Phyrexian Lens
Artifact
, Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Invasion
- Price
- $0.37
- EDHREC rank
- #23178
Phyrexian Lens is a three-mana rock that taps for one colorless — the weakest stat line in the format — and asks you to pay 2 life every time you use it. Better mana rocks exist at every price point, and this one doesn't make the cut in competitive or even midpower lists.
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, Phyrexian Lens competes against a deep bench of three-mana rocks, and it loses most of those fights — Worn Powerstone and Cultivator's Caravan both tap for two, while Hedron Archive draws cards when you're done with it. The life-payment clause is relevant in a 40-life format only in dedicated life-payment decks, where Phyrexian Lens still underperforms because it generates no colored mana. In Vintage and Legacy, the card is legal but essentially absent — those formats demand either free acceleration or colored fixing, and Phyrexian Lens offers neither. Oathbreaker follows Commander's logic: the 20-life total makes the 2-life tax hurt more, not less, which is the final nail.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.37 bulk tier
At $0.37, Phyrexian Lens sits firmly in bulk territory, and the price is unlikely to move — there's no breakout archetype waiting to rescue it. It's cheap enough to throw in a pile, but that's the most compelling argument for it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.