Lich MTG Card

The Lich card turns graveyards into resource pools, enriching strategic flexibility in gameplay. Its ability to accelerate resources redefines traditional MTG mana strategies and game pace. Lich techniques offer instant-speed interactions, enabling surprising and disruptive plays.

Limited Edition Alpha (LEA)
1993-08-05 - Number 113

Limited Edition Beta (LEB)
1993-10-04 - Number 114

Unlimited Edition (2ED)
1993-12-01 - Number 114

Collectors' Edition (CED)
1993-12-10 - Number 114

Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
1993-12-10 - Number 114

Masters Edition IV (ME4)
2011-01-10 - Number 89

30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
2022-11-28 - Number 110

30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
2022-11-28 - Number 407

Card sets	Released in 8 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Rare
Type	Enchantment

Text of card

You lose all life. If you gain life later in the game, instead draw one card from your library for each life. For each point of damage you suffer, you must destroy one of your cards in play. Creatures destroyed in this way cannot be regenerated. You lose if this enchantment is destroyed or if you suffer a point of damage without sending a card to the graveyard.

Cards like Lich

The Lich card in Magic: The Gathering is a storied example of a powerful and risky enchantment. In the same echelon, there’s Nefarious Lich, which shares the theme of manipulating life total and card advantage, albeit with a distinct set of risks and rewards. Unlike Lich, it eliminates life insurance, but in return offers an unorthodox form of card draw, transforming life gain into draw power.

Phyrexian Etchings can also be likened to Lich. Both involve accumulating an advantage over time with a delayed but significant cost. Phyrexian Etchings will gradually grow in value, much like how Lich offers immediate card drawing power. However, it’s devoid of the immediate life total reset that comes with Lich, presenting a slower yet potentially less dangerous alternative.

In weighing the worth of such high-stakes enchantments, Lich stands out. Its capacity for a transformative impact on gameplay pegs it as both a beloved classic and a challenge for the daring strategist in the enchantment category of MTG. The card’s unique blend of peril and potential makes it a mainstay for decks revolving around life and death mechanics.

Cards similar to Lich by color, type and mana cost

Feast of the Unicorn - MTG Card versions

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Lich card in MTG emphasizes card advantage by replacing your draw step with the chance to reanimate spells or creatures. This shift could potentially offer a strategic upper hand as you access your graveyard as an extension of your hand.

Resource Acceleration: This card can grant a significant boost in resource acceleration, especially in the right deck. By manipulating life as a resource, rather than traditional mana, you can accelerate game play and potentially outpace your opponent.

Instant Speed: Although the Lich itself is not an instant, its synergies in decks often revolve around the instant-speed interaction with your graveyard. This can allow for unexpected play alterations and responses that can catch an opponent off guard during their turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Lich cards typically require the player to discard or exile other cards from their hand or graveyard as part of their upkeep or to activate abilities. This can be a significant drawback, especially in the late game when resources become scarce and every card in hand counts.

Specific Mana Cost: Lich cards often come with a demanding mana cost that requires a combination of specific colors. This can restrict the card to more specialized decks, making it harder to play in a color-flexible strategy, which might limit its inclusion only to dedicated deck builds.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana cost for casting a Lich can be quite high. When considering the pace of a game, especially in formats where speed is crucial, the mana investment might not align with the benefits received from the card, particularly when there are other options that can provide comparable advantages for a lesser mana investment.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Lich cards are renowned for their ability to turn the tide in a variety of deck archetypes, particularly those that capitalize on life manipulation or alternative winning conditions.

Combo Potential: Their unique mechanic of using your life total as a resource opens up numerous combo possibilities, allowing for creative synergies with cards designed to offset the inherent risk of losing the game when your life total hits zero.

Meta-Relevance: In metas where games are drawn out and control decks prevail, a well-timed Lich card can often break the deadlock, offering an unconventional route to victory that many opponents may not be adequately prepared for.

How to beat

Confronting a Lich card in MTG can be a daunting task as these cards often grant the player invulnerability to losing the game under typical circumstances. This powerful ability is balanced by a significant drawback that requires careful deck building and strategy. To outmaneuver a player using a Lich card, it’s essential to focus on the weaknesses inherent in such a strategy.

Disrupting their hand and library through discard effects and countering key spells are effective techniques. Having enchantment removal at the ready can quickly eliminate the threat of a Lich card. Additionally, forcing the Lich player to draw from an empty library or targeting them with loss of life effects that bypass their ‘immortality’ can turn their advantage into a liability. Aim to apply consistent pressure to limit their options, keeping them on the defensive as this can inhibit their ability to establish the board state they need to harness the Lich’s full potential.

In essence, beating a Lich card revolves around understanding the nuances of its strength and vulnerability. Strategic play that targets the card’s weaknesses can ensure that even the most formidable Lich spells succumb to a well-executed plan.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lich MTG card by a specific set like Limited Edition Alpha and Limited Edition Beta, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Lich and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Lich Magic the Gathering card was released in 7 different sets between 1993-08-05 and 2022-11-28. Illustrated by Daniel Gelon.

#	Released	Name	Code	Number	Frame	Layout	Border	Artist
1	1993-08-05	Limited Edition Alpha	LEA	113	1993	Normal	Black	Daniel Gelon
2	1993-10-04	Limited Edition Beta	LEB	114	1993	Normal	Black	Daniel Gelon
3	1993-12-01	Unlimited Edition	2ED	114	1993	Normal	White	Daniel Gelon
4	1993-12-10	Collectors' Edition	CED	114	1993	Normal	Black	Daniel Gelon
5	1993-12-10	Intl. Collectors' Edition	CEI	114	1993	Normal	Black	Daniel Gelon
6	2011-01-10	Masters Edition IV	ME4	89	1997	Normal	Black	Daniel Gelon
7	2022-11-28	30th Anniversary Edition	30A	110	2015	Normal	Black	Daniel Gelon
8	2022-11-28	30th Anniversary Edition	30A	407	1997	Normal	Black	Daniel Gelon

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Lich has restrictions

Format	Legality
Oldschool	Legal
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Lich card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2004-10-04	If an opponent steals control of Lich and no other effect prevents you from losing with a life total of zero, you will lose the game due to a zero life total as a State-Based Action before you can take any actions. The last sentence doesn’t apply in this case since the Lich didn’t leave the battlefield.
2004-10-04	If an opponent steals control of Lich, their life total does not change. The life total changes for a player only when it enters the battlefield under that player’s control.
2004-10-04	If you have multiple Lich cards on the battlefield, you must sacrifice a permanent for each damage done to you for each Lich. This is because the sacrifice is a triggered ability. But you only draw one card for each life gained regardless of how many Liches you have. This is because the draw is a replacement effect and not a triggered one. You lose if any one of the Liches leaves the battlefield.
2004-10-04	If you take more than one damage at a time, sacrifice the permanents for that damage simultaneously. This allows you to sacrifice both a creature and any Aura that is on it all at once.
2004-10-04	You can lose life and take damage, and thereby have a negative life total, while Lich is on the battlefield.
2004-10-04	You can’t pay life, just like any player at less than one life can’t pay life. You can pay zero life if you want.
2010-08-15	Note that usually you will have 0 or less life at the time Lich leaves the battlefield causing you to lose as a State-Based Action before the last ability can even go on the stack.
2010-08-15	The last ability will cause you to lose the game even if you somehow manage to have a life total greater than 0 at the time the Lich leaves the battlefield or if some other effect would prevent you from losing for having 0 life. If, on the other hand, some effect such as that from Platinum Angel says that you can’t lose the game then even the last ability of the Lich cannot cause you to do so. The ability will just resolve and the game will continue as normal.
2011-01-01	The last ability will cause you to lose the game even if you somehow manage to have a life total greater than 0 at the time the Lich is put into the graveyard or if some other effect would prevent you from losing for having 0 life. If, on the other hand, some effect such as that from Platinum Angel says that you can’t lose the game then even the last ability of the Lich cannot cause you to do so. The ability will just resolve and the game will continue as normal.