Ivory Tower
Artifact
At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain X life, where X is the number of cards in your hand minus 4.
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- From the Vault: Relics
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #5764
Ivory Tower gains you life equal to your hand size minus four at each upkeep — in high-hand-size decks, that's easily 4–8 life per turn from a one-mana artifact. The Archimandrite runs it in over 60% of builds because that sustained lifegain directly fuels its cost-reduction mechanic.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
The Archimandrite
The Archimandrite rewards keeping a large hand, so Ivory Tower pulls double duty: it converts that hand size into a life buffer while The Archimandrite converts it into cheaper spells, making the two pieces a natural pair in over 60% of Archimandrite lists.
Will, Scion of Peace
Will, Scion of Peace reduces spell costs based on life gained each turn, and Ivory Tower is one of the cleanest engines to feed that trigger repeatedly at zero spell cost — 42% of Will lists run it for exactly that reason.
Kami of the Crescent Moon
Kami of the Crescent Moon floods all players with cards, which means your own hand stays stacked; Ivory Tower turns that perpetually full grip into steady lifegain that keeps you out of range while opponents draw into their own threats.
Sokrates, Athenian Teacher
Sokrates, Athenian Teacher cares about opponents drawing cards and running large hand sizes, and Ivory Tower lets you profit off your own bloated hand in the same build — about 20% of Sokrates lists treat it as incidental life insurance.
Vnwxt, Verbose Host
Vnwxt, Verbose Host generates card advantage aggressively, and Ivory Tower converts the resulting hand surplus into life at upkeep, giving the deck a stabilization tool that roughly 19% of Vnwxt pilots consider worth the single-mana slot.
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 | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Ivory Tower is at its best: 40-life starting totals make incremental lifegain less critical, but decks built around large hand sizes — draw-seven commanders, library-flooding strategies — turn it into a repeatable cushion that compounds over a long game. Legacy and Vintage legality is mostly academic; one-mana do-nothing permanents that gain life passively can't compete for slots against the raw power density of those formats. Oathbreaker is the only other 60-card-adjacent format where it sees any real consideration, and only in hand-size-matters lists that mirror the Commander archetypes where it shines.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Current pricing data for Ivory Tower isn't available in this snapshot, so check Scryfall or your preferred retailer for the live number — it has multiple printings which tend to keep the floor accessible. Given that it's a niche role-player rather than a staple, it's rarely worth paying a premium; if your local store has a copy in the bulk rare bin, that's the right time to grab it.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.