Staff of the Mind Magus
Artifact
Whenever you cast a blue spell or an Island you control enters, you gain 1 life.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- C
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Magic 2015
- Price
- $0.17
- EDHREC rank
- #17344
Staff of the Mind Magus gains you one life whenever you play an Island or cast a blue spell — a trickle, not a flood, and three mana for that rate is a bad deal in almost every shell. Unless your deck is generating absurd amounts of blue spell volume, this is a life-gain piece that never catches up.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Staff of the Mind Magus is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but its rate disqualifies it from competitive consideration in every non-rotating format. In Commander — its most forgiving home — the three-mana investment competes against draw engines, mana rocks, and synergy payoffs that do far more, and life-gain triggers at one-per-spell are too slow to matter in a 40-life format with four opponents. Mono-blue or blue-heavy lifegain commanders are the only realistic landing spot, and even there the ceiling is modest. Everywhere else, it simply doesn't clear the bar.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.17 bulk tier
At $0.17, Staff of the Mind Magus is deep bulk — you're not buying it for value, you're finding it in a trade binder. The price reflects the demand accurately and is unlikely to move without a significant rules change or a commander that makes Island-counting a win condition.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.