First printed in Core Set 2019 (2018)
Instant
You gain 1 life. Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the amount of life you gained this turn.
That feeling of something on your chest is usually sleep paralysis. Occasionally, it's something else.
- Illustrated by
- Igor Kieryluk
Legality
- Legal in
- Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, Tiny Leaders, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Competitive Brawl
- Not legal in
- Standard, Pauper, Future Standard, Alchemy, Penny Dreadful, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Pauper Commander, PreDH, Standard Brawl
Rulings (2)
- Nightmare’s Thirst counts how much life you’ve gained this turn, not how much your life total changed. For example, if you’ve gained 5 life and lost 8 before Nightmare’s Thirst resolves, Nightmare’s Thirst has you gain 1 more life, then it gives the target creature -6/-6.
- If the target creature is an illegal target when Nightmare’s Thirst tries to resolve, the spell doesn’t resolve. You won’t gain 1 life.
Prices
MTGO price: 0.003 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 2 Nov 2026).