Alchemist's Retrieval

Instant

Cleave {1}{U} (You may cast this for this card's cleave cost. If you do, remove the words in the square brackets from this spell's rules text)

Return target nonland permanent [you control] to its owner's hand.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Brawl	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (5)

Azoth2099 on

3 months ago

I feel like Fabricate & Reckless Handling could get your artifact-heavy strategy going a bit faster. I was surprised to not see Naban, Dean of Iteration, Panharmonicon &/or Virtue of Knowledge as well! Some cheap bounce spells like Chain of Vapor, Snap, Snapback & Alchemist's Retrieval could do a lot of lifting here too.

Azoth2099 on Chun - li countless tokens

4 months ago

DreadKhan

Ohh yeah man, Crystal Shard is great here for sure. As many economically feasible ways to reset Chun-Li as possible is a must here, certainly. Unsummon, Vapor Snag, Fading Hope, Rescue, Curfew, Chain of Vapor, Alchemist's Retrieval, Unsubstantiate, Familiar's Ruse, Geistwave, Call to Heel, Snapback & of course Capsize (so much utility here) are all worth a thought here imo, seeing as how they are also instants that can easily be recurred via the Commander's ability.

Other less synergistic synergies like Vedalken Mastermind, Waterfront Bouncer, Trusted advisors, Shrieking Drake, Faerie Impostor, Seal of Removal, Turbulent Dreams, Aether Spellbomb, Otawara, Soaring City & Sanctum of Eternity could potentially help the deck push through to victory as well!

And then there's Intuition, which is obviously just insane lol.

dragonstryke58 on Timing question: Alchemist's Retrieval and …

10 months ago

If a planeswalker has 0 loyalty, it is put to the graveyard as a state-based action. This happens before a player would gain priority.

In this case, if you used Ral Zarek's -7 ability and put him at 0 loyalty, he will be put into the graveyard for having 0 loyalty before you could target him with a bounce spell such as Alchemist's Retrieval. Do note that if Ral Zarek still had 1 loyalty after using his -7, he will not be put to the graveyard since he does not have 0 loyatly.

Relevant Comprehensive Rules:

704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 117, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. If any state-based actions are performed as a result of a check, the check is repeated; otherwise all triggered abilities that are waiting to be put on the stack are put on the stack, then the check is repeated. Once no more state-based actions have been performed as the result of a check and no triggered abilities are waiting to be put on the stack, the appropriate player gets priority.

and

704.5i If a planeswalker has loyalty 0, it’s put into its owner’s graveyard.

CamraMaan on Timing question: Alchemist's Retrieval and …

10 months ago

If Ral Zarek has seven loyalty on it and I [-7] it to flip five coins for extra turns, can I respond to the ultimate ability with Alchemist's Retrieval targeting Ral Zarek and return it to my hand before it dies, or is the [-7] going to remove it as an SBA tied to the payment to put it on the stack? My assumption is that it will be gone before I can respond, but I'm crossing my fingers I'm wrong. Thanks in advance!

Grubbernaut on What's a card you thought …

2 years ago

Alchemist's Retrieval. I just couldn't justify the slot, at a certain point.