Life of Toshiro Umezawa // Memory of Toshiro
Enchantment — Saga // Enchantment Creature — Human Samurai
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.)
I, II — Choose one —
• Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
• Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
• You gain 2 life.
III — Exile this Saga, then return it to the battlefield transformed under your control.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- Price
- $0.16
- EDHREC rank
- #16602
Life of Toshiro Umezawa // Memory of Toshiro is a two-mana saga that replaces itself through combat and then flips into a repeatable instant-speed recursion engine — the back half alone justifies the slot. The cost is real: you need a spell-heavy black deck to get full value, and the front side does nothing the turn you cast it.
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 Life of Toshiro Umezawa // Memory of Toshiro actually lives — long games give the saga time to complete and Memory of Toshiro time to pay off, and black instant-heavy builds are common enough that the back half triggers consistently. In Legacy and Vintage the competition is too steep; a two-mana saga that doesn't impact the board immediately has no business in formats where opponents can win on turn one. Modern and Pioneer are theoretically legal but the card has no competitive presence — it's too slow and too conditional for those formats' threat density. Oathbreaker is a reasonable secondary home if the planeswalker and signature spell align with a black spell-heavy strategy.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.16 bulk tier
At $0.16, Life of Toshiro Umezawa // Memory of Toshiro is deep bulk — pick it up in any common box without a second thought. Casual demand keeps bulk sagas near this floor indefinitely, so there's no urgency either way.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.