Persist gives black decks another cheap reanimation spell that returns creatures with a -1/-1 counter, which can be exploited with counter-removal effects. In Commander it appears in combo shells that loop enter-the-battlefield creatures as well as value decks that just want to re-buy key threats. It synergises with popular pieces that remove counters or reset creatures’ stats. The ability to be both fair value and part of a combo keeps it in the repertoire of many black brewers.