Sam's Desperate Rescue
Sorcery
Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. The Ring tempts you.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
- Price
- $0.24
- EDHREC rank
- #4020
Sam's Desperate Rescue returns a creature to your hand and puts a Food token into play — two effects on one card at instant speed for three mana. It's a role-player, not a staple, and outside Frodo, Sauron's Bane decks where the Food synergy is load-bearing, it doesn't make the cut.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Frodo, Sauron's Bane
Frodo, Sauron's Bane converts Food tokens into corruption counters and life loss, so Sam's Desperate Rescue pulls double duty — recovering a key creature while advancing the poison clock at instant speed.
Sméagol, Helpful Guide
Sméagol, Helpful Guide rewards sacrifice and food-token generation, and Sam's Desperate Rescue slots in as cheap, reusable fuel that also rebounds a creature that died to removal.
Lord of the Nazgûl
Lord of the Nazgûl wants volume — every Wraith token and every spell that keeps the engine alive matters, and Sam's Desperate Rescue provides both a board recovery line and a Food for incidental synergy.
Sauron, the Dark Lord
Sauron, the Dark Lord runs Sam's Desperate Rescue primarily as a Ring-tempts-you trigger and creature recursion, though at 23% inclusion the card is far from essential in that shell.
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 | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Sam's Desperate Rescue is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but its competitive ceiling is low outside Commander. In Pauper the effect is too slow and the token too marginal to displace dedicated recursion or bounce options. In Legacy and Vintage, three mana at instant speed for a bounce and a Food token simply doesn't register. Commander is where Sam's Desperate Rescue actually earns its slot — specifically in Middle-earth-themed or Food-synergy builds where the token has mechanical weight, not just as generic creature recovery.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.24 bulk tier
At $0.24, Sam's Desperate Rescue is deep bulk — easy to acquire and easy to cut without regret. It holds that price point because demand is narrow; outside dedicated Frodo or Sméagol builds, Sam's Desperate Rescue doesn't move.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.