Forced Retreat MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityCommon
TypeSorcery

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides card advantage by bouncing creatures without losing your own cards.
  2. Instant speed offers strategic flexibility and timing in gameplay.
  3. Demands strategic hand management with a mandatory discard requirement.

Text of card

Return any one creature from play to the top of its owner's library.

"Leadership, not numbers, determines victory." —A Wu commander, before his 5,000 troops forced 15,000 Wei troops to retreat from Ruxu


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Forced Retreat lets you temporarily get rid of an opponent’s creature and puts you in a favorable position. When you play it, the ability to send a target creature back to its owner’s hand means you are effectively dealing with threats without losing any cards yourself.

Resource Acceleration: While it doesn’t directly produce additional resources, the Forced Retreat card enables you to delay your opponent’s strategy. By setting back their board presence, it gives you time to develop your own resources and can indirectly accelerate your game plan.

Instant Speed: One of the key advantages of Forced Retreat is its instant speed capability, allowing for strategic flexibility. You can wait until the last possible moment before your opponent’s creature would impact the board, potentially nullifying a heavy attack or negating a pivotal combo piece at a critical juncture.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Players need to discard a card to utilize Forced Retreat’s effect. This stipulation can present a challenge when a player’s hand is running low, turning a potential game-changer into a potential liability.

Specific Mana Cost: Requiring both blue and white mana, Forced Retreat demands a multicolored mana base, which can complicate its inclusion in monocolored or color-restricted decks, potentially reducing its versatility in a player’s strategy.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that might be considered steep for its effect, Forced Retreat faces stiff competition from other cards that can provide similar or better benefits for a lower mana investment. Players often seek efficiency in their card choices, and Forced Retreat might not always make the cut.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Forced Retreat slots into a wide array of control decks that prioritize tempo and board management. Its capability to send a creature back to its owner’s library ensures adaptability against various threats, making it a handy tool in many game situations.

Combo Potential: This card works well with strategies that capitalize on manipulating the opponent’s deck composition or that benefit from knowledge of the opponent’s top card. By knowing what the opponent will draw, you can plan your moves with enhanced precision.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment dense with creature-based strategies, Forced Retreat can be especially impactful. It disrupts synergistic creature combos and time-sensitive aggro decks, ensuring that you can maintain control and tempo across multiple turns.


How to Beat

Forced Retreat is a compelling control card in MTG that can shift the dynamics on the battlefield. Understanding its potential to set an opponent’s creature back to their hand provides players with a strategic tool to disrupt an adversary’s plan. To overcome this card, having a robust game plan that anticipates and adjusts to such setback tactics is crucial.

Protecting your own creatures from Forced Retreat can involve having low-cost creatures to recast after a bounce, or utilizing cards with enter the battlefield effects that provide value even when returned to your hand. Additionally, spells that grant hexproof or countermagic can thwart Forced Retreat’s effect, safeguarding your crucial creatures from being bounced. Finally, a well-timed aggressive strategy can pressure opponents into using their mana inefficiently, potentially leaving them without the resources to cast Forced Retreat effectively. Recognizing these strategies will equip any player to stay one step ahead, ensuring Forced Retreat doesn’t hamper their march to victory.


Cards like Forced Retreat

Forced Retreat finds its place within Magic: The Gathering as a control tool, closely mirroring the effects of other bounce spells. Its capability to return a target creature to its owner’s hand draws parallels with Unsummon, one of the original tempo plays. However, Forced Retreat adds a strategic layer by scrying 1, giving the caster a slight edge in future draws. Unsummon does not offer this card advantage, strictly focusing on the immediate tempo gain.

Comparatively, Into the Roil is another spell in this family worth mentioning. While it shares the bounce effect, it includes the additional benefit of card draw if kicked. Forced Retreat lacks the draw option but compensates with a lower mana cost and the always crucial scry mechanic. Compulsion is also akin to Forced Retreat with its bounce and scry combination, but it demands a more specific board state to be truly effective, whereas Forced Retreat remains a more flexible option in various situations.

Assessing their impact on the game, Forced Retreat holds its ground within the wide array of MTG bounce spells. It’s the subtle scry feature that can often tip the scales in its favor when comparing it to its counterparts.

Unsummon - MTG Card versions
Into the Roil - MTG Card versions
Compulsion - MTG Card versions
Unsummon - Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
Into the Roil - Zendikar (ZEN)
Compulsion - Torment (TOR)

Cards similar to Forced Retreat by color, type and mana cost

Volcanic Eruption - MTG Card versions
Baleful Stare - MTG Card versions
Déjà Vu - MTG Card versions
Exhaustion - MTG Card versions
Time Ebb - MTG Card versions
Dream Cache - MTG Card versions
Tinker - MTG Card versions
Sage's Knowledge - MTG Card versions
Undo - MTG Card versions
Ingenious Mastery - MTG Card versions
Animating Faerie // Bring to Life - MTG Card versions
Reminisce - MTG Card versions
Timetwister - MTG Card versions
Fabricate - MTG Card versions
Counsel of the Soratami - MTG Card versions
Vacuumelt - MTG Card versions
Wistful Thinking - MTG Card versions
Savor the Moment - MTG Card versions
Sanity Grinding - MTG Card versions
Divination - MTG Card versions
Volcanic Eruption - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Baleful Stare - Portal (POR)
Déjà Vu - Portal (POR)
Exhaustion - Ninth Edition (9ED)
Time Ebb - Tempest Remastered (TPR)
Dream Cache - Tempest (TMP)
Tinker - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Sage's Knowledge - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Undo - Starter 1999 (S99)
Ingenious Mastery - Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX)
Animating Faerie // Bring to Life - Throne of Eldraine (ELD)
Reminisce - Onslaught (ONS)
Timetwister - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Fabricate - Magic 2010 (M10)
Counsel of the Soratami - Tenth Edition (10E)
Vacuumelt - Guildpact (GPT)
Wistful Thinking - Planar Chaos (PLC)
Savor the Moment - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Sanity Grinding - Eventide (EVE)
Divination - Dominaria (DOM)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Forced Retreat MTG card by a specific set like Portal Three Kingdoms and Masters Edition III, 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 Forced Retreat and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Forced Retreat Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1999-05-01 and 2009-09-07. Illustrated by Huang Qishi.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11999-05-01Portal Three KingdomsPTK 441997normalwhiteHuang Qishi
22009-09-07Masters Edition IIIME3 371997normalblackHuang Qishi

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Forced Retreat has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
PennyLegal

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks