What it does
Cumulative upkeep is an upkeep trigger that gets more expensive over time. At the beginning of your upkeep, you put an "age counter" on the permanent, then pay the cost once for each age counter on it. If you don't pay, you sacrifice the permanent. So the first upkeep costs once, the second costs twice, the third costs three times, and so on—it snowballs fast.
The big nuance: the counters never go away, and you pay based on the total number of age counters, not just the newest one. People also forget it's a "may" pay—you choose whether to pay, but failing to pay means sacrifice, not just skipping the effect. The cost can be mana, life, sacrificing other things, or discarding, depending on the card.
In Commander, these are powerful early but become unsustainable. Plan to win or replace them quickly, since the escalating cost makes long-term value cards like Glacial Chasm or Mystic Remora self-limiting—often intentionally, as a built-in balancing clock.
Iconic cards with Cumulative upkeep
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