Living Destiny MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	4
Rarity	Common
Type	Instant
Released	2010-04-23
Set symbol
Set name	Rise of the Eldrazi
Set code	ROE
Number	195
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	James Ryman

Key Takeaways

Provides card advantage and resource acceleration, boosting late-game strategies effectively.
Instant speed casting enables responsive play to opponents’ actions, enhancing flexibility.
Mana cost and discard requirements temper its application, requiring careful deck integration.

Text of card

As an additional cost to cast Living Destiny, reveal a creature card from your hand. You gain life equal to the revealed card's converted mana cost.

"That our enemies are great only brings us greater hope."

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Living Destiny card lets you predictably draw into your key cards while simultaneously padding your life total. This ensures you maintain a strong presence on the board by having access to more options and strategies.

Resource Acceleration: Living Destiny offers a unique kind of resource acceleration. Instead of providing mana or tokens, it accelerates your game plan by granting life which could be pivotal in enduring against aggressive decks and reaching the late-game stage where your deck excels.

Instant Speed: The real power of Living Destiny comes with its instant speed, providing flexibility to respond to your opponent’s actions. This allows you to efficiently manage your resources by waiting for the optimal moment to cast it, potentially turning the tides of the game in your favor.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Living Destiny asks players to pitch another card to gain its effect. This can be a setback when you’re already feeling the pinch on your hand size, potentially losing a valuable asset you may need later in the game.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires not just any mana, but one that matches its color identity. This could pose a challenge in decks that have a diverse mana base, making it less versatile and sometimes hard to cast on curve.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: When evaluating mana efficiency, Living Destiny’s cost is on the higher end. For the same amount, players could potentially deploy threats or establish board presence, which may have an immediate and sustained impact on the game state.

Reasons to Include Living Destiny in Your Collection

Versatility: Living Destiny is an excellent addition to life-gain decks or strategies emphasizing maintaining high life totals. Its instant speed allows players to respond to threats or conditions not only on their own turn but also during an opponent’s turn, which makes it a flexible choice in many game scenarios.

Combo Potential: This card can synergize with effects that trigger upon life gain, such as those found on creatures like Ajani’s Pridemate or in archetypes where your life total can be a resource for powerful spells and abilities. The ability to gain massive life can also be combined with cards that offer benefits for having a high life total.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where aggressive decks can close out games quickly, Living Destiny can provide a crucial lifeline, making it harder for opponents to reduce your life to zero. This can be particularly relevant in formats where racing to deal damage is common, making it an excellent card against the current aggro trends.

How to Beat Living Destiny

Living Destiny stands out in Magic: The Gathering as a unique instant that allows players to gain life equal to the revealed creature card’s power. Its most powerful aspect lies in its potential for a significant life boost, making it a valuable card in decks that are built around high-power creatures. However, overcoming Living Destiny’s impact requires a strategic approach.

One effective method to counter this card is by utilizing hand disruption spells. Since Living Destiny hinges on players revealing a creature card from their hand, cards like Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek can remove the creature threat before it can influence the player’s life total. Additionally, graveyard manipulation, like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void, restricts the benefits from cards that interact with the graveyard, typically seen in creature-heavy decks that would pair well with Living Destiny. It’s also beneficial to limit the power of creatures your opponent controls – effects from cards like Pacifism or board wipes such as Wrath of God can blunt the impact of the life gain from Living Destiny.

It’s crucial to identify the right moment to disrupt or manage your opponent’s strategy when facing Living Destiny. By understanding its mechanics and preparing your deck with countermeasures, you can mitigate its effects and maintain control over the game.

Cards like Living Destiny

Living Destiny in Magic: The Gathering stands as an intriguing life-gaining instant. Its closest counterpart is Feed the Clan, which also offers a substantial life boost that could be crucial in a tight game. Living Destiny has the unique aspect of requiring you to reveal a creature card from your hand to gain life equal to its power, creating a surprise factor and a potential psychological advantage. Feed the Clan, however, doesn’t rely on card reveal but has the ferocious mechanic that can be activated if you control a creature with power 4 or greater.

Another card that shares the theme of life gain is Heroes’ Reunion. It offers a direct and assured boost to your life total without needing to reveal any cards or meet specific board criteria. Conversely, Living Destiny promises potentially higher life gain depending on the creature cards you possess. Lastly, life gain enthusiasts might consider Moment’s Peace, not for direct life increase, but for its preventative measures in staving off damage, which can equate to life saved in the long run.

Assessing these choices, Living Destiny holds a special niche with its flavour of life gain tied to a conditional reveal, catering to those who favor the element of surprise and strategic hand management in their gameplay.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Living Destiny MTG card by a specific set like Rise of the Eldrazi, 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 Living Destiny and other MTG cards: