Roots of Life
Enchantment
As this enchantment enters, choose Island or Swamp.
Whenever a land of the chosen type an opponent controls becomes tapped, you gain 1 life.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- G
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Mirage
- Price
- $0.34
- EDHREC rank
- #19675
Roots of Life gains you life equal to the number of Islands or Swamps your opponents control — meaning its ceiling scales with how many blue or black players are at the table, and in a four-pod that ceiling is real. Two mana for a one-shot effect is a steep ask unless you know the life total matters.
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 |
Roots of Life is a Commander card through and through — the effect only scales in multiplayer, where two or three opponents running Islands and Swamps can push the life gain into double digits. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but unplayed; no competitive list wants a conditional life-gain sorcery when those formats move too fast for life totals to matter. In Commander, it occupies a narrow slot: life-matters decks in metas with heavy blue and black presence, where you can reliably count on opponents' lands to do the work. Outside those conditions, the effect is too feast-or-famine to earn a slot.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.34 bulk tier
At $0.34, Roots of Life is deep bulk — the kind of card you pull from a box rather than order. The price is stable because demand is narrow; it won't spike unless a breakout life-gain commander pushes it into the spotlight.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.