Writ of Return
Tracked across real Commander games played through TurnZero HQ.
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What it does
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
Cipher (Then you may exile this spell card encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may cast a copy of the encoded card without paying its mana cost.)
Rulings
11 official rulings, in the order Wizards published them.
- 2022-04-29
You cast the copy of the card with cipher during the resolution of the triggered ability. Ignore timing restrictions based on the card's type.
- 2022-04-29
If you choose not to cast the copy, or you can't cast it (perhaps because there are no legal targets available), the copy will cease to exist the next time state-based actions are performed. You won't get a chance to cast the copy at a later time.
- 2022-04-29
The spell with cipher is encoded on the creature as part of that spell's resolution, just after the spell's other effects. That card goes directly from the stack to exile. It never goes to the graveyard.
- 2022-04-29
If the spell with cipher doesn't resolve, none of its effects will happen, including cipher. The card will go to its owner's graveyard and won't be encoded on a creature.
- 2022-04-29
If a creature with an encoded card deals combat damage to more than one player simultaneously (perhaps because some of the combat damage was redirected), the triggered ability will trigger once for each player it deals combat damage to. Each ability will create a copy of the exiled card and allow you to cast it.
- 2022-04-29
If another player gains control of the creature, that player will control the triggered ability. That player will create a copy of the encoded card and may cast it.
- 2022-04-29
You can choose only a creature to encode the card onto.
- 2022-04-29
The exiled card with cipher grants a triggered ability to the creature it's encoded on. If that creature loses that ability and subsequently deals combat damage to a player, the triggered ability won't trigger. However, the exiled card will continue to be encoded on that creature.
- 2022-04-29
The copy of the card with cipher is created in and cast from exile.
- 2022-04-29
If the creature leaves the battlefield, the exiled card will no longer be encoded on any creature. It will stay exiled.
- 2022-04-29
You choose the creature as the spell resolves. The cipher ability doesn't target that creature.
Rulings are Wizards of the Coast's own, mirrored from Scryfall and refreshed nightly.
In the 99
Every deck whose current list includes Writ of Return, whatever its commander.
Most played under
| Commander | Decks | Games | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raffine, Scheming Seer | 1 | 0 | — |
Colors it shows up in
- Esper 1 deck
Every version of Writ of Return
3 printings, newest first. Prices are the market figures Scryfall publishes, refreshed nightly. A printing with no figure shows a dash rather than a zero, because Scryfall publishes none for some of them.
Extended Art
- Normal
- $0.49
- Normal
- $0.37
Promo
New Capenna Commander Promos
- Foil
- $3.82
Prices from Scryfall, which tracks the TCGplayer and Cardmarket markets. They move daily and are a guide rather than a quote. Search TCGplayer for Writ of Return. It runs a name search across every version, which covers the printings TCGplayer publishes no direct link to.
Aggregated from Commander games tracked in TurnZero HQ. Every figure counts decks and games only. No individual deck list, player or playgroup is identified. Win rates are withheld below 5 completed games, where the sample is too small to mean anything.
