Lingering Death MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	2
Rarity	Common
Type	Enchantment — Aura
Abilities	Enchant
Released	2003-05-26
Set symbol
Set name	Scourge
Set code	SCG
Number	69
Frame	1997
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Matt Thompson

Key Takeaways

Lingering Death offers strategic creature removal, impacting board state while enabling future play anticipation.
Its low cost and efficient nature allow for flexible mana use, maintaining game tempo and strategy execution.
The aura functions with an “instant speed” impact by triggering destruction on opponents’ creatures at upkeep.

Text of card

The controller of enchanted creature sacrifices it at the end of his or her turn.

"Looks bad. I don't know if he'll make it through the night." —Cabal cleric

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Lingering Death provides a strategic edge by setting up delayed but inevitable creature removal. This not only disrupts your opponent’s board state but also allows you to plan your turns ahead, keeping you a step ahead in the resource game.

Resource Acceleration: Unlike direct removal spells, Lingering Death is low-cost and efficient, leaving you with ample mana to deploy other spells or abilities. This form of resource allocation can accelerate your game plan without sacrificing tempo.

Instant Speed: While Lingering Death isn’t an instant itself, its presence on the battlefield can act with instant speed impact. Since the effect triggers at upkeep, you can play it on your turn and watch it destroy a creature by the next turn without requiring any further investment of your mana or actions during your opponent’s turn.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Demands the sacrifice of another creature as upkeep, which might deplete your board presence and reduce defensive options.

Specific Mana Cost: Two mana with one being black narrows deck compatibility, making it potentially unusable in multicolored or off-colored decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: The initial low cost is deceptive as the ongoing requirement can cumulatively represent a higher expense, overshadowing other removal spells with no recurring costs.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Lingering Death is a card that can find a home in various deck archetypes, especially those that need a reliable way to handle tough creatures. This aura can make opponents think twice before attacking or using their creature’s abilities, adding a strategic layer to the game.

Combo Potential: This card excels when combined with ways to control your opponent’s creatures, such as through tapping or forcing blocks. Moreover, it sets up for potent removal combos when paired with creature-targeted spells or effects that capitalize on destroying creatures.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where resilient creatures dominate, Lingering Death offers a cost-effective solution to persistently threaten and remove key threats, thus potentially shaping the flow of the game in your favor.

How to beat

Lingering Death presents a unique challenge in Magic: The Gathering as it steadily dooms a creature to destruction at the next upkeep. While powerful, it’s not an undefeated card. One strategy to tackle it is using enchantment removal spells. Cards like Disenchant, Naturalize, or Mortify can remove Lingering Death before it takes effect, saving your creature from its grim fate.

Another approach is through hexproof or shroud granters that protect your creatures from being targeted in the first place. Asceticism and Swiftfoot Boots are excellent choices for the job. Flash creatures or effects to use them in response to Lingering Death targeting can also turn the tides, ensuring your creatures stay as assets in your game strategy.

It’s also worth considering that Lingering Death only targets creatures. Therefore, relying on creatureless strategies or resilience through cards like Undying and Persist can diminish the impact of this dreaded spell. Remember, it’s all about having the right response at the right time and MTG offers plenty of ways to ensure that Lingering Death doesn’t spell the end for your creatures.

Mastering the Slow Decay: The Role of Lingering Death in Card Control Strategies

Lingering Death is a dark and ominous spell that serves as a silent harbinger of inevitable doom for creatures on the battlefield. It echoes the effectiveness found in enchantments like Dead Weight, both anchoring a creature’s fate with a ticking time bomb. Where Lingering Death surpasses its counterpart is in its ability to cling onto the creature until the bitter end, ensuring that a chosen target will eventually succumb no matter the strength and status it holds during the course of the match.

Cards like Lingering Death

Lingering Death can be likened to a sinister form of insurance within a player’s deck that guarantees the departure of a bothersome creature. Comparable to it is Executioner’s Swing, which also promises the removal of a creature given it has dealt damage this turn. What brings Lingering Death to the fore is the aura of inevitability it casts, unrestricted by a creature’s actions. In a more direct comparison, Deadly Designs offers a similar guarantee of removal, yet it requires additional mana investment and setup, while Lingering Death is a definitive one-time placement with a more economical mana cost.

Down to its core, Lingering Death serves as a strategic choice for those who appreciate the art of slow control in MTG. While it may not provide the immediate satisfaction of some removal spells, its unwavering grip on destiny makes it a formidable tool in the long game, promising to tip the scales in favor of the patient strategist.

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

Chains of Mephistopheles - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lingering Death MTG card by a specific set like Scourge, 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 Death and other MTG cards: