Lingering Souls MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 10 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost3
RarityUncommon
TypeSorcery
Abilities Flashback

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides card advantage by granting two casts, which improves board presence and endurance in gameplay.
  2. Enhances flexibility with its flashback at instant speed, allowing unexpected plays and strategic depth.
  3. Pivotal inclusion for token-based strategies, benefiting from its resilience in diverse deck types.

Text of card

Put two 1/1 white Spirit creature tokens with flying onto the battlefield. Flashback (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)

The murdered inhabitants of Hollowhenge impart to the living the terror they felt in death.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Lingering Souls is a multi-faceted powerhouse when it comes to card efficiency. By offering a flashback ability, this card essentially provides players with two opportunities to create spirit tokens, essentially delivering two spells in one. This intrinsic value can often tilt the scales in a player’s favor, keeping the board presence strong without depleting the hand.

Resource Acceleration: Although Lingering Souls doesn’t directly generate mana or accelerate resources in the traditional sense, the generation of multiple 1/1 flying tokens can provide crucial defensive and offensive opportunities. These can be pivotal for overwhelming opponents or defending against threats, effectively accelerating the player’s board state and impact on the game without additional mana investment.

Instant Speed: Despite Lingering Souls not being an instant itself, its flashback ability can be activated at instant speed. This allows players significant strategic flexibility, as they can decide to use it during the opponent’s turn if they kept mana open for other spells or responses during the course of a round. This surprise factor can shift the momentum of the game, catching an opponent unprepared for the sudden influx of blockers or attackers.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Lingering Souls requires you to have a card in the graveyard to leverage its flashback feature, potentially necessitating planned discard strategies within your gameplay to fully utilize its potential.

Specific Mana Cost: This card calls for both white and black mana for its initial casting and flashback costs. This dual-color requirement can challenge deck flexibility, particularly in formats that value a fast and efficient mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With an investment of three mana for casting and two for flashback, some players might find that Lingering Souls occupies a higher-cost slot than alternative spells, especially when considering the card’s output in fast-paced matches or in decks with leaner mana curves.


Reasons to Include Lingering Souls in Your Collection

Versatility: Lingering Souls shines in a wide array of decks, particularly those capitalizing on token strategies or needing evasive creatures. Its ability to be cast from both hand and graveyard provides flexible options for various game situations.

Combo Potential: This card is a natural fit for synergies with anthems or mechanics that trigger upon creature casting or death. It can quickly amplify the effects of cards that benefit from having many creatures on the field.

Meta-Relevance: Given its resilience against board wipes and its capability as a repeatable source of creatures, Lingering Souls holds its ground in metas dominated by control or grindy midrange matchups.


How to beat

Lingering Souls is a highly versatile card in MTG, known for its ability to create a swarm of creatures and its flashback feature, allowing you to cast it from the graveyard. When facing this card, removing it from the game entirely is a solid strategy. Cards with exile effects are key against Lingering Souls, as they prevent the opponent from using the flashback mechanic. Graveyard hate cards like Rest in Peace or Leyline of the Void can also be invaluable, as they’ll stop the card from ever hitting the battlefield a second time.

Enchantment removal is another approach to consider. Since Lingering Souls is a sorcery, it’s susceptible to effects like Counterbalance or Rule of Law, limiting the opponent’s ability to play the spell more than once per turn. Lastly, board clear spells that deal damage or destroy all creatures can be effective; however, you’ll want to time these after the opponent has cast Lingering Souls from the graveyard to get the most value and hinder their creature generation.

Ultimately, by predicting your opponent’s moves and using the right removal or control spells, you can turn the tide against Lingering Souls and maintain the upper hand in your MTG matches.


BurnMana Recommendations

Exploring the depths of MTG strategy brings to light gems like Lingering Souls, a card that exemplifies efficient token generation and versatile gameplay. Its dual-casting capability enriches decks across various formats, ensuring that your battlefield presence is felt long after the first cast. Understanding the pros and cons of such a dynamic card can be the difference between victory and defeat. As you refine your deck with strategic card choices, why not delve deeper into the realm of token synergy and graveyard play? Enhance your game knowledge, broaden your tactical horizon, and secure your dominance in the MTG arena with further insights and card analysis. Join us on this continuous quest for mastery and deck optimization.


Cards like Lingering Souls

Lingering Souls has carved a niche for itself in MTG as a powerful token generator. Its closest counterparts are perhaps cards like Spectral Procession and Midnight Haunting. Spectral Procession can create three tokens similarly to Lingering Souls, yet it lacks the flexibility of flashback offered by Lingering Souls. The capability to play from the graveyard ensures Lingering Souls grants a sustained presence on the battlefield, extending beyond a single cast.

Another comparable card is Battle Screech, which also conjures multiple fliers but requires tapping creatures as part of its cost, adding a tactical layer to its casting. It shares the flashback feature with Lingering Souls, allowing for a repeated effect. However, Lingering Souls’ lower initial casting cost and higher flexibility in mana requirements make it more accessible during various game phases.

By stacking these cards against one another, Lingering Souls stands out for its balance between cost, flexibility, and the strategic advantage of flashback. It’s a card that ensures value through persistence and the creation of evasive creatures, solidifying its position in the decks that leverage spirit tokens and graveyard synergy.

Spectral Procession - MTG Card versions
Midnight Haunting - MTG Card versions
Battle Screech - MTG Card versions
Spectral Procession - Shadowmoor (SHM)
Midnight Haunting - Innistrad (ISD)
Battle Screech - Judgment (JUD)

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

Vindicate - MTG Card versions
Legions to Ashes - MTG Card versions
Path of Peril - MTG Card versions
Ass Whuppin' - MTG Card versions
Immortal Servitude - MTG Card versions
Inkling Summoning - MTG Card versions
Vindicate - The Brothers' War Commander (BRC)
Legions to Ashes - The Brothers' War (BRO)
Path of Peril - Innistrad: Double Feature (DBL)
Ass Whuppin' - Unhinged (UNH)
Immortal Servitude - Gatecrash (GTC)
Inkling Summoning - Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Lingering Souls MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Friday Night Magic 2012, 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 Souls and other MTG cards:

Continue exploring other sealed products in Amazon
See Magic products

Printings

The Lingering Souls Magic the Gathering card was released in 10 different sets between 2012-02-03 and 2023-03-21. Illustrated by 2 different artists.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 452012003normalblackJohn Stanko
22012-01-01Friday Night Magic 2012F12 92003normalblackJohn Stanko
32012-02-03Dark AscensionDKA 122003normalblackBud Cook
42013-03-15Duel Decks: Sorin vs. TibaltDDK 242003normalblackJohn Stanko
52014-05-30Modern Event Deck 2014MD1 112003normalblackBud Cook
62017-03-17Modern Masters 2017MM3 122015normalblackJohn Stanko
72019-11-07Mystery BoosterMB1 1622015normalblackJohn Stanko
82020-09-26The ListPLST MM3-122015normalblackJohn Stanko
92021-03-19Time Spiral RemasteredTSR 2961997normalblackJohn Stanko
102023-03-21Shadows of the PastSIS 92015normalblackBud Cook

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Lingering Souls has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
GladiatorLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

DateText
2021-03-19 A spell cast using flashback will always be exiled afterward, whether it resolves, is countered, or leaves the stack in some other way.
2021-03-19 If a card with flashback is put into your graveyard during your turn, you can cast it if it’s legal to do so before any other player can take any actions.
2021-03-19 To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost (such as a flashback cost) you’re paying, add any cost increases, then apply any cost reductions. The mana value of the spell is determined only by its mana cost, no matter what the total cost to cast the spell was.
2021-03-19 You can cast a spell using flashback even if it was somehow put into your graveyard without having been cast.
2021-03-19 You must still follow any timing restrictions and permissions, including those based on the card’s type. For instance, you can cast a sorcery using flashback only when you could normally cast a sorcery.
2021-03-19Flashback
-ost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying
-ost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.”

Recent MTG decks

Continue exploring other format decks
More decks