Obstinate Gargoyle

Obstinate Gargoyle card image

Obstinate Gargoyle: Artifact Creature - Gargoyle, Modern Horizons 3. This creature has flying as long as it's modified. Persist On Mana Grove.

Mana cost
{1}{W}{B}
Mana value
3
Type
Artifact Creature - Gargoyle
Colour identity
White and black (WB)
Power / toughness
2/2
Rarity
Common
Set
Modern Horizons 3 (MH3)
Released
2024-06-14
Collector number
195
Artist
Craig J Spearing
Keywords
Persist

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About Obstinate Gargoyle

Obstinate Gargoyle is a Magic: The Gathering card, a common white and black artifact creature from Modern Horizons 3 (MH3), a draft-focused set released in June 2024. It is collector number 195 in that set, with art by Craig J Spearing. It costs {1}{W}{B} (one generic, one white and one black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 3. It is a 2/2 creature. Its colour identity is white and black. It is legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Pauper Commander, Brawl, Historic, Timeless, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful. Modern Horizons 3 is its only printing so far. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.22 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).

Card text

This creature has flying as long as it's modified. (Equipment, Auras you control, and counters are modifications.)

Persist (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.)

Market price

Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $0.22 (as of 2026-10-23).

The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.

Format legality

Legality of Obstinate Gargoyle by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

ModernLegal
LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
PauperLegal
CommanderLegal
Duel CommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
Pauper CommanderLegal
BrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
TimelessLegal
GladiatorLegal
Penny DreadfulLegal

Official rulings

Seven official rulings apply to Obstinate Gargoyle, newest first.

  • A creature with a counter on it is considered modified no matter what kind of counter it is or which player put it on that creature.
  • If a card with persist is removed from the graveyard after it dies but before the triggered ability resolves, it won't be returned to the battlefield.
  • Once Obstinate Gargoyle has been blocked, causing it to gain flying by modifying it won't cause it to stop being blocked.
  • If a creature with persist 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, persist won't trigger and the card won't return to the battlefield. That's because persist checks the creature as it last existed on the battlefield, and it still had -1/-1 counters on it at that point.
  • An Aura controlled by another player does not cause a creature you control to be modified.
  • A creature that is equipped is considered modified no matter who controls the Equipment that's attached to it.
  • 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. A creature's persist ability can bring it back again if its -1/-1 counters are removed this way.

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