Retether is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Return each Aura card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Only creatures can be enchanted this way. (Aura cards that can't enchant a creature on the battlefield remain in your graveyard.)
Complete guide
Retether is a powerful sorcery that can turn a graveyard full of discarded Auras into a sudden, lethal board state. By returning every Aura in your graveyard to the battlefield at once, it offers unparalleled explosive potential for white enchantment decks. However, navigating how these Auras attach to your creatures requires a firm understanding of timing and targeting rules.
What Retether Does
Retether looks at your graveyard and attempts to return every Aura card found there to the battlefield. The unique restriction of this spell is that these Auras can only be attached to creatures. If an Aura card cannot legally enchant a creature currently on the battlefield, it stays in the graveyard. Because you are not 'casting' these Auras, you do not choose targets in the traditional sense; instead, you choose what they enchant as they enter.
Resolving the Reanimation
When Retether resolves, all eligible Auras return to the battlefield simultaneously. You must choose a legal creature for each Aura to enchant based only on the board state as Retether begins to resolve. Importantly, because they all enter at once, Auras cannot 'see' each other entering. If an Aura grants protection from enchantments, it won't prevent other Auras from attaching at the exact same time, though state-based actions will check for legality immediately afterward.
Common Pitfalls
A frequent mistake is trying to attach an Aura to a creature that is entering the battlefield at the same time; this is impossible because the creature must already be on the battlefield to be chosen. Additionally, remember that while the Aura doesn't target, it still must obey 'enchant' restrictions. An Aura with 'enchant land' can only return if there is a land that has been turned into a creature. If a creature has Shroud, you can still attach Auras to it with Retether because the spell does not use the word 'target'.
When to Play Retether
The best time to cast Retether is after a board wipe has been followed by a fresh creature, or when you have used self-mill strategies to fill your graveyard. It acts as a one-card combo that can suddenly create a massive threat. It is particularly effective against opponents who rely on targeted removal, as it bypasses the targeting phase of playing Auras from the hand.
Interaction examples
Wrath of GodIf your opponent casts Wrath of God to destroy all your enchanted creatures, your Auras are sent to the graveyard. On your next turn, you can play a new creature and then cast Retether. This will pull every single Aura lost back onto that one new creature, immediately restoring your board presence.
Sevinne's ReclamationIf Retether is in your graveyard, you can use Sevinne's Reclamation to bring it (or a creature) back to the battlefield if it were a permanent, but since Retether is a sorcery, you would instead use Sevinne's Reclamation to bring back a key creature first. Once that creature is on the battlefield, you can then cast Retether from your hand to fully load that creature with every Aura available in your graveyard.
If you have five Auras in your graveyard and only one creature on the battlefield, Retether will force all five Auras onto that single creature. If any of those Auras have restrictions (like 'Enchant white creature') and your creature does not meet them, those specific Auras stay in the graveyard while the others return.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Retether
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
All the Auras return to the battlefield simultaneously. Whether an Aura can be attached to a creature is checked before any of them are returned and doesn't take into account any simultaneously returning Auras. For example, if Tattoo Ward (which gives enchanted creature protection from enchantments) and Holy Strength are in your graveyard and there's only one creature on the battlefield, both Auras are returned to the battlefield attached to that creature, then Holy Strength is put into your graveyard the next time state-based actions are checked.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
Auras don't need to say "enchant creature" to return to the battlefield. For example, an Aura with "enchant land" will return to the battlefield if there's an animated land for it to enchant.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Retether
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