River's Grasp
Sorcery
If 
was spent to cast this spell, return up to one target creature to its owner's hand. If 
was spent to cast this spell, target player reveals their hand, you choose a nonland card from it, then that player discards that card. (Do both if was spent.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Shadowmoor
- Price
- $0.12
- EDHREC rank
- #29168
River's Grasp exiles a creature or planeswalker outright — no graveyard recursion, no death triggers — for two mana when you control an Island. Without the Island, it's a bounce spell, which makes it unreliable outside dedicated blue decks.
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, River's Grasp earns its slot in any mono-blue or heavily blue shell — Islands are a given, so the exile mode is nearly always live, and two mana at instant speed to permanently answer a creature or planeswalker is above rate for the format. In Legacy and Vintage, the card is legal but irrelevant; those formats have Swords to Plowshares and Prismatic Ending, and conditional exile tied to basic land type doesn't compete. Modern is similarly unkind — Path to Exile and Solitude set the bar, and River's Grasp doesn't clear it. Oathbreaker mirrors Commander closely, and the same logic applies: run it in blue, skip it anywhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.12 bulk tier
At $0.12, River's Grasp is bulk — you're not paying for the card, you're paying for the sleeve. Bulk commons rarely appreciate, so pick it up as a role-player and don't expect the price to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.