Reverse Engineer
Sorcery
Improvise (Your artifacts can help cast this spell. Each artifact you tap after you're done activating mana abilities pays for 
.)
Draw three cards.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Commander 2018
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #7722
Reverse Engineer draws three cards for three mana if you control an artifact — and in any deck built around artifacts, that condition is almost never not met. This is a Divination upgrade that pulls real weight, and Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy runs it in 40% of lists for exactly that reason.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy
Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy generates artifact tokens naturally as the deck does its thing, so Reverse Engineer's artifact condition is met from turn one — three cards for three mana is just what draw spells cost in this shell.
Saheeli, the Gifted
Saheeli, the Gifted floods the board with artifact creatures and constructs, making Reverse Engineer a reliable three-for-one that slots cleanly into a strategy already hungry for card advantage to keep the artifact chain going.
Rashmi and Ragavan
Rashmi and Ragavan leans on cheap, efficient spells to trigger cascades and treasures, and Reverse Engineer delivers maximum cards per mana in a color pair that wants every draw spell to pull serious weight.
Sai, Master Thopterist
Sai, Master Thopterist builds a thopter army by casting artifact after artifact, so Reverse Engineer's cost reduction fires almost automatically — refueling the hand keeps the artifact-casting loop alive.
Myra the Magnificent
Myra the Magnificent wants a wide library of instants and sorceries to spin through, and Reverse Engineer is one of the most efficient draw spells available when artifacts are on the table, which they consistently are in her builds.
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 |
Commander is the primary home for Reverse Engineer — artifact-heavy decks are ubiquitous in the format, and conditional draw spells that read as unconditional in context are exactly what those strategies want. In Pauper, the artifact synergy shells are real enough that it sees play as a budget draw option, though the competition at common is stiff. Modern and Pioneer have more efficient options at the same mana cost, so Reverse Engineer doesn't crack those formats competitively. Legacy and Vintage have access to broken draw at half the price with no condition attached, leaving this card firmly in the bulk bin outside Commander.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Reverse Engineer is deep bulk — grab a playset without thinking about it. The price reflects wide print availability rather than low power; in the right artifact deck it's a three-mana Ancestral-adjacent effect, and that's not going to push the needle on a card this common.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.