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Current Events
Worldwake Black Card Review
Hello and welcome to part 4 of our Worldwake set review. The review and notes you see here are a collection of feedback from a number of players, ranging in skill level from FNM to Semi-Pro players and up to the World of Warcraft TCG World Champion. My thanks go to: Billy Postlethwait, John Dean, Glenn Jones, Jason Brown, Ricky Calarco, Andres Garcia, David Sharfman and the random other people who helped collect thoughts and discuss this set.
Be sure to see the other reviews:
Constructed
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Limited
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Casual
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Abyssal PersecutorAs much hype as this guy got, it’s an excellent card but I may have over estimated his awesomeness. Just a little. He’s strong, efficient, black. Some of the guys I talked with considered him to be the Lotus Cobra of the set. He’s not quite as good as Vampire Nocturnus for the same CC, and he will most definitely be present in constructed as players try to find EffecientBlack.dec. Constructed: 4 |
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Agadeem OccultistThis guy will probably be relegated to the casual bin, with perhaps some love in limited for his ability to graveyard cycle. He might find some love in a constructed ally deck, but most likely not. Constructed: 2 |
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Anowon, the Ruin SageHe’s got a home in Vampires in extended though he may be at the top of the mana curve. His ability to help with controlling the board can prove quite strong in a deck without non-vampire creatures. He’s going to be the General in my new vampires EDH deck. He’s going to be weaker in limited, unless you have a strong vampire draft deck. Constructed: 4 |
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Bloodhusk RitualistThis guy is going to be big in limited, a 2/2 for 3 and the multikick to empty your opponent’s hand is going to find some love. He’s not going to be big in the constructed vampires deck because he’s just too slow. Three mana to make your opponent drop a card and give yourself a 2/2. Constructed: 2 |
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Bojuka BrigandHe’ll be another strong black ally in limited, and if you’re building a casual ally deck this guy is a must have, but he has no real home in constructed. Constructed: 2 |
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Brink of DisasterThis one is just terrible. It’s ‘maybe’ removal. There is no guarantee that it will be true removal, one argument was made that the player would then just not use the spell until they had to, and another person pointed out that stopping them from using it was akin to removal when it came to a land. Overall – it’s just bad. Constructed: 1 |
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Butcher of MalakirThis guy is a Casual card through and through, he’s big, he’s flashy and… he’s expensive. Too expensive to work in constructed, and not a big enough bomb for limited. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still good, but nothing amazing. Constructed: 2 |
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Caustic CrawlerThis guy will only have a home in limited. He’s a 4/3 for 5, and his landfall is just not that flashy. If it gave -1/-1 counters then it would be awesome, but alas it is not to be. In limited he’s an alright filler for your curve, but he is not a strong pick. Constructed: 1 |
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Corrupted ZendikonThe third Zendikon I’ve talked about so far, this one is fairly strong and might make a showing in constructed. He’s good in limited, for a 3/3 for 2 without any real drawback. Otherwise though nothing outstanding. Constructed: 3 |
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Dead ReckoningThis is a very strong pick for limited for its recursion and the possibility of it being used as a removal spell. When discussing it I asked the other guys if they thought a 4 mana instant version would be better than its current 3 mana sorcery, to which I got an emphatic no. The increased cost would have it break the curve and lose the EV of the spell. It could possibly see a home in constructed with one of the mono-black decks but is in no way definite. |
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Death’s ShadowOverall it’s just a horrible card. It’s so tempting for the possibility of a 12/12 for black, but in truth it’s just a horrible trap of a card. Pass it all day long. It might see some life in casual as Johnnys try to make it work but don’t expect anything amazing. Constructed: 1 |
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Jagwasp SwarmIt’s a limited staple, a black Snapping Drake. Solid there, but won’t see anything in constructed or casual. Constructed: 1 |
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Kalastria HighbornThis one has a bright future in Vampire constructed, it’s a bit worse in limited as you are again required to have the vampires to support it. Constructed: 4 |
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Mire’s TollThis is like a possibly weaker Blackmail and a definitely weaker Duress but it does have the plus of possibly forcing your opponent to discard a creature. As a common, and in a heavy black deck, it will prove a decent pick in limited but won’t see any love in constructed or casual. Constructed: 1 |
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Nemesis TrapWhile on the expensive end of the scale this one has the possibility of leading to many blow outs but it’s too expensive to be ridic. Constructed: 2 |
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Pulse TrackerNo one had anything nice to say about the card, it’s just too week for any constructed deck, even Vampires. It will be a decent 1 drop for Black though there are better options in ZZW draft. I think it has possibilities in casual decks, the ability to deal 1 to all opponents will prove useful in group games, but otherwise it’s nothing flashy. And with all due respect to Andrew Worthington, the art on this card is perhaps my least favorite of the set. Constructed: 2 |
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Quag VampiresLook at these guys this way, it’s a 3 mana Bog Raiders. Constructed: 2 |
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Quest for the Nihil StoneThis is one card I want to be good, the problem is that it is just too unreliable. If they keep one card in hand then the spell does nothing as opposed to the less effective damages of Black Vise and The Rack. This one will probably be better left in the casual tables or the discard rich limited deck. Constructed: 2 |
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Ruthless CullbladeIt’s alright in limited but easily outshown in constructed by the other two drop vampires (Bloodghast for example.) It can’t even really find a home in my Vampire EDH deck since I need to get my opponent down to 10 before it buffs up. Constructed: 1 |
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Scrib NibblersNot really that good. Can help with a mill deck but it’s very inefficient. Just meh all around. Constructed: 1 |
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Shoreline SalvagerMy notes from the group discussion simply say, “Fine in Limited.” That really does sum up this card. It’s a fine card, 4 mana for a 3/3 with the potential to do more when it deals damage to the opponent. No real reason to run it in constructed as there are better 4 drops for black. Constructed: 1 |
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SmotherIt’s a very happy return to Extended for Smother since it rotated out not too long ago. Removal is always playable in limited, and it would be living the dream if it killed that Death’s Shadow when it was maxed out at 12/12 or something. Otherwise a strong card, will see play in constructed and limited. Constructed: 4 |
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Tomb HexThis is a definite first pick in draft as it is removal according to the group. -4/-4 kills just about every reasonable creature in ZZW and it is splashable. I don’t see it going big in constructed or casual, but it is removal and one cannot ever underestimate it. Constructed: 2 |
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Urge to FeedThis card has a room reserved in the penthouse suite for the Vamps in standard, removal that also buffs their creatures is a big plus to any deck. It’s strictly better than Disfigure in limited though it is slightly harder to cast. So it’ll be a strong pick for removal and Black decks, the {B}{B} makes it tough to splash though. Constructed: 4 |
Editor of ManaNation.com, Patrick "Trick" Jarrett loves Magic. He's played it since 1995, he's written about it since 2003, and he's run ManaNation.com since 2007. He writes about and covers Magic: The Gathering for a living.| Useful Author Links | Last 4 posts |
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hmm… Dead reckoning + Death’s Shadow… or does it get -x -x even when it’s in the graveyard?
-”Five mana to make your opponent drop a card and give your self a 2/2.”
-”Look at these guys this way, it’s a 5 mana Bog Raiders.”
For both of these cards with multikicker, what you’ve written implicitly assumes that you need to pay the kicker twice to get the kicker effect which isn’t true. 2BBB for the ritualist would let you kick the spell twice and make your opponent discard two cards. 1BB (CMC 3 not 5) on the Quag Vampires gets you a Bog Raiders. You should change this because it will probably confuse people.
@Z – Thanks, sorry for that :-/
“It’s strictly better than Disfigure “. What exactly does strictly mean? I understand ‘strictly’, in this context, to mean ‘in every situation’. But there are many situations where Disfigure is better than Urge to Feed, (for example: as you say, Urge to Feed is not as easy to splash).
Seems like Abyssal Persecutor should go down a notch or 2 in “Limited”, as you’ll need at least a few ways to deal with him in your deck if you pick him up. Carnage Altar probably goes up slightly in value in your first couple packs on the off chance that you get him, since that would be one pretty easy way, but other cards that get rid of him are very very high picks (Gatekeeper, Journey to Nowhere), so you’ll basically just have to get very lucky if you want to be able to play him. Perhaps if you’re playing Red you can pick up a Goblin Bazaar in your last pack as well, but not many other options.
Some of your reviews are good but some of it seems to be off the target…by much. For example, jagwasp swarm gets a 3 in limited whereas brink of disaster gets a 2. How? Both are 4 mana casting cost. Brink is effective against virtually anything (except enchantment) whereas swarm is just a beater for 3 with evasion. If there’s a deathmatch between brink and swarm, guess who will will win? :) Your swarm will just buzz around afraid to attack…power 3? Evasion? It doesn’t matter. The only downside is the double black in the casting cost other than that, this takes care of everything except vigilance creatures.
Disfigure – only toughness 2 creatures affected
Smother – only 3 or less mana casting cost affected
Hideous End – only non-black
Doom’s Blade – only non-black
Brink of Disaster – everything except vigilance creatures
(that’s for black…not counting white or red removals)
A known combo on dead reckoning and death’s shadow…it’ll swing for 13…