Gust of Wind
Sorcery
This spell costs 
less to cast if you control a creature with flying.
Return target nonland permanent you don't control to its owner's hand.
Draw a card.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Pioneer Masters
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #13995
Gust of Wind bounces a nonland permanent and draws a card for five mana — that's a clean two-for-one that replaces itself while setting an opponent back a turn. Outside of dedicated bird or flying tribal lists helmed by something like Kangee, Sky Warden, the cost is too steep for a role other blue spells fill cheaper.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Kangee, Sky Warden
Kangee, Sky Warden rewards stacking instants and sorceries that interact favorably with flying creatures, and Gust of Wind pulls double duty — clearing a blocker or resetting an opponent's threat while drawing into more birds or more disruption. The self-replacing clause is what pushes it into the 99 here; you're not spending a card, you're spending mana.
Talrand, Sky Summoner
Talrand, Sky Summoner turns every instant and sorcery into a 2/2 Drake token, so Gust of Wind doesn't just bounce a threat and draw a card — it also staples a flying body to the transaction. That triple payoff on a single spell is why it shows up in Talrand lists at a meaningful clip despite the five-mana price tag.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Gust of Wind is a niche role-player rather than a staple — the bounce-plus-draw is genuinely useful, but five mana is a real ask in a format where Cyclonic Rift exists and most blue decks have cheaper, higher-impact options. It earns its slot most reliably in flying-tribal shells where the tribal synergies compound the value, or in spellslinger builds like Talrand where every instant and sorcery generates an additional body. In Pauper, the card is legal and the tempo math is more favorable since the format's card advantage is lower and bounce effects carry more weight, though it still competes with cheaper options. Legacy, Vintage, and Modern are non-starters — the mana cost prices it out entirely against the efficiency those formats demand. Pioneer is the same story: five mana for a bounce-draw is not competitive in a 60-card context.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Gust of Wind isn't currently available in the system, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for a live number before picking up copies. It's a niche uncommon with a narrow home, so expect a budget-friendly tag — this isn't a card you should be paying a premium for.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.