Persistent Constrictor

Persistent Constrictor card image

Persistent Constrictor: Creature - Zombie Snake, Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander. Printings, market prices, rulings, and format legality on Mana Grove.

Mana cost
{4}{B}
Mana value
5
Type
Creature - Zombie Snake
Colour identity
Black (B)
Power / toughness
5/3
Rarity
Rare
Set
Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander (DSC)
Released
2024-09-27
Collector number
22
Artist
Steve Ellis
Commander rank
2,712 (by how often it appears in Commander decks)
Keywords
Persist

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About Persistent Constrictor

Persistent Constrictor is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare black creature from Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander (DSC), a Commander product released in September 2024. It is collector number 22 in that set, with art by Steve Ellis. It costs {4}{B} (four generic and one black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 5. It is a 5/3 creature. Its colour identity is black. It is legal in Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander and Oathbreaker. Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander is its only printing so far. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $15.18 (normal finish, as of 2026-11-11).

Card text

At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, they lose 1 life and you put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature they control.

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: $15.18 (as of 2026-11-11).

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

Format legality

Legality of Persistent Constrictor by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

LegacyLegal
VintageLegal
CommanderLegal
Duel CommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal

Other printings of Persistent Constrictor

The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.

PrintingRarityYear
Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander (DSC) #52Rare2024

Official rulings

Five official rulings apply to Persistent Constrictor, newest first.

  • If the target creature is an illegal target as Persistent Constrictor's first ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. No player will lose life.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • If a card with persist is removed from the graveyard after it dies but before the ability trigger resolves, it won't be returned to the battlefield.
  • Once persist 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.

Similar cards

Other creature cards with a black colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.

In these precons

Persistent Constrictor is in the decklist of these preconstructed Commander decks.

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