Death Begets Life
Sorcery
Destroy all creatures and enchantments. Draw a card for each permanent destroyed this way.
- CMC
- 8
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BGU
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Tarkir: Dragonstorm Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #7902
Death Begets Life puts a free creature onto the battlefield every time one of yours dies — the accumulation is immediate and relentless. The cost is running enough sacrifice fodder and death triggers to make the engine hum, which Teval, Arbiter of Virtue decks already do by default.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Teval, Arbiter of Virtue
Teval, Arbiter of Virtue scores creatures entering and leaving the battlefield constantly, and Death Begets Life converts each death into another entering creature — the two cards form a self-sustaining loop that keeps Teval's counters stacking even through sweepers.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Death Begets Life is legal across every major format but finds its true home in Commander, where the multiplayer game length gives the engine time to snowball. In 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, a three-mana enchantment that requires creatures to die first is too slow to compete with the format's clock. Legacy and Vintage have the raw speed to ignore it entirely. Commander is where the math flips — over a full game you'll trigger it five or more times, and each free creature represents board presence that compounds rather than replaces itself.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available for Death Begets Life at the moment — check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for current market rates. Given its 28% inclusion rate in Teval, Arbiter of Virtue decks, demand is real, so don't sleep on picking up a copy if the price is reasonable.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.