Undying!

So with Dark Ascension comes the new Undying mechanic. Creatures with Undying can be brought back onto the battlefield after they die with a +1/+1 counter on them if they did not have any +1/+1 counters before death. Several uses of this mechanic have been discussed on DailyMTG.com, but today I want to talk about the card Undying Evil.

To me, this seems to be a very potent one mana Black instant. You can trade creatures with your opponent without worry of losing board presence, and you can also return these creatures to the battlefield even more powerful than before. If you traded your Goblin Piker with your opponent's Runeclaw Bear on turn three and cast undying on Goblin Piker, you would have essentially placed yourself one card above your opponent in terms of card advantage and also gained a 3/2 blocker on your opponent's third turn.

In addition, Undying also works great on creatures that have abilities that trigger when they enter the battlefield. Examples could include cards like Sylvan Ranger, which fetches lands, and Phyrexian Ranger, which helps you gain card advantage by drawing cards. Trading these creatures with your opponent early in the game and then bringing them back allows you to use their abilities twice, all the while placing your opponent further and further behind you on the board.


Similarly, abilities that trigger on death are also paired well with Undying Evil. Cards like Elder Cathar and Mausoleum Guard are examples of such cards and they can traded, have their abilities activated, then brought back even stronger, ready to be traded once again.  I believe that the 1 mana Doomed Traveler is one of the best cards that can synergise with Undying Evil. As long as you have one untapped swamp, you can trade the Doomed Traveler (even on turn two), cast Undying Evil on it, gain one Spirit token, then bring it back to play even stronger. If this took place, you would have gained a 2/2 creature plus a 1/1 Spirit token while your opponent probably lost whatever 1/1 creature he chose to attack or block with. This leaves the Doomed Traveler to die again, producing another Spirit token in the process.





In conclusion, Undying Evil is probably a powerful and versatile card. This black Dark Ascension common is probably one to look out for, and might just take the game by storm!

If you can think of any other uses of the card, feel free to leave them as a comment below.

 And As always, thank you so much for reading my article!