Life

In Magic: The Gathering, a life total is a sort of score. Each player usually starts the game with 20 life points. Any increase in a player's life total is considered to be gaining life. Any decrease in a player's life total is considered to be losing life. A player whose life total drops to 0 or less loses. They are "dead." Life is a resource which typically needs to be tracked on a piece of paper or a life counter.

Life loss

Loss of life can occur from damage by unblocked creatures and direct damage from spells. Black will sometimes just make players lose life straight up without a drain effect, and is the only color to regularly do so. Examples of these include Blood Tribute, Burden of Greed, and Shadow Slice. Other black cards force one or more players to lose half their life total, or for a spell's caster to pay life as part of the cost of a spell or ability. Black also has numerous cards, such as Disciple of the Vault, that trigger life loss if a given action happens. R&D experimented during Dominaria to shift away from life loss, in favor of direct damage, to trim out unnecessary complexity. Black reverted to life loss in 2019, with the last clear damage example being Serrated Scorpion.

Some spells can prevent damage, but so far only Platinum Emperion can prevent the loss of life (although it also prevents paying life). To pay life is the same as losing life, and damage causes loss of life.

Life as a resource

Intentional life loss occurs when life is used as a resource. Famous examples of this include the Necropotence deck and Phyrexian mana. Black is the color that most often uses life as a cost. All colors have access to it on rare occasions where the world calls for it (like New Phyrexia).

Life gain

Life gain directly opposes the game's primary win condition. The earliest "life gain" spells include Healing Salve, Lifetap, and Stream of Life. There were also 5 artifacts printed (dubbed the "Lucky charms") which would give you 1 life each time a spell of the appropriate color was cast if you paid 1 (e.g., Ivory Cup), which were later remade as two-mana no-payment versions in Darksteel. Life gain is an effect known to be overvalued by new players and life gain decks are popular starting points, but as gaining life does not win a game on its own, its value tends to decline with experience. The strategic benefit of discreet life gain effects is that an opponent may overextend or expend cards to force through damage over several turns, to which life gain would unexpectedly disrupt the math.

Life gain occurs most prominently, and in all card types, in white. Green is number two in life gain. Green's life gain is mostly either through sorceries (with the occasional instant) and creatures. Life gain in black is restricted to Drain Life-types of spells. Blue and red have not had life gain in their color pie for twenty years, but previously had odd designs such as Illusions of Grandeur or Collapsing Borders. The addition of Food has put flat life gain effects in blue and black, but still has not in red.

The biggest life gain spell (not ) is the card Heroes Remembered (gain 20 life) from Planar Chaos. The biggest life gain effect overall (not ) is Ajani, Mentor of Heroes's ultimate ability (gain 100 life) from Journey into Nyx.

Can't gain life

This is largely a red hate ability, with some black cards having it also. Red is both the most aggressive color and the color most likely to expend cards to deal direct damage, so this is used to give some counterplay in metagames where incidental lifegain is prevalent.

Drain life

Drain life is a slang term used by Magic R&D to describe spells that cause an opponent to take damage or lose life, while its controller gains life. It can also extend into dealing damage to a creature with a mirrored amount of life gain. This mechanic is named after the card Drain Life and is primary in black. Other colors will deal damage or gain life, but black is the color that does both at the same time. Black also will do triggered or activated effects that repeatedly drain the player, usually for 1.

White has dipped its toe into this area for the Ravnican Orzhov guild and may be considered tertiary.

Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (July 25, 2025—Edge of Eternities)

Life, Life Total

Each player has an amount of “life,” represented by that player’s “life total.” Life may be gained or lost. See rule 119, “Life.”

From the Comprehensive Rules (July 25, 2025—Edge of Eternities)

• 119. Life
  • 119.1. Each player begins the game with a starting life total of 20. Some variant games have different starting life totals.
    • 119.1a In a Two-Headed Giant game, each team’s starting life total is 30. See rule 810, “Two-Headed Giant Variant.”
    • 119.1b In a Vanguard game, each player’s starting life total is 20 plus or minus the life modifier of their vanguard card. See rule 902, “Vanguard.”
    • 119.1c In a Commander game, each player’s starting life total is 40. See rule 903, “Commander.”
    • 119.1d In a two-player Brawl game, each player’s starting life total is 25. In a multiplayer Brawl game, each player’s starting life total is 30. See rule 903.12, “Brawl Option.”
    • 119.1e In an Archenemy game, the archenemy’s starting life total is 40. See rule 904, “Archenemy.”
  • 119.2. Damage dealt to a player normally causes that player to lose that much life. See rule 120.3.
  • 119.3. If an effect causes a player to gain life or lose life, that player’s life total is adjusted accordingly.
  • 119.4. If a cost or effect allows a player to pay an amount of life greater than 0, the player may do so only if their life total is greater than or equal to the amount of the payment. If a player pays life, the payment is subtracted from their life total; in other words, the player loses that much life.
    • 119.4a If a cost or effect allows a player to pay an amount of life greater than 0 in a Two-Headed Giant game, the player may do so only if their team’s life total is greater than or equal to the total amount of life both team members are paying for that cost or effect. If a player pays life, the payment is subtracted from their team’s life total.
    • 119.4b Players can always pay 0 life, no matter what their (or their team’s) life total is, and even if an effect says players can’t pay life.
  • 119.5. If an effect sets a player’s life total to a specific number, the player gains or loses the necessary amount of life to end up with the new total.
  • 119.6. If a player has 0 or less life, that player loses the game as a state-based action. See rule 704.
  • 119.7. If an effect says that a player can’t gain life, that player can’t make an exchange such that the player’s life total would become higher; in that case, the exchange won’t happen. Similarly, if an effect redistributes life totals, a player can’t receive a new life total such that the player’s life total would become higher. In addition, a cost that involves having that player gain life can’t be paid, and a replacement effect that would replace a life gain event affecting that player won’t do anything.
  • 119.8. If an effect says that a player can’t lose life, that player can’t make an exchange such that the player’s life total would become lower; in that case, the exchange won’t happen. Similarly, if an effect redistributes life totals, a player can’t receive a new life total such that the player’s life total would become lower. In addition, a cost that involves having that player pay life can’t be paid.
  • 119.9. Some triggered abilities are written, “Whenever [a player] gains life, . . . .” Such abilities are treated as though they are written, “Whenever a source causes [a player] to gain life, . . . .” If a player gains 0 life, no life gain event has occurred, and these abilities won’t trigger.
  • 119.10. Some replacement effects are written, “If [a player] would gain life, . . . .” Such abilities are treated as though they are written, “If a source would cause [a player] to gain life, . . . .” If a player gains 0 life, no life gain event would occur, and these effects won’t apply.

Starting Life

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (July 25, 2025—Edge of Eternities)

Starting Life Total

The amount of life a player has as a game begins. In most games, each player’s starting life total is 20. See rule 103.4.

External links

• Gavin Verhey (March 9, 2017). "The Meaning of Life". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-03-03.