Drain Life
Fifth Edition 156 • common
- Set
- Fifth Edition
- Collector number
- 156
- Rarity
- Common
- Mana cost
- X mana 1 generic mana black mana
- Type
- Sorcery
- Colors
- Black
- Artist
- Andrew Robinson
- Market price
- $0.34
What it does
Spend only black mana on X.
Drain Life deals X damage to any target. You gain life equal to the damage dealt, but not more life than the player's life total before the damage was dealt, the planeswalker's loyalty before the damage was dealt, or the creature's toughness.
Where you can play it
- StandardNot legal
- PioneerNot legal
- ModernNot legal
- LegacyLegal
- VintageLegal
- CommanderLegal
- PauperLegal
- BrawlNot legal
- HistoricNot legal
- TimelessNot legal
- Penny DreadfulNot legal
- OathbreakerLegal
Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. Card text via Scryfall. Not approved or endorsed by Wizards. As of the last catalogue refresh.
Where to find one
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Where it came from
Drain Life first appeared in the Alpha set of Magic: The Gathering in 1993, designed by Richard Garfield as a foundational black sorcery that encapsulated the game's theme of exchanging life points for power. By the time the card was reprinted in the 1997 Fifth Edition set, it had become a hallmark of black-aligned deck strategies, favored for its versatility as both a finishing move and a means of survival. The card was specifically positioned as an essential common that provided players with a reliable, scaling effect that rewarded careful resource management.
The Fifth Edition version of the card features iconic, evocative illustration by Andrew Robinson. Robinson’s aesthetic for the piece leaned into the dark, gothic fantasy roots of the game, utilizing high-contrast visuals to convey the draining of essence. While many iterations of the card exist across various sets, Robinson’s contribution is frequently cited by collectors for its grim, atmospheric quality that perfectly aligns with the card’s mechanical function of siphoning life from an opponent.
Generated by Pi, the collecto.rs collecting companion
Who's collecting this
Real cards collectors on collecto.rs who have this in their public collection.
About Drain Life
Drain Life is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. Fifth Edition 156 • common. Catalog data is sourced from Scryfall. No public cards collectors track this one yet — adding yours would make you the first on collecto.rs.
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Where does the Drain Life catalog entry come from?
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