Cradle of Vitality
Enchantment
Whenever you gain life, you may pay 
. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature for each 1 life you gained.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Shards of Alara
- Price
- $0.60
- EDHREC rank
- #11998
Cradle of Vitality turns every life gain event into a permanent +1/+1 counter, and one activation of Beacon of Immortality can stack an absurd number of counters on a single creature in a single turn. The cost — four mana to cast, one white mana per trigger to activate — is real, but in any deck built around life gain, you're trading mana you already want to spend for game-ending board presence.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is the natural home for Cradle of Vitality: 40 life means more gain events, games run long enough to recoup the setup cost, and white life gain commanders generate the repeated triggers the card needs to pull ahead. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but completely unplayed — the formats are too fast and too hostile to a four-mana enchantment that does nothing the turn it enters. Oathbreaker gives it a narrower shot if the planeswalker and signature spell generate life gain, but the 20-life starting total reduces how dramatically the counters scale.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Cradle of VitalityBeacon of ImmortalityWalking Archive
Each opponent loses the game at the beginning of their next upkeep
View on Commander Spellbook ↗
Cradle of VitalityRevival // RevengeWalking Archive
Near-infinite lifeloss for target opponent; Each opponent loses the game at the beginning of their next upkeep
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.60 bulk tier
At $0.60, Cradle of Vitality is firmly bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in or from a bargain bin. Price is unlikely to move meaningfully without a reprint in a high-profile life gain precon that spikes demand.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Beacon of Immortality
- Walking Archive
- Revival // Revenge
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.