Get a Life MTG Card


Get a Life - Unglued
Mana cost
Converted mana cost1
RarityUncommon
TypeInstant
Released1998-08-11
Set symbol
Set nameUnglued
Set codeUGL
Number4
Frame1997
LayoutNormal
BorderSilver
Illustred byMelissa A. Benson
Un-set :-)This card is part of an Un-set

Key Takeaways

  1. Strategic life manipulation with Get a Life can counter aggressive plays and enable powerful comebacks.
  2. The card’s instant speed flexibility allows responsive tactics to changing game states.
  3. Demands precise mana and presents a high mana cost, which can impact game tempo.

Text of card

Target player and each of his or her teammates exchange life totals.

Gimme five! (Or whatever you got.)


Card Pros

Card Advantage: With Get a Life, you can often gain an edge through strategic life exchange mechanisms, shoring up your position against aggressive decks while setting the stage for powerful late-game comebacks.

Resource Acceleration: This card can serve as a catalyst for strategies that hinge on life total. It primes various MTG strategies that benefit from high life counts, offering an indirect form of resource acceleration that many decks can exploit.

Instant Speed: The ability to play Get a Life at instant speed offers flexibility in response to the evolving battlefield, allowing for unexpected turns of events that can disrupt an opponent’s tactics and safeguard your standing in the duel.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Get a Life requires players to discard a card in addition to casting, presenting a potential setback for those looking to maintain card advantage or when they’re clinging to key pieces of a strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands a precise combination of mana types for its activation. If your mana base isn’t optimized to produce the necessary colors consistently, this could disrupt your game flow or prevent you from casting the card altogether.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: At a cost that’s slightly above the curve for its effects, Get a Life might not be the most mana-efficient choice when compared to other life-gaining alternatives. Especially in fast-paced games, the mana investment could potentially slow down your momentum.


Reasons to Include Get a Life in Your Collection

Versatility: Get a Life offers flexibility being able to play both offensive and defensive roles. With its ability to manipulate life totals, it fits into a variety of strategies, from life-gain decks to those aiming to exploit life total changes for game-winning effects.

Combo Potential: This card holds potential to be a linchpin in several combos, working alongside cards that trigger off life gain or life loss, amplifying the impact of your strategy and turning the tide of the game in unexpected ways.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where life totals can become a race, Get a Life has the chops to emerge as an ace up your sleeve. Not only can it extend your survivability, but it can also disrupt the equilibrium your opponent is trying to establish, making it a tactical inclusion in your arsenal.


How to beat Get a Life

Get a Life presents itself as a quirky challenge to deck builders and players alike in the MTG landscape. Crafting a strategy to overcome this card draws parallels with navigating effects like Lich’s Mastery or Platinum Angel, where the conventional methods of victory are disrupted. To surpass Get a Life, adaptation is the cornerstone. Cards that force card draw like Forced Fruition, or those that prohibit life gain such as Tainted Remedy, become unsung heroes in your arsenal. Additionally, mechanics like infect or alternative win conditions featured in Thassa’s Oracle circumvent the need to adjust life totals entirely.

Analogous to circumventing tricky enchantments, players might consider a robust array of disenchantment spells or universal removal like Return to Nature or Bedevil, respectively. Adeptly timing these can dismantle the crux of what makes Get a Life a potential roadblock. Furthermore, understanding and mitigating your own life changes, cards like Angel’s Grace, offer conciliatory countermeasures.

In essence, while Get a Life casts a unique spell over the game’s victory conditions, resourceful players who diversify their strategies and maintain a vigilant deck composition can outmaneuver the constraints it imposes.


Cards like Get a Life

Get a Life stands out in the Magic: The Gathering arena of life gain cards. Bearing similarity to popular favorites like Chaplain’s Blessing, Get a Life provides a substantial boost to a player’s life total. Yet, unlike Chaplain’s Blessing, which grants 5 life for merely one white mana, Get a Life adds an interactive twist allowing players to potentially gain more life by choosing an opponent to gain life as well.

Similarly, Heroes’ Reunion is another life gain staple offering a significant 7 life points for two specific mana—one green and one white. This card forgoes any player interaction but offers a higher life bump per mana spent compared to Get a Life. Another related card is Feed the Clan, which ups the ante with a possible 10 life gain if you have a creature with power 4 or greater, adding a conditional aspect to the life gain strategy.

Although each card has unique attributes, Get a Life’s potential social play dynamic provides a strategic edge that can influence the board’s politics, making it a noteworthy competitor in the life gain category of Magic: The Gathering.

Chaplain's Blessing - MTG Card versions
Heroes' Reunion - MTG Card versions
Feed the Clan - MTG Card versions
Chaplain's Blessing - MTG Card versions
Heroes' Reunion - MTG Card versions
Feed the Clan - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Get a Life by color, type and mana cost

Death Ward - MTG Card versions
Blaze of Glory - MTG Card versions
Healing Salve - MTG Card versions
Swords to Plowshares - MTG Card versions
Purelace - MTG Card versions
Righteousness - MTG Card versions
Indestructible Aura - MTG Card versions
Glyph of Life - MTG Card versions
Warning - MTG Card versions
Heal - MTG Card versions
Anoint - MTG Card versions
Rally the Troops - MTG Card versions
Enlightened Tutor - MTG Card versions
Pollen Remedy - MTG Card versions
Sacred Rites - MTG Card versions
Pay No Heed - MTG Card versions
Path to Exile - MTG Card versions
Piety Charm - MTG Card versions
Hallow - MTG Card versions
Pure Intentions - MTG Card versions
Death Ward - MTG Card versions
Blaze of Glory - MTG Card versions
Healing Salve - MTG Card versions
Swords to Plowshares - MTG Card versions
Purelace - MTG Card versions
Righteousness - MTG Card versions
Indestructible Aura - MTG Card versions
Glyph of Life - MTG Card versions
Warning - MTG Card versions
Heal - MTG Card versions
Anoint - MTG Card versions
Rally the Troops - MTG Card versions
Enlightened Tutor - MTG Card versions
Pollen Remedy - MTG Card versions
Sacred Rites - MTG Card versions
Pay No Heed - MTG Card versions
Path to Exile - MTG Card versions
Piety Charm - MTG Card versions
Hallow - MTG Card versions
Pure Intentions - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

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

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