Form of the Dinosaur
Enchantment
When this enchantment enters, your life total becomes 15.
At the beginning of your upkeep, this enchantment deals 15 damage to target creature an opponent controls and that creature deals damage equal to its power to you.
- CMC
- 6
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Rivals of Ixalan
- Price
- $0.23
- EDHREC rank
- #26883
Form of the Dinosaur resets your life total to 15, deals 15 damage to a creature each upkeep, and bites back for equal damage whenever you take a hit — all for six mana. The cost is real: you're locked into that 15-life ceiling, which makes you a kill-on-sight target and turns any life-loss effect into a liability.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Form of the Dinosaur actually gets to do something — the long game gives you time to leverage the upkeep trigger as recurring removal, and multiplayer politics mean opponents often have better targets than a 15-life enchantment player. In competitive constructed formats like Modern, Legacy, and Vintage, six mana for an effect that caps your life total is a non-starter; faster decks kill you before the first trigger resolves. Pioneer is similarly hostile — the format's aggro and combo density means you'll rarely survive long enough for Form of the Dinosaur to recoup its cost. Oathbreaker is a real home if your planeswalker leans into the life-total manipulation, but Commander remains the clear best fit.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.23 bulk tier
At $0.23, Form of the Dinosaur is pure bulk — you can pick up a copy without thinking about it. Casual demand from Dinosaur tribal players keeps it from hitting true zero, but there's no pressure to buy in; it will be this price whenever you want it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.