Children of Korlis MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityCommon
TypeCreature — Human Rebel Cleric
Power 1
Toughness 1

Key Takeaways

  1. Children of Korlis offers life recovery at instant speed, disrupting opponent strategies and preserving resources.
  2. Its requirement to sacrifice itself is a strategic drawback, demanding careful play to mitigate board impact.
  3. Aligns well with life-centered strategies, combos, and provides a defense against aggressive metagames.

Text of card

Sacrifice Children of Korlis: You gain life equal to the life you've lost this turn. (Damage causes loss of life.)

"We have a proud history of self-sacrifice. But it is easy, in these bleak times, to find one among us who is eager to die for any cause." —Tavalus, acolyte of Korlis


Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Children of Korlis card offers a unique form of card advantage by allowing players to regain life spent this turn. This can effectively negate the damage caused by aggressive strategies and spells, ensuring your hand’s strategic plays are preserved longer.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly providing mana or resources, Children of Korlis assists in resource acceleration by maintaining life totals. A stable life count ensures a player can confidently utilise life as a resource for various card abilities and mechanics without fearing immediate consequences.

Instant Speed: As a creature with the ability to sacrifice itself at instant speed, Children of Korlis can be utilized at the most optimal moments during gameplay. This instant-speed interaction allows you to respond to threats or detrimental situations by recovering life points that could be pivotal in the heat of battle.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Children of Korlis necessitates sacrificing itself to activate its effect. This self-removal, akin to a discard, can be a significant cost, leaving you without a creature on the board and potentially vulnerable to your opponent’s attacks.

Specific Mana Cost: This card requires white mana to cast, which may not align with all deck strategies. For players running multi-colored decks, the inclusion of Children of Korlis demands a white mana source that might not always be readily available.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although costing a single white mana might seem low, its ability ratio compared to other life-gain or creature protective spells can be less mana-efficient. This means in decks focusing on pure life-gain, there might be other cards that provide a more significant advantage or flexibility for the same or less mana investment.


Reasons to Include Children of Korlis in Your Collection

Versatility: Children of Korlis offers a unique ability to recover life lost earlier in the turn. This makes it highly adaptable in decks focusing on life management or those that utilize life payment as a resource for various spells and abilities.

Combo Potential: Its ability to regain life pairs well with strategies that inflict damage upon yourself for major gains. This creates space for combo lines in which significant life payments are made without the downside, thanks to the Children’s sacrifice ability.

Meta-Relevance: In metas with a prevalence of burn decks or aggressive strategies, Children of Korlis shines as a way to mitigate damage and make combat math tricky for opponents. It can act as both a defensive measure and a combo enabler, depending on your deck’s design and the contemporary game environment.


How to beat

The Children of Korlis card presents an intriguing dynamic in the game of Magic: The Gathering, often used to reclaim life that players have lost earlier in the turn. At its core, it offers a remarkable ability to turn the tide of a game by trading its sacrifice for the recovery of life equivalent to the amount lost that very turn. To navigate against such strategies effectively, one must consider direct removal spells or abilities that can prevent the Korlis from reaching the battlefield or trigger their ability.

Control tactics are especially potent in this situation. Counterspells, for instance, can preemptively stop Children of Korlis from ever affecting the board state. Spot removal, such as Swords to Plowshares or Fatal Push, can be deployed in response to their activation, as well, minimizing the potential life swing. Moreover, graveyard disruption, which inhibits the retrieval of Children of Korlis for repeated use, is an advisable strategy. Employing cards like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void disrupts this loop efficiently.

Succinctly, while the Children of Korlis card can be a robust tool for life recovery, its impact can be mitigated or altogether nullified through strategic spell use, counterspells, timely removal, and graveyard interaction, ensuring the scales of life points remain balanced in your favor.


BurnMana Recommendations

In the artful game of MTG, savvy deck building and strategic play can make or break your success at the table. With the unique capabilities of Children of Korlis, the potential to swing life totals in your favor opens a realm of possibilities. Are you intrigued by the strategic depth this card can offer in your white mana deck arsenal? Whether you’re looking to offset the costs of high-powered spells or stave off defeat, incorporating Children of Korlis may just tip the scales. Harness its ability to recoup life and fortify your game plan. Dive deeper with us to truly leverage this card’s potential and outplay your opponents. Upgrade your collection and refine your strategy for a more resilient gameplay experience.


Cards like Children of Korlis

In the realm of life-manipulating spells within Magic: The Gathering, Children of Korlis reveals its unique strategy for longevity. This card allows players to regain the life they lost that turn, which can be a game-changer in the right situation. Comparable in this niche is the Martyr of Sands, which permits a reveal of white cards from hand for a significant life gain, albeit in a different tactical approach.

Taking a strategic twist, we encounter the likes of Tainted Sigil. This artifact also lets you recoup lost life within a turn, yet offering multi-color flexibility. However, Children of Korlis enables an instant surprise, operating at creature speed and often catching opponents off guard. Further parallels can be drawn with the Alms Beast, albeit indirectly. While this beast doesn’t offer a direct life-recoup ability, it encourages tactics that can result in substantial life swings, key to survival in certain matchups.

Scouring the range of life-affirming choices in Magic: The Gathering spotlights Children of Korlis as a distinguished piece in decks focused on life as a resource and reveals its place amidst a suite of similarly themed yet distinctively functional cards.

Martyr of Sands - MTG Card versions
Tainted Sigil - MTG Card versions
Alms Beast - MTG Card versions
Martyr of Sands - Coldsnap (CSP)
Tainted Sigil - Alara Reborn (ARB)
Alms Beast - Gatecrash (GTC)

Cards similar to Children of Korlis by color, type and mana cost

Savannah Lions - MTG Card versions
Benalish Hero - MTG Card versions
Icatian Infantry - MTG Card versions
Icatian Scout - MTG Card versions
Icatian Javelineers - MTG Card versions
Kjeldoran Warrior - MTG Card versions
Trade Caravan - MTG Card versions
Honor Guard - MTG Card versions
Volunteer Militia - MTG Card versions
Nomads en-Kor - MTG Card versions
Soul Warden - MTG Card versions
Resistance Fighter - MTG Card versions
Honorable Scout - MTG Card versions
Devoted Caretaker - MTG Card versions
Faerie Guidemother // Gift of the Fae - MTG Card versions
Kor Duelist - MTG Card versions
Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful - MTG Card versions
Mother of Runes - MTG Card versions
Daru Mender - MTG Card versions
Eager Cadet - MTG Card versions
Savannah Lions - Collectors' Edition (CED)
Benalish Hero - Fourth Edition (4ED)
Icatian Infantry - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Icatian Scout - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Icatian Javelineers - Masters Edition II (ME2)
Kjeldoran Warrior - Ice Age (ICE)
Trade Caravan - Homelands (HML)
Honor Guard - Stronghold (STH)
Volunteer Militia - Portal Second Age (P02)
Nomads en-Kor - World Championship Decks 1998 (WC98)
Soul Warden - Historic Anthology 1 (HA1)
Resistance Fighter - Classic Sixth Edition (6ED)
Honorable Scout - Planeshift (PLS)
Devoted Caretaker - Odyssey (ODY)
Faerie Guidemother // Gift of the Fae - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Kor Duelist - Wizards Play Network 2009 (PWP09)
Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Mother of Runes - The List (PLST)
Daru Mender - Legions (LGN)
Eager Cadet - Eighth Edition (8ED)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Children of Korlis MTG card by a specific set like Time Spiral and Time Spiral Remastered, 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 Children of Korlis and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Children of Korlis Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2006-10-06 and 2021-03-19. Illustrated by Quinton Hoover.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12006-10-06Time SpiralTSP 82003normalblackQuinton Hoover
22021-03-19Time Spiral RemasteredTSR 142015normalblackQuinton Hoover

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Children of Korlis has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-03-19 If your life total becomes 0 or less, you’ll lose the game before you can activate the ability of Children of Korlis.
2021-03-19 The life you gain is based on the total amount of life you lost, not the difference in your life total from when the turn started. For example, if you lose 5 life and gain 3 life before activating the ability, the ability will cause you to gain 5 life, not 2.

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