Perpetually

Perpetually
Mechanic
Introduced	Jumpstart: Historic Horizons
Last used	Alchemy: Phyrexia
Reminder Text	Perpetual effects and counters are not removed from cards that change zones.
Statistics	144 cards 0.7% 14.6% 13.9% 15.3% 16% 9.7% 3.5% 2.1% 2.8% 4.9% 3.5% 2.1% 0.7% 4.2% 0.7% 2.1% 1.4% 2.1%
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fulloracle:"perpetually"

Perpetually is a designed-for-digital, MTG Arena-specific mechanic introduced in Jumpstart: Historic Horizons. It causes effects and counters on a card to apply permanently to that card for the rest of the game, regardless of zone changes.

Description

Perpetual effects modify a specific card permanently, even as it enters other zones of play. It's as if a paper card had its old attributes physically erased and rewritten so that even if it left the visible zones of play and re-entered it later, it would still have the modifications written on the card. The card only resets back to the original printed attributes after the game is over. Perpetual counters work similarly, "following" that card and applying their effects to it even if the card is shuffled back into the library and redrawn, only disappearing at the game's end.

For example, Davriel’s Withering perpetually gives a creature -1/-2 – if that card reduces a creature to 0 toughness or less and sends it to the graveyard, for example, the debuff will remain in effect even if a player is able to bring it back to battlefield (causing it to immediately die again). Alternatively, Lumbering Lightshield can perpetually increase the cost of casting a card in your opponent’s hand by one colorless mana – the affected card then maintains that increase, whether it’s cast from hand or somewhere else, like from the graveyard, with Flashback, or from exile with Foretell.

While this is an effect that can partially be tracked with paper cards, it becomes substantially simpler in a digital space. This is most critical for when cards enter hidden zones such as the hand or library - only one player can verify which is the affected card if it returns to hand, and neither can confirm whether the card drawn is the same copy if it is shuffled into the library, but the computer can.

The permanence of perpetual effects has one exception; as a player's commander moves to the command zone, they may choose to remove all perpetual effects on their commander. This was initially not the case, and many cards that applied perpetual effects were initially banned from Historic Brawl.

Currently, perpetually isn't part of the Comprehensive Rules.

Interaction with other abilities

Perpetual is relevant with any ability that causes a card to change zones. Creature-specific effects are especially impactful when the zone change ability allows it to be easily returned to the battlefield, such as with bounce, flicker, and reanimation. Cost-modifying effects may be relevant multiple times if the card can be cast multiple times from different zones, as mentioned in the example above.

If a duplicate of a card is conjured, perpetual effects on the original card are not duplicated, only the card itself is.

Example

Example

Ethereal Grasp
Instant
Tap target creature. That creature perpetually gains “This creature doesn’t untap during your untap step” and “: Untap this creature.”

Gallery

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