Reckless Detective
Creature — Devil Detective
Whenever this creature attacks, you may sacrifice an artifact or discard a card. If you do, draw a card and this creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Murders at Karlov Manor
- Price
- $0.09
- EDHREC rank
- #19539
Reckless Detective enters and forces each opponent to discard, then replaces itself with a card draw — three words of disruption stapled to a looting effect for two mana. The cost is a 1/2 body that does nothing once the ETB resolves, but in any deck that blinks, bounces, or recurs creatures, that barely registers. Zurzoth, Chaos Rider treats the forced discards as a token factory, turning one card into a Devil army.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Zurzoth, Chaos Rider
Zurzoth, Chaos Rider creates a 1/1 Devil whenever an opponent discards, so Reckless Detective's three-player discard trigger nets three bodies on a single ETB — and if you're blinking it repeatedly, the board fills fast.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Reckless Detective punches above its mana cost because the discard hits every opponent simultaneously — what would be a minor nuisance in a duel becomes a three-for-one disruption event at a four-player table. Outside Commander, the card is legal in Standard through Legacy, but it's fighting for a two-drop slot against far more efficient options in those formats; the ETB conditions that make it shine in multiplayer are just too narrow when there's only one opponent to discard. Pauper is the notable exception — it's not legal there, which is the one format where a cheap, self-replacing body might have found a second audience.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.09 bulk tier
At $0.09, Reckless Detective is deep bulk — you're picking these out of a dollar-bin pile, not buying singles. Bulk rares at this price rarely recover unless they find a breakout deck, and a four-player-focused ETB creature has little hope of that in competitive 60-card formats.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.