Endling MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 4 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityRare
TypeCreature — Zombie Shapeshifter
Power 3
Toughness 3

Key Takeaways

  1. Endling offers a toolkit of abilities, making it a multifaceted threat that suits diverse game situations.
  2. As a black creature card, Endling demands careful deck building with a strong black mana base.
  3. Despite some mana cost-related drawbacks, Endling’s potential makes it a noteworthy collectible.

Text of card

: Endling gains menace until end of turn. : Endling gains deathtouch until end of turn. : Endling gains undying until end of turn. (When this creature dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a +1/+1 counter on it.) : Endling gets +1/-1 or -1/+1 until end of turn.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Endling’s multiple abilities offer a variety of ways to outmaneuver your opponent, effectively giving you several options within a single card. From evasion to creature removal, Endling equips you with an arsenal that can shift the tide of the game and potentially provide a card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: While Endling itself doesn’t directly produce additional resources, its adaptability on the battlefield aids in safeguarding your key creatures. By preserving your board presence, Endling indirectly contributes to accelerating your resources as your other creatures remain active and potent threats.

Instant Speed: Endling’s potential to morph at instant speed is a standout feature, offering unmatched flexibility during play. This allows you to adapt to the flow of the game seamlessly, whether it’s turning Endling into an undying opponent, adjusting its power and toughness, or moving in and out of combat as an unblockable threat—all on the fly in response to your opponent’s actions.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Engaging with Endling requires a careful management of your hand. As part of its abilities, discarding a card can be a demanding cost, especially when your hand size is dwindling or the strategy hinges on keeping specific cards.

Specific Mana Cost: Delving into the mana specifics, Endling necessitates two Black mana for its casting. This requirement restricts flexibility, mandating a solid black mana base, which can potentially narrow deck compatibility and strain mana resources in multicolored deck strategies.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Considering the mana investment, Endling commands four mana to hit the battlefield. In the vast universe of creatures within the game, this places Endling at a competitive disadvantage in terms of efficiency—other creatures might provide stronger board presence or more impactful abilities for the same or lower mana cost.


Reasons to Include Endling in Your Collection

Versatility: Endling boasts a range of abilities enabling it to adapt to numerous board states, making it a flexible addition to any black color-focused deck.

Combo Potential: With its ability to gain deathtouch, lifelink, or to become unblockable, Endling synergizes well with strategies that capitalize on combat or life total manipulation.

Meta-Relevance: Given the ever-evolving meta, the adaptability of this card provides a powerful tool against various popular decks, ensuring its utility in competitive play.


How to beat

Endling, a versatile creature card in Magic: The Gathering, carries multiple threats with its abilities to prove a real challenge on the battlefield. Among its arsenal, it can give itself menace, undying, and even deathtouch, making it a formidable opponent. To effectively combat this shapeshifter, players need strategic foresight.

Removal spells that exile, such as Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares, are a direct method to counter Endling, bypassing its undying ability. Counterspells also serve as proactive measures, negating Endling before it ever hits the board. For players looking at long-term solutions, graveyard disruption via cards like Rest in Peace help to ensure that once defeated, Endling stays down.

To summarize, overcoming Endling requires an approach that either anticipates its arrival or one that can adapt on the fly. The key is to disrupt its synergies and capabilities, ensuring that it doesn’t leverage its various modes to gain an upper hand. With the right strategy, Endling becomes less of an endgame threat and more of a manageable obstacle.


Cards like Endling

Endling, a unique creature from the vast repertoire of Magic: The Gathering, holds its own when placed side by side with comparable creatures. One such peer is Bloodghast, which also boasts a form of resilience with its ability to return from the graveyard to the battlefield. Although Bloodghast lacks the versatility of Endling’s multiple abilities, its land-based return mechanic provides a dependable form of recurrence.

Another similar card is Nantuko Husk, a creature with the freedom to pump its strength by sacrificing other creatures. While this resembles Endling’s ability to increase its power at a moment’s notice, Nantuko Husk lacks the adaptability provided by Endling’s other abilities, such as deathtouch or undying. In the same realm of utility creatures is Falkenrath Aristocrat, which offers both a sacrifice outlet and an evasion in the form of flying. Like Endling, it rewards strategic sacrifice to bolster survival, although it sacrifices Endling’s modular flexibility for a more focused aggressive strategy.

Overall, Endling finds its niche in Magic: The Gathering as a flexible and adaptable creature that can respond to a wide range of in-game situations, standing out amongst other creatures with similar, yet more restricted abilities.

Bloodghast - MTG Card versions
Nantuko Husk - MTG Card versions
Falkenrath Aristocrat - MTG Card versions
Bloodghast - Zendikar (ZEN)
Nantuko Husk - Onslaught (ONS)
Falkenrath Aristocrat - Dark Ascension (DKA)

Cards similar to Endling by color, type and mana cost

Hell's Caretaker - MTG Card versions
Rag Man - MTG Card versions
Phyrexian Debaser - MTG Card versions
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - MTG Card versions
Slinking Skirge - MTG Card versions
Gravedigger - MTG Card versions
Scandalmonger - MTG Card versions
Urborg Shambler - MTG Card versions
Whispering Shade - MTG Card versions
Cabal Surgeon - MTG Card versions
Filth - MTG Card versions
Demon of Catastrophes - MTG Card versions
Bold Plagiarist - MTG Card versions
Dirge Bat - MTG Card versions
Gixian Puppeteer - MTG Card versions
Toxin Sliver - MTG Card versions
Vampiric Spirit - MTG Card versions
Nim Shambler - MTG Card versions
Bad Ass - MTG Card versions
Scourge of Numai - MTG Card versions
Hell's Caretaker - Chronicles (CHR)
Rag Man - Seventh Edition (7ED)
Phyrexian Debaser - Urza's Legacy (ULG)
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - Portal Three Kingdoms (PTK)
Slinking Skirge - Urza's Destiny (UDS)
Gravedigger - The List (PLST)
Scandalmonger - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Urborg Shambler - Invasion (INV)
Whispering Shade - Odyssey (ODY)
Cabal Surgeon - Torment (TOR)
Filth - Judgment (JUD)
Demon of Catastrophes - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Bold Plagiarist - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Dirge Bat - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Gixian Puppeteer - Magic Online Promos (PRM)
Toxin Sliver - Legions (LGN)
Vampiric Spirit - Eighth Edition (8ED)
Nim Shambler - Mirrodin (MRD)
Bad Ass - Unhinged (UNH)
Scourge of Numai - Betrayers of Kamigawa (BOK)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Endling // Endling MTG card by a specific set like Modern Horizons Art Series and Modern Horizons, 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 Endling // Endling and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Endling // Endling Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2019-06-14 and 2021-08-26. Illustrated by Livia Prima.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12019-06-05Modern Horizons Art SeriesAMH1 72015art_seriesborderlessLivia Prima
22019-06-14Modern HorizonsMH1 892015normalblackLivia Prima
32020-09-26The ListPLST MH1-892015normalblackLivia Prima
42021-08-26Jumpstart: Historic HorizonsJ21 3222015normalblackLivia Prima

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Endling has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
GladiatorLegal
PennyLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2019-06-14 If Endling’s last ability gives it -1/+1 enough times, it may have negative power. Use that negative value if its power is further modified. For example, if Endling’s last ability gives it -1/+1 five times, it’s -2/8. Giving it +1/-1 twice after that makes it 0/6, not 2/6.
2019-06-14 If Endling’s power is reduced to 0 or less while in combat and it gains deathtouch, it won’t deal damage, so deathtouch won’t apply.
2019-06-14 If a card leaves the graveyard after it dies but before the undying trigger resolves, it won’t be returned to the battlefield.
2019-06-14 If a creature has +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters on it, state-based actions remove the same number of each so that it has only one kind of those counters on it. Endling’s undying ability can bring it back again if its +1/+1 counters are removed this way.
2019-06-14 If a creature has multiple instances of undying, they’ll each trigger separately, but once one of those abilities returns the card to the battlefield, any others will have no effect. The creature won’t receive multiple +1/+1 counters.
2019-06-14 If a creature with undying that has +1/+1 counters on it receives enough -1/-1 counters to cause it to be destroyed by lethal damage or put into its owner’s graveyard for having 0 or less toughness, undying won’t trigger and the card won’t return to the battlefield. That’s because undying checks the creature as it last existed on the battlefield, and it still had +1/+1 counters on it at that point.
2019-06-14 If you activate Endling’s last ability, you don’t choose whether Endling gets +1/-1 or -1/+1 until that ability resolves.
2019-06-14 Multiple instances of menace or deathtouch on the same creature are redundant.
2019-06-14 Once undying returns the creature, it’s considered a new object with no relation to the object that it was. Auras that were attached to it won’t return to the battlefield. Equipment that was attached to it will remain unattached. Any counters that were on it won’t be put on the new creature.

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