Retribution
Sorcery
Choose two target creatures controlled by the same opponent. That player chooses and sacrifices one of those creatures. Put a -1/-1 counter on the other.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Masters Edition II
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #27043
Retribution wipes your opponents' biggest threats while leaving your board intact — asymmetric board wipes at this power level are rare, and this one punishes tables that go wide with high-powered creatures. The catch is the setup cost: you need your smallest creature to be smaller than their largest, which limits how freely you can build your own board.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Retribution earns its keep — four opponents means four boards full of targets, and a single casting can clear the table's most dangerous threats while your own creatures survive. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but sees essentially no play; those formats move too fast for a five-mana sorcery that requires specific board conditions to function. Oathbreaker shares Commander's multiplayer structure, so the same logic applies, though the smaller game size reduces the upside. Anywhere else, Retribution is simply not legal.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data for Retribution isn't available in the current market snapshot, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for a live number. Given its narrow competitive application and Commander-only appeal, it tends to sit in bulk-rare territory — worth picking up cheaply if the effect fits your build, but don't expect it to appreciate.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.