Hmm, although the 1 life seems quite small, maybe this will be more useful with the new phyrexian mana symbols? Almost like adding one and a half mana to your mana pool. XD
I really love the art on this card! And the flavor text seems cool too.
I wish i could have got one from the Besieged game day tournament...
4/5
Minus_Prime
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(7 votes)
It's okay, Marble Chalice.. I still think about you sometimes.
MrBarrelRoll
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Seems odd that one of the few remaining Mirran relics is great at powering out Phyrexian mana...
Atali
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
@ jsttu This card (with the unused Mirrodin Pure expansion symbol) and Suture Priest were special promotional cards at the Mirrodin Besieged game day for the top faction-aligned decks, in much the same way that Peace Strider and Pierce Strider were special promotional cards at the Scars of Mirrodin game day. The game day version is not exactly the same, due to the unique expansion symbol, but there are in fact players with this card out there right now.
jsttu
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@Fert12334: This wasn't at the besieged game day tournament unless there was some promo i am unaware of. This is a New Phyrexia card, and consequently hasn't even been released to the public yet. Edit: Thanks Atali, i retract my previous paragraph.
About the card, i think it is flavorful and nostalgic, reminding us of the previous cycle of talismans, but i do not really like it that much. There are a lot of cards like Darksteel Ingot that have the same CMC but for the price of not getting the one life you get any color of mana, allowing both mana ramping and fixing. While this does somewhat of the same, giving you half a phyrexian mana, it just does not seem like it is the best. Once i get my hands on a few to draft with i will reevaluate it, but from just looking at it, only 3/5 at best.
majinara
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(4 votes)
It's cute, but I doubt I will ever play it. It's just not worth 3 mana. It accelerates only on turn 4, and only with a single colorless mana. And the lifegain is barely noticable as well. 1/5
TPmanW
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Handy in limited versus aggro or in any extended match but yah, the 3 cmc really kills it.
Lavrant
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
This would have been a more interesting card back in the days of mana burn. Not better, but more interesting.
mflanaga
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Don't shun this card, it helped lessen the pain of life cost spells such as Noxious Revival, Act of Aggression, and Porcelain Legionnaire at the prerelease. I was in and all three of those cards helped quite a bit. It may not be constructed worthy, but I guarantee you will enjoy the lifegain plus mana every turn. Note that it can't be 'killed' like myr can with damage or toughness lowering. Give it a shot, sideboard it out if you're up against total infect, otherwise enjoy it.
rinoh20
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
i love how with this card the 1 life is a after thougth. "heres some mana. eh why not. take some health and get out. just go."
scumbling1
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
It's hard to justify playing a mana stone that cost three and only taps for . If I'm playing casual, I'd rather use the added acceleration of Worn Powerstone: the extra speed will make up for the absence of life gain.
Gamma_Guy
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
This thing actually helped a lot at the release for me. I won one game because I imprinted this on Prototype Portal, which paid for itself after 3 turns. A couple turns later I got Unwinder Clock out, and got two out per round. This let me live safely until I Red Sun's Zenith'd my opponent for 20 (using mana from my 20+ talismans).
AngelPhoenix
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
It's a bit slow, but a run a couple of these in my casual Myr deck (already quite scary) and it's nice to have a mana boost, and a life boost in one place. Really, it's exaclty what my deck needed. 3.5/5
Rufus_D
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Use in an Ageless Entity deck, where you need the mana ramping and periodic lifegain
BastianQoU
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@Gamma_Guy: I'm just a little curious how you managed to get Red Sun's Zenith at the New Phyrexian pre-release. As far as I'm aware, they didn't give out Besieged cards in the tourney..
Paleopaladin
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Underrated. Not only is the life-gain a mana-source for your phyrexian mana spells, but it makes your ajani's pridemate stronger too. With the soul sisters decks having lost the warden a while ago and looking at losing the attendant pretty soon, this is a very solid pick.
For red attrition decks? Accelerates your mana and gains you life so you can stay ahead of the damage you are throwing at all players. If all you need is mana, this is not the right card. Everflowing Chalice blows this out of the water on that count. If all you need is colorless lifegain, your choices are severely limited as artifacts don't get anything terribly powerful. This should be near the top of your list, along with Elixir of Immortality.
Sonicjosh
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I took my four Ajani's Mantra out of my Ajani's Pridemate deck and replaced them with this. It costs one more than Mantra, but I also get the mana back the next turn. I also forget about it less because you actually have to tap it, I had forgotten about Mantra too many times because it just sits there and if you don't think about it during your upkeep, you don't get your life.
OmegaSerris
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Seems no one noticed (or at least commented) this is a throw back to the old Talisman cycle of old Mirrodin:
This even syncs well with them, like many of the new Mirrodin cards do with their old counterparts.
RikerBlake
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The number of people who knows the word inviolate and compleat has more than doubled because of Scars of Mirrodin.
Cloudchaser.Kestrel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I so want to make some kind of infinity combo out of this . . . .Voltaic key if only you didn't have to tap . . .
DritzD27
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
With the Drogskol Reaver that is coming out this will read "T: Add one to your mana pool. You gain one life. Draw a card." As long as it is on the battlefield of course.
Dolorosa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
It's, like, FREE MANA!
Yeah, this card isn't so good. There's a reason the best mana ramps like Llanowar Elves or even the Mox's are turn 1's. At turn 3, your chance at a "strong head start" has kind of passed. I mean, more mana is always good, no matter the turn, but completely throwing out turn 3 for just one extra colorless for the rest of the game (give or take, 2 more turns or so) just ain't worth it.
DragonLord132
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
An artifact mana boost that gives you life? What's not to love!?! And you can make it cheaper with Etherium Sculptor.
DoragonShinzui
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Probably my favorite Mirran card of the set, next to perhaps Jor Kadeen. To perfectly designed. Yes, it's sub-par ramp for the cost, but it's way ahead of the curve on the lifegain side of things. Plus, as a common, and as a perfect throwback to the old Talisman cycle, it's just an overall smartly designed card.
alphagprime
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is better than its average rating. For pieces to use with this look at:
Ajani Goldmane's ultimate. This hits the table in time for it to power out the planeswalker and start making positive impacts on your life total. Ajani's Pridemate, with this card it isn't at all inconvenient that it hits the table the turn after the Pridemates as its life gain doesn't impact the Pridemates until after they hit the table. This card now reads "+1 colorless mana, +1 life, +1/+1 counter". Pack this up with Ajani's Mantra and the next card for 3 +1/+1 counters per turn! Chalice of Life feeds well off of any life gain. While it could be said that it benefits more from single large boosts, when combo'd up with any of the above mentioned cards the Chalice becomes a second or third win condition to Ajani and his Pridemates.
TastetheJace
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
A very underrated card. Lifegain is usually chuckled at and rightfully so, but this can really widen the gap in an attrition war. Far too often I've seen a pair of these decide who wins the big money that night, and who doesn't. As the minutes drone on and on in a match where it's knuckles hitting knuckles, this card will pay off in it's mana cost, and more importantly, its card slot.
drpvfx
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
"Act of creation" my ass, Elspeth! Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice this missing from the front of my Jetta when you returned it?
This thing is more useful than it may initially seem- Incremental lifegain like this can really add up, especially when you're using it to power a Forcefield ;)
This thing is a real sleeper. It's worth considering in a deck that's not too colour intensive, as though it's not the most efficient of mana boosters, the consistent lifegain combined creates something that you will just find ridiculously useful.
Once fought a guy who got one of these out early on. As the match progressed he just had a significantly greater life total than me and it really staggered a lot of what I was doing.
I'd say people should chuck this in a typical green deck, despite them having the best ramp. Curve wise turn one you tend to throw down a Forest and something like Llanowar Elf, turn two throw down a second forest and this.
Seriously, you'll come to love it.
Tynansdtm
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Come on guys, this card is so good that they named the standard deck "Pristine Control" after it.
ParishInquisitor
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
for an artifact that has" : add to your mana pool" isn't amazing; heck, it's not really even average. But the life-gain? That's what makes it not only playable, but good. That extra couple of life points can tip a close game.
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ironic that the lifegain is often used to offset Phyrexian mana costs.
Comments (38)
I really love the art on this card! And the flavor text seems cool too.
I wish i could have got one from the Besieged game day tournament...
4/5
This card (with the unused Mirrodin Pure expansion symbol) and Suture Priest were special promotional cards at the Mirrodin Besieged game day for the top faction-aligned decks, in much the same way that Peace Strider and Pierce Strider were special promotional cards at the Scars of Mirrodin game day.
The game day version is not exactly the same, due to the unique expansion symbol, but there are in fact players with this card out there right now.
About the card, i think it is flavorful and nostalgic, reminding us of the previous cycle of talismans, but i do not really like it that much. There are a lot of cards like Darksteel Ingot that have the same CMC but for the price of not getting the one life you get any color of mana, allowing both mana ramping and fixing. While this does somewhat of the same, giving you half a phyrexian mana, it just does not seem like it is the best. Once i get my hands on a few to draft with i will reevaluate it, but from just looking at it, only 3/5 at best.
1/5
I'm just a little curious how you managed to get Red Sun's Zenith at the New Phyrexian pre-release. As far as I'm aware, they didn't give out Besieged cards in the tourney..
If all you need is mana, this is not the right card. Everflowing Chalice blows this out of the water on that count.
If all you need is colorless lifegain, your choices are severely limited as artifacts don't get anything terribly powerful. This should be near the top of your list, along with Elixir of Immortality.
Talisman of Dominance
Talisman of Impulse
Talisman of Indulgence
Talisman of Progress
Talisman of Unity
This even syncs well with them, like many of the new Mirrodin cards do with their old counterparts.
Yeah, this card isn't so good. There's a reason the best mana ramps like Llanowar Elves or even the Mox's are turn 1's. At turn 3, your chance at a "strong head start" has kind of passed. I mean, more mana is always good, no matter the turn, but completely throwing out turn 3 for just one extra colorless for the rest of the game (give or take, 2 more turns or so) just ain't worth it.
And you can make it cheaper with Etherium Sculptor.
Ajani Goldmane's ultimate. This hits the table in time for it to power out the planeswalker and start making positive impacts on your life total.
Ajani's Pridemate, with this card it isn't at all inconvenient that it hits the table the turn after the Pridemates as its life gain doesn't impact the Pridemates until after they hit the table. This card now reads "+1 colorless mana, +1 life, +1/+1 counter". Pack this up with Ajani's Mantra and the next card for 3 +1/+1 counters per turn!
Chalice of Life feeds well off of any life gain. While it could be said that it benefits more from single large boosts, when combo'd up with any of the above mentioned cards the Chalice becomes a second or third win condition to Ajani and his Pridemates.
Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice this missing from the front of my Jetta when you returned it?
This thing is more useful than it may initially seem-
Incremental lifegain like this can really add up,
especially when you're using it to power a Forcefield ;)
It works great in my Bruna, Light of Alabaster deck-
the synergy with the aforementioned Forcefield or Drogskol Reaver are quite useful.
Once fought a guy who got one of these out early on. As the match progressed he just had a significantly greater life total than me and it really staggered a lot of what I was doing.
I'd say people should chuck this in a typical green deck, despite them having the best ramp. Curve wise turn one you tend to throw down a Forest and something like Llanowar Elf, turn two throw down a second forest and this.
Seriously, you'll come to love it.
*) Pristine Talisman + Oloro, Ageless Ascetic + Mind Over Matter
//infinite life
*) Pristine Talisman + Voltaic Construct + Mana Reflection/Training Grounds + March of the Machines/Ashnod's Transmogrant/Toymaker