Cycle of Life MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Rare
Type	Enchantment
Released	1996-10-08
Set symbol
Set name	Mirage
Set code	MIR
Number	211
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Chippy

Key Takeaways

Enhances deck resilience by ensuring a steady flow of creatures to maintain board presence.
Offers instant speed cycling for strategic depth and reactive play during opponents’ turns.
Demands specific mana types and discards, which may complicate gameplay in multicolored decks.

Text of card

Return Cycle of Life to owner's hand: Target creature you summoned this turn is 0/1 until the beginning of your next upkeep. At the beginning of your next upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.

Thus does nature assert herself.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Engaging with Cycle of Life enhances your deck’s resilience as you gain access to more creatures on the battlefield. Each iteration of the cycle brings a new creature to your hand, ensuring you’re seldom left without options.

Resource Acceleration: Playing Cycle of Life can accelerate your board presence. Potentially, you could end up playing creatures over successive turns faster than you normally would, which may give you the edge in building up a formidable force.

Instant Speed: The ability to cycle cards at instant speed offers strategic depth and versatility. Use it on your opponent’s end step to maintain full mana availability during your own turn, or react to your opponent’s plays with savvy timing.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Often, playing a card like Cycle of Life means having to discard another card from your hand. This can sometimes work against your game plan, especially if your hand size is already dwindling, and you’re in need of all the resources you can get.

Specific Mana Cost: Cycle of Life comes with a mana cost that must be met with very specific colors. This can pose a challenge in multicolored decks that might struggle to have the right mana combination available at the crucial moment the card is needed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: While the abilities of Cycle of Life can be impactful, it is important to note that the mana investment is significant. When evaluating your deck strategy, it’s critical to consider whether its casting cost is worth the effect, especially when other cards may provide similar benefits for less mana.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: The Cycle of Life card offers exceptional flexibility for deck builders. It can integrate seamlessly into various deck archetypes that capitalize on life gain, creature recycling, or green’s inherent strength in mana ramping and board presence. This makes it a solid pick for both new players and seasoned strategists.

Combo Potential: This card shines in its ability to interact with numerous other cards that utilize graveyard mechanics or benefit from creatures entering or leaving the battlefield. Whether it’s fostering synergies with cards that have ‘enter the battlefield’ effects or enabling graveyard retrieval combos, Cycle of Life expands your strategic horizons.

Meta-Relevance: Depending on the shifting tides of the current meta, Cycle of Life can prove to be a game-changer. In a meta where stabilization and late-game tactics dominate, the card’s utility in preserving essential life points while keeping creature flow constant can outpace and outlast more aggressive strategies.

How to beat

The Cycle of Life card brings a unique dynamic to Magic: The Gathering, offering strategies not only for creature growth but also for deck sustainability. Facing this card on the battlefield requires a tactical approach. Players often find success through pinpoint removal spells to prevent the cycle from starting. Addressing the creatures as they emerge is a key strategy, with spells like Path to Exile or Murder offering clean solutions without triggering death-related abilities.

Another effective method is utilizing counterspells or hand disruption techniques to ensure Cycle of Life never hits the board. Thoughtseize or Counterspell can interrupt your opponent’s plans early on. Alternatively, focusing on an aggressive early game can also outpace the more gradual advantages granted by Cycle of Life. Pressuring with swift creatures or relying on direct damage spells can close games before the card’s impact becomes significant.

Ultimately, understanding the mechanics of Cycle of Life and preparing your deck to either counteract or disrupt the card’s utility is crucial. Winning against a deck featuring Cycle of Life often means remaining one step ahead and implementing preemptive measures throughout the game.

Cards like Cycle of Life

The Cycle of Life card in Magic: The Gathering offers a unique twist to creature recycling mechanics, akin to other rebirth cards in the game. It echoes the effects of Nature’s Spiral, which also returns a target permanent from your graveyard to your hand. Where Cycle of Life distinguishes itself is its lifecycle twist, where a creature returns to the battlefield with an added life-stealing ability, albeit in a new, more potent form.

Another similar card within this thematic is Reincarnation, a card that resurrects creatures directly to the battlefield when they die, maintaining the cycle of play without missing a beat. While Reincarnation provides an immediate board presence, Cycle of Life adds a strategic layer, offering a life gain element to bolster your longevity in the game. Gravestorm also falls into this circle of life concept, as it beckons creatures back from the graveyard. Though, unlike the enchantment nature of Cycle of Life, Gravestorm is a disruption tool, an artifact adding a different strategic ingredient to the mix.

In essence, Cycle of Life stands out amidst MTG resurrection cards, bringing value to the table with its life-enhancing trait, making it a worthy consideration for decks focused on endurance and creature revival.

Cards similar to Cycle of Life by color, type and mana cost

The Dragon-Kami Reborn // Dragon-Kami's Egg - MTG Card versions

Rites of Flourishing - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Cycle of Life MTG card by a specific set like Mirage, 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 Cycle of Life and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Cycle of Life has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

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