Lifeforce
Enchantment
: Counter target black spell.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border
- Price
- $9.97
- EDHREC rank
- #17847
Lifeforce sits on the board and counters every black spell your opponents cast — for just two mana per counter. It's a permanent, repeatable tax that shuts down black-heavy decks entirely, and at two green mana to deploy, the setup cost is almost nothing.
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 |
Lifeforce is a Commander card through and through — its value scales directly with table size, and three opponents running black means three sources of spells to counter. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but sees no play; reactive hate permanents compete with counterspells and faster interaction in those formats, where games end before Lifeforce pays off. In Commander, its staying power is the whole point: one resolved Lifeforce changes how every black player at the table sequences their spells for the rest of the game.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Lifeforce has no true functional replacement at a lower price — the combination of permanent status, repeatable countering, and two-mana activation cost is unique. Deathgrip is the closest mirror (same card, mirrors black's dominance over green), and cards like Dash Hopes offer one-shot disruption at low cost, but nothing replicates the ongoing threat that Lifeforce puts on the table.
Price Context
Current price
$9.97 mid tier
At $9.97, Lifeforce sits in the mid tier — expensive for a card that does nothing in games without heavy black opposition. The price reflects age and scarcity rather than competitive demand, so it holds value in a collection but is hard to justify in most Commander builds unless black is a consistent problem at your table.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.