When We Were Young
Instant
Up to two target creatures each get +2/+2 until end of turn. If you control an artifact and an enchantment, those creatures also gain lifelink until end of turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- Price
- $0.11
- EDHREC rank
- #24237
When We Were Young returns all your creatures with mana value 2 or less from the graveyard to the battlefield — a mass reanimation effect stapled to a three-mana sorcery, for the cost of gaining your opponents 4 life. That life cushion is irrelevant in most Commander games; the board presence you generate is not.
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 |
In Commander, When We Were Young is built for low-curve creature decks that expect to lose bodies early and recoup them all at once — token strategies, aggressive weenie builds, and combo shells where cheap creatures are both fodder and fuel. Outside Commander, the card is legal in Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's competing against faster, narrower reanimation in those formats and rarely makes the cut. The 4-life payment is an afterthought at a kitchen table and a real cost in a 20-life format, which keeps When We Were Young niche in 60-card play.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.11 bulk tier
At $0.11, When We Were Young is bulk — pick it up in a trade binder or toss it in a cart filler order without thinking twice. Bulk enchantments with narrow applications rarely spike, so don't expect the price to move unless a new low-curve commander pushes the archetype into the spotlight.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.