Liliana's Caress MTG Card


Liliana's Caress - Magic 2011
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityUncommon
TypeEnchantment
Released2010-07-16
Set symbol
Set nameMagic 2011
Set codeM11
Number103
Frame2003
LayoutNormal
BorderBlack
Illustred bySteve Argyle

Key Takeaways

  1. Turns opponents’ discards into direct life loss, creating a psychological and resource advantage.
  2. Accelerates victory by synergizing with discard mechanics to increase damage output.
  3. Instant-speed interactions with Liliana’s Caress disrupt opponents and deal damage effectively.

Text of card

Whenever an opponent discards a card, that player loses 2 life.

"This might hurt less if you don't fight so hard. But I doubt it."


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Liliana’s Caress pressures your opponents by turning each discard into direct life loss, effectively giving you a psychological advantage as they weigh the cost of each card in hand against their life total. Over time, this can equate to a substantial advantage as opponents lose resources while you maintain your grip on the game.

Resource Acceleration: While Liliana’s Caress doesn’t directly produce mana or accelerate resources, it synergizes with cards that force opponents to discard, accelerating the path to victory. By integrating discard mechanics, you speed up the damage output, crippling opponents’ strategies and bringing the game to its conclusion faster.

Instant Speed: Although Liliana’s Caress isn’t an instant itself, its constant threat once on the battlefield dovetails with instant-speed discard spells. This allows you to disrupt your opponents’ plans during their turn, enforcing a discard and the subsequent loss of life instantly with your instant-speed interactions.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: In order to get value from Liliana’s Caress, your strategy has to force opponents to discard cards. This can be challenging if your deck isn’t specifically designed around discard mechanics or if your opponent has a way to keep a full hand.

Specific Mana Cost: Liliana’s Caress requires black mana, which makes it exclusive to decks running black or those that can manage a more complex mana base to accommodate multicolored decks. This necessitates careful deck building to ensure consistency in accessing the needed mana.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of 1B, Liliana’s Caress isn’t the most mana-efficient option available. Considering that the card itself doesn’t directly force a discard, you’ll need other cards to trigger its effect, potentially leading to a higher overall mana investment to inflict significant damage to your opponent.


Reasons to Include Liliana’s Caress in Your Collection

Versatility: Liliana’s Caress is a powerful enchantment that can be slotted into a variety of black decks. Its ability to deal damage whenever an opponent discards a card means it pairs well with numerous discard mechanics across multiple deck archetypes.

Combo Potential: The card shines in strategies focused on making opponents discard. Whether through targeted discard spells or wheel effects, which make all players discard and draw, Liliana’s Caress adds a punishing layer to these tactics that can quickly deplete an opponent’s life total.

Meta-Relevance: In metagames where players tend to have fuller hands, whether due to control decks or strategy games that prioritize card advantage, Liliana’s Caress becomes a significant threat. It can turn any card draw advantage your opponent has into a liability, applying pressure without the need to attack directly.


How to Beat Liliana’s Caress

Liliana’s Caress is an impactful enchantment within the MTG realm that can become quite a thorn in one’s side. This card sends a ripple through the game by inflicting damage every time an opponent discards a card. It’s akin to similar pain-inducing cards such as Megrim, although Liliana’s Caress does so at a lower mana cost, making it a faster threat.

To counter this card effectively, consider incorporating enchantment removal spells in your deck. Options such as Disenchant or Naturalize can be pivotal in taking Liliana’s Caress off the table. Managing your hand size and utilizing cards that grant you a choice when discarding can also mitigate the damage caused by this sinister enchantment. Furthermore, having cards that can shuffle your graveyard back into your library, like Elixir of Immortality, can help you maintain a robust defense against deck-discard strategies that aim to exploit Liliana’s Caress.

Strategizing around Liliana’s Caress requires a blend of immediate removal and long-term planning; hence, one must be prepared for both proactive and reactive plays. By fine-tuning your collection with a mix of these strategies, the adverse effects of Liliana’s Caress can be handled effectively, ensuring that your opponent’s leverage remains minimized.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering the clever intricacies of MTG thrives on strategic innovation and the refined use of potent cards. Liliana’s Caress, with its accelerated damage potential, exemplifies a powerful build-around card for those daring enough to explore the dynamics of discard strategies. Whether you aim to seize control of the game by depleting opponents’ life totals or to enhance your deck’s synergy, this enchantment is a formidable tool in your arsenal. Ready to dive deeper and refine your strategy? Immerse yourself in our comprehensive insights and expert tips to harness the full power of Liliana’s Caress and secure victory in your next duel.


Cards like Liliana's Caress

Liliana’s Caress is a notable enchantment in the vast landscape of MTG. It deals damage to your opponent every time they discard a card, reminiscent of the punishing mechanics of Megrim. While Megrim inflicts two damage per discarded card, just like Liliana’s Caress, the latter’s lower casting cost gives it an edge in faster-paced decks. Another similar card is Raiders’ Wake, which not only causes loss of life when an opponent discards but also includes the raid ability that can trigger additional discards during the attack phase.

Waste Not presents a different approach to discard-related benefits, providing multiple advantages depending on the card type the opponent discards. It does not directly damage opponents like Liliana’s Caress but gives you cards, mana, or creatures instead, offering more versatility. It’s a strategic choice that diversifies potential gameplay outcomes when compared to the consistent pressure applied by Liliana’s Caress.

In essence, Liliana’s Caress introduces a resource-efficient punishment to MTG player strategies focused on making opponents discard cards. The card’s strength lies in its ability to consistently chip away at an opponent’s life total, placing it competitively among other discard-themed enchantments within MTG.

Megrim - MTG Card versions
Raiders' Wake - MTG Card versions
Waste Not - MTG Card versions
Megrim - MTG Card versions
Raiders' Wake - MTG Card versions
Waste Not - MTG Card versions

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Deathgrip - MTG Card versions
Animate Dead - MTG Card versions
Blight - MTG Card versions
Seizures - MTG Card versions
Leshrac's Sigil - MTG Card versions
Lim-Dûl's Hex - MTG Card versions
Dance of the Dead - MTG Card versions
Dark Privilege - MTG Card versions
Enfeeblement - MTG Card versions
Oath of Ghouls - MTG Card versions
Despondency - MTG Card versions
Yawgmoth's Edict - MTG Card versions
Dying Wail - MTG Card versions
Insubordination - MTG Card versions
Mourning - MTG Card versions
Chains of Mephistopheles - MTG Card versions
Tribute to Horobi // Echo of Death's Wail - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Liliana's Caress MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2011, 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 Liliana's Caress and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Liliana's Caress has restrictions

FormatLegality
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2010-08-15 If an opponent discards multiple cards (due to a spell, an ability, or the action of discarding down to the maximum hand size during their cleanup step), Liliana’s Caress’s ability triggers that many times.

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