Magic the Gathering

Abyssal Per­se­cu­tor

As 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
Lim­ited: 5
Casual: 5

Agadeem Occultist

This 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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 3

Anowon, the Ruin Sage

He’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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 5

Blood­husk Ritualist

This 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
Lim­ited: 4
Casual: 4

Bojuka Brig­and

He’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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 3

Brink of Disaster

This 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
Lim­ited: 2
Casual: 1

Butcher of Malakir

This 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
Lim­ited: 4
Casual: 5

Caus­tic Crawler

This 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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 3

Cor­rupted Zendikon

The 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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 2

Dead Reck­on­ing

This 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.
Con­structed: 2
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 3

Death’s Shadow

Over­all 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
Lim­ited: 1
Casual: 2

Jag­wasp Swarm

It’s a lim­ited sta­ple, a black Snap­ping Drake. Solid there, but won’t see any­thing in con­structed or casual.

Con­structed: 1
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 1

Kalas­tria Highborn

This 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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 4

Mire’s Toll

This 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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 2

Neme­sis Trap

While 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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 2

Pulse Tracker

No 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
Lim­ited: 2
Casual: 3

Quag Vam­pires

Look at these guys this way, it’s a 3 mana Bog Raiders.

Con­structed: 2
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 2

Quest for the Nihil Stone

This 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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 3

Ruth­less Cullblade

It’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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 3

Scrib Nib­blers

Not really that good. Can help with a mill deck but it’s very inef­fi­cient. Just meh all around.

Con­structed: 1
Lim­ited: 2
Casual: 2

Shore­line Salvager

My 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
Lim­ited: 3
Casual: 2

Smother

It’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
Lim­ited: 4
Casual: 4

Tomb Hex

This 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
Lim­ited: 5
Casual: 3

Urge to Feed

This 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
Lim­ited: 4
Casual: 5