Life Chisel MTG Card
1994-06-01 - Number 283
2009-09-07 - Number 199
| Card sets | Released in 2 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
| Type | Artifact |
Text of card
Sacrifice a creature during your upkeep to gain life equal to creature's toughness.
Cards like Life Chisel
Exploring cards akin to Life Chisel in Magic: The Gathering opens up a variety of unique functionalities in the realm of life point manipulation. Life Chisel offers players a way to convert creature cards into life points, providing a quirky yet useful means to tip the scales in their favor. This single card can transform an endgame board stalling into a sudden surge in player health.
When seeking parallels, Alabaster Potion emerges as a card with a related effect—though it brings immediate life gain based on mana spent, it lacks the creature exchange dynamic that Life Chisel possesses. Another contestant in the life gain arena is Elixir of Immortality. While it doesn’t directly convert creatures into life points, its ability to shuffle the graveyard back into the library and increment one’s life total is valued by players for its resilience and longevity benefits. However, none of these exhibits the unique trade-off mechanic of Life Chisel.
Ultimately, against fellow cards that tamper with health totals, Life Chisel stands out with its distinctive requirement for a creature trade, setting it apart within MTG strategies centered around life as a resource.
Cards similar to Life Chisel by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Life Chisel offers a unique method of gaining card advantage by transforming life points into potential creature cards, keeping your hand stocked with resources.
Resource Acceleration: By converting creatures into life and then potentially into more creature cards, Life Chisel can accelerate your access to vital game pieces, enhancing your board presence.
Instant Speed: Although Life Chisel itself isn’t an instant, it allows for instant speed interaction during your opponent’s turn by utilizing the life you gain off of creatures already on the battlefield, keeping your strategies adaptable.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Life Chisel necessitates discarding a card, putting players at a potential card disadvantage, particularly detrimental when hand size is already compromised.
Specific Mana Cost: With a colored mana requirement, its integration into multicolored decks may be challenging, reducing flexibility in deck construction.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: When considering its functionality against alternatives, the mana investment for Life Chisel might not yield proportional returns, making it less appealing in a mana-efficient strategy.
Reasons to Include Life Chisel in Your Collection
Versatility: Life Chisel offers a unique utility in a wide range of deck archetypes. Its ability to convert creature cards from your graveyard to life points can be particularly effective in decks that capitalize on self-mill or creature sacrifice mechanics.
Combo Potential: This artifact excels when combined with strategies that fill the graveyard quickly. Pairing Life Chisel with high creature count decks can lead to significant gains in life, potentially outpacing opponents’ damage outputs.
Meta-Relevance: In a meta where games tend to stretch into extensive battles of attrition, Life Chisel provides a repetitively usable source of life gain, which can help stabilize your position and outlast opponents who are unprepared for long-term engagements.
How to beat
Life Chisel is an artifact in MTG that can provide strategic advantages by converting creature cards into life points. The card can be a game-changer in matches where life totals are pivotal. To counter Life Chisel effectively, it is crucial to have control over the board state. Ensuring that your opponent has a minimal creature presence will limit the card’s utility, making it much less of a threat. Artifact destruction spells and abilities are also key in dealing with Life Chisel directly. Having a card like Naturalize or Shatter in your deck can swiftly eliminate the Life Chisel from the battlefield.
Moreover, focusing on pressuring your opponent’s life total aggressively might reduce the impact of the incremental life gain that Life Chisel offers. Running aggressive creatures, burn spells, or utilizing strategies that impose a quick clock can outrun the life gain provided by Life Chisel. It’s all about maintaining a balance of offense and having the right answers to your opponent’s potential threats, Life Chisel included.
Ultimately, the key to neutralizing Life Chisel lies in effective board control, direct removal of problematic artifacts, and an aggressive game plan that diminishes the relevance of life gain. Mastering these elements will ensure that Life Chisel does not cut into your path to victory.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Life Chisel MTG card by a specific set like Legends and Masters Edition III, 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 Life Chisel and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Printings
The Life Chisel Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 1994-06-01 and 2009-09-07. Illustrated by Anthony S. Waters.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1994-06-01 | Legends | LEG | 283 | 1993 | Normal | Black | Anthony S. Waters | |
| 2 | 2009-09-07 | Masters Edition III | ME3 | 199 | 1997 | Normal | Black | Anthony S. Waters |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Life Chisel has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Oldschool | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |