Parasitic Impetus is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Enchant creature Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and is goaded. (It attacks each combat if able and attacks a player other than you if able.) Whenever enchanted creature attacks, its controller loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
Complete guide
Parasitic Impetus is a disruptive black Aura that forces your opponents to attack with their best creatures while slowly draining their life force. By turning a threat into a forced aggressor, you ensure the board stays busy while you reap the rewards of their combat.
The Power of Goad
When you attach Parasitic Impetus to a creature, that creature gets +2/+2 and becomes goaded. This means the creature must attack during each combat phase if able, and it must attack a player other than you if possible. This is a powerful political tool in multiplayer games, as it keeps the creature's damage directed at your rivals rather than your own life total.
Life Drain Mechanics
The enchantment features a triggered ability: whenever the enchanted creature attacks, its controller loses 2 life and you gain 2 life. Importantly, this trigger occurs regardless of who the creature is attacking. Even if the creature is forced to attack you (for instance, if you are the only opponent left), the drain still happens. As the owner of the Aura, you are always the one gaining the life.
Understanding Constraints
Goad only forces a creature to attack if it is legally able to do so. If the creature is tapped, affected by a 'summoning sickness' equivalent, or if there is a cost to attack (like Propaganda), the controller is not forced to pay that cost or attack. However, if they can attack another opponent without paying a cost, they must do so. If you happen to be the controller of the enchanted creature, you will both lose 2 life and gain 2 life when it attacks.
When to Play It
This card is best utilized against medium-sized creatures that your opponents want to keep back as blockers. By giving them +2/+2, you make them more threatening to your other opponents, while the life drain ensures that the creature's controller is punished for every swing. It is especially effective in Commander games to break board stalls.
Interaction examples
Black Market ConnectionsIf your opponent uses Black Market Connections to create a 3/2 Shapeshifter token, you can enchant that token with Parasitic Impetus. On their next turn, the token becomes a 5/4 and is goaded. When they move to combat, they are forced to attack one of your other opponents. As soon as the token is declared as an attacker, the trigger goes on the stack: your opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life, adding to the life loss they are already sustaining from their own enchantment.
Phyrexian ArenaImagine an opponent has a Phyrexian Arena in play, drawing extra cards at the cost of life. By placing Parasitic Impetus on their strongest creature, you accelerate their clock. Every turn they draw a card (losing 1 life), and every turn they are forced to attack (losing another 2 life). You effectively turn their card-draw engine and their board presence into a combined liability that drains their life total while padding yours.
If you enchant your own creature with Parasitic Impetus to benefit from the +2/+2 buff, the goad effect still applies, but since it says 'attacks a player other than you if able,' and you cannot attack yourself, the restriction is moot. However, when your creature attacks, you are both the controller of the creature and the controller of the Aura. You will lose 2 life and then gain 2 life. Your life total will remain the same, but this can trigger other abilities that care about life gain or life loss.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Parasitic Impetus
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Being goaded isn't an ability the creature has. Once it's been goaded, it must attack as detailed above even if it loses all abilities.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
If, during a player's declare attackers step, a creature that player controls that's been goaded is tapped, is affected by a spell or ability that says it can't attack, or hasn't been under that player's control continuously since the turn began (and doesn't have haste), then it doesn't attack. If there's a cost associated with having a creature attack a player, its controller isn't forced to pay that cost, so it doesn't have to attack that player.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
If a creature you control has been goaded by multiple opponents, it must attack one of your opponents that hasn't goaded it, as that fulfills the maximum number of goad requirements. If a creature you control has been goaded by each of your opponents, the creature must attack an opponent (rather than a planeswalker or battle), but you choose which opponent it attacks.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
Attacking with a goaded creature doesn't cause it to stop being goaded. If there is an additional combat phase that turn, or if another player gains control of it before it stops being goaded, it must attack again if able.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
If the creature doesn't meet any of the above exceptions and can attack, it must attack a player other than the controller of the spell or ability that goaded it if able. If the creature can't attack any of those players but could otherwise attack, it must attack a planeswalker an opponent controls, a battle an opponent controls, or a player who goaded it.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
If you are the attacking creature's controller, you lose 2 life and gain 2 life. You won't lose the game if your life total is 0 in between these two events.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
Parasitic Impetus causes you to gain life, not the attacking creature's controller.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Parasitic Impetus
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