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You know what I like? Black cards. You know what set I
really like? Torment. You know why? Because it has Black cards that are CRAZY!
Think about it: Nantuko Shade, Cabal Coffers (not really Black, but you know
what I mean), Mutilate, Chainer's Edict, Ichorid... the list goes on. Torment
also happened to be Sengir Vampire's first reappearance since Beatdown, and he
did so sporting a new and sexy suit.

So what does this have to do with Zendikar? Well, let's
face it, Black hasn't exactly been the cream of the crop since the long lost
days of the Odyssey Block, and I'd like to hope that this set is Black's time to
shine once again. Zendikar has many great cards of the dark persuasion, some
reminiscent of random oldies, some as a throwback to Torment, as well as a
creature type that's been dying to be turned into a tribe since Alpha. But does
it have what it takes to dethrone its spooky predecessor?
That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we are here to find out
today, so without further ado, I present to you my First Impressions of Zendikar
Black.
Bala Ged Thief 3B
Creature - Human Rogue Ally
Whenever Bala Ged Thief or another Ally enters the battlefield under your
control, target player reveals a number of cards from his or her hand equal
to the number of Allies you control. You choose one of them. That player
discards that card.
2/2
Grade: B+
So, it seems that Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has decided to create two new
tribes in Zendikar. The first is composed of Allies, and although most of them
seem alright, this particular one is pretty damn good. Let's assume you have 2
Allies when you play the Bala Ged Thief: you can look at 3 of your opponent's
cards in hand, which is the equivalent of Blackmail, but for 3 extra mana. Is 3
mana worth a 2/2 body? Not really. But then you play another Ally, and you can
look at 4 cards. Then you play another, and you can look at 5 cards. Get my
drift yet? No? Bala Ged Thief, and most other Allies, trigger whenever ANY ALLY
COMES INTO PLAY UNDER YOUR CONTROL. Think Slivers but with comes into play
abilities instead of static ones. Patriarch's Bidding anyone?
Blood Seeker 1B
Creature - Vampire Shaman
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, you
may have that player lose 1 life.
1/1
Grade: A
Here we come to the second tribe introduced in Zendikar, Vampires. The potential
of this being a full-fledged tribe was hinted at in M10, but now we have
official proof of their existence, and let me tell you, this one is a fine
example of how strong they are. Decent body, insane ability, and a COMMON? Wow.
It doesn't even require two black mana, so it can be played in most two color
decks as well. Not only is this going to be the bane of any creature-based deck,
but it will absolutely murder token decks.

Blood Tribute 4BB
Sorcery
Kicker-Tap an untapped Vampire you control. (You may tap a Vampire you
control in addition to any other costs as you cast this spell.)
Target opponent loses half his or her life, rounded up. If Blood Tribute was
kicked, you gain life equal to the life lost this way.
Grade: B
While not exactly a Tribal Vampire card, it is most certainly Vampire-oriented
(see kicker). I would give it an A except for the fact that it costs six mana.
While this is a fair cost, the problem is that by the time you get to six mana,
your opponent will probably be at around ten life, so he'll be losing five and
you'll be gaining five. It won't kill him, but it will make his life a little
bit harder. Where this card gets really good is against life-gainers. Bust this
out against a Wellwisher-happy Elf deck and watch the sparks fly!
Bloodchief Ascension B
Enchantment
At the beginning of each end step, if an opponent lost 2 or more life this
turn, you may put a quest counter on Bloodchief Ascension. (Damage causes
loss of life.)
Whenever a card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, if
Bloodchief Ascension has three or more quest counters on it, you may have
that player lose 2 life. If you do, you gain 2 life.
Grade:
A
This thing is spectacular. An amazing ability, an easy condition to fulfill, and
all for the low, low price of ONE mana. How can you go wrong? I can see this
reviving Black/Red discard decks, especially in casual circles. Here, let me
give you an example:
Turn 1: Land, Bloodchief
Ascension.
Turn 2: Land, Shock my opponent for a counter
on my turn. Lightning Bolt my opponent for a counter on his turn. Bloodchief
Ascension now has two counters.
Turn 3: Land, Blightning. Bloodchief Ascension
is active.
From now on, anytime you kill something or make your
opponent discard something, you gain two life and he loses two. You can make
your opponent discard cards and hurt him that way, or do some silly stuff like
sacrifice a Mindslicer for 8 damage/life gain, or even go classic Black/Red and
just kill creatures and lands. The possibilities are endless.
Bloodghast BB
Creature - Vampire Spirit
Bloodghast can't block.
Bloodghast has haste as long as an opponent has 10 or less life.
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you
may return Bloodghast from your graveyard to the battlefield.
2/1
Grade: B+
Hmm, not bad. Bloodghast is one of those recurring Spirit guys that comes back
every turn for some hasty damage. The downside is that he doesn't always have
haste, but the upside is that he can be recurred multiple times a turn with some
land fetching. I'd rank him slightly beneath Ichorid (tournament staple and all
around amazing guy) and Nether Traitor (combo potential galore! Combine two with
Vampire Aristocrat for maximum levels of awesome) because of his lack of
constant haste, but much higher than the classic Nether Spirit and Nether Shadow
for his superior versatility. Oh, and did I mention he's a Vampire too? Half a
point extra just for that.
Bog Tatters 4B
Creature - Wraith
Swampwalk
4/2
Grade: F
After a brief, beautiful interlude, we return to reality, where every black card
in Zendikar is not amazing. Thank you WotC for printing another card that no one
is ever going to play outside of a draft. Next!
Crypt Ripper 2BB
Creature - Shade
Haste
{B}: Crypt Ripper gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2
Grade: C
Ah, the Shade, one of Magic's much maligned creature types, alongside Bear,
Spider, and Octopus (although that last one just got an amazing new member! See
the Blue FI article for an assessment). It seems like a new iteration is printed
every set, yet none seem to achieve the same level of magnificence attained by
Torment's Nantuko Shade. This one is no exception, as it doesn't even come close
to Nantuko's runners up, Cinder Shade (who can also kill creatures) and Chilling
Shade (evasion in the form of flying). Allow me to explain: Crypt Ripper costs
four mana because it comes with a 2/2 body and haste. The problem is that you're
never going to make use of the haste. Let's assume you play him on turn four and
attack. Chances are he's going to run straight into an opposing creature that's
much bigger and badder than he is, and he'll die because you won't be able to
pump him. So you play him on turn four, then attack with him on turn five with
mana open so that you can pump him, thereby rendering his haste ability
completely useless. Sigh. Here's hoping next year's new Shade will be better...
Desecrated Earth 4B
Sorcery
Destroy target land. Its controller discards a card.
Grade: D
Rain of Tears + Raven's Crime + one extra mana = a card that I don't ever want
to play. At least it's a common...
Disfigure B
Instant
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
Grade: B+
Wow! They printed a new removal spell in Black that's equivalent to Shock! And
it's really good (but obviously doesn't target players)!

Feast of Blood 1B
Sorcery
Cast Feast of Blood only if you control two or more Vampires.
Destroy target creature. You gain 4 life.
Grade: B
Ok, I don't get it. Zendikar doesn't have Tribal Sorceries/Instants, but it does
have spells that specifically require Vampires to work or to activate Kickers.
Why not just come clean and give them the Tribal type? In any case, this spell
is really good. It destroys any creature (including Black and Artifact) and
gains you four life. If it didn't have the two Vampire requirement to cast it, I
would have given it an easy A.
Gatekeeper of Malakir BB
Creature - Vampire Warrior
Kicker {B} (You may pay an additional {B} as you cast this spell.)
When Gatekeeper of Malakir enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, target
player sacrifices a creature.
2/2
Grade: A+
See, now this is how you combine spells. Chainer's Edict + Grizzly Bears =
Gatekeeper of Malakir, and he costs 1 mana less than the sum of his parts. I am
in awe.
Giant Scorpion 2B
Creature - Scorpion
Deathtouch (Creatures dealt damage by this creature are destroyed. You can
divide this creature's combat damage among any of the creatures blocking or
blocked by it.)
1/3
Grade: C+
This guy is not bad, especially considering that Black is really short on
quality Deathtouch guys. A 1/3 for three that's also a common is quite a
bargain. If you can spare an extra Black mana though, and can fork up the cash
for an upgrade to uncommon, I really recommend Vampire Nighthawk instead (see
further down the article).
Grim Discovery 1B
Sorcery
Choose one or both - Return target creature card from your graveyard to your
hand; and/or return target land card from your graveyard to your hand.
Grade: B
I
don't know why, but I really like this card. I think it's the fact that you can
return two things for the price of one which gives me the feeling of card
advantage. Of course, it'll only really be amazing in a deck where you sacrifice
or discard lands, but it's still good enough otherwise. Oh, and with Harrow
being reprinted, this card becomes a little better in Standard. You don't see it
yet? Check this out:
Turn 1: Land, Vampire
Lacerator.
Turn 2: Land, Bloodghast. Trade the Vampire
Lacerator with opponent's creature.
Turn 3: Land, Harrow, fetching two lands that
come into play UNtapped. Use them to play Grim Discovery, returning your
creature that died and the land you sacrificed to Harrow.
See? Card advantage. Cool eh?
Guul Draz Specter 2BB
Creature - Specter
Flying
Guul Draz Specter gets +3/+3 as long as an opponent has no cards in hand.
Whenever Guul Draz Specter deals combat damage to a player, that player
discards a card.
Grade: A-
As a man that really enjoys discard decks, the question I've always asked was
the following: what do I do when my opponent has no cards left in hand? Today,
the answer has come: attack with Guul Draz Specter! This guy is everything I
could ever want in a discard creature: it has evasion, it forces discard on hit,
and when the opponent is out of cards, it turns into an offensive machine that
will probably kill him before he can draw some kind of removal. Amazing.
Guul Draz Vampire B
Creature - Vampire Rogue
As long as an opponent has 10 or less life, Guul Draz Vampire gets +2/+1 and
has intimidate.
(It can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or creatures that
share a color with it.)
Grade: C+
Well, a 1/1 for one mana is never anything amazing unless it has an ability, so
this guy doesn't start off as anything special. He does have what I like to call
"Bloodscent", where he can smell the blood of his opponent and breaks out into a
killing frenzy to take him out (kind of like a shark). This occurs when your
opponent hits ten life, and it turns Guul Draz into a 3/2 Fear, which is pretty
good. So, in conclusion, crappy in the early game and pretty good in the late
game.
Ok, pause the FI for a second, there's something I need to
get off my chest: "Intimidate" is a useless ability. WotC is trying to come up
with a new kind of evasion, and that I can accept, but WHY in the world would
they mostly give it to Black creatures? For the record, the only non-Black
creature in the set to have Intimidate is Bladetusk Boar (a red guy), which
means that excluding him, "Intimidate" is basically "Fear". Seriously WotC, get
a grip. Here endeth the rant.
Hagra Crocodile 3B
Creature - Crocodile
Hagra Crocodile can't block.
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Hagra
Crocodile gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
3/1
Grade: D
The fact that he gets a +2/+2 boost for every land does not negate the fact that
he's a four mana 3/1 creature that can't block. He's basically the retarded
Black version of Blue's Windrider Eel, and makes me sad.
Hagra Diabolist 4B
Creature - Ogre Shaman Ally
Whenever Hagra Diabolist or another Ally enters the battlefield under your
control, you may have target player lose life equal to the number of Allies
you control.
3/2
Grade: B-
Alright, another Ally, and he has a pretty decent ability on a... 3/2 body?!
What the deuce... you know, I am very upset with these allies. They seem to have
decent abilities on terrible sized bodies. Compare this dude to Malakir
Bloodwitch and you'll see what I mean. Still, his ability is recurring, which
does make it slightly more powerful than the witch's. Essentially, if you have
him in play and three other allies, you'll probably win the game in one turn by
playing two more guys. I guess if he costed less mana he'd be too strong, but
the least they could have done was make him impervious to the weakest removal
spell in the set...
Halo Hunter 2BBB
Creature - Demon
Intimidate (This creature can't be blocked except by artifact creatures
and/or creatures that share a color with it.)
When Halo Hunter enters the battlefield, destroy target Angel.
6/3
Grade: D+
I don't know what to say to this. Who wants to pay five mana for a 6/3 fear?
That's basically what this guy is. Sure, he kills an Angel when he comes into
play, but not only is that circumstantial and useless in casual deckbuilding,
it's also quite useless in our current standard environment. Zendikar brings
with it three Angels, one of which will never see play in anything except for a
draft (Shepherd of the Lost), and one of which won't allow you to cast Halo
Hunter (Iona, Shield of Emeria naming Black). In fact, the most common Angel
that you'll see nowadays is Baneslayer Angel, which Halo Hunter can't target
because she has protection from Demons! This guy is going to be filed away,
along with Tivadar of Thorn, in the "dumb creatures that only target one
specific thing one time" file.
Heartstabber Mosquito 3B
Creature - Insect
Kicker {2}{B} (You may pay an additional {2}{B} as you cast this spell.)
Flying
When Heartstabber Mosquito enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, destroy
target creature.
2/2
Grade: C
Well, it has a sub-par body for its mana cost, and it has a kicker that's too
expensive to be worth playing. It gets a C instead of a D because it's not
restricted to nonblack creatures.
Hideous End 1BB
Instant
Destroy target nonblack creature. Its controller loses 2 life.
Grade: B-
Dark Banishing returns! Except this time it allows the creature to regenerate in
exchange for making the opponent lose two life. Fair trade I'd say.

Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet 5BB
Legendary Creature - Vampire Warrior
{B}{B}{B}, {T}: Destroy target creature. If that creature is put into a
graveyard this way, put a black Vampire creature token onto the battlefield.
Its power is equal to that creature's power and its toughness is equal to
that creature's toughness.
5/5
Grade: B-
I'm feeling quite ambivalent about this card. On the one hand, it has a great
ability which allows you to kill creatures and create Vampires. On the other
hand, it's SEVEN MANA with no evasion and needs a full turn before it can do
anything. I guess it all comes down to whether or not you can wait until the
late game before needing removal. It does kill pretty much anything that doesn't
have protection from black after all...
Malakir Bloodwitch 3BB
Creature - Vampire Shaman
Flying, protection from white
When Malakir Bloodwitch enters the battlefield, each opponent loses life
equal to the number of Vampires you control. You gain life equal to the life
lost this way.
4/4
Grade: A+
See, now THIS is a Vampire I can respect. She has a strong body with evasion AND
protection, and she makes your opponent lose life AND gains you life when she
comes into play. She counts towards your Vampire total, so she'll always make
your opponent lose at least 1 life. Oh, and just in case you missed it, she hits
ALL opponents, so protection/untargetability/worship don't get around her
"enters the battlefield" effect. Did I mention this makes her superb in
multiplayer?
Marsh Casualties BB
Sorcery
Kicker {3} (You may pay an additional {3} as you cast this spell.)
Creatures target player controls get -1/-1 until end of turn. If Marsh
Casualties was kicked, those creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn instead.
Grade: B
Wait, five mana to destroy most of your opponents' weenies, and NOT hurt any of
yours? SOLD! The nonkicked version is not too bad either...
Mind Sludge 4B
Sorcery
Target player discards a card for each Swamp you control.
Grade: B-
Mind Sludge was a strong card in Torment/8th Edition, but it had the same
problem then as it has now: if you're playing it on turn 5, chances are you're
paying 5 mana to make your opponent discard two to three cards. It's very strong
against decks that draw cards, but only average against other ones.
Mindless Null 2B
Creature - Zombie
Mindless Null can't block unless you control a Vampire.
2/2
Grade: F
A sub-par Zombie that needs a Vampire to function. In other words, it doesn't
fit in a tribal Vampire deck because there are way better creatures to be put in
the 3-mana slot, and it doesn't fit in a tribal Zombie deck because you need a
Vampire to make it work. Why would anyone play this?
Mire Blight B
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
When enchanted creature is dealt damage, destroy it.
Grade: D+
Ok, this is getting a little bit ridiculous. Black already has a large amount of
removal in this set, there's no need to print any more, especially of the
enchantment variety which, let's be honest, are never as good as the instants.
Needlebite Trap 5BB
Instant - Trap
If an opponent gained life this turn, you may pay {B} rather than pay
Needlebite Trap's mana cost.
Target player loses 5 life and you gain 5 life.
Grade: D
Ah, the traps. Another one of WotC's odd ideas, introduced in the Zendikar set.
I have to admit, some of them are pretty good. Unfortunately, Needlebite Trap is
not. This is one of those spells that is too expensive in the late game, and too
circumstantial in the early game. I don't play against many decks that gain
life, and if they do, the 10 point life swing that happens as a result of this
spell isn't going to make much of a difference, because the life gain happens
first. Imagine this: your opponent plays Heroes' Reunion, gaining 7 life. You
play Needlebite Trap for 1 mana. He ends up with 7 - 5 = 2 extra life, and you
end up with 5 extra. In other words, the only thing that happened is that you
gained life, and I'd rather spend my mana killing people than staying alive.
Nimana Sell-Sword 3B
Creature - Human Warrior Ally
Whenever Nimana Sell-Sword or another Ally enters the battlefield under your
control, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Nimana Sell-Sword.
2/2
Grade: D
This guy comes into play as a 3/3, but needs another friend to show up for him
to become a 4/4 and make his mana cost worthwhile. If you're playing Allies,
you're probably playing 3 colors or more, so you're much better off playing one
of the smaller +1/+1 counter creatures like Kazandu Blademaster or Oran-Rief
Survivalist. The reason for this is that if you play one of the smaller guys on
turn two, you can play another on turn three and start beating. Nimana
Sell-Sword comes in on the 4th turn at the earliest, and needs a turn five
before attacking. At that point he'll be facing stuff like Baneslayer Angel or
Ob Nixilis, and he's no match for them.
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 3BB
Legendary Creature - Demon
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you
may have target player lose 3 life. If you do, put three +1/+1 counters on
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen.
3/3
Grade:
A+
Ok, hold on just a darn minute. I don't know who thought making this guy a 3/3
would make him weak or average, because it didn't: Ob is CRAZY. He's the kind of
creature you want to drop as early as possible, because he's just that good,
especially in a Green/Black deck. If you play the classic Turn 1 Birds/Elves,
Turn 2 Sakura/Vine Trellis, you can easily drop him on Turn 3. Follow this up
with ANY good land fetching spell, preferably one that gets two lands in play
(Harrow anyone?), and you will have made your opponent lose six life and will be
attacking with a 9/9 by Turn 4. It's creatures like this that have me thinking
Black is intensely powerful in Zendikar. If only he wasn't so expensive to buy.
At the time of writing this article, he's going for 15 bucks a pop at my local
store. So, to summarize, BEG/BORROW/DEAL/STEAL A PLAYSET OF OB NIXILIS RIGHT
NOW. Good talk.
Quest for the Gravelord B
Enchantment
Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may
put a quest counter on Quest for the Gravelord.
Remove three quest counters from Quest for the Gravelord and sacrifice it:
Put a 5/5 black Zombie Giant creature token onto the battlefield.
Grade: B
It's good. Not amazing, but good. Basically, it needs to be in a specific
sacrificial deck, and once it is, you're paying one mana and possibly two turns
for a 5/5. The only reason it gets a B is because if you're not playing a
sacrificial deck, then you're relying on removal spells and combat to eliminate
creatures, and the Quest becomes much harder to pull off.
Ravenous Trap 2BB
Instant - Trap
If an opponent had three or more cards put into his or her graveyard from
anywhere this turn, you may pay {0} rather than pay Ravenous Trap's mana
cost.
Exile all cards from target player's graveyard.
Grade: D
Hmmm, this trap is sideboard material. That is all.
Sadistic Sacrament BBB
Sorcery
Kicker {7} (You may pay an additional {7} as you cast this spell.)
Search target player's library for up to three cards, exile them, then that
player shuffles his or her library. If Sadistic Sacrament was kicked,
instead search that player's library for up to fifteen cards, exile them,
then that player shuffles his or her library.
Grade:
A
Wow! What power! Verve! Elegance! Everything about this card makes me happy. In
the early game, searching an opponent's library for three cards is HUGE. What if
he only has three copies of his finisher? Or three copies of some kind of
removal/disenchant/combo piece? You automatically destroy his deck. If he's
running the usual playset of four, then you've greatly reduced his chances of
drawing them. Also, if you're playing mono black control, you probably have
Cabal Coffers (or the new Crypt of Agadeem), so in the late game, you'll usually
hit ten mana, making Sadistic Sacrament's kicker ability a definite viable
option too.
Sorin Markov 3BBB
Planeswalker - Sorin
+2: Sorin Markov deals 2 damage to target creature or player and you gain 2
life.
-3: Target opponent's life total becomes 10.
-7: You control target player's next turn.
Loyalty 4
Grade: A-
Sorin Markov is cool. Sorin Markov is powerful. Sorin Markov is sexy, and was
probably a Vampire before he become a Planeswalker. He's also one of the few
Planeswalkers with abilities that are ALL useful. If your opponent has more than
ten life, you play Sorin and activate his second ability right away. If your
opponent has 10 life or less, you start pinging away with his first ability
until your opponent dies. And occasionally when you're at a stalemate, the
Mindslaver-like third ability can swing the game in your favor. The only real
problem with Sorin that makes him less viable and much less powerful than most
of the tournament Planeswalkers is his cost: six mana is a pretty hefty price
tag, hence the A- instead of a full A.
Soul Stair Expedition B
Enchantment
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you
may put a quest counter on Soul Stair Expedition.
Remove three quest counters from Soul Stair Expedition and sacrifice it:
Return up to two target creature cards from your graveyard to your hand.
Grade: C
Hmm, ok. Black has many ways to return creature cards from the graveyard. I'd
much rather pay more to have the spell's effect right away, instead of having to
wait a few turns to activate it. Unless you desperately need TWO creatures,
stick with Grim Discovery.
Surrakar Marauder 1B
Creature - Surrakar
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control,
Surrakar Marauder gains intimidate until end of turn. (It can't be blocked
except by artifact creatures and/or creatures that share a color with it.)
2/1
Grade: D
Two mana for a 2/1 sometimes Fear (none of this "Intimidate" business, he can't
be blocked by Artifact or Black creatures, it's FEAR. See rant above.) is not
worth it, especially with a weird creature type like Surrakar.
Vampire Hexmage BB
Creature - Vampire Shaman
First strike
Sacrifice Vampire Hexmage: Remove all counters from target permanent.
2/1
Grade: A-
You're probably wondering why this guy is so good, aren't you? Well, the First
Strike ability is pretty good, but what makes this guy shine is that he kills
Planeswalkers! That's right folks, play Vampire Hexmage and sacrifice him to
remove all the counters from your local baddy Planeswalker, then laugh as your
opponent cries.
Vampire Lacerator B
Creature - Vampire Warrior
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life unless an opponent has 10
or less life.
2/2
Grade: A
Hey, it's Carnophage's new Vampire brother! And he's great! Mono Black aggro is
going to be awesome, I can feel it. He can also replace Carnophage in the
classic Suicide Black...
Vampire Nighthawk 1BB
Creature - Vampire Shaman
Flying
Deathtouch (Creatures dealt damage by this creature are destroyed. You can
divide this creature's combat damage among any of the creatures blocking or
blocked by it.)
Lifelink (Damage dealt by this creature also causes you to gain that much
life.)
2/3
Grade:
A+
It is difficult to explain how good this creature is in mere words, but I shall
make an attempt. He costs three mana, has three abilities, and a decent sized
body. His evasion means he will net you a lot of life, and his Deathtouch will
help in that respect as well. He also plays great defense, because Deathtouch is
a big deterrent to bigger creatures. It doesn't matter when you play him, he's
going to cause your opponent some grief. Combine with the spell below for extra
dirtiness...
Vampire's Bite B
Instant
Kicker {2}{B} (You may pay an additional {2}{B} as you cast this spell.)
Target creature gets +3/+0 until end of turn. If Vampire's Bite was kicked,
that creature gains lifelink until end of turn. (Damage dealt by the
creature also causes its controller to gain that much life.)
Grade: B+
This makes me think of Unholy Strength. The fact that it's only 1 mana for 3
extra power is ridiculously good as a combat trick, and the lifelink kicker is
just extra icing on the cake.
And there you have it folks, Zendikar Black! Does it match
up to and/or defeat Torment Black? Well, not quite. There are many more Black
cards, and some really strong, but I don't think it's surpassed the classic
Torment. It is, however, equally good, and that is no mean feat. There are many
similar cards in both sets, such as Chainer's Edict and Gatekeeper of Malakir,
Sengir Vampire and Malakir Bloodwitch, Mutilate and Marsh Casualties, but I
can't say that Zendikar's are overall better.

It does improve on Torment in one amazing way though: it
took the Vampire idea and created a tribe that is ridiculously good! And
remember kids, Vampire Nocturnus is still legal, so get him and start building
your Vampire decks.
Oh, and if you don't agree with me about the
Torment/Zendikar thing, fight me for it in the forums! Just watch out, I might
show up in the night and suck your blood, or even worse, play a land and take
three of your life...
You can discuss this article in the MDV forums
here.
Find other articles by this author here.
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Articles
Spotlights from 2009:
Magus of the Bazaar – Merchant Magic Parasitism: The Devolution of Magic Players. - by Kozy Mechanic Week: Kicking a Bad Habit - by Streetz MTG Theory: Card Design 101 . - by Cashew Potatobrain's Guide to Token Decks. - by Potatobrain The Magic of Friday Night. - by hamsandwich Memories of an Old Magic Player: Recrossing the River Jordan. - by Chris Newton Mechanic Week: Offering Up Mechanic Week. - by Dan Wright (Drathro)
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