Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare
Tracked across real Commander games played through TurnZero HQ.
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What it does
Target opponent mills thirteen cards.
3: Put this card from your graveyard onto the battlefield transformed. Activate only as a sorcery.
Skulk (This creature can't be blocked by creatures with greater power.)
When this creature deals combat damage to a player, return it to its owner's hand.
Rulings
3 official rulings, in the order Wizards published them.
- 2016-04-08
A sorcery can't be put onto the battlefield and a permanent can't transform into a sorcery. If an effect exiles Persistent Nightmare and then instructs you to return it to the battlefield, it remains face up in exile (unless that effect instructs you to put it onto the battlefield transformed, in which case it returns as Persistent Nightmare). If an effect instructs you to transform Persistent Nightmare, the instruction is ignored.
- 2016-04-08
If you cause a creature to have 0 power or less, use the actual value (which may be negative) to determine whether it can block or be blocked. A creature with skulk and 0 or less power most likely won't be blocked, but it won't deal combat damage and won't trigger any abilities that trigger when combat damage is dealt.
- 2016-04-08
Skulk matters only as blockers are chosen. Modifying either creature's power after blockers are chosen won't cause the attacking creature to become unblocked.
Rulings are Wizards of the Coast's own, mirrored from Scryfall and refreshed nightly.
In the 99
Every deck whose current list includes Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare, whatever its commander.
Most played under
| Commander | Decks | Games | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zellix, Sanity Flayer | 2 | 0 | — |
Colors it shows up in
- Mono-Blue 2 decks
Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare price history
The Shadows over Innistrad #88 printing, as Scryfall reports the TCGplayer market. Updated nightly. Click any version below to chart its price.
Every recorded price change
| Date | Non-foil | Foil |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 27, 2026 | $1.02 | $2.83 |
| Oct 24, 2026 | $1.03 | $2.83 |
| Oct 20, 2026 | $1.02 | $2.83 |
| Oct 15, 2026 | $1.03 | $2.83 |
| Oct 14, 2026 | $1.02 | $2.83 |
| Oct 10, 2026 | $1.01 | $2.83 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | $1.02 | $2.83 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | $1.01 | $2.83 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | $1.00 | $2.83 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | $0.99 | $2.83 |
A row is recorded only on nights the price moved, so each price held until the row above it.
Every version of Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare
2 printings, newest first. Prices are the market figures Scryfall publishes, refreshed nightly. A printing with no figure shows a dash rather than a zero, because Scryfall publishes none for some of them. Click a card's art to chart that version's price above.
- Normal
- $1.02
- Foil
- $2.83
Promo
Shadows over Innistrad Promos
- Foil
- $2.59
Prices from Scryfall, which tracks the TCGplayer and Cardmarket markets. They move daily and are a guide rather than a quote. Search TCGplayer for Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare. It runs a name search across every version, which covers the printings TCGplayer publishes no direct link to.
Aggregated from Commander games tracked in TurnZero HQ. Every figure counts decks and games only. No individual deck list, player or playgroup is identified. Win rates are withheld below 5 completed games, where the sample is too small to mean anything.
