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Drain Life
Oracle Text
Spend only black mana on X.
Drain Life deals X damage to any target. You gain life equal to the damage dealt, but not more life than the player's life total before the damage was dealt, the planeswalker's loyalty before the damage was dealt, or the creature's toughness.
Card Details
Mana CostCharacter Background
Drain Life is a classic black sorcery that perfectly captures the color’s predatory, resource-swapping philosophy: your opponent’s vitality becomes your own. In play, it best supports control and value decks, especially builds that stall the board long enough to turn a late-game mana surplus into a finisher or stabilizer. Because X must be paid with black mana only, it rewards heavy-black manabases, Cabal Coffers-style ramp, and ritual effects that can convert extra swamps into a lethal drain. The life gain is often as important as the damage, letting you swing races, undo early aggression, and punish planeswalkers by trimming loyalty while padding your own total. Since the gain is capped by the target’s current toughness, life total, or loyalty, it is strongest against medium-sized creatures and vulnerable players rather than indestructible giants. In deckbuilding, pair it with mana acceleration and removal to survive until one huge cast ends the game.
Generated using gpt-5.4-mini
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Character Background
Drain Life is a classic black sorcery that perfectly captures the color’s predatory, resource-swapping philosophy: your opponent’s vitality becomes your own. In play, it best supports control and value decks, especially builds that stall the board long enough to turn a late-game mana surplus into a finisher or stabilizer. Because X must be paid with black mana only, it rewards heavy-black manabases, Cabal Coffers-style ramp, and ritual effects that can convert extra swamps into a lethal drain. The life gain is often as important as the damage, letting you swing races, undo early aggression, and punish planeswalkers by trimming loyalty while padding your own total. Since the gain is capped by the target’s current toughness, life total, or loyalty, it is strongest against medium-sized creatures and vulnerable players rather than indestructible giants. In deckbuilding, pair it with mana acceleration and removal to survive until one huge cast ends the game.
Generated using gpt-5.4-mini · Updated at 2026-08-21 20:10:49 UTC