Font of Return MTG Card


Font of Return - Journey into Nyx
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeEnchantment
Released2014-05-02
Set symbol
Set nameJourney into Nyx
Set codeJOU
Number71
Frame2003
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byDaarken

Key Takeaways

  1. Brings three creatures back to hand, providing significant card advantage and resilience against removals.
  2. Optimizes mana usage, leading to a quicker recovery and bolstered board presence after a wipeout.
  3. Requires precise timing, making it a strategic tool that can force opponents to adapt mid-game.

Text of card

, Sacrifice Font of Return: Return up to three target creature cards from your graveyard to your hand.

Drink deep, and death will recoil from you.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Font of Return has the power to bring back not just one, but three creatures from your graveyard to your hand. This capability ensures that you’re effectively restocking your hand with valuable resources and maintaining the upper hand through recovering lost assets.

Resource Acceleration: Although not directly contributing to mana acceleration, reanimating multiple creatures with a single card economizes your moves and potentially accelerates your board state, allowing you to bounce back more swiftly from setbacks like board wipes or removals.

Instant Speed: Playing at sorcery speed, Font of Return dictates strategic planning. However, its instant-like effect once activated – returning creatures on your terms – delivers a tactical advantage that can be timed to disrupt your opponent’s expectations or to ensure that you have the right creatures in hand for your next turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Font of Return requires the strategic timing of its activation. If used without careful consideration, it could potentially return less valuable creatures from your graveyard to your hand, thereby not maximizing its potential value.

Specific Mana Cost: The mana cost for Font of Return is three black mana. This specific mana requirement can make it challenging for decks that are not mono-black or heavily black-focused to cast this card efficiently, reducing its flexibility across various deck archetypes.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At a total cost of four mana (three black and one generic), Font of Return has a comparatively high mana cost for its effect of returning creatures from the graveyard to the hand. In a game where tempo and resource management are key, there may be alternative spells or creatures that can perform similar functions for a lower cost or with additional benefits.


Reasons to Include Font of Return in Your Collection

Versatility: Font of Return offers flexibility to a wide range of strategies, notably in decks that aim to utilize their graveyard as a resource. Its ability to return multiple creature cards from the graveyard to the hand makes it a useful tool in various game situations.

Combo Potential: This card can be a key component in synergistic interactions, specifically in combos that revolve around recurring creatures for value or for reactivating powerful enter-the-battlefield effects.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where games draw out or in matchups against control decks that result in many creatures being sent to the graveyard, Font of Return can be an asset by replenishing your hand and maintaining threats against the opposition.


How to beat

Font of Return is a card that can pose quite a challenge, especially in the late game where the graveyard can become a robust resource. Cards that grant the ability to retrieve creature cards from the graveyard often become the linchpin of many strategies in Magic: The Gathering. It’s important to note that cards like Scavenging Ooze stand as strong counters, with its inherent ability to exile cards from graveyards and simultaneously bolstering itself.

Another tactic is to rely on graveyard hate cards like Rest in Peace, which can completely neutralize the benefits of Font of Return by nixing all graveyard cards from the game altogether. Timing is key here; these counters should be deployed strategically to ensure that Font of Return’s ability is rendered ineffective. Lastly, proactive hand disruption via Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek can pry Font of Return from the opponent’s hand before they have the chance to use it, undermining their game plan and maintaining your advantage.

Effectively mitigating the impact of Font of Return requires a mixture of anticipation and timely responses, both of which can shift the momentum in your favor and disrupt your opponent’s strategy in MTG.


Cards like Font of Return

The subtleties of return-from-graveyard strategies in Magic: The Gathering are well exemplified by Font of Return. This card, through its ability to resurrect three creature cards from the graveyard to your hand, offers a significant potential shift in the late game. It stands in comparison to fellow resurrection spells like Disentomb, which brings back only a single creature, albeit at a lower cost and an instant speed, allowing for more immediate reactions.

Looking at Mortuary Mire, the similarity lies in the nature of the effect but differs in execution—Mortuary Mire being a land that puts a creature on top of the library when it enters the battlefield rather than directly into the hand. Additionally, we find Macabre Waltz, which allows not only the return of two creatures to hand but also requires one discard, making it a selective but efficient card advantage mechanism.

Ultimately, while Font of Return does not provide instant speed flexibility or land-based synergy, its raw power in recovering a larger number of creatures all at once offers a tactical advantage for any player able to harness the full potential of this intriguing black spell in Magic: The Gathering’s vast card pool.

Disentomb - MTG Card versions
Mortuary Mire - MTG Card versions
Macabre Waltz - MTG Card versions
Disentomb - Magic 2010 (M10)
Mortuary Mire - Battle for Zendikar (BFZ)
Macabre Waltz - Dissension (DIS)

Cards similar to Font of Return by color, type and mana cost

Bad Moon - MTG Card versions
Fear - MTG Card versions
Warp Artifact - MTG Card versions
Deathgrip - MTG Card versions
Blight - MTG Card versions
Animate Dead - MTG Card versions
Seizures - MTG Card versions
Leshrac's Sigil - MTG Card versions
Lim-Dûl's Hex - MTG Card versions
Dance of the Dead - MTG Card versions
Enfeeblement - MTG Card versions
Oath of Ghouls - MTG Card versions
Despondency - MTG Card versions
Chains of Mephistopheles - MTG Card versions
Tribute to Horobi // Echo of Death's Wail - MTG Card versions
Brain Maggot - MTG Card versions
Aphemia, the Cacophony - MTG Card versions
Oversold Cemetery - MTG Card versions
Lingering Death - MTG Card versions
Cover of Darkness - MTG Card versions
Bad Moon - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Fear - Tenth Edition (10E)
Warp Artifact - Masters Edition IV (ME4)
Deathgrip - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Blight - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Animate Dead - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Seizures - Ice Age (ICE)
Leshrac's Sigil - Ice Age (ICE)
Lim-Dûl's Hex - Ice Age (ICE)
Dance of the Dead - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Enfeeblement - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Oath of Ghouls - Exodus (EXO)
Despondency - Urza's Saga (USG)
Chains of Mephistopheles - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Tribute to Horobi // Echo of Death's Wail - Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (NEO)
Brain Maggot - Historic Anthology 2 (HA2)
Aphemia, the Cacophony - Theros Beyond Death Promos (PTHB)
Oversold Cemetery - Dominaria Remastered (DMR)
Lingering Death - Scourge (SCG)
Cover of Darkness - Assassin's Creed (ACR)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Font of Return MTG card by a specific set like Journey into Nyx, 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 Font of Return and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Font of Return has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PioneerLegal
PennyLegal

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