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Mystic Retrieval

Sorcery

Return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
Flashback {2}{R} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)

CMC
4
Mana cost
{3}{U}
Color identity
RU
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Commander 2019
Price
$0.23
EDHREC rank
#5056
Buy on TCGplayer
Mystic Retrieval card art
Mystic Retrieval gets back any instant or sorcery from your graveyard for four mana — and the flashback cost lets you do it a second time from the graveyard itself. In spell-count commanders like Mizzix of the Izmagnus and Vadrik, Astral Archmage, where experience counters or power buffs slash that flashback cost toward zero, this card stops being a utility piece and starts being a win condition.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Vadrik, Astral Archmage

Vadrik, Astral Archmage

59.5% of decks · synergy 0.54

Vadrik, Astral Archmage reduces instant and sorcery costs based on power, which can make the flashback on Mystic Retrieval effectively free — letting you loop it with another spell that untaps or recurs Vadrik to chain through your whole graveyard in a single turn.

02
Mizzix of the Izmagnus

Mizzix of the Izmagnus

51.5% of decks · synergy 0.46

Mizzix of the Izmagnus stacks experience counters that discount instant and sorcery costs, and Mystic Retrieval gets cheaper twice — once on cast, once on flashback — meaning a Mizzix player with a few counters can rebuy a key combo piece for one or two mana.

03
Melek, Reforged Researcher

Melek, Reforged Researcher

48.1% of decks · synergy 0.43

Melek, Reforged Researcher cares about casting spells from the graveyard and rewarding spell volume, and Mystic Retrieval feeds both angles: it recovers a spent combo piece and then flashes back to do it again, giving Melek two triggers off one card.

04
Rielle, the Everwise

Rielle, the Everwise

17.7% of decks · synergy 0.13

Rielle, the Everwise rewards discarding instants and sorceries, and Mystic Retrieval ends up in the graveyard naturally in those builds, where its flashback becomes a late-game way to recover a key piece without spending an additional card from hand.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Mystic Retrieval is a Commander card almost exclusively — the four-mana main cost and sorcery speed make it too slow for Legacy or Vintage, where Snapcaster Mage and Regrowth effects exist at half the cost. In Commander, it earns its slot in Izzet spell-slinger builds where cost reduction stacks up fast and the flashback effectively doubles the card's value from the graveyard. Outside of spell-cost-reduction commanders, it competes with cheaper graveyard recursion and often loses, so context matters. Oathbreaker is a reasonable home for the same reason Commander is — small formats that reward spell recycling at lower game speeds.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.23 bulk tier

At $0.23, Mystic Retrieval is bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in trade or a cheap online order. Bulk sorceries with niche applications rarely move on price, so don't expect this to spike; just grab it when you're already placing an order.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.