Lifeline
Artifact
Whenever a creature dies, if another creature is on the battlefield, return the first card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Urza's Saga
- Price
- $49.04
- EDHREC rank
- #12919
Lifeline turns every end step into a mass resurrection — any creature that died since your last turn comes back, as long as any creature is on the battlefield. That symmetry is the catch: the effect belongs to no one, so it rewards whoever built around it hardest.
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 |
Commander is where Lifeline lives. The multiplayer table guarantees creature-heavy boards almost every game, which means the end-step trigger reliably fires — and in a pod of four, the symmetry hurts opponents more often than it helps them if you've built to exploit it. Legacy and Vintage are legal formats, but a five-mana artifact with zero immediate impact is too slow for those environments and sees essentially no play. Oathbreaker is legal and the 20-life starting total makes recurring threats more impactful sooner, but Lifeline's slow setup tempo is still a liability in a faster format. Bottom line: this is a Commander card.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
No card replicates Lifeline's blanket end-of-turn recursion exactly — the closest honest replacement is Cauldron of Souls, which gives persist to your whole board for a similar mana investment and zero symmetry risk, at a fraction of the price. If you want mass recursion rather than prevention, Living Death does the job for under $3, though it's a one-shot rather than a standing engine.
Price Context
Current price
$49.04 premium tier
At $49.04, Lifeline sits in premium territory driven almost entirely by low reprint supply rather than widespread demand. It holds its price in a narrow collector market, but don't treat that as stability — a single reprint in a Commander precon would cut the price significantly.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.