Card Spotlight
Rhys, the Evermore
A 2-mana white flash Elf from Lorwyn Eclipsed that gives another creature persist at instant speed. It is a cheap way to bring a value or combat creature back once after it dies.
Commander Spotlight
Rhys, the Evermore ↗
A 2-mana white flash Elf from Lorwyn Eclipsed that gives another creature persist at instant speed. It is a cheap way to bring a value or combat creature back once after it dies.
See Rhys, the Evermore's full stats and printings →
Strategies it goes well with
- ETB value decks. Flashing Rhys in to grant persist to a creature about to die retriggers its enter-the-battlefield ability for free, turning a loss into extra value.
- Combat protection. Cast at instant speed in response to a removal spell or a bad block, persist lets the targeted creature come right back rather than staying dead.
- Counters matter decks. The activated ability to strip counters doubles as a way to clean up -1/-1 counters from persist itself or from opposing effects.
How it does in Commander
As the commander
It's a fine budget commander for a white Elf or counters-focused deck, but its low-impact stats and single-use trigger make it a more natural fit as a support piece in someone else's 99 than a deck's central plan.
In the 99
A cheap, flexible protection and value piece in any white deck running strong ETB creatures. Flash lets it react to combat and removal rather than only being useful on your own turn.
Formats it's strong in
- ETB value and blink-adjacent decks. Persist retriggers an enter-the-battlefield ability the same way a blink effect does, for a fraction of the mana investment.
- Decks facing a lot of removal. Flashing Rhys in as a response to targeted removal turns a two-for-one against you into a wash or better.
Formats it's weak in
- Decks with few valuable ETB creatures. Without something worth retriggering, granting persist is a minor combat trick at best.
- Fast, low-interaction pods. A cheap protection trick is a small effect at a table where the game is often decided before combat tricks matter much.
Synergistic cards
Solemn Simulacrum ↗
A classic ETB value creature that becomes a repeatable draw-and-ramp engine the moment persist lets it die and come back.
Reveillark ↗
Another strong ETB creature that gets extra mileage from a free additional death and return.
Kithkin Spellduster ↗
A white creature that already has persist. Rhys's second ability can remove its -1/-1 counter so it persists again, and each sacrifice destroys an enchantment.
Any cheap sacrifice outlet ↗
Sacrificing a creature Rhys has just given persist to is a guaranteed way to retrigger its ETB on your own terms.
Is it worth the price?
As a recent-set card, Rhys, the Evermore is inexpensive and worth a slot in any white deck already running strong ETB creatures, as a low-cost piece of interaction.
Frequently asked questions
How does Rhys, the Evermore's persist trigger work?
When it enters, another target creature you control gains persist until end of turn. If that creature dies before the turn ends, it returns to the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter, retriggering any enter-the-battlefield ability it has along the way.
What creatures does Rhys, the Evermore work best with?
Anything with a strong ETB effect that's about to die anyway, whether in a combat trade, as a sacrifice for value, or to a removal spell aimed at it. Flashing Rhys in at instant speed to grant persist right before that happens turns an expected loss into a second copy of the trigger.
Can Rhys, the Evermore remove counters from creatures other than itself?
Its activated ability removes counters from any target creature you control, including itself. That is useful both for clearing the -1/-1 counter persist leaves behind and for stripping -1/-1 counters an opponent's effect put on your board.