Road of Return MTG Card


Road of Return - Commander 2019
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityRare
TypeSorcery
Abilities Entwine
Released2019-08-23
Set symbol
Set nameCommander 2019
Set codeC19
Number34
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderblack
Illustred byJonas De Ro

Key Takeaways

  1. Road of Return helps maintain card advantage by recovering commanders and bypassing increased casting costs.
  2. Its entwine cost offers deck synergy and ramp, crucial for gameplay involving landfall mechanics.
  3. The card’s versatility makes it useful in various deck types and core to some strategies.

Text of card

Choose one — • Return target permanent card from your graveyard to your hand. • Put your commander into your hand from the command zone. Entwine (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Road of Return offers significant card economy by allowing you to return a commander you own from exile or the command zone to your hand. This potent retrieval not only recovers a pivotal piece of your strategy but also avoids additional commander taxes.

Resource Acceleration: This card’s entwine cost facilitates synergies within decks, effectively doubling the utility by permitting you to seek a land card and put it onto the battlefield. It’s a dynamic enabler for decks that thrive on landfall mechanics or simply need that ramp to outpace opponents.

Instant Speed: While Road of Return operates at sorcery speed, its benefits can be timed perfectly at the beginning of your turn or following a sweep to rebuild your board. The strategic timing of this recovery can reshape the game and give you a solid footing against competitors.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Road of Return does not directly make you discard, but it can lead to hand overfill, indirectly causing discard due to the maximum hand size limit.

Specific Mana Cost: Being a green card, its specific mana cost means it’s primarily suited for green or multi-color decks, potentially limiting its versatility in mono-colored or other non-green strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a cost of two green mana plus two others, the initial investment is significant, especially when considering alternative cards that can fetch commanders for less or provide additional value.


Reasons to Include Road of Return in Your Collection

Versatility: Road of Return stands out as a flexible card, able to fit into a broad array of deck types. Its primary function is returning a commander from the command zone to your hand, but it can be just as useful for retrieving other key creatures from exile or your graveyard, ensuring continuous strategy deployment.

Combo Potential: With its secondary ability to reduce commander casting costs, this card opens up numerous combo possibilities. It pairs exceptionally well with cards that benefit from casting commanders multiple times in a game, allowing for a more dynamic and potent gameplay experience.

Meta-Relevance: Given its ability to play around with commander mechanics, Road of Return holds a significant position in the current metagame. Decks that focus on commander synergy or require frequent re-casting of key creatures can reap considerable benefits from having this card in their lineup, giving them an edge against various opposing strategies.


How to beat

Road of Return is a unique card in MTG that can alter the flow of a match by allowing players to reclaim commanders or other cards from the command zone while simultaneously offering a solid land fetch alternative with its Entwine ability. Yet, despite its strategic flexibility, it is by no means unbeatable.

To counter Road of Return effectively, control decks should prioritize counterspells like Negate or Dovin’s Veto to prevent its casting altogether. This proactive defense can dismantle an opponent’s plan, rendering their strategic piece useless. For those in a less reactive position, graveyard disruption tools such as Scavenger Grounds or Bojuka Bog can be employed post-casting to negate the fetched card’s benefits.

Aggressive strategies, on the other hand, can apply pressure in such a way that the mana invested in Road of Return becomes a tempo loss for the opponent, offering an avenue for punishing them before they can leverage the card’s advantages. Balancing defensive and offensive tactics is key in overshadowing the potential impact of Road of Return in an opponent’s deck.


BurnMana Recommendations

MTG embraces a wide array of strategies, and cards like Road of Return are pivotal for their combo potential and meta relevance. As you tailor your deck, consider how this card’s unique abilities can shape the game, providing versatility and resilience against opponents. With its power to recover commanders and manipulate land plays, this card is a strategic asset. If you’re looking to refine your gameplay and dominate the board with innovation and skill, explore the depths of utility that Road of Return can offer. Dive into our content for more insights and pro tips to harness the true potential of your deck.


Cards like Road of Return

Road of Return is part of Magic: The Gathering’s enchantment roster with a distinct efficiency in returning commanders to their owner’s hand. It shares similarities with Command Beacon, which also allows a player to put a commander into their hand from the command zone. Road of Return edges ahead in versatility with its entwine feature—granting the option to put either any card from your graveyard on top of your library or your commander into your hand.

Another card with comparable functionality is Sanctum of Eternity. This land enables players to bounce their commander back to their hand during their turn. While not as flexible as Road of Return, it bypasses mana costs, making it a valuable choice for reuse of commanders. Lastly, Elixir of Immortality gathers parallels as it offers the chance to shuffle your graveyard back into your library and gain life. Though serving a different primary function, it can indirectly support a strategy similar to Road of Return’s secondary ability to reclaim cards from the graveyard.

Between recovery and command zone manipulation, Road of Return stands out, offering multifaceted solutions that cater to strategic depth and safeguarding against potential setbacks in a game of Magic: The Gathering.

Command Beacon - MTG Card versions
Sanctum of Eternity - MTG Card versions
Elixir of Immortality - MTG Card versions
Command Beacon - Commander 2015 (C15)
Sanctum of Eternity - Commander 2019 (C19)
Elixir of Immortality - Magic 2011 (M11)

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

Regrowth - MTG Card versions
Superior Numbers - MTG Card versions
Summer Bloom - MTG Card versions
Elven Rite - MTG Card versions
Verdant Touch - MTG Card versions
Rampant Growth - MTG Card versions
Gaea's Blessing - MTG Card versions
Monstrous Growth - MTG Card versions
Nostalgic Dreams - MTG Card versions
Nylea's Intervention - MTG Card versions
Sylvan Scrying - MTG Card versions
Wildcall - MTG Card versions
Revive - MTG Card versions
Weird Harvest - MTG Card versions
Farseek - MTG Card versions
Living Wish - MTG Card versions
Channel - MTG Card versions
Explore - MTG Card versions
Nature's Spiral - MTG Card versions
Savage Punch - MTG Card versions
Regrowth - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Superior Numbers - Mirage (MIR)
Summer Bloom - Double Masters 2022 (2X2)
Elven Rite - Stronghold (STH)
Verdant Touch - Stronghold (STH)
Rampant Growth - Fallout (PIP)
Gaea's Blessing - Mystery Booster (MB1)
Monstrous Growth - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Nostalgic Dreams - Torment (TOR)
Nylea's Intervention - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Sylvan Scrying - Explorer Anthology 3 (EA3)
Wildcall - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Revive - Magic 2013 (M13)
Weird Harvest - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Farseek - Doctor Who (WHO)
Living Wish - Judge Gift Cards 2008 (G08)
Channel - Strixhaven Mystical Archive (STA)
Explore - The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC)
Nature's Spiral - Magic 2011 (M11)
Savage Punch - Jumpstart 2022 (J22)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Road of Return MTG card by a specific set like Commander 2019, 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 Road of Return and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Road of Return has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2019-08-23 Certain cards in other sets with the partner keyword may allow you to have more than one commander. If you have two commanders in the command zone, Road of Return’s second mode puts one of your choice into your hand, not both.
2019-08-23 If your commander isn’t in the command zone (or if you’re not playing the Commander variant), Road of Return’s second mode does nothing.
2019-08-23 The “commander tax” increases based on how many times a commander was cast from the command zone. Casting a commander from your hand doesn’t require that additional cost, and it doesn’t increase what the cost will be the next time you cast that commander from the command zone.

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