Glyph of Life
Instant
Choose target Wall creature. Whenever that creature is dealt damage by an attacking creature this turn, you gain that much life.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Legends
- Price
- $0.30
- EDHREC rank
- #23375
Glyph of Life is a bulk-rare life-gain spell that converts a blocking Wall's toughness into life points — a deeply narrow effect that almost never justifies a deck slot. Outside of dedicated Wall or Arcades lifegain shells, there are strictly better ways to gain life for one mana.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Glyph of Life sees essentially no play in Commander, where a single-use instant that requires a blocking Wall to function is too conditional to earn a slot in even dedicated lifegain decks. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but wholly unplayed — the effect simply isn't powerful enough for those formats. Pauper is the only context where Glyph of Life could theoretically appear, specifically in Wall-based combo shells, but even there the card is fringe at best.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.30 bulk tier
At $0.30, Glyph of Life sits firmly in bulk territory, and that price is unlikely to move in either direction. The narrow use case keeps demand flat, so buying a copy costs almost nothing — but that's the only argument for acquiring one.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.