Magic: The Gathering players have a weird relationship with one-drops. Usually, they’re just fodder. You play them, they chip in for a couple of points of damage, and then they die to a stray board wipe or get traded for a token. But then Innistrad: Midnight Hunt dropped, and we got Champion of the Perished.
It’s a direct, flavor-drenched callback to Champion of the Parish from the original Innistrad block. Back then, Humans were the big deck. Now? It’s all about the shambling dead. If you’ve ever sat across the table from a turn-one Champion, you know that sinking feeling in your gut. It’s not just a 1/1. It’s a ticking time bomb that gets bigger every time a friendly zombie hits the battlefield.
Honestly, the math gets ugly fast.
The Scaling Problem (Or Why Your Opponent is Sweating)
Most creatures in Magic have a set ceiling. A 2/2 is a 2/2 unless you pump mana into it. Champion of the Perished breaks that rule by existing. Because it triggers whenever another Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, it doesn't care if you're casting a spell, decaying a token, or reanimating a graveyard full of ghouls.
Think about the curve. Turn one: Champion. Turn two: Shambling Ghastly and maybe a Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia. Suddenly, your one-drop is a 3/3. That is a massive body for the second turn of the game. Most players are still trying to find their second land drop while you’re already threatening to take a twenty percent chunk out of their life total. It forces the opponent to use high-value removal on a creature that cost you exactly one black mana. That’s what we call a "must-kill" threat. If they don't have the Fatal Push or the Cut Down immediately, the game starts to slide away from them.
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I’ve seen games where a Champion grows to a 7/7 or an 8/8 purely by accident. You aren't even trying to buff it; you’re just playing the game. You’re playing your Gravecrawlers and your Cryptbreakers, and the Champion just sits there, soaking up the souls of the departed and getting swole.
Synergy is the Secret Sauce
You can’t talk about this card without talking about the ecosystem it lives in. Zombies are arguably the most supported tribe in the history of the game. You have decades of cards to pull from.
- Gravecrawler: This is the best friend. You cast it from the grave, Champion gets a counter. It dies, you cast it again, Champion gets another counter. It’s an infinite growth engine as long as you have the mana.
- Headless Rider: This creates a safety net. When your non-token zombies die, you get a 2/2 token. Guess what? Those tokens trigger the Champion too.
- Direct Damage: In formats like Commander or Historic, pairing this with a Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver ensures that even when your board state is "reset," your Champion stays relevant or a new one enters and catches up instantly.
It’s really about the sheer volume of "enters the battlefield" (ETB) triggers. In a dedicated Zombie deck, almost every single card you play makes the Champion of the Perished better. It turns every draw into a combat trick.
Why Decayed Tokens Changed Everything
The Decayed mechanic from the Midnight Hunt set was basically a gift to this card. Usually, tokens that die at the end of combat feel like a temporary resource. But for the Champion, a 2/2 zombie token with Decayed is exactly the same as a prime-time threat. It provides that +1/+1 counter. You get the aggressive value of the token for one swing, and the permanent value stays on your Champion.
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The Mental Game of the One-Drop
There is a psychological element to playing Champion of the Perished. When you lead with this card, you are making a statement. You are telling your opponent: "Deal with this now, or I will run you over by turn four."
It creates a "tax" on their resources. If they use their only removal spell on the Champion, they don't have it for your Lord of the Accursed or your Death-Priest of Myrkul later. If they save the removal for the lords, the Champion becomes a massive, unstoppable behemoth that can’t be blocked profitably. It’s a lose-lose situation for them.
Where Most Players Mess Up
People get greedy. That’s the biggest mistake I see with this card.
Players will hold back their other zombies because they want to "maximize" the Champion. They wait until they have three zombies in hand to play them all at once. Don’t do that. The strength of a Zombie deck is tempo. You need to keep the pressure on. If the Champion dies, it dies. You probably have three more in the deck or a way to bring it back from the graveyard anyway.
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Another common error is forgetting that the trigger is not optional. If a zombie enters, the counter goes on. This matters for things like Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider or cards that interact with counter placement. Keep your triggers clean.
Historic and Modern Impact
In Modern, the bar for a one-drop is incredibly high. You’re competing with Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Dragon's Rage Channeler. Does Champion of the Perished make the cut? Sometimes. It really depends on the meta. In a heavy creature meta, a giant Zombie is great. Against combo decks, it might be too slow.
But in Historic on MTG Arena? It’s a staple. The "Zombies" archetype is a tier-one or tier-two contender largely because of the explosive starts this card provides. You haven't lived until you've seen a turn-three win fueled by two Champions and a well-timed Wayward Servant.
How to Build Around It Today
If you’re looking to sleeve this up for a Friday Night Magic or a casual Commander session, focus on recursion. You want cards that don't just enter the battlefield once.
- Relentless Dead: It’s pricey, but the ability to cycle zombies back to the field is essential for keeping the Champion growing.
- Agadeem's Awakening: A land that doubles as a mass resurrection spell. If you bring back three zombies of different costs, your Champion of the Perished gets three counters instantly.
- Metallic Mimic: Choose Zombie. Now every zombie enters with an extra counter, and the Champion gets its own trigger. It scales exponentially.
The Verdict on the Perished
Is it the best card in the game? No. But is it the best one-drop for a Zombie deck? Absolutely. It captures the essence of what makes Innistrad great—creeping dread and inevitable growth. It’s a card that rewards you for doing what you already wanted to do: flood the board with the undead.
Whether you’re a veteran player or just getting into the game, understanding the weight of this card is key to mastering the Black color identity. It’s cheap, it’s effective, and it’s terrifying when left unchecked.
Immediate Steps for Your Next Game
- Check your land base: Make sure you have enough untapped Black sources to hit this on turn one consistently. If you're playing it on turn four, you've missed the window.
- Balance your mana curve: Don't just pack the deck with "growth" cards. You need interaction. Thoughtseize or Fatal Push help protect your Champion from the things that actually threaten it.
- Watch the triggers: Use physical counters or clear digital tracking. Missing a single +1/+1 counter can be the difference between a win and a loss when the math gets tight.
- Play the graveyard: Use cards like Tainted Indulgence or Stitcher's Supplier to fill the yard. The more "stuff" you have to bring back, the more triggers you'll generate for the Champion.