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Perennation and the New Era of Ramp in Commander
Magic: The Gathering has always thrived on clever timing and lasting value, and Perennation arrives with a flourish that nudges ramp strategies into a more resilient, late-game rhythm 🧙♂️🔥. This mythic-color-hybrid spell—priced at {3}{W}{B}{G} and hailing from Tarkir: Dragonstorm’s tdm set—asks players to reframe what “ramp” means in a Commander table. Rather than merely piling extra mana sources, you’re inviting a second life for a key permanent, one that arrives with protective counters that echo the Abzan creed: endurance, synergy, and the quiet art of returning from the edge. In Commander, where stalemates can stretch into hours, Perennation becomes a way to reanimate the most important piece of your plan with both hexproof and indestructible safeguards. It’s nostalgia with a twist—as if your ramp spells learned to walk again, shoulder to shoulder with grit and grace 🎨⚔️.
The core of Perennation is deceptively simple: Return target permanent card from your graveyard to the battlefield with a hexproof counter and an indestructible counter on it. That single line packs layers of consideration. The returned permanent isn’t a spell you recast; it’s a durable piece of the battlefield that now wears two counters, both protective and symbolic of the Abzan mindset: life, endurance, and the return to a stronger form when the cycle repeats. In practical terms, your mana rocks, lands with ETB effects, or even utility permanents you’ve already committed to the graveyard can be reawakened with a built-in shield. The hexproof counter keeps it from being a breeze for your foes to bolt away, while the indestructible counter means you can weather mass removals and blink effects that would otherwise reset your plan. It’s not a pure mana acceleration—it's a resurrection of your engine with a fortified aura 🧙♂️💎.
What Perennation really enables for ramp strategies
- Graveyard-as-extension-of-your toolbox: Rather than chasing another ramp spell, you turn a wasted graveyard into a treasure chest. Return a mana rock, a fetch land, or a utility permanent that has already done its work, and trigger a fresh round of plays with protection in place.
- Protection as value: The two counters on the returned permanent aren’t just flavor; they’re practical. Hexproof guards against targeted removal, while indestructible helps withstand board wipes and repeated board-state resets—key when you’re trying to chain together a longer mana base or a big threat like a dragonstorm or a spell that redefines the board.
- Tri-color identity, triple-volume ramp: With White, Black, and Green mana in play, you can weave ramp for multiple colors into a single, cohesive plan. Perennation complements cards that care about graveyard state or that benefit from reusing permanents with ETB or attack triggers. It’s a subtle nudge toward slower, more resilient games where you value inevitability over flash-in-the-pan advantage 🧙♂️🎲.
Strategically, you’ll want to curate a graveyard that’s not a liability but a lever. Favor permanents with lasting impact or those that enable a second use when re-entering the battlefield. Think along the lines of land fetchers, mana rocks that survive a bounce, or utility permanents that offer ongoing value when reanimated. You’ll also want to anticipate disruption—cards that exile or mill your graveyard can suddenly turn Perennation into an expensive spell that doesn’t return what you need. In those moments, the Abzan philosophy shines: build a resilient foundation, then weather the storm and come back stronger 💥.
Deckbuilding tips for Commander crews
- Fill the yard with purpose: Include a mix of ramp enablers and placeholders that you don’t mind losing to graveyard-based shenanigans. The more you can cascade into Perennation with a core of reliable, re-usable permanents, the more consistently you’ll reap the advantage.
- Balance graveyard protection: Countermagic or graveyard hate should be balanced with your own recursions. The beauty of Perennation is that you’re not racing to exile your opponents’ threats; you’re racing to reintroduce your engine with a shield that makes your re-entry hard to disrupt.
- Timing is everything: In Commander, you often want a few turns to set up. Perennation rewards careful sequencing—cast early ramp, prepare the graveyard, and then, at the right moment, bring back a pivotal permanent with two powerful counters to stabilize your board.
Flavor and design meet practicality here. The Abzan watermark reinforces a thematic throughline: resilience through cycles. The flavor text, “The Abzan believe in perennation—death is not only an end, but a return to the beginning,” lands with a wink of recognition for players who’ve seen a beloved land or artifact slip into the grave and refuse to stay there. It’s a reminder that in MTG, sometimes the best ramp isn’t pure acceleration, but a patient, stubborn return to the table with a stronger, better-positioned board 🧭⚔️.
From a design standpoint, Perennation stands out in Tarkir: Dragonstorm’s lineage for its multi-color identity and its willingness to mix graveyard recursion with protective counters. It’s a card that invites you to rethink your graveyard as a resource, not a liability, and to reframe what “ramp” can look like when protection and persistence are baked into the plan. If you’re someone who enjoyed the era of resilient, value-driven lines, this is one you’ll want to test in your next Commander session. And yes, you’ll still draw the occasional “wow” moment where a single cast suddenly re-anchors your board after a wipe with a gleaming indestructible counter in tow 🎨🔥.
As you wake your Abzan engines, remember that Perennation isn’t just a spell—it’s a philosophy: growth that endures, strategies that rebuild, and a reminder that sometimes the best ramp is a return from the brink, with a shield for good measure. Here’s to long games, big plays, and the sweet sound of permanents coming back stronger than ever 🧙♂️💎.
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