Pillardrop Rescuer
Creature — Spirit Cleric
Flying
When this creature enters, return target creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to your hand.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Strixhaven: School of Mages
- Price
- $0.08
- EDHREC rank
- #22567
Pillardrop Rescuer gets a creature back from your graveyard to the top of your library — which means it's a recursion piece that doesn't immediately replace itself, and you pay four mana for the privilege. That cost is too steep for the effect in any competitive shell, making Pillardrop Rescuer a fringe pick limited to decks that specifically reward topdeck manipulation or repeated enter-the-battlefield triggers.
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, Pillardrop Rescuer finds its best home in Azorius or Boros flicker and ETB-value decks that want repeatable recursion loops — but four mana for topdeck recursion is slow enough that most lists will cut it for something cheaper. Pauper is where Pillardrop Rescuer has the strongest argument: the common slot is starved for recursion options, and blinking or recurring the Rescuer itself creates a genuine loop in the right shell. In Modern and Pioneer the effect is simply outclassed — Unearth effects and cheaper recursion creatures do more for less. Legacy and Vintage don't want it at any price.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.08 bulk tier
At $0.08, Pillardrop Rescuer is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not the effect. Bulk commons rarely move unless a deck breaks them, and nothing on the horizon suggests Pillardrop Rescuer is that card.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.