Lily Bowen wants a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn. It also suits a deck that gains life over and over and gets rewarded for it.
Mana cost
Green ()
Power / toughness0 / 0
RarityRare
Vigilance
Lily Bowen enters with two +1/+1 counters on it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, double the number of +1/+1 counters on Lily Bowen if its power is 16 or less. Otherwise, remove all but one +1/+1 counter from it, then you gain 1 life for each +1/+1 counter removed this way.
Picked for what they do in Lily Bowen's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Lily Bowen's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
explain how Lily Bowen works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary
Wizards of the Coast8 Mar 2024
To double the number of +1/+1 counters on Lily Bowen, put a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number it already has. Replacement effects that modify the number of counters being placed on creatures you control, such as the effect of Branching Evolution, apply to this ability as normal.
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryGPlayers write colors as letters: G for green.+1/+1 Counters+1/+1 counter decks put small markers on their creatures that make each one permanently bigger, and keep adding more every turn. Each +1/+1 counter adds one to a creature's power (the damage it deals) and toughness (the damage it can take).Open the +1/+1 Counters pageCounter DoublerDoubles the counters being placed on your permanents: +1/+1, loyalty, charge, any kind. Counters here are the markers placed on cards, not counterspells. Doubling Season, Branching EvolutionOpen the Counter Doubler pageCounter ManipulationAdds, moves or multiplies counters already on permanents. It works on any kind (+1/+1, loyalty, charge), so the same card can serve very different decks. Karn's Bastion, Doubling SeasonOpen the Counter Manipulation pageLifegain EngineGains you life again and again, on a trigger that keeps happening, rather than once. You start at 40 life in Commander, so life is something to spend as well as a cushion, and a card like this sets off every card that rewards you for gaining it. Soul Warden, Trostani, Selesnya's VoiceOpen the Lifegain Engine pageLifegainLifegain decks gain life over and over and use cards that reward each gain with extra cards, creatures or damage to opponents. Everyone starts at 40 life in Commander, so the extra life also keeps you safe while you set up.Open the Lifegain pageCounter EngineAdds +1/+1 counters over and over rather than once. A counter here is a small permanent marker that raises a creature's power and toughness for good. It is not a counterspell, which is a different thing entirely. Something that adds them every turn makes your whole board bigger and keeps it that way. Hardened Scales, Corpsejack MenaceOpen the Counter Engine pageLife GainGains you life, once or over and over. Soul Warden, The Great Henge. In Commander life is something to spend, not just a cushion, and many of these cards also set off others that reward gaining life.Open the Life Gain page
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