Puppeteer Clique is a Magic: The Gathering card, a rare black creature from Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander (ECC), a Commander product released in January 2026. It is collector number 84 in that set, with art by Daren Bader. It costs {3}{B}{B} (three generic and two black mana) to cast, for a mana value of 5. It is a 3/2 creature. Its colour identity is black. It is legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, PreDH and Penny Dreadful. It has been printed in 7 sets, from Shadowmoor (2008) to Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander (2026). The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $0.29 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).
Card text
Flying
When this creature enters, put target creature card from an opponent's graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. It gains haste. At the beginning of your next end step, exile it.
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: $0.29 (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 Puppeteer Clique by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
Puppeteer Clique has been printed in 7 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
Printing
Rarity
Year
Wilds of Eldraine Commander (WOC) #115
Rare
2023
Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate (CLB) #769
Rare
2022
New Capenna Commander (NCC) #257
Rare
2022
Commander 2017 (C17) #121
Rare
2017
Modern Masters 2015 (MM2) #91
Rare
2015
Shadowmoor (SHM) #75
Rare
2008
Official rulings
Seven official rulings apply to Puppeteer Clique, newest first.
If multiple creatures with persist are put into the graveyard at the same time (due to combat damage or a spell that destroys all creatures, for example), the active player (the player whose turn it is) puts all of their persist triggers on the stack in any order, then each other player in turn order does the same. The last trigger put on the stack is the first one that resolves. That means that in a two-player game, the nonactive player's persist creatures will return to the battlefield first, then the active player's persist creatures do the same. The creatures return to the battlefield one at a time.
When a permanent with persist returns to the battlefield, it's a new object with no memory of or connection to its previous existence.
If a creature with persist stops being a creature, persist will still work.
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's existence just before it leaves the battlefield, and it still has all those counters on it at that point.
The persist ability triggers when the permanent is put into a graveyard. Its last known information (that is, how the creature last existed on the battlefield) is used to determine whether it had a -1/-1 counter on it.
If a token with no -1/-1 counters on it has persist, the ability will trigger when the token is put into the graveyard. However, the token will cease to exist and can't return to the battlefield.
If a permanent has multiple instances of persist, they'll each trigger separately, but the redundant instances will have no effect. If one instance returns the card to the battlefield, the next to resolve will do nothing.
Similar cards
Other creature cards with a black colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.