Ambition's Cost

Ambition's Cost was introduced in the 2016 Duel Decks: Nissa vs. Ob Nixilis, a product designed to showcase the long-standing rivalry between the two iconic Magic: The Gathering Planeswalkers. This specific set was crafted to offer a ready-to-play experience, pitting Nissa Revane’s green-aligned nature magic against Ob Nixilis’s black-aligned demonic power, with cards like Ambition's Cost serving as thematic tools to represent the treacherous bargains inherent to the latter’s narrative arc.

The card features artwork by Zezhou Chen, whose illustration captures the grim essence of the spell’s effect: drawing cards at the expense of life. Chen’s aesthetic choices emphasize the dark, visceral nature of black mana in the game's color pie, aligning with the broader creative direction of the Duel Decks line. The card is a functional reprint of an earlier design, chosen for this set specifically because its mechanic perfectly mirrored the ruthless, self-sacrificial ethos of the demon Ob Nixilis.