Hurkyl's Recall MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 10 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeInstant

Key Takeaways

  1. Instant speed allows precise timing to disrupt opponents or to reuse one’s own artifacts strategically.
  2. Cost of two blue mana aligns with blue-deck strategies but limits use in multi-colored decks.
  3. Versatility and meta relevance ensure Hurkyl’s Recall remains a solid choice in various MTG formats.

Text of card

All artifacts in play owned by target player are returned to target player's hand. Any enchantments on those artifacts are discarded. Cannot be played during the damage-dealing phase of an attack.

This spell, attributed to Drafna, was actually the work of his wife Hurkyl.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Hurkyl’s Recall provides an impactful swing by bouncing multiple artifacts, which can severely limit an opponent’s board presence, potentially leading to a net advantage in cards as they must spend turns redeploying their resources.

Resource Acceleration: By returning your own low-cost artifacts to hand, this card can help trigger effects that occur upon casting artifacts or enable a higher storm count for combo decks, hence indirectly accelerating your resource utilization.

Instant Speed: As an instant, Hurkyl’s Recall offers flexibility, allowing you to disrupt your opponent’s strategies during their most crucial turns or unexpectedly remove artifacts you want to reuse, optimize timing, and navigate complex game states with precision.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Hurkyl’s Recall does not directly impose a discard requirement on the caster, enhancing its ease of use and preserving hand resources.

Specific Mana Cost: Hurkyl’s Recall has a specific mana requirement of two blue mana. This aligns the card with blue-heavy or mono-blue decks, potentially limiting its versatility in multi-colored deck strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although only costing two mana, when compared to other available options for board control in blue, Hurkyl’s Recall might be considered high. This cost assessment often hinges on the game’s context and player’s tactical objectives.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Hurkyl’s Recall is a powerful tool in blue decks, offering a versatile response to artifact-heavy strategies. Its ability to return all artifacts to their owner’s hand can reset the board, disrupt combos, and even save your own artifacts from removal.

Combo Potential: In combination-centric decks, this card excels. It can be used strategically to reuse your own artifacts’ enter-the-battlefield effects or to clear the way for a game-winning combo by bouncing opponents’ artifacts at a critical moment.

Meta-Relevance: With artifacts always playing a key role in many competitive formats, Hurkyl’s Recall maintains relevance. It serves as an effective countermeasure to artifact-centric decks and can tip the scales in matchups where artifacts dictate the pace of the game.


How to beat

Hurkyl’s Recall is a potent magic ace, especially when used in formats where artifacts dominate the board. A strategic play from this blue instant can disrupt an opponent’s game by returning all artifacts they control to their hand. This can be a decisive blow in disrupting artifact-centric strategies, setting back combo pieces, and stalling aggressive artifact creature assaults.

Nonetheless, facing Hurkyl’s Recall requires smart play and foresight. Ensuring that you have a diversified board state, which isn’t overly reliant on artifacts, can mitigate the impact. Instant-speed responses to counter this spell or strategies to quickly rebuild your board post-recall are also effective counters. Watch out for baiting tactics that lure out the Recall prematurely before committing to your central game pieces.

Lastly, adapting to the situation by holding onto cards that can reestablish your board quickly after Hurkyl’s Recall has resolved helps ensure that the tempo loss is minimal. This way, Hurkyl’s Recall, while powerful, is not insurmountable and can be skillfully navigated to maintain the upper hand in the game.


BurnMana Recommendations

Looking into Hurkyl’s Recall, it’s clear that this classic MTG card remains a staple in blue decks, adept at disrupting artifact-laden opponents. Its potency in coordinated plays makes it a worthwhile component for those looking to capitalize on strategically timed game reversals. Whether it’s harnessing the card’s strengths for your own synergistic plays or understanding its pivotal role against artifact strategies, embracing Hurkyl’s Recall can give you a competitive edge. Ready to delve deep into the interplay of artifacts and control? Explore further with us and enhance your knowledge and strategy on the battlefield.


Cards like Hurkyl's Recall

Hurkyl’s Recall is a powerful tool for blue decks in Magic: The Gathering, offering a unique effect of returning all artifacts an opponent controls to their hand. When cast, it can disrupt the opponent’s board state significantly, making it a potential game-changer in the right context. Cyclonic Rift serves a similar disruptive purpose by bouncing nonland permanents back to the owner’s hand. While Cyclonic Rift affects a wider range of permanent types and can have a more devastating effect with its Overload cost, Hurkyl’s Recall is more targeted and has a lower mana cost, making it particularly efficient against artifact-heavy decks.

Other cards that share the bounce-to-hand strategy include Echoing Truth and Into the Roil. Echoing Truth can potentially clear away multiples of the same nonland permanent, regardless of its type, unlike Hurkyl’s Recall which is restricted to artifacts. Into the Roil, on the other hand, offers scalability. While it usually targets single nonland permanents, when kicked, it also provides card draw. Hurkyl’s Recall stands out, however, for its unique ability to impact all artifacts at once, potentially overwhelming an opponent with a deluge of cards back into their hand during a pivotal turn.

Evaluating side by side, Hurkyl’s Recall situates itself as a tactical option in blue mages’ arsenals, especially in metagames where artifacts play a significant role. Its strategic value in disrupting and delaying an opponent’s plans cannot be overstated, solidifying its place in the fabric of Magic: The Gathering’s control and combo decks.

Hurkyl's Recall - MTG Card versions
Cyclonic Rift - MTG Card versions
Echoing Truth - MTG Card versions
Into the Roil - MTG Card versions
Hurkyl's Recall - Antiquities (ATQ)
Cyclonic Rift - Return to Ravnica (RTR)
Echoing Truth - Darksteel (DST)
Into the Roil - Zendikar (ZEN)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Hurkyl's Recall MTG card by a specific set like Antiquities and Foreign Black Border, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Hurkyl's Recall and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Hurkyl's Recall Magic the Gathering card was released in 10 different sets between 1994-03-04 and 2015-05-22. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11994-03-04AntiquitiesATQ 101993normalblackNéNé Thomas
21994-04-01Foreign Black BorderFBB 601993normalblackNéNé Thomas
31994-04-01Revised Edition3ED 601993normalwhiteNéNé Thomas
41994-06-21Summer Magic / EdgarSUM 601993normalwhiteNéNé Thomas
51995-04-01Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border4BB 771993normalblackNéNé Thomas
61995-04-01Fourth Edition4ED 771993normalwhiteNéNé Thomas
71997-03-24Fifth Edition5ED 931997normalwhiteNéNé Thomas
82007-07-13Tenth Edition10E 882003normalblackRalph Horsley
92015-05-22Modern Masters 2015MM2 482015normalblackRalph Horsley
102020-09-26The ListPLST MM2-482015normalblackRalph Horsley

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Hurkyl's Recall has restrictions

FormatLegality
OldschoolLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Hurkyl's Recall card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2004-10-04 It only returns artifacts which are on the battlefield.
2004-10-04 Retrieves all artifacts owned by the target player regardless of who controls them. Ignores artifacts owned by other players even if target player has control of them.

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