Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root

Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root card image

Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root: Legendary Creature - Vampire Warlock, Strixhaven: School of Mages. Prices and printings on Mana Grove.

Mana cost
{B}
Mana value
1
Type
Legendary Creature - Vampire Warlock
Colour identity
Black and green (BG)
Power / toughness
1/1
Rarity
Rare
Set
Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX)
Released
2021-04-23
Collector number
161
Artist
Jesper Ejsing
Commander rank
7,680 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Keywords
Lifelink, Menace
Commander
Can be your commander

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About Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root

Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare black legendary creature from Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX), an expansion set released in April 2021. It is collector number 161 in that set, with art by Jesper Ejsing. It costs {B} (one black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 1. It is a 1/1 creature. Its colour identity is black and green. It is legal in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Historic, Timeless, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful. It has been printed in 4 sets, from The List (2020) to Strixhaven: School of Mages (2021). It can be your commander. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.73 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-12).

Card text

Menace, lifelink

If a nontoken creature an opponent controls would die, exile it instead. When you do, you may pay {2}. If you do, create a 1/1 black and green Pest creature token with "When this token dies, you gain 1 life."

Market price

Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $0.73 (as of 2026-11-12).

The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.

Format legality

Legality of Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

PioneerLegal
ModernLegal
LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
CommanderLegal
Duel CommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
BrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
TimelessLegal
GladiatorLegal
Penny DreadfulLegal

Other printings of Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root

Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root has been printed in 4 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.

PrintingRarityYear
The List (PLST) #STX-161Rare2023
Magic Online Promos (PRM) #90236Rare2021
Strixhaven: School of Mages Promos (PSTX) #161sRare2021
Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX) #333Rare2021

Official rulings

Six official rulings apply to Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root, newest first.

  • If you gain life at the same time a creature you control is dealt lethal damage, that creature dies before Lisette’s ability can put a +1/+1 counter on it.
  • If a nontoken creature an opponent controls would die, and both Valentin and another effect are trying to exile it instead, that opponent chooses which effect to apply. If Valentin’s effect ends up not applying because of this choice, the triggered ability that allows you to pay {2} won’t trigger, even if the creature card ends up in exile.
  • If you gain an amount of life “for each” of something, that life is gained as one event and the ability will trigger only once.
  • You may only pay {1} once for each life gain event.
  • An ability that triggers “whenever you gain life” triggers just once for each life-gaining event, no matter how much life you gain.
  • Each creature with lifelink dealing combat damage causes a separate life-gaining event. For example, if two creatures you control with lifelink deal combat damage at the same time, a “whenever you gain life” ability will trigger twice. However, if a single creature you control with lifelink deals combat damage to multiple creatures, players, and/or planeswalkers at the same time (perhaps because it has trample or was blocked by more than one creature), the ability will trigger only once.

Similar cards

Other creature cards with a black and green colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.

In these precons

Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root is in the decklist of these preconstructed Commander decks.

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