Starscape Cleric 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
Offspring(You may pay an additional
Complete guide
Starscape Cleric is a versatile Bat Cleric that turns every bit of life gain into a drain for your opponents. With its Offspring ability, you can double your draining power by creating a tiny but equally dangerous 1/1 copy. This card is a must-have for any deck looking to weaponize healing.
What It Does
Starscape Cleric has three distinct features: it is a 2/1 flyer that cannot block, it possesses the Offspring {2}{B} ability, and it triggers a drain effect. Whenever you gain life, each opponent loses 1 life. If you pay the optional Offspring cost when casting it, you get a 1/1 token copy that has the exact same abilities, effectively doubling the life loss for your opponents every time you heal.
How Offspring Resolves
When you cast Starscape Cleric, you decide whether to pay the extra {2}{B}. If you do, an 'enters' trigger goes on the stack once the Cleric successfully resolves and enters the battlefield. This trigger creates a 1/1 token copy. If the original Cleric is removed before this trigger resolves, you still get the token. Note that the token is not 'cast', and you cannot pay the Offspring cost multiple times to get more than one token.
Life Gain Triggers
The drain ability triggers once for every distinct life-gaining event. If you gain 5 life at once, it triggers once. However, if multiple creatures with Lifelink deal damage at the same time, each creature represents a separate event, triggering the Cleric (and its token) for each one. Remember, the Cleric cannot block, so its value lies entirely in its evasion and its triggered ability.
Common Mistakes
A common error is forgetting that the token copy also has the drain ability. If you have both the original and the token on the field, one life-gain event results in 2 life lost for each opponent. Also, keep in mind that the Offspring cost is a cast-time choice; you cannot choose to pay it later if the Cleric is already on the battlefield.
Interaction examples
Starscape Cleric
Blood ArtistWith Starscape Cleric and its 1/1 Offspring token on the battlefield, you have two instances of the drain ability. When a creature dies, Blood Artist triggers, causing you to gain 1 life. This single event triggers both Clerics. Each opponent loses 1 life from the original Cleric and another 1 life from the token, totaling 2 life lost per opponent.
Ornithopter of ParadiseTo cast Starscape Cleric with Offspring, you need a total of {3}{B}{B}. You can tap Ornithopter of Paradise to produce one of the required black mana. Once the spell resolves, the Cleric enters the battlefield, and its ability triggers to create the 1/1 token. Both the original and the token have Flying, making them hard to block, though neither can serve as a defender for you.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Starscape Cleric
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
If multiple creatures with lifelink you control deal combat damage at the same time, the damage dealt by each of those creatures is a separate life-gaining event and Starscape Cleric’s ability will trigger that many times.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
You can pay an offspring cost only once as you cast a spell with offspring. You can’t try to pay it multiple times to get more token copies.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #3· Wizards of the Coast
If the spell is countered, the offspring ability will not trigger, and no token will be created.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #4· Wizards of the Coast
If the spell resolves but the creature with offspring leaves the battlefield before the offspring ability resolves, you’ll still create a token copy of it.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #5· Wizards of the Coast
The token copies exactly what was printed on the original creature and nothing else, except it’s a 1/1 (unless that creature is copying something else; see below). It doesn’t copy whether that creature is tapped or untapped, whether it has any counters on it or Auras and Equipment attached to it, or any non-copy effects that have changed its types, color, or so on.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #6· Wizards of the Coast
In the rare case where the original creature is copying something else when the offspring ability resolves, the token enters as whatever that creature copied, except it’s a 1/1.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #7· Wizards of the Coast
Many creatures with offspring abilities have other abilities that refer to them as “this creature” rather than referring to them by name. This difference is for clarity purposes and does not change the function of any of these abilities.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #8· Wizards of the Coast
Any “enters” abilities of the copied creature will trigger when the token enters. Any “as [this creature] enters” or “[this creature] enters with” abilities of the copied creature will also work.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #9· Wizards of the Coast
The token created by the offspring ability isn’t “cast”, so abilities that trigger when a creature spell is cast won’t trigger for the copy.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #10· Wizards of the Coast
In the rare case where the creature doesn’t have the offspring ability when it enters, the ability won’t trigger even if you paid the offspring cost.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Exquisite Blood + Starscape Cleric
- 1Gain life.
- 2Starscape Cleric triggers, causing each opponent to lose 1 life.
- 3Exquisite Blood triggers for each opponent that lost life.
- 4Resolve a Exquisite Blood trigger, gaining 1 life.
- 5Repeat from step 2.
Starscape Cleric + Bloodthirsty Conqueror
- 1Gain life.
- 2Starscape Cleric triggers, causing each opponent to lose 1 life.
- 3Bloodthirsty Conqueror triggers for each opponent that lost life.
- 4Resolve a Bloodthirsty Conqueror trigger, gaining 1 life.
- 5Repeat from step 2.
Related cards and tokens
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Starscape Cleric
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.