Retribution of the Meek: Legendary Interactions Explored

Retribution of the Meek: Legendary Interactions Explored

In TCG ·

Retribution of the Meek card art (white sorcery, Visions 1997) by Nathalie Hertz

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Legendary Interactions Explored

Retribution of the Meek is a compact white sorcery from Visions that whisks away a particular class of threats with an almost Judge Dredd-like clarity: destroy all creatures with power four or greater, and they can’t be regenerated. It’s a classic example of how white’s justice can be both merciful to the small and merciless to the mighty. The spell’s cost—two generic and one white mana—reflects the set’s era where the color discipline leaned into clean, decisive answers to overbearing boards. In practice, this card asks a meaningful question: in a world where legends ride tall and mighty, who stands when the big bodies are gone? 🧙‍♂️🔥

The card’s lore-facing angle is anchored by its flavor text and the relationship to Asmira, Holy Avenger, a legendary figure whose name appears in the flavor line but who also anchors the broader white-heroic mythos. The flavor text—“Tread upon the meek, and they shall wound your feet and make you crawl.”—speaks to a moral calculus central to the color’s identity: justice is a blade, not a club, and it is often tempered by mercy toward the many, while trampling those who seek to domineer through brute force. When Retribution of the Meek lands, it’s not just a board wipe; it’s a moment when tall legends must recalibrate their place at the table. The art, the timing, and the text all converge to celebrate a white-red thread of retribution that resonates in Commander tables and tournament-sideboards alike. 🎨⚔️

“Tread upon the meek, and they shall wound your feet and make you crawl.” —Asmira, Holy Avenger

From a gameplay perspective, this spell is a strategic instrument rather than a one-note blast. It shines best when you’re facing a dented battlefield with looming legendary threats—think of captains who rally armies, dragons who drop inevitability, or knights who tax your resources with aura of inevitability. By removing all creatures with power four or greater, you don’t just clear the pitch; you remove the kind of threats that generate value over time—creatures that scale, baring teeth every turn, or generals who swing for heavy damage again and again. The clause “They can’t be regenerated” is a crucial limiter: it prevents a familiar path to keep the board state in a perpetual standoff and invites smarter sequencing—protect your low-power creatures with tricks, hold your mana for the turn you need to swing back, and use your smaller team to outlast the post-wipe board. In the modern meta, this kind of effect sometimes reads as a nostalgic nod to the era when color pie and card design embraced bold, sweeping answers. 🧙‍♂️💎

Legendaries tend to be center-stage in a lot of Magic’s storytelling, and Retribution of the Meek nudges those narratives into a white-tinged spotlight. In practice, any legendary creature that sits at or above the power four threshold will be vulnerable to this spell—think of towering generals, indomitable angels, and awe-inspiring warlords who dominate the battlefield with presence more than with trickery. The card’s rarity—a rare from Visions—also mirrors its compact, nostalgia-fueled impact: in a set famous for early ‘boom’ effects and bold, pure-white answers, Retribution of the Meek stands as a curator’s choice of power. It’s not about removing every threat; it’s about curating the field to ensure that the most dangerous legendaries don’t overreach without counterplay. This is why the card remains a favorite in discussions about classic white control and Peter Pan-worthy “take back the board” moments. 🧙‍♂️🎲

When you pair Retribution of the Meek with legendary strategies, the matchups become a study in timing and tempo. In a Commander table, for example, you can anticipate that your opponents will deploy powerhouses like commanders with big-impact activated abilities or evasive legends who threaten to close out games in a few turns. Casting this spell in response to a developing board state can buy you the tempo you need to stabilize—suddenly the field is populated by lower-power creatures that your side can leverage with ping damage, board-wide buffs, or creature-recursion engines. And if you’re playing a white-splash or a mono-white build that leans on resilience, the “no regeneration” clause pushes you to protect your survivable threats through other means—consume the moment, and you’ll be rewarded with a late-game reclamation of board presence. 🧙‍♂️🔥

Legendary Interactions: Practical Takeaways

  • Timing is everything: cast when your board is ready to endure, so you don’t walk into a bigger threat your opponent has lined up to answer after the wipe.
  • Protect what you need: use protective auras or tokens to keep key pieces alive if they’re under the four-power threshold, setting up a second swing or a follow-up plan.
  • Consider the flavor: the line between mercy and judgment is baked into white’s identity; Retribution of the Meek leans into that mythic balance, pairing flavor with function in a very 1990s way.
  • Commander-friendly: in multiplayer formats, this spell is a vehicle for dramatic board states—your opponents’ legendary threats can be removed in a single, decisive moment.
  • Pair with resilience engines that refill your board after a wipe, so you’re not left staring at an empty field while everyone else reuses big threats.

For fans of collectible design and narrative depth, Retribution of the Meek is a gem that threads the needle between story and game state. Its white aura, its cautionary flavor, and its place in Visions’ rich tapestry remind us of a time when the game felt like a grand courtroom of miracles and mischief. And the card’s ongoing relevance in casual tables speaks to the enduring appeal of a well-timed answer to power—an answer that’s not simply about destruction, but about choosing what kind of legends deserve a seat at the table. 🧙‍♂️🪄

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Retribution of the Meek

Retribution of the Meek

{2}{W}
Sorcery

Destroy all creatures with power 4 or greater. They can't be regenerated.

"Tread upon the meek, and they shall wound your feet and make you crawl." —Asmira, Holy Avenger

ID: 860b8633-1bfc-426a-8666-5e6a584d4525

Oracle ID: 61f2083b-3018-43a4-8852-8e6d2a97d5d6

Multiverse IDs: 3726

TCGPlayer ID: 5913

Cardmarket ID: 8520

Colors: W

Color Identity: W

Keywords:

Rarity: Rare

Released: 1997-02-03

Artist: Nathalie Hertz

Frame: 1997

Border: black

EDHRec Rank: 11962

Set: Visions (vis)

Collector #: 19

Legalities

  • Standard — not_legal
  • Future — not_legal
  • Historic — not_legal
  • Timeless — not_legal
  • Gladiator — not_legal
  • Pioneer — not_legal
  • Modern — not_legal
  • Legacy — legal
  • Pauper — not_legal
  • Vintage — legal
  • Penny — legal
  • Commander — legal
  • Oathbreaker — legal
  • Standardbrawl — not_legal
  • Brawl — not_legal
  • Alchemy — not_legal
  • Paupercommander — not_legal
  • Duel — legal
  • Oldschool — not_legal
  • Premodern — legal
  • Predh — legal

Prices

  • USD: 7.36
  • EUR: 5.47
  • TIX: 0.02
Last updated: 2025-11-20