, Court Mage // Kefka, Ruler of Ruin + Starving Revenant
Produces: Infinite card draw, Near-infinite lifegain, Near-infinite lifeloss
View on Commander Spellbook - Niv-Mizzet, Ghost Counsel + Starving Revenant
Produces: Infinite card draw, Infinite draw triggers, Near-infinite lifegain triggers
View on Commander Spellbook - Drogskol Reaver + Starving Revenant
Produces: Infinite card draw, Near-infinite lifegain, Near-infinite lifeloss
View on Commander Spellbook
Combos: Commander Spellbook
Rulings
- 2024-01-12 · Wizards of the Coast
When you surveil, you may put all the cards you look at back on top of your library, you may put all of those cards into your graveyard, or you may put some of those cards on top and the rest of them into your graveyard. - 2023-11-10 · Wizards of the Coast
Some descend triggered abilities include intervening "if" clauses (i.e. "if you have [four or eight] permanent cards in your graveyard" in the middle of the ability). Each of these abilities checks your graveyard at the moment it would trigger to see if it does. If you don't have the required number of permanent cards in your graveyard at that time, the ability doesn't trigger at all. If it does trigger, it will check again as it tries to resolve. If you don't have the required number of permanent cards in your graveyard at that time, the ability won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. - 2023-11-10 · Wizards of the Coast
Cards with the ability word "descend N" have abilities that care if you have at least N permanent cards in your graveyard. - 2023-11-10 · Wizards of the Coast
For Starving Revenant's enters-the-battlefield ability, you put cards into your graveyard for surveil (if any) before drawing cards. If there are eight or more permanent cards in your graveyard by the time you draw cards, those draws will cause the descend 8 ability to trigger. - 2023-11-10 · Wizards of the Coast
Except in some unusual cases, the cards you put on top of your library while surveilling will be the cards you draw.
Rulings: Scryfall · Wizards of the Coast