Simulacrum
Instant
You gain life equal to the damage dealt to you this turn. Simulacrum deals damage to target creature you control equal to the damage dealt to you this turn.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Revised Edition
- Price
- $0.31
- EDHREC rank
- #18326
Simulacrum lets you redirect damage from a source to a creature you control, keeping your life total intact at the cost of a 1/1 token — a narrow lifesaving trick stapled to a token generator. At two mana it's situationally fine, but the token isn't a bonus so much as a consolation prize for taking the damage somewhere else.
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 |
Simulacrum is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, and sees essentially no competitive play in any of them. In Commander, damage redirection is too reactive and too narrow — you're spending a card to move damage once, which rarely changes a game state the way a counterspell or a fog effect would. Legacy and Vintage have access to far more efficient protection spells, so Simulacrum doesn't crack those formats either. It's a curiosity from an earlier design era, not a staple in any 99.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.31 bulk tier
At $0.31, Simulacrum is firmly bulk — you're paying for the cardboard, not the effect. There's no demand engine to push that price up, so treat it as a throwaway pickup rather than anything worth tracking.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.