Tivash wants a deck that gains life over and over and gets rewarded for it. It also suits a deck that makes an army of small creatures and attacks with all of them.
Mana cost
Black ()
Power / toughness4 / 4
RarityRare
Lifelink
At the beginning of your end step, if you gained life this turn, you may pay X life, where X is the amount of life you gained this turn. If you do, create an X/X black Demon creature token with flying.
Picked for what they do in Tivash's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Tivash'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 Tivash 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 Coast16 Apr 2021
Tivash’s ability counts the total amount of life gained without considering any life you lost during that turn. For example, if you lost 3 life and gained 4 life earlier in the turn, you may pay 4 life to create a 4/4 Demon.
Wizards of the Coast16 Apr 2021
You can’t pay less life than the amount of life you gained to create a smaller but less harmful Demon.
Wizards of the Coast16 Apr 2021
You need to gain life before the end step begins for the last ability to trigger.
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 glossaryBPlayers write colors as letters: B for black.LifegainLifegain 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 pageLifegain PayoffTurns life gain into an actual effect: draining opponents, drawing cards, or growing creatures each time you gain life. Without one of these, gaining life mostly just delays things. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Sanguine BondOpen the Lifegain Payoff 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 pageTokensToken decks fill the battlefield with small creatures made by their cards, then attack with all of them or make them all bigger at once. A token is a creature (or other object) that a card creates, not a card from your deck.Open the Tokens pageToken EngineMakes tokens again and again rather than once. A token is a creature or other permanent created by a card, with no card of its own. Something that makes one token gives you a body; something that makes them every turn gives you a board you can keep rebuilding after it is cleared. Grave Titan, Bitterblossom, OphiomancerOpen the Token Engine pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker pageLife Pay EngineCards that let you pay life instead of mana, or pay life for an extra effect, treating your life total as something to spend.Open the Life Pay Engine page
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