Demonic Lore MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Enchantment
Released	2020-11-20
Set symbol
Set name	Commander Legends
Set code	CMR
Number	118
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Mila Pesic

Key Takeaways

Provides substantial card draw, crucial for maintaining strategic advantage over opponents.
Demanding specific mana and bundling risks with high rewards can make deck inclusion challenging.
Versatility and combo potential make it a powerful addition to specific MTG deck builds.

Text of card

When Demonic Lore enters the battlefield, draw three cards. At the beginning of your end step, you lose 2 life for each card in your hand.

"The greatest works of literature leave the reader forever altered." —Nevinyrral, Urborg tyrant

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Demonic Lore provides an increase in card advantage by allowing you to draw a significant number of cards at once. This can be a game-changer in terms of giving you more options and the ability to respond to your opponent’s moves effectively.

Resource Acceleration: By drawing multiple cards, you are effectively accelerating your resource access. Although the card itself does not directly generate mana or tokens, the influx of cards into your hand increases your chance to hit land drops and access to more spells in earlier turns.

Instant Speed: The ability to play Demonic Lore at instant speed offers flexibility and tactical edge. It enables you to keep mana available for counters or removals during your opponent’s turn, potentially casting Demonic Lore at the end step before your turn to refill your hand without losing tempo.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Demonic Lore obliges players to discard a card to harness its dark powers. This prerequisite, particularly when your hand is nearly empty, can be detrimental, potentially leaving you at a disadvantage during critical game moments.

Specific Mana Cost: Its mana cost is not only specific but also steeped in black mana, necessitating a significant commitment to swamps or black mana sources. This can restrict deck-building options and make it challenging to fit into multicolored decks without sufficient mana fixing.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana investment to cast Demonic Lore is considerable when compared to other spells in the game. With a costly return on investment, other cards in the same mana range could potentially provide more immediate or versatile benefits to your strategy, thereby questioning its inclusion in optimized decks.

Reasons to Include Demonic Lore in Your Collection

Versatility: Demonic Lore is a dynamic card that can be slotted into various deck builds, particularly those requiring a substantial draw mechanism. Its ability to deliver multiple cards in one instance makes it a powerhouse for setting up pivotal game moments.

Combo Potential: The card synergizes well with life gain strategies or effects that mitigate or exploit life loss. This opens the door for creative combos, turning its downside into a strategic advantage within the right deck environment.

Meta-Relevance: Given its potential to accelerate card advantage significantly, Demonic Lore can be crucial in outpacing opponents in situations where drawing the right answers or combo pieces quickly is essential to overcoming prevalent meta strategies.

How to beat

Demonic Lore is a unique enchantment in Magic: The Gathering that can be a double-edged sword. This card draws you three cards at an efficient initial cost, but it also inflicts life loss corresponding to the number of cards in your hand during your upkeep. To defeat an opponent using Demonic Lore, smart hand management is necessary. Strategies such as using instant-speed spells to empty your hand right before your upkeep or utilizing discard effects to reduce the number of cards you hold will reduce the negative impact of Demonic Lore on your health total.

Additionally, playing cards that benefit from discard actions, or leveraging graveyard synergies can turn the life loss disadvantage into a strategic advantage for you. Cards such as Tormod’s Crypt for graveyard hate or Shatter the Sky for board control can also disrupt your opponent’s plans. By carefully navigating around the life loss and transforming this downside into an opportunity, you can effectively counteract the effects of Demonic Lore and gain control of the game. Remember, in MTG, each weakness can be a strength if approached with tactical foresight and adaptability on the battlefield.

BurnMana Recommendations

The intricacies of Demonic Lore illuminate the depth of strategic play in MTG. This potent enchantment offers a surge in card advantage that savvy players can capitalize on, yet requires finesse to avert its life-draining clause. Whether it’s optimizing your deck for fluid mana access, contriving life gain contingencies, or deciphering the meta to harness its full potential, Demonic Lore beckons the bold. For those fascinated by the delicate dance between risk and reward, we encourage further exploration. Dive deeper into MTG strategy, unearth synergistic combos, and refine your collection with cards like Demonic Lore that elevate the game into a cerebral art.

Cards like Demonic Lore

Demonic Lore adds a nuanced flair to the group of enchantments that influence card draw in Magic: The Gathering. It positions itself alongside Phyrexian Arena, a staple that allows incremental card advantage at the cost of life. Unlike Demonic Lore, Phyrexian Arena’s effect is predictable and manageable with a fixed one life per turn.

Another comparable piece is Dark Tutelage, which offers a similar passive draw mechanism but with a variable life payment determined by the drawn card’s mana cost. The difference here is Demonic Lore’s immediate bulk draw, which can be a double-edged sword. You’ll acquire a significant hand advantage, yet at the potential risk of a lethal loss of life if not balanced correctly.

Examining the merits of each, Demonic Lore can be particularly impactful in decks that can mitigate life loss or benefit from having an abundance of cards drawn at once. It provides a substantial one-turn boost that can pivot the game in your favor, all while demanding careful play to avoid self-inflicted jeopardy. This enchantment offers a depth of strategy that clearly distinguishes it within the MTG card draw pantheon.

Cards similar to Demonic Lore by color, type and mana cost

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Demonic Lore MTG card by a specific set like Commander Legends, 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 Demonic Lore and other MTG cards: