Forced Retreat
Sorcery
Put target creature on top of its owner's library.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Masters Edition III
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #27098
Forced Retreat puts a creature on top of its owner's library — a tempo hit that removes the threat from the board and sets their next draw back a turn, all for two mana. It's narrow compared to a hard removal spell, but in topdeck-matters strategies it pulls double duty as disruption and library manipulation.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Forced Retreat fits niche strategies — Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow decks want it because bouncing your own ninja to reset ninjutsu is a repeatable engine, and the topdeck placement is a known quantity rather than a random draw. In Pauper, where the common card pool makes every efficient blue tempo spell relevant, Forced Retreat is a consideration in tempo and control shells that can exploit the opponent's wasted draw step. Legacy and Vintage are both legal formats, but the competition from Swords to Plowshares, Force of Will, and Brainstorm is steep enough that Forced Retreat doesn't see meaningful play there. Outside of synergy-specific Commander builds, it's a Pauper card.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Forced Retreat isn't currently available, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for the latest. Given that it's a narrow, synergy-dependent card without crossover appeal in high-powered formats, expect a low buylist and modest market price.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.