First printed in Zendikar (2009)
All 6 prints
Log in to choose your favorite print: the site shows it in your decks, in the search and in the simulator.
Enchantment
At the beginning of each end step, if an opponent lost 2 or more life this turn, you may put a quest counter on this enchantment. (Damage causes loss of life.)
Whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, if this enchantment has three or more quest counters on it, you may have that player lose 2 life. If you do, you gain 2 life.
- Illustrated by
- Adi Granov
Legality
- Legal in
- Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, Penny Dreadful, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, PreDH, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Competitive Brawl
- Not legal in
- Standard, Pioneer, Pauper, Future Standard, Alchemy, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Pauper Commander, Standard Brawl
Rulings (5)
- Bloodchief Ascension's second ability doesn't behave like a leaves-the-battlefield triggered ability, since the card put into an opponent's graveyard may come from anywhere. If a Bloodchief Ascension with three quest counters on it and a permanent an opponent owns are destroyed at the same time, for example, the game will not "look back in time" at the game state, and Bloodchief Ascension's second ability won't trigger.
- Bloodchief Ascension's first ability checks only whether life was lost. It doesn't care whether life was also gained. For example, if an opponent lost 4 life and gained 6 life during the turn, that player will have a higher life total than they started the turn with — but Bloodchief Ascension's first ability will still trigger.
- For the first ability to trigger, a single opponent must have lost 2 life. Two opponents each losing 1 life won't cause it to trigger. It will trigger a maximum of once per turn, no matter how many opponents have lost 2 or more life.
- Bloodchief Ascension's first ability has an "intervening 'if' clause." It won't trigger at all unless an opponent has already lost 2 or more life by the time the end step begins.
- Bloodchief Ascension's first ability checks how much life was lost by each opponent over the course of the entire turn, even if Bloodchief Ascension wasn't on the battlefield the whole time.
Prices
MTGO price: 0.006 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 1 Nov 2026).
Combos
5 combos, the most popular first:
- Infinite mill, Near-infinite lifegain…: Bloodchief Ascension + Mindcrank
- Infinite mill, Near-infinite lifegain…: Bloodchief Ascension + The Master of Lake-town
- Your opponents mill cards instead of drawing them, Lock: Bloodchief Ascension + Zur's Weirding
- Infinite mill, Near-infinite lifegain…: Bloodchief Ascension + Famished Paladin + Hair-Strung Koto
- Infinite mill, Near-infinite lifegain…: Bloodchief Ascension + Hair-Strung Koto + Lurking Roper
