Dearly Departed

Strategy & Gameplay

Dearly Departed is a versatile white creature that bridges aggressive strategies with graveyard synergy, making it a compelling addition to several competitive and casual archetypes. This five-mana flyer offers immediate value as a 5/5 flying body, which is a respectable rate that can impact the board quickly while remaining evasive. However, the card's true power emerges from its graveyard ability: as long as Dearly Departed exists in your graveyard, every Human creature you control enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter. This passive effect transforms your Human-focused strategies into significantly more threatening boards, accelerating your clock and improving the quality of your creatures without requiring additional mana investment. The card fits naturally into Human-centric strategies across multiple formats, particularly in Modern where Humans has established itself as a competitive archetype with cards like Thalia's Lieutenant and Champion of the Parish. In Legacy and Vintage, it provides a powerful payoff for decks already built around Human synergies. Commander players building around Human themes will appreciate both the flying evasion and the subtle yet powerful lord effect from the graveyard. The fact that Dearly Departed works in your graveyard means it provides value even if removed before it can attack, incentivizing players to run self-mill effects or simply lean into natural discard outlets. This creates interesting deck-building opportunities and gives your Humans meaningful upgrades even in matchups where removal is prevalent.