Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Creative Black Deckbuilding with Lingering Tormentor
Eventide isn’t just a set name on a card; it’s a mood board for a particular flavor of magic—haunting, patient, and a little bit sneaky. Lingering Tormentor embodies that mood in a compact package: a 2/2 Spirit for {3}{B} with Fear and Persist. On the surface, that’s a modest body for a four-mana investment, but the real story here is how those keywords unlock a very particular kind of gamesmanship. This card doesn’t slam the door with raw stats; it whispers, “What if you play around the graveyard and twist death into tempo?” 🧙♂️🔥💎
What the keywords actually enable
- Fear means Lingering Tormentor loves to slip past non-black blockers. In a world where blockers come in all shapes and sizes, fear is a surgical tool that lets you pressure life totals when your defenses are thin. It’s especially meaningful in longer black mirrors or multi-color decks where aggro decks underestimate the reach of a 2/2 menace that can’t be easily blocked by most early drops. ⚔️
- Persist is the card’s wink to the late game. When this creature dies, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, it returns to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter on it. Translation: you get a second life, but not an endless chain of comebacks. The design rewards thoughtful sequencing: you want that first death to pay off with another threat on board, not a wasted revival. This is the kind of micro-advantage that separates clever players from merely grinding out value. 🎲
The bogeyman doesn't disappear when you close your eyes.
That flavor text isn’t just atmosphere; it’s a hint at the rhythm of black deckbuilding. Lingering Tormentor invites you to lean into the “what if” moments: what if you use a sac outlet to force its death while keeping the field pressure? what if you time a removal spell so that on the next draw you’re already planning the resurrection play? It’s about turning scarcity into inevitability, one decision at a time. 🎨
Strategic angles you can build around
- Graveyard resilience: Lingering Tormentor thrives when your deck is already leaning into the graveyard. Think about how persist interacts with in-game death events, and how your removal suite can either protect the Tormentor for a turn or ensure its first death triggers the revival in a favorable moment. Remember, you want to maximize the value of that current life—the return to the battlefield can swing tempo in your favor if timed well. 🧙♂️
- Sacrifice and recurrency: A natural home for Lingering Tormentor is a black shell that toys with sacrifice outlets—cards that trade your stage presence for card advantage or additional pressure. If you time the Tormentor’s death to occur after you’ve drawn your hand full of answers, you’re not just re-animating a creature—you’re reintroducing a thorn into your opponent’s plan. The result is a board state that’s never quite safe to chump or block haphazardly. 🔥
- Blocker pressure with a twist: Fear makes it a real threat when your opponent is trying to stabilize. You don’t need a huge stomper to threaten; you need the right timing. Lingering Tormentor helps you push through damage while your other answers hold the fort. It’s a classic black teeter-totter: control the pace, then flip the script with a single, well-timed attack. ⚔️
- Budget and value considerations: As an uncommon from Eventide, Lingering Tormentor sits in a price range that invites curiosity rather than panic-buying. It’s a perfect piece for budget, flavor-forward black decks that still want to demonstrate serious strategic intent. In places where foil availability matters, the foil version adds a little extra shine to a nostalgic build. 💎
Design notes and cultural flavor
Lingering Tormentor is a fine study in how a 4-mana investment can carry a lot of narrative weight. Its persist mechanic predates some of the modern graveyard recursion engines, yet it fits neatly with black’s long-standing theme of death-as-utility, not death-as-finality. Joshua Hagler delivered art that leans into hush and shadow, a perfect visual companion to the card’s mechanical cunning. The flavor text about the bogeyman reframing fear in the mind of the player mirrors how this card reframes risk: sometimes the smartest line is the one that makes your opponent overextend, not the one that simply ends the race. 🖼️
In a broader meta, Lingering Tormentor is a reminder that MTG’s most memorable cards often come from small, volcanic design decisions: a single keyword here, a resurrect-with-a-tiny-twist there, and suddenly a card that feels both old-school and surprisingly relevant in legacy and casual black builds. Its presence on the battlefield asks you to think not just about what your deck can do, but what your deck can endure—and what your opponent expects you to do next. 🎲
Collector’s note and game moments to chase
As an Eventide rare-ish uncommon, Lingering Tormentor doesn’t command the same price as mythics, but it carries a nostalgic weight that resonates with players who trod the older sets’ side streets. The card’s dual print statuses and the collectible glow of a 2008 frame create a nice foothold for a player who loves both the lore and the build-around potential. If you’re building for EDH (Commander), Lingering Tormentor is legal in that format and offers a neat, slightly disruptive angle for black-heavy lines—especially in a deck that can lean into reanimation tricks and value trades. In casual play, it’s the kind of card that wins you a standing ovation for a clever combat trick you pulled out at just the right moment. 🧙♂️🔥
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