Retaliator Griffin
Creature — Griffin
Flying
Whenever a source an opponent controls deals damage to you, you may put that many +1/+1 counters on this creature.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- GRW
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Alara Reborn
- Price
- $0.38
- EDHREC rank
- #21139
Retaliator Griffin is a four-mana 2/2 flier that grows whenever an opponent targets you with a spell — strong in theory, underwhelming in practice because it needs repeated targeting to matter and your opponents can simply ignore it. Passive deterrence on a creature that doesn't threaten to close games is rarely worth a slot.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Retaliator Griffin sits in a narrow space: it punishes spell-based removal and burn aimed at you, but most competitive threat removal hits your creatures, not you directly, and opponents will route around it the moment it's on board. Legacy and Vintage are non-starters — four mana for a conditional 2/2 flier doesn't register in formats where the game ends on turn two. Modern has better flying threats and better reactive pieces at every point on the curve, so Retaliator Griffin never made a dent there either. It's a Commander-only consideration, and even there it asks too much of your opponents' cooperation to be reliable.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.38 bulk tier
At $0.38, Retaliator Griffin is firmly bulk — the price reflects its limited demand across all formats. Don't expect movement in either direction; cards this situational tend to sit at the floor indefinitely.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.