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Phial of Galadriel

Legendary Artifact

If you would draw a card while you have no cards in hand, draw two cards instead.
If you would gain life while you have 5 or less life, you gain twice that much life instead.
{T}: Add one mana of any color.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{3}
Color identity
C
Rarity
rare
Set
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
Price
$0.80
EDHREC rank
#4268
Buy on TCGplayer
Phial of Galadriel card art
Phial of Galadriel is a three-mana artifact that draws a card each end step when you have fewer cards than an opponent and gains a life-linked counter each end step when you have fewer life points — two relevant abilities stapled together for a cheap investment. In commanders built around cycling or hand-cycling like Arjun, the Shifting Flame, the draw trigger fires almost every turn, while in sacrifice-heavy builds like Judith, Carnage Connoisseur, both triggers can be active simultaneously. It's not a powerhouse, but it earns its slot in the decks that want it.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Arjun, the Shifting Flame

Arjun, the Shifting Flame

15.4% of decks · synergy 0.15

Arjun, the Shifting Flame constantly empties your hand by replacing it on each spell cast, which almost guarantees you'll have fewer cards than someone at the table — Phial of Galadriel's draw trigger fires on every end step without any extra work.

02
Queen Kayla bin-Kroog

Queen Kayla bin-Kroog

15.1% of decks · synergy 0.14

Queen Kayla bin-Kroog's activated ability pitches cards from hand to the battlefield, routinely leaving you with a depleted hand size, so Phial of Galadriel's draw condition triggers consistently and helps refuel the engine each turn.

03
Frodo, Sauron's Bane

Frodo, Sauron's Bane

11.0% of decks · synergy 0.10

Frodo, Sauron's Bane strategies frequently absorb early combat damage while building toward the Ring's temptation, so running low on both life and cards is common — Phial of Galadriel's dual triggers align naturally with that gameplan, and the thematic flavor doesn't hurt adoption either.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Phial of Galadriel actually sees play — multiplayer tables make it easy to be behind one opponent in cards or life at any given end step, so the triggers fire reliably throughout a game. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but completely unplayed; three mana for a conditional, non-guaranteed draw is nowhere near the bar those formats demand. Oathbreaker is the one fringe format where it could see use in the same hand-cycling strategies that like it in Commander. Skip it everywhere else.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.80 bulk tier

At $0.80, Phial of Galadriel sits in bulk territory and is easy to pick up without a second thought. Prices on Lord of the Rings-set cards have stabilized, so don't expect this to spike or crater — it's a cheap, low-risk include for the decks that want it.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.