or 2 life.)Noxious Revival gives a deck immediate access to a card in a graveyard by putting it on top of its owner's library. Its Phyrexian green cost can be paid with one green mana or two life, making it useful when you need recovery while keeping your lands available. The card returns to the top of the library rather than directly to your hand, so the next draw is an important part of the plan.
In green combo and value decks, Revival can recover a destroyed engine, a fetch land, or a spell used earlier in the game. Pair it with a draw effect such as Sylvan Library or a blue cantrip in a deck that includes blue, and the recovered card can become available sooner. It is especially useful when a key permanent would otherwise remain stranded in the graveyard.
The ability to target any graveyard also gives it a defensive role. In response to an opponent's reanimation spell, you can move that spell's target onto its owner's library. This can deny the immediate reanimation while forcing the opponent to draw the creature later. It is temporary disruption, but the timing can buy a decisive turn.
Use the two-life payment deliberately rather than automatically. Paying green may be preferable when your life total is under pressure. Revival is at its best when the recovered card is worth both the spell you spend and the draw you commit to retrieving it.
