Today we're going to delve deep into Grixis, the Black dominated Shard of Alara. Grixis is a land plagued by death and despair with Humans facing inevitable extinction as they are hunted for their lifeblood by Necromancers, Demons, Vampires, and other Undead. Grixis is not your Eventide dark, it's pitch black.

Grixis's keyword is a handy little recursion number called Unearth. It expands to both Black, Blue and Red Grixis cards creating some unusual graveyard tricks in all colors. Unearth reads:

Return this card from your graveyard to play. It gains haste. Remove it from the game at end of turn or if it would leave play. Unearth only as a sorcery.

The biggest thing to note about unearth is it is flashback for creatures, and much like flashback, at the end of turn or sooner it will leave play forever. You can sacrifice it, bounce it, blink it, whatever you want to try and stop it, but short of a Trickbind on the effect itself, it will leave play for good. Regardless, one shot creatures coming back to play in some cases is game altering and in others maybe just the edge you need to win.

Onto the cards:

Ad Nauseam - 3BB
Instant (Rare)
Reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. You lose life equal to its converted mana cost. You may repeat this process any number of times.

Cashew: Grade: B. A little too costly for my liking for normal usage or to replace Dark Confidant. With infinite draw however, this could definitely power a 0-casting cost combo deck similar to the Legacy deck Iggy-Pop. Not sure it's stable enough to replace Ill Gotten-Gains, although in the right deck it has potential to generate turn 1 kills. Of all the cards in Alara this one appears to be the most potential to break a format.

Drathro: Grade: A-. Unlike it's mostly ignored older brother, Moonlight Bargain, Ad Nauseam has no limit on the number of cards that can be "drawn," as long as you can afford the life loss. I can't help but think there is a combo deck waiting for this card. If you play Eternal formats, you should give this card some serious thought, even at five mana.

Agony Warp - UB
Instant (Common)
Target creature gets -3/-0 until end of turn.
Target creature gets -0/-3 until end of turn.

Drathro: Grade: C. The UB cost limits the use of this card, so I expect Nameless Inversion to remain the common two-mana X/-3 removal card for a while. Seems like a killer card for Limited, though. This would have been above average three blocks ago.

Cashew: Grade: B. Surprised they printed this so close to Lorwyn and Nameless Inversion. While this version allows you to mess up two creatures, the added Blue to the mix isn't necessarily good. I'll still be playing Nameless Inversion in Standard, but this will make it into a few of my Black/Blue aggro decks.

Archdemon of Unx - 5BB
Creature - Demon (Rare)
Flying, trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a non-Zombie creature, then put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token into play.
6/6

Cashew: Grade: C-. It costs too much, however this is a interesting addition to a new emerging concept I noticed. It started in Coldsnap with cumulative upkeep being updated to be a tad better and often beneficial in ways. "Sacrifice" upkeeps also got some loving in Eventide with Doomgape, and this continues the trend, of it hurts, but not as much as it used to. Definitely playable over Lord of the Pit, but there are far better options in the world for this cost.

Drathro: Grade: D. A 2/2 Zombie for 5BB? Awesome! I mean, awesomely bad. Another Lord of the Pit is not going to cut it.

Banewasp Affliction - 1B
Enchantment - Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
When enchanted creature is put into a graveyard, its controller loses life equal to its toughness.

Drathro: Grade: F. You can't rely on your opponent playing big creatures, and this card isn't useful under most other circumstances. If it had Flash, it would have had a little more potential. You are going to have to work pretty hard to maindeck this stinker.

Cashew: Grade: D+. Okay this is great on paper, but just like cards like Funeral March and False Demise I'd rather be able to kill a creature than have something happen on its death. Conceptually good, but the power level is just too low for a card that does nothing on its own. I don't even think I would play this in limited.

Blightning - 1BR
Sorcery (Common)
Blightning deals 3 damage to target player. That player discards two cards.

Cashew: Grade: A+. Yeah let’s take Mind Riot add make it the same converted cost, but require a Red. In exchange, you get a free 3 damage. It's not Lightning Helix, but it's downright powerful and well worth playing. Expect to feel this thing hitting your face alot.

Drathro: Grade: C+. I like this one, in a more gut feeling sense than any rational sense. Three mana to force two discarded cards is reasonable, but three mana for three damage that can't hit creatures is well below the curve. Put together, it means I have a discard spell that isn't completely useless in the late game. The art is pretty cool, as well.

Bone Splinters - B
Sorcery (Common)
As an additional cost to play Bone Splinters, sacrifice a creature.
Destroy target creature.

Drathro: Grade: D+. Most of the time this will cost a minimum of 2 mana, which is nice, and 2 cards, which is awful, just to kill one creature. I suppose it could be good in a token deck, and unearth in the set makes it a little better, but I can't bring myself to like this until I see it in action.

Cashew: Grade: B. While this card looks like a bad Terror at first to some. Take a moment to reflect on a card called Innocent Blood. This version has some ups and downs to it. The biggest up is you can selectively target a creature; the biggest down is you have to have a creature in play to work it. A good Standard removal choice.

Cathartic Adept - U
Creature - Human Wizard (Common)
{T}: Target player puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
1/1

Cashew: Grade: D. I don't like small millers. For him to mill a standard deck on his lonesome, would probably take 30 some turns. Alternatively, he could attack and kill in 20 turns. Just not my style of milling, and I think Merfolk and Slivers do it far better.

Drathro: Grade: C-. A weak, fragile tool for mill decks, at least it's a 1/1 for one mana and a Wizard to boot, useful for Wizardly shenanigans. Even so, it is below average at best; saved from a 'D' only because casual players love their mill cards. (This one's for you, Streetz.)

Corpse Connoisseur - 4B
Creature - Zombie Wizard (Uncommon)
When Corpse Connoisseur comes into play, you may search your library for a creature card and put that card into your graveyard. If you do, shuffle your library.
Unearth {3}{B}
3/3

Drathro: Grade: C. Both its mana and unearth costs are too high to really be abused. Maybe a dedicated reanimator deck could use it as an expensive Entomb?

Cashew: Grade: B-. An interesting standard card, the Mystical Teachings of Unearth if you will, As is, I think the casting cost for both Unearth and the hard cast are too much to play in anything, but a control deck. This is a great limited pick if you have a couple unearthers.

Covenant of Minds - 4U
Sorcery (Rare)
Reveal the top three cards of your library. Target opponent may choose to put those cards into your hand. If he or she doesn't, put those cards into your graveyard and draw five cards.

Cashew: Grade: B+. If you play Tidings, this is a card to consider as a replacement. It's the same converted mana cost, but you may get five cards. The downside is if your next three cards are really good they're in the yard and if they're really awful they're in your hand.

Drathro: Grade: D+. This could be good in multiplayer, where you choose to target a temporary ally to help you dig for answers to your common enemy, but at the dueling table, there are better cards out there.

Cruel Ultimatum - UUBBBRR
Sorcery (Rare)
Target opponent sacrifices a creature, discards three cards, then loses 5 life. You return a creature card from your graveyard to your hand, draw three cards, then gain 5 life.

Drathro: Grade: B+. Very swingy and very fun! Even if Cruel Ultimatum wasn't playable, it would still be beloved for the ridiculous series of events that occur as part of its resolution. With a little control backing it, this could be a serious contender.

Cashew: Grade: B. If you're in a draft or event by all means play this card it's an absolute devastator. If you are playing heavily into these three colors consider it. If this card lands in a close or deadlocked game it should easily end it. In my book, this card has the most impact of all the Ultimatums and is the most playable, however it's still god awful to actually cast.

Crumbling Necropolis
Land (Uncommon)
Crumbling Necropolis comes into play tapped.
{T}: Add {U}, {B} or {R} to your mana pool.

Cashew: Grade: A. There really isn’t any good tri-lands before this cycle. Making them uncommon makes them highly playable especially since many were playing the similar dual lands already when on a budget. I'd be very interested to see if they have something in store for Rare Tri-lands.

Drathro: Grade: B. For decks that need exactly three colors of mana, these are better than the Vivid lands, which are pretty popular as it is.

Cunning Lethemancer - 2B
Creature - Human Wizard (Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, each player discards a card.
2/2

Drathro: Grade: B-. The perfect moment for this card is when you get into top-deck mode versus control. I find this interesting and playable, as long as you plan your deck with this guy in mind.

Cashew: Grade: B-. I wish this thing had a little more power. As is, I'd rather play Rakdos Augermage, and I rarely play him.

Death Baron - 1BB
Creature - Zombie Wizard (Rare)
Skeleton creatures you control and other Zombie creatures you control get +1/+1 and have deathtouch.
2/2

Cashew: Grade: A. Finally a skeleton style Lord. Well sort of, I'm guessing it's as close as we get. Zombies don't really need deathtouch to be successful, although I'd rather play this than Zombie Master and Lord of the Undead. If you ever wanted to play Skeleton in tribal this definitely makes the tribe more feasible.

Drathro: Grade: C+. I don't see this one the same way. The only thing that makes this special is that the Skeleton tribe gets a lord for the first time. Other than that, it is a pretty average lord. Not that lords are really average, I suppose; I'll bump it up to average-plus.

Demon's Herald - B
Creature - Human Wizard (Uncommon)
{2}{B}, {T}, Sacrifice a blue creature, a black creature, and a red creature: Search your library for a card named Prince of Thralls and put it into play. Then shuffle your library.
1/1

Drathro: Grade: C-. Lets look at this mathematically: it will usually cost you three cards and a minimum of six mana (spread out over turns) to tutor up your eight-mana beastie. The fact that you can pull this off as early as turn three doesn't negate the fact that you have put all your eggs in one basket. Admittedly, it is a big, nasty basket. On the plus side, Demon's Herald is a 1/1 for one mana, which is nothing special, but at least par for the course.

Cashew: Grade: D. Two other creatures and this one, just to summon the Prince of Thralls? I guess maybe if you're building a deck solely around him that'd be cool, but he's not quite powerful enough in my book to end a game simply by coming into play. Cause headaches...for sure.

Dreg Reaver - 4B
Creature - Zombie Beast (Common)
4/3

Cashew: Grade: F. Definition of Dreg: The basest or least desirable portion. Yeah, that's pretty right on the spot to describe this card.

Drathro: Grade: D-. Vanilla. Five mana. Three toughness. Limited filler.

Dregscape Zombie - 1B
Creature - Zombie (Common)
Unearth {B}
2/1

Drathro: Grade: C. Finally, we get a cheap unearth cost, but it still lacks evasion. This unearth creature is best suited for an aggressive deck that removes blockers, like maybe a Black-Red aggro-burn deck. It also has potential for spells that require a sacrifice. Maybe it can make Skeleton Shards better?... nah. I'm thinking more along the lines of unearthing into Grafted Wargear...

Cashew: Grade: D. When building a better Grizzly Bears, the goal is to go up a little in power. This is just that, up a little in power. Adding Unearth to a vanilla creature is okay, but a 2/1 just really isn't worth that much to me. I don't even know if I'd play this in limited.

Fatestitcher - 3U
Creature - Zombie Wizard (Uncommon)
{T}: You may tap or untap another target permanent.
Unearth {U}
1/2

Cashew: Grade: B+. This is a pretty cool little guy, his Unearth ability basically makes him a Twiddle. Even beyond that cheap graveyard power, a Twiddle stick is nothing to sneeze at. I like this guy, although he's the kind of card I rarely actually play.

Drathro: Grade: B. I like Fatestitcher's cheap unearth cost and combo-friendly ability. Played from the hand, it seems a little pricey at first, but note that the twiddle ability costs no mana. The more I think about it, the more ideas sprout up. For example, it can accelerate mana when played from the hand, or, when unearthed, it can filter a Blue mana into another color as long as you have a permanent that taps for that other color.

Fire-Field Ogre - 1UBR
Creature - Ogre Mutant (Uncommon)
First strike
Unearth {U}{B}{R}
4/2

Drathro: Grade: C-. Having all three colors in both the mana and unearth costs made me want more than this guy's stats. Four mana for a four-power first-striker is a good uncommon in any single color, but requiring 1UBR for it is less so.

Cashew: Grade: B-. 4/2 first strike for four mana is great. The problem is he's triple colored. I don't really get the Blue in him either seems like bad design to me. As is, this is a monster in limited and a pretty good creature in Standard. I doubt it'll see much play though.

Fleshbag Marauder - 2B
Creature - Zombie Warrior (Uncommon)
When Fleshbag Marauder comes into play, each player sacrifices a creature.
3/1

Cashew: Grade: A+. Here we go. I like this. It's another Innocent Blood variant. As if Zombies didn't need more ways to sacrifice things and cause nasty locks. Fleshbag Marauder is to Innocent Blood as Eternal Witness is to Regrowth. He'll probably be in every recursion/Zombie deck I build for the next couple years.

Drathro: Grade: C+. I'm not as enthusiastic as Cashew about this one. By itself, the Fleshbag is worse than Cruel Edict, but with unearth in the mix, this might actually be playable. People did seem to love Abyssal Gatekeeper...

Grixis Battlemage - 2B
Creature - Human Wizard (Uncommon)
{U}, {T}: Draw a card, then discard a card.
{R}, {T}: Target creature can't block this turn.
2/2

Drathro: Grade: C-. I love me some Battlemages and Looters, so I might have a slight bias towards this card. Definitely good in limited, but I'm thinking as Battlemages go, this is a little below average in constructed duels.

Cashew: Grade: D+. I've never been a fan of Battlemages. They're the jack of all, but master of none. I kinda had hoped they went the way of the Guildmages instead of Battlemages for this set. While the looter aspect is decent, it's not enough to warrant playing this. I'd probably draft this in the mid-range.

Grixis Charm - UBR
Instant (Uncommon)
Choose one - Return target permanent to its owner's hand; or target creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn; or creatures you control get +2/+0 until end of turn.

Cashew: Grade: B+. This is a pretty nice charm if you're in these colors. The -4/-4 is key removal and the Boomerang and +2/+0 aspects are nothing to sneeze at either. What really sells this card is the instant speed which ups it's status over other charms.

Drathro: Grade: B. All three parts of this charm are pretty sweet! The second ability of this charm automatically makes this decent in my book - getting to take out a four-toughness creature with one card at instant speed is highly appreciated. Adding the other two modes, which are useful in and of themselves, more than justifies the extra expense. Did you ever notice Charms almost always have nice artwork?

Grixis Panorama
Land (Common)
{T}: Add {1} to your mana pool.
{1}, {T}, Sacrifice Grixis Panorama: Search your library for a basic Island, Swamp, or Mountain card and put it into play tapped. Then shuffle your library.

Drathro: Grade: C. Comes into play untapped, but in exchange, you have to pay mana and time to get a color out of it. It also doesn't do anything for Reflecting Pool, so I don't see this being any better than the choices we already have.

Cashew: Grade: C. I'll stick to Terramorphic Expanse and fetchlands. This can only fetch basic lands. Beyond the Rav shocks, I like to play with Leechridden Swamp as well. This card doesn't let me fetch either of those. It is a good budget fetcher though because it doesn't slow you down unless you absolutely have to filter for a land.

Hell's Thunder - 1RR
Creature - Elemental (Rare)
Flying, haste
At end of turn, sacrifice Hell's Thunder.
Unearth {4}{R}
4/4

Cashew: Grade: A. This card is fun. It's a flying Ball Lightning that has enough speed to land before an opponent has anything in the air and very few fliers can sustain the four damage when it launches again. This card is an auto-add for me to my Red Deck Wins style decks with a potential eight damage for eight mana.

Drathro: Grade: C+. Sorry, but I see it as just another lame Ball Lightning variant. While this doesn't thrill me, it does have the potential to do eight damage. However, consider that I can potentially get more than eight damage with a vanilla 1/1 creature, but I can't get more than eight damage out of Hell's Thunder (without jumping through hoops, of course). When I think about it that way, it doesn't sound that great anymore.

Incurable Ogre - 3R
Creature - Ogre Mutant (Common)
5/1

Drathro: Grade: D. Dross Crocodile in Red? About the only advantage this has going for it is that it crosses over to Naya's "creatures with 5 power" theme.

Cashew: Grade: D+. I hate these */1 cards that lack trample or first strike. You draft and play them sometimes because you know exactly what they are for, acting as block threats against other massive creatures.

Infest - 1BB
Sorcery (Uncommon)
All creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn.

Cashew: Grade: B+. It's hard to grade a card that already exists, but I'll put it into this meta and say it plays out great. Let’s look at Shard of Alara solely. There are 133 total creatures and 75 meaning 56% of the creatures in the set die to this spell. Yeah, that's pretty powerful, just sideboard it out if you go against a Naya Ancient's deck.

Drathro: Grade: B+. Infest, my pet, it's so good to have you back.

Kathari Screecher - 2U
Creature - Bird Soldier (Common)
Flying
Unearth {2}{U}
2/2

Drathro: Grade: C+. Three mana 2/2 fliers with an extra ability are par for the course, but unearth becomes much better when attached to an evasive creature - from the graveyard it practically says "Flashback 2U: deal 2 damage to target player." I don't know if it will fit in any "good" decks, but I know I'll be trying it in a deck or two.

Cashew: Grade: C-. This is good limited pick with flying and that one pop recursion. Outside of that, I don't see it usurping any existing fliers from their roosts.

Kederekt Creeper - UBR
Creature - Horror (Common)
Deathtouch
Kederekt Creeper can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.
2/3

Cashew: Grade: B. This is an example of quizzical design. It offers two very different abilities that just don't make too much sense together. You want a creature with Deathtouch to be able to be blocked, however this guy is evasive making it hard to block him. However, the design makes sense you realize that in order to stop this little monster you have to lose two creatures. As a common, I'd be snatching this up left and right in drafts.

Drathro: Grade: C+. If you've played against Wren's Run Vanquisher at all, you will know how nasty a cheap deathtouch creature can be. Unfortunately, the blocker restriction can't make up for the lower power, the extra mana, and the increased difficulty to cast this guy. Still, in limited this will either be unblockable or a two-for one.

Kederekt Leviathan - 6UU
Creature - Levitathan (Rare)
When Kederekt Leviathan comes into play, return all other nonland permanents to their owners' hands.
Unearth {6}{U}
5/5

Drathro: Grade: A+. By itself, the unearth ability on this card basically reads "Flashback 6U: Deal 5 damage to target opponent," which is not that bad. But why would you play it by itself, when you could repeatedly clear the board of all non-land permanents with Animate Dead on Kederekt Leviathan? The Leviathan's "comes into play" ability will bounce the Animate Dead, along with everything else except lands. Then, the Animate Dead leaving play will force the Leviathan to sacrifice. You just paid 1B to bounce the board of all non-land permanents, and you may repeat it as long as you have mana open to do it! What? You want to do it at instant speed? It'll cost you - only one extra mana for Necromancy! I love it.

Cashew: Grade: A+. We haven't really reviewed any powerful finishers yet in Grixis, and we finally have one. Like all Leviathans this one makes an impact if and when it hits. In this case, it becomes the sole creature on the board and can deal five damage a turn with not much in it's path. If you remember SnowBlue and other pre-CounterTop control decks you recognize this as an amazing stall finisher. You counter long and hard until you can plop this down and win with a single creature.

Lich's Mirror - 5
Artifact (Mythic Rare)
If you would lose the game, instead shuffle your hand, your graveyard, and all permanents you own into your library, then draw seven cards and your life total becomes 20.

Cashew: Grade: D. Mythic Fail. This card isn't good. If you're losing it's probably big and losing everything in play to start at turn 1 versus your opponents turn eight lands and creatures is probably not a good circumstance. The only place I see this of use is in Legacy/Classic where decks are running a sole win card and plopping this down ends them entirely.

Drathro: Grade: B-. This has some crazy combo potential, and casual players will love this, but it might be too weak for any competitive constructed formats. I'd say keep an eye on it.

Lightning Talons - 2R
Enchantment - Aura (Common)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/+0 and has first strike.

Drathro: Grade: D. It’s an aura, with all the inherent card disadvantages of auras. That being said, its not a bad aura for limited or aggro vs aggro match-ups.

Cashew: Grade: C. This is a pretty nasty card in limited environments turning even the tiniest bodies into powerful beings. Might even see limited play in Boros Deck Wins and Zoo, but probably not too much.

Minion Reflector - 5
Artifact (Rare)
Whenever a nontoken creature comes into play under your control, you may pay {2}. If you do, put a token into play that's a copy of that creature. That token has haste and "At end of turn, sacrifice this permanent."

Cashew: Grade: C. A little costly and ultimately not that powerful. More playable than Soul Foundry..not really it's tokens stick around. As is, its just a nifty little thing.

Drathro: Grade: C+. I can see this being decent in creature-based control decks, but the cost is a little steep. It's a bit like granting one-sided haste, and it doubles up on "comes into play" and "leaves play" abilities, but it will cost you. Try it with evoke, unearth, and Makeshift Mannequin, it could be good...

Obelisk of Grixis - 3
Artifact (Common)
{T}: Add {U},{B}, or {R} to your mana pool.

Drathro: Grade: C. For casual, Darksteel Ingot is better. Will Scuttlemutt beat this out in Standard, or will Mind Stone take that prize instead, because it is cheaper?

Cashew: Grade: D. I'll stick to my Darksteel Ingot. I think they really missed the ball on these things.

Prince of Thralls - 4UBBR
Creature - Demon (Mythic Rare)
Whenever a permanent an opponent controls is put into a graveyard, put that card into play under your control unless that opponent pays 3 life.
7/7

Cashew: Grade: C+. This is a pretty big meanie that is sure to make an impact if and when it hits play. At eight mana and in non-Green colors, you're probably looking at recursion to get it into play, before turn fourteen, but it is a definite limited bomb.

Drathro: Grade: C+. "Part B" of why Demon's Herald is "meh." Once you get this guy out, he's got no evasion, and the permanent stealing ability has an out for the opponent. Still, it is a Black creature with seven toughness, meaning that not much can remove it from the board, assuming you can get it in play in the first place. I guess I'm just not impressed with this Mythic Rare.

Resounding Scream - 2B
Sorcery (Common)
Target player discards a card at random.
Cycling {5}{U}{B}{R}
When you cycle Resounding Scream, target player discards two cards at random.

Drathro: Grade: F. Unfortunately, three mana for one random discard is "fair," by current standards. "Fair" doesn't make it "good." Quite frankly, if you are playing a discard deck, your opponent isn't likely to have more than one card to discard by the time you reach eight mana anyway. While this is a fun concept, the execution on this card is dismal.

Cashew: Grade: D-. I hate this cycle. It's mediocre in it's hard cast form, and it's cycling form is far too costly to be of real usage. I have no idea how Wizards intends to use these cards or if this set signals a great slow down in game play.

Scourge Devil - 4R
Creature - Devil (Uncommon)
When Scourge Devil comes into play, creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
Unearth {2}{R}
3/3

Cashew: Grade: D+. This card attempts to put into one, a weaker version of a finishing combo involving Bridge from Below, Flamekin Zealot, and Dread Return. Ultimately it fails at too high of a casting cost and lacking the haste component. At five mana, I can think of far better and more powerful ways to fuel a massive strike.

Drathro: Grade: D. The difference between a reasonable +2/+0 to your creatures and a piddling +1/+0 is huge. No evasion means that, even if you unearth it, you still probably won't connect. A high casting cost and an almost reasonable unearth don't really help, either.

Sedraxis Specter - UBR
Creature - Specter (Rare)
Flying
Whenever Sedraxis Specter deals combat damage to a player, that player discards a card.
Unearth {1}{B}
3/2

Drathro: Grade: B. This is better. An easy unearth cost plus evasion and a nice damage-triggered ability makes me happy. The tricky part is the original cost to play it, but with mana fixing and multi-lands so easy to assemble, it might not be that hard to pay for after all. Not that good in Eternal formats, because you can't Dark Ritual it out early. Also, what is up with the art on this card?

Cashew: Grade: B+. This card attempts to create a pretty powerful standard Specter. The main issue is the three colors limit how quickly it might come into play. On the downside, playing it's unearth ability in a dredge deck adds some much needed utility in the form of mini-Blightnings.

Sedris, the Traitor King - 3UBR
Legendary Creature - Zombie Warrior (Mythic Rare)
Each creature card in your graveyard has unearth {2}{B}.
5/5

Cashew: Grade: B+. This has nasty implications and I think it definitely makes more of an impact on the game than the Prince of Thralls. The major difference between the two Grixis mythic rare creatures is this one comes into play faster and has an immediate impact on the late game turning a probably well-established graveyard into a monstrosity.

Drathro: Grade: A. If this sticks in play for one turn, it is pretty likely you can pay for two unearths the next turn. Assuming that you built your deck with this in mind, those two creatures should be selected to totally wreck your opponent, I could be wrong, but I'm willing to stick my neck out on this one.

Shadowfeed - B
Instant (Common)
Remove target card in a graveyard from the game. You gain 3 life.

Drathro: Grade: D. This looks like a little graveyard hate for Shards Block, but it's pretty sad otherwise.

Cashew: Grade: C-. Black lifegain...without a syphon..I'm..shocked and amazed. It's kind of dark though, you eat the dead to gain life..yummy. Any who, in Standard I'd rather use Beckon Apparition and get me a little flier. In limited, sideboard this in case you face an Unearther.

Shore Snapper - 2B
Creature - Beast (Common)
{U}: Shore Snapper gains islandwalk until end of turn.
2/2

Cashew: Grade: D. it’s a little costly for my liking. I'd draft it for sideboard, but that's about it.

Drathro: Grade: D. Shore Snapper reminds me of Roofstalker Wight. This is nothing special.

Skeletal Kathari - 4B
Creature - Bird Skeleton (Common)
Flying
{B}, Sacrifice a creature: Regenerate Skeletal Kathari.
3/2

Drathro: Grade: F. Below the curve all around. I will never play this in any constructed format.

Cashew: Grade: D. Another crap common. It's slightly draftable since it has evasion and regeneration, but it's not that great.

Skeletonize - 4R
Instant (Uncommon)
Skeletonize deals 3 damage to target creature. When a creature dealt damage this way is put into a graveyard this turn, put a 1/1 black Skeleton creature token into play with "{B}: Regenerate this creature."

Cashew: Grade: B-. This is a great draft card and a decent play card. The heavy cost and creature only targeting makes me shy away from heavy use, but situationally it is a very fun card.

Drathro: Grade: D. I love the flavor of this card - it fits Grixis very well. Limited play will love this card, but cheaper and more flexible options for burning a creature exist outside of limited formats. It's like a Red Violet Pall, which isn't saying much.

Swerve
Swerve - UR
Instant (Uncommon)
Change the target of target spell with a single target.

Drathro: Grade: B-. I have an unreasoning affection for Misdirection-style spells, so I'm on board with this one. Even setting aside my preferences, this should be a decent sideboard card versus burn or targeted draw. I'll probably be overrating this one until a Blue/Red control deck shows up. Then you'll see.

Cashew: Grade: B. It's a cheaper uncommon version of Shunt. Nothing to argue about here, in this case I'd actually play Swerve over Shunt due to the one less cost, even if I have to splash Blue for it.

Undead Leotau - 5B
Creature - Zombie Cat (Common)
{R}: Undead Leotau gets +1/-1 until end of turn.
Unearth {2}{B}
3/4

Cashew: Grade: D+. Limited use only, and it's use in limited is pretty powerful. While a 3/4 for 6 is a tad costly, it can get as big as 6/1 making it a threat.

Drathro: Grade: D-. Holy overcosted, Batman! Only a reasonable unearth cost saves this one from total humiliation.

Vein Drinker - 4BB
Creature - Vampire (Rare)
Flying
{R}, {T}: Vein Drinker deals damage equal to its power to target creature. That creature deals damage equal to its power to Vein Drinker.
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Vein Drinker this turn is put into a graveyard, put a +1/+1 counter on Vein Drinker.
4/4

Drathro: Grade: A-. Evasion? Check. Built-in Contested Cliffs? Check. Unlimited growth potential? Check. Even at six mana, this seems pretty strong to me. Oh, did I mention for the casual crowd that this is a Vampire? Make sure to clean up the drool when you leave.

Cashew: Grade: B+. Mark it down, I finally really like a Vampire. This Vamp has what I thought every Vampire ever made by Wizards lacked - a way to actively engage creatures and truly feed and grow. This very much captures the predator feel that the species in Magic sadly was lacking. If you see this in a draft, absolutely pick it up, it's probably one of the best cards you can get in the entire set.

Viashino Skeleton - 3R
Creature - Viashino Skeleton (Common)
{1}{B}, Discard a card: Regenerate Viashino Skeleton.
2/1

Cashew: Grade: F. Four mana for a 2/1 are you serious? And you have to discard a card and pay two mana to regenerate it. Yes this is seriously the worst card in Alara. I can't think of a single reason to play this.

Drathro: Grade: F. Was there Madness in this set, and I missed it? What, maybe they think we need to throw cards away to enable unearth? I don't think so.

Viscera Dragger - 3B
Creature - Zombie Ogre Warrior (Common)
Cycling {2}
Unearth {1}{B}
3/3

Drathro: Grade: C+. There's something about this unearther I like, even though it lacks evasion. The combination of cycling and a reasonable unearth cost just works for me. I also have to note that it is a Warrior, which makes me consider this for an Obsidian Battle-Axe deck...

Cashew: Grade: B+. This is cool, it's a cycling card that unearths. Basically meaning you can pay 3B and get a card and a 3/3 hasted one shotter. This cards power comes from it's cycling and Unearthing, not it's standard 3/3 shape and form. Definiton time! Viscera: the intestines; bowels; aka yum.

Vithian Stinger - 2R
Creature - Human Shaman (Common)
{T}: Vithian Stinger deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Unearth {1}{R}
0/1

Cashew: Grade: B-. Tim! A new Tim! Oh my! It's the same cost as Prodigal Pyromancer and it can unearth for a little beyond the grave blasting. Good in drafts, great if you love Tim or Tom.

Drathro: Grade: C. Pingers are fun, and being able to bring it back for one last point of damage could be good, if only it could be done at instant speed. I'm not too impressed, but I can't really say it's bad, either. On the plus side, I do like how the art depicts our pinger taking out some undead!

That wraps up our review of the cards that we have interpreted to be Grixis cards! As expected, the Shard seems to be well-populated with fairly average cards, with a few stinkers and powerhouses sprinkled in the mix.

In the end, it seems that there is a clear winner for Grixis - a card that both of our reviewers gave an A+ to: Kederekt Leviathan! What is interesting about their reviews is that our reviewers appreciated it for two different styles of play: combo-control and long-game control. I'd say that's the sign of a card to watch.

There seems to be a split decision on Unearth in general, but it looks like the overall impression is a good one. Only time will tell just how good it will be. Actually, you can tell us as well, in the forums! What cards did we pan that are better than expected? What overrated monstrosities should be taken down a peg? Follow the forum link and tell us what you think.

Thanks for reading! - Cashew and DW (Drathro)

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.
Find other articles by this author here.
Find other articles by this author here.
Find other articles from this series here.

[ Back ] [ Home ] [ Up ] [ Next ]

Articles Spotlights from 2008:
A Fresh Perspective: Stasis - Part One.
The Apprentice Magician - Part Six.
Design on a Dime: The Lunch Meat Edition!
Fit the Flavor 2008 - FINALE!
The Games People Play - Market & EDH.
Sarpadian Empires, Vol VII: Foreword.
More Evil Than Evil.
Pauper Chronicles: Top O' the Morningtide to You!
Words from the Streetz: Uncommon and Common Magical Treasures.
The Writers Guild: The Inside Scoop.