Lingering Phantom MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	6
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Spirit
Released	2018-04-27
Set symbol
Set name	Dominaria
Set code	DOM
Power	5
Toughness	4
Number	99
Frame	2015
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	YW Tang

Key Takeaways

Lingering Phantom’s recursion mechanic leverages historic spell casts, maintaining board presence without extra card investment.
The card demands significant black mana commitment, potentially restricting early gameplay and deck versatility.
Lingering Phantom’s enduring nature makes it a formidable addition for strategies around graveyard play in MTG.

Text of card

Whenever you cast a historic spell, you may pay . If you do, return Lingering Phantom from your graveyard to your hand. (Artifacts, legendaries, and Sagas are historic.)

"True power never dies, but lies awake, waiting for its name to be spoken." —*The Eldest Reborn*

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Lingering Phantom provides a recurring threat from the graveyard whenever you cast a historic spell, effectively giving you a means to maintain pressure on the opponent without sacrificing additional cards from your hand.

Resource Acceleration: While Lingering Phantom itself doesn’t directly accelerate your resources, its synergy with historic cards can indirectly lead to resource acceleration by encouraging you to play spells that may ramp your mana or provide other ways to advance your board state.

Instant Speed: Although Lingering Phantom operates at sorcery speed, its main strength comes from its ability to return to the battlefield during your turn, providing a persistent presence that can be planned for and executed with the certainty and strategic setup often associated with instant speed interactions.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The recursive ability of Lingering Phantom hinges on the player successfully discarding a card. This condition can at times be inhibitive, particularly in game scenarios where hand size is crucial and every card counts, as it may force players to lose vital resources to maintain the Phantom’s presence on the battlefield.

Specific Mana Cost: Lingering Phantom’s casting cost demands a heavy commitment to black mana, with a total cost of six mana including four black. This not only restricts it to decks with a significant black mana base but also can make it difficult to cast in the early to mid-game phases where mana availability is more limited.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of six mana, Lingering Phantom competes with many other high-impact cards in the same cost bracket. For decks focusing on efficiency and tempo, the Phantom’s cost can be too steep for the effect it provides, especially when other creatures or spells at a lower cost might contribute more immediately to winning the game.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Lingering Phantom’s ability to return from the graveyard makes it a resilient addition to decks that capitalize on self-mill strategies or those that frequently cycle through their graveyard. Its spectral nature fits supernatural themes and can adapt across various playstyles that embrace the undead.

Combo Potential: This card thrives in synergy with spells that require you to discard, as each instance can be used to bring the Phantom back to hand, ready to be cast again. The recurrence can be a powerful engine in decks designed around sacrificing creatures for greater gains.

Meta-Relevance: With graveyard mechanics often present in competitive play, Lingering Phantom holds its own. It offers a recurring threat that demands an answer, and in a meta where players are less equipped with exile effects, it can become a formidable and enduring presence on the battlefield.

How to beat

Lingering Phantom brings an interesting dynamic to Magic: The Gathering through its persistent ability to return from the graveyard. This becomes a cornerstone for deck strategies emphasizing graveyard interaction. However, in a matchup, disrupting this kind of strategy is key. Graveyard hate cards, such as Rest in Peace or Relic of Progenitus, can permanently remove Lingering Phantom from the game, disrupting your opponent’s plans.

Additionally, utilizing exile effects proves to be effective. Cards like Path to Exile offer a swift solution to the Phantom problem without triggering its recurring ability. In the realm of battling Lingering Phantom, instant speed removal is advantageous, leaving your opponent with less time to exploit their graveyard and setting up your next turn for a potential game-winning play.

Understanding how to counteract such resilient creatures is paramount for maintaining control of the game state. By integrating strategic removal cards into your deck and being vigilant of the opportune moments to play them, you can assure that Lingering Phantom won’t haunt the battlefield for long. This foresight empowers players to hold the line against strategies built around recurrence, propelling them toward victory.

Cards like Lingering Phantom

Lingering Phantom brings a unique presence to the pantheon of creature cards in MTG. When looking for parallels, one might consider Bloodsoaked Champion. Both have the ability to return from the graveyard to the battlefield, yet Bloodsoaked Champion’s requirement for triggering this return is an attack, while Lingering Phantom demands a historic spell. Another similar card is Reassembling Skeleton. This creature provides continuous board presence due to its straightforward revival mechanism that only costs two mana.

Migratory Greathorn also shares a kinship with its mechanic of working from the graveyard. Though it doesn’t return to the hand or battlefield directly, Greathorn instead mutates from the graveyard, granting a land ramp benefit. Each card presents a unique angle on persistency in the game. However, Lingering Phantom’s recurring ability linked to historic spells gives players a strategic edge in decks that synergize with artifacts, legendaries, or sagas.

Considering all aspects, Lingering Phantom offers a compelling choice for players crafting a strategy around graveyard interaction and historic spell synergies. Its large body and repeatable return make it a notable contender in the right deck build within MTG.

Bloodsoaked Champion - MTG Card versions

Reassembling Skeleton - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Lingering Phantom by color, type and mana cost

Chittering Harvester - MTG Card versions

Crossway Troublemakers - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lingering Phantom MTG card by a specific set like Dominaria, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Lingering Phantom and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See MTG Products

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Lingering Phantom has restrictions

Format	Legality
Historicbrawl	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Oathbreaker	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Commander	Legal
Modern	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Explorer	Legal
Penny	Legal
Timeless	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Lingering Phantom card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2018-04-27	A card, spell, or permanent is historic if it has the legendary supertype, the artifact card type, or the Saga subtype. Having two of those qualities doesn’t make an object more historic than another or provide an additional bonus—an object either is historic or it isn’t.
2018-04-27	An ability that triggers “whenever you cast a historic spell” doesn’t trigger if a historic card is put onto the battlefield without being cast.
2018-04-27	Lands are never cast, so abilities that trigger “whenever you cast a historic spell” won’t trigger if you play a legendary land. They also won’t trigger if a card on the battlefield transforms into a legendary land, as the Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan double-faced cards do.
2018-04-27	Some abilities trigger “whenever you cast a historic spell.” Such an ability resolves before the spell that caused it to trigger. It resolves even if that spell is countered.