Dragon's Claw
Artifact
Whenever a player casts a red spell, you may gain 1 life.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Ninth Edition
- Price
- $0.30
- EDHREC rank
- #14194
Dragon's Claw gains you life every time a red spell resolves — yours or anyone else's — which in a four-player game adds up fast. At two mana with no activation cost, it's a passive engine in red-heavy metas, and Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence turns every trigger into a damage ping that doubles back into more life gain.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence
Auntie Blyte, Bad Influence converts each Dragon's Claw trigger into a damage ping by paying life equal to that damage, then scales her own power off the life paid — so every red spell at the table feeds a loop of life gain, damage output, and growing stats.
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 |
In Commander, Dragon's Claw is a meta call: tables running red storm, burn-heavy spellslinger builds, or multiple red commanders will fire it multiple times per turn cycle, making two mana look very cheap. In Legacy and Vintage, it sees fringe sideboard play against red decks and storm, though dedicated hate pieces like Leyline of Sanctity typically do more work. Modern used it as budget sideboard tech against Burn, but the format has moved to more efficient life-gain options. Outside dedicated red-matters Commander builds, the card is too narrow to justify a mainboard slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.30 bulk tier
At $0.30, Dragon's Claw is firmly bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in without thinking twice. Reprinted often enough that the price has no real floor to break through, so buy it for the effect, not any expectation of appreciation.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.