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Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare

Startled Awake

two generic manaone blue manaone blue manaSorcery

Card text

Target opponent mills thirteen cards.

three generic manaone blue manaone blue mana: Put this card from your graveyard onto the battlefield transformed. Activate only as a sorcery.

Persistent Nightmare

Creature — NightmarePower and toughness1/1

Card text

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.

"It seemed so real!"

Showing Shadows over Innistrad#88

Price

1.02 $

Foil 2.83 $

13 printings

Daily estimate from Scryfall, not a shop quote.

Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare rulings

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare keyword rules

Skulk Rule 702.118

Skulk is an evasion ability.

A creature with skulk can’t be blocked by creatures with greater power. (See rule , “Declare Blockers Step.”)

Multiple instances of skulk on the same creature are redundant.

Transform Rule 701.28

To transform a permanent, turn it over so that its other face is up. Only transforming tokens and permanents represented by transforming double-faced cards can transform. (See rule , “Double-Faced Cards.”)

Although transforming a permanent uses the same physical action as turning a permanent face up or face down, they are different game actions. Abilities that trigger when a permanent is turned face down won’t trigger when that permanent transforms, and so on.

If a spell or ability instructs a player to transform a permanent that isn’t represented by a transforming token or a transforming double-faced card, nothing happens.

If a spell or ability instructs a player to transform a permanent, and the face that permanent would transform into is represented by an instant or sorcery card face, or is a transforming token that was created with an instant or sorcery face, nothing happens.

Some triggered abilities trigger when an object “transforms into” an object with a specified characteristic. Such an ability triggers if the object either transforms or converts (see rule ) and has the specified characteristic immediately after it does so.

If an activated or triggered ability of a permanent that isn’t a delayed triggered ability of that permanent tries to transform it, the permanent does so only if it hasn’t transformed or converted since the ability was put onto the stack. If a delayed triggered ability of a permanent tries to transform that permanent, the permanent does so only if it hasn’t transformed or converted since that delayed triggered ability was created. In both cases, if the permanent has already transformed or converted, an instruction to do either is ignored.

Some spells and abilities refer to a “transformed permanent.” This phrase refers to a permanent on the battlefield with its back face up that’s also a transforming double-faced card or a transforming token. A permanent with its front face up is never considered a transformed permanent, even if it had its back face up previously.

Mill Rule 701.13

For a player to mill a number of cards, that player puts that many cards from the top of their library into their graveyard.

A player can’t mill a number of cards greater than the number of cards in their library. If given the choice to do so, they can’t choose to take that action. If instructed to do so, they mill as many as possible. Similarly, the player can’t pay a cost that includes milling a number of cards greater than the number of cards in their library.

An effect that refers to a milled card can find that card in the zone it moved to from the library, as long as that zone is a public zone.

If an ability checks information about a single milled card but more than one card was milled, that ability refers to each of the milled cards. If that ability asks for any information about the milled card, such as a characteristic or mana value, it gets multiple answers. If these answers are used to determine the value of a variable, the sum of the answers is used. If that ability performs any actions on “the” card, it performs that action on each milled card. If that ability performs any actions on “a” card, the controller of the ability chooses which card is affected.

Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare format legality

Constructed

  • StandardNot legal
  • PioneerLegal
  • ModernLegal
  • Future StandardNot legal

Eternal

  • LegacyLegal
  • VintageLegal
  • PauperNot legal
  • PremodernNot legal
  • Old SchoolNot legal
  • Penny DreadfulLegal

Commander

  • CommanderLegal
  • OathbreakerLegal
  • Pauper CommanderNot legal
  • Duel CommanderLegal
  • PreDHNot legal

Arena & online

  • HistoricLegal
  • TimelessLegal
  • AlchemyNot legal
  • GladiatorLegal
  • BrawlLegal
  • Standard BrawlNot legal
  • Competitive BrawlLegal

Other

  • TLRNot legal

All printings of Startled Awake // Persistent Nightmare 13

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Card data

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