Rebirth

Premodern-legal editions of Rebirth — old-border printings plus any period-appropriate foil promos (Arena/Judge, through Scourge). Hover to preview an edition on the card; click to select it.

Fourth Edition

1995·4edrare

Selected

Old-border editions + pre-Scourge promo foils (Arena/Judge). Modern-frame reprints (8th Edition onward) exist but are not period-appropriate printings.

Why It's Banned

Rebirth resets life totals and interacts with ante, a mechanic banned from sanctioned Magic. Premodern excludes it on rules grounds.

An early ante-adjacent card retired alongside the format-wide ante prohibition.

Trivia & Lore

• Rebirth is the only green ante card in Magic's history. Of the nine ante cards ever printed (Amulet of Quoz, Bronze Tablet, Contract from Below, Darkpact, Demonic Attorney, Jeweled Bird, Rebirth, Tempest Efreet, and Timmerian Fiends), the rest are black, red, or colorless artifacts -- Rebirth alone carries a green mana cost of {3}{G}{G}{G}.
• Rebirth is the only ante card whose effect resets a life total: each player may ante the top card of their library, and any player who does has their life total set to exactly 20. Every other ante card moves cards between owners or graveyards -- none reset life this way.
• Rebirth debuted in Legends (released June 10, 1994) as card #200, a Rare sorcery illustrated by Mark Tedin -- one of Magic's original 25 artists, who also painted the Power Nine card Timetwister.
• Despite being an ante card, Rebirth was reprinted twice after Legends: in the black-bordered European compilation set Renaissance as #154 (released August 1995, appearing in German as 'Wiedergeburt' and French as 'Renouveau'), and in the Fourth Edition core set (April 1995) as #267.
• Like all ante cards, Rebirth is banned in every DCI-sanctioned format (Vintage, Legacy, Commander, etc.) -- a key reason being Wizards' concern that playing for ante could legally classify Magic tournaments as gambling, subjecting venues to gambling regulations.
• Rebirth carries the printed disclaimer 'Remove this card from your deck before playing if you're not playing for ante,' a line that appears only on the nine ante cards. The mechanic was abandoned after Timmerian Fiends, the final ante card ever made, was printed in 1995's Homelands.