Nemesis - a Complete Review (black)

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==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 5
This will probably become one of the chase rares of Nemesis. It's too expensive for any speedy black decks, though. And it's not big enough by itself to be a good choice as a kill card in controllish decks or as a target for Animate Dead type spells. On the other hand, if any mid-range black creature decks show up, like maybe a mercenary deck, this could see play. A 3/3 flier with a free Bad Moon _and_ a Dread of Night for every color but your own is just too much fun not to see play.

52. Battlefield Percher, 3BB, Creature - Bird 2/2, Uncommon Flying Battlefield Percher may block only creatures with flying. 1B: Battlefield Percher gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 2
I wonder why this one costs 1B to pump, instead of just B. I think that's probably an error in the spoiler though, because if you compare it with Dungeon Shade (3B, 1/1, flying, B:+1/+1), you'll see this one costs B extra for 1 more power and toughness and restricted blocking. That just about fits, except for the expensive pumping. Either way, this is a mediocre card, just like Dungeon Shade.

53. Belbe's Percher, 2B, Creature - Bird 2/2, Common Flying Belbe's Percher may block only creatures with flying.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
With Skittering Skirge available, I doubt this will see play.

54. Carrion Wall, 1BB, Creature - Wall 3/2, Uncommon 1B: Regenerate Carrion Wall.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 3
Walls have to be very good to make it in tournaments and this one isn't.

55. Dark Triumph, 4B, Instant, Uncommon If you control a swamp, you may sacrifice a creature instead of paying Dark Triumph's mana cost. Creatures you control get +2/+0 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 2
It's no Hatred, but it can work as a killing blow in a swarm deck. Negator black doesn't really need the extra power from this and black doesn't have many undercosted weenies, like it had with Sarcomancy and Carnophage. But still, it could see play. It might actually be useful in Negator black to have something to sacrifice the Negator to in a pinch. Who knows.

56. Death Pit Offering, 2BB, Enchantment, Rare When Death Pit Offering comes into play, sacrifice all creatures you control. Creatures you control get +2/+2.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 5
A funny card with plenty of possibilities, but I don't think tournament worthy. Creature decks just can't afford to sacrifice their creatures or delay playing them until the third turn, after the Death Pit Offering is ritualed out. For fun there are plenty of possibilities, though. Any sort of token generation is good, including Breeding Pit. Sure, old tokens die, but you'll get more easily and they'll suddenly turn from piddly 0/1 thrulls into healthy 2/3 beatdown weenies.

57. Divining Witch, 1B, Creature - Spellshaper 1/1, Rare 1B, Tap , Discard a card from your hand: Name a card. Remove the top six cards of your library from the game. Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal the named card, then put that card into your hand. Remove all other cards revealed this way from the game.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 5
My favorite tutor, by far, is Demonic Consultation. What else gets you what you want, when you want it, as an instant, into your hand for only B? Sure, it can be risky, but that's part of the fun. With Divining Witch, Demonic Consultation is back, but now it's even riskier. It's tempting to use the witch as often as possible, but you'll soon run out of library. You really have to know your deck as well, you have to remember which cards you have three of and which four to know the exact odds when using the witch. I can't think of any popular decks yet that the witch fits into (maybe the Contamination deck? I'm not really sure how it plays off the top of my head), but I'm sure she'll find a niche somewhere.

58. Massacre, 2BB, Sorcery, Uncommon If an opponent controls a plains and you control a swamp, you may play Massacre without paying its mana cost. All creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 3
A black version of Steam Blast. This would have been a great sideboard card against White Knight, Paladin en-Vec and Soltari Monk, but they are gone. Still, there's Mother of Runes and Nightwind Glider, but white weenie isn't quite a force to be reckoned with anymore. This still could see sideboard use, but it won't shine quite as bright as it would have.

59. Mind Slash, 1BB, Enchantment, Uncommon B, Sacrifice a creature: Look at target opponent's hand and choose a card from it. That player discards that card. Play this ability only if you could play a sorcery.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 4
This turns every creature into a Thrull Surgeon. Good with Nether Spirit for a free Coercion every turn. Maybe in a deck with Death Pit Offering and Breeding Pit as well. Token madness. Splash green for Spontaneous Generation and turn all those 1/1 tokens into actual cardadvantage. Attrition could serve as creature control. Hmm, sounds like a fun deck, too bad it has so many rares.

60. Mind Swords, 1B, Sorcery, Common If you control a swamp, you may sacrifice a creature instead of paying Mind Swords's mana cost. Each player removes two cards in his or her hand from the game.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 1
I don't see the point of giving yourself so much carddisadvantage. Maybe it should read 'Each opponent...' instead of 'Each player...' It could be good to cast this if you have no other cards left in hand, but why use the ACC in that case? You should have plenty of mana.

61. Murderous Betrayal, BBB, Enchantment, Rare BB, Pay half your life rounded up: Destroy target nonblack creature. It can't be regenerated.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 4
A fun card, but way too risky. You'll need some lifegain to keep out of double Shock range at least, but the more life you have, the more life it'll cost to use this.

62. Parallax Dementia, 1B, Enchant Creature, Common Fading 1 Enchanted creature gets +3/+2. When Parallax Dementia leaves play, destroy enchanted creature. That creature can't be regenerated.

==> TOUR: 5 - FUN: 4
I'm probably overestimating this, but it seems like the perfect replacement for Twisted Experiment in Negator black. Suddenly your Skirges don't become vulnerable when enchanted, they actually become harder to kill (4 toughness black creatures). Also, Twisted Experiment can be used as limited creature control, but Parallax Dementia actually does creature control quite well. It takes two turns to do it, but on the flip side, it even works on black creatures.

63. Parallax Nexus, 2B, Enchantment, Rare Fading 5 Remove a fade counter from Parallax Nexus: Target opponent removes a card in his or her hand from the game. Play this ability only if you could play a sorcery. When Parallax Nexus leaves play, return to their owners' hands all cards removed from the game with Parallax Nexus.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 2
It might work as a stalling tactic, but I'm a bit doubtful about it. This is only useful if your opponent's hand is small enough so you can remove the whole thing from the game for at least a turn or two. You almost have to take the whole hand, or your opponent will just keep what he/she needs to survive against your attack. If he didn't have anything that would help in hand anyway, casting this didn't do anything useful.

64. Phyrexian Driver, 2B, Creature - Mercenary 1/1, Common When Phyrexian Driver comes into play, all other Mercenaries get +1/+1 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 4
Very much a theme card. It can be an interesting surprise to tutor for after blockers are declared though. In fact, the sheer threat of this is enough. Keep mana open to fetch one, which will make your opponent careful enough while blocking that you don't actually need to fetch one and can go for a better creature at the end of his or her turn.

65. Phyrexian Prowler, 3B, Creature - Mercenary 3/3, Uncommon Fading 3 Remove a fade counter from Phyrexian Prowler: Phyrexian Prowler gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 2
It's a bit like Spike Soldier, but it doesn't last long enough to really make a difference. On your first attack, it will only have two counters, so it can be a 5/5, but will die during your upkeep.

66. Plague Witch, 1B, Creature - Spellshaper 1/1, Common B, Tap , Discard a card from your hand: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
The ability is ok, but it's inferior to Kris Mage, who can damage players and only costs 1 mana.

67. Rathi Assassin, 2BB, Creature - Mercenary 2/2, Rare 1BB, Tap : Destroy target tapped nonblack creature. 3, Tap : Search your library for a Mercenary card with converted mana cost 3 or less and put that card into play. Then shuffle your library.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 4
Ah, Royal Assassin is back. Well, a balanced version, but it's still nice to have. The mercenary ability works well on defensive cards like this. Your opponent will usually not want to give you any targets for your Assassin by attacking, so at the end of his turn, you should still have an untapped Assassin _and_ the 3 mana to use its tutoring ability. I can't think of any mercenaries worth tutoring for at 3 mana or less, but I know there are some. Oh wait, yes I can: Silent Assassin. It can just kill anything that tries to block it, so your opponent can't attack _or_ block without loosing a creature.

68. Rathi Fiend, 3B, Creature - Mercenary 2/2, Uncommon When Rathi Fiend comes into play, each player loses 3 life. 3, Tap : Search your library for a Mercenary card with converted mana cost 3 or less and put that card into play. Then shuffle your library.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
Four mana for a 2/2 that also costs you life seems a bit overdone. That's probably not right. An earlier spoiler had this as a 3/3 for 3 mana, I think. That'd be better already, though still not spectacular. As it is, even as an anti-Worship card Highway Robbers (2/2 with a Soul Feast for 2 for 4 mana) is better.

69. Rathi Intimidator, 1BB, Creature - Mercenary 2/1, Common Rathi Intimidator can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and black creatures. 2, Tap : Search your library for a Mercenary card with converted mana cost 2 or less and put that card into play. Then shuffle your library.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 1
Three mana is a bit much for this. The tutor ability doesn't fit well either, with a creature like this you usually just want to attack, because most of the time it can't be blocked. You don't want to fetch even smaller creatures with it.

70. Seal of Doom, 2B, Enchantment, Common Sacrifice Seal of Doom: Destroy target nonblack creature. It can't be regenerated.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 3
This card suffers from its casting cost. 3 mana for something Vendetta does for 1 and Snuff Out can do for free. It's not a bad card, but black just has better removal available. This card does work well in enchantress decks, of course.

71. Spineless Thug, 1B, Creature - Mercenary 2/2, Common Spineless Thug can't block.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 2
Vanilla. At least it's a solid weenie to fetch with your mercenaries.

72. Spiteful Bully, 1B, Creature - Mercenary 3/3, Common At the beginning of your upkeep, Spiteful Bully deals 3 damage to target creature you control.

==> TOUR: 1 - FUN: 2
The upkeep is just too harsh, because you can't guarantee that the 3 damage won't kill a creature. You can enchant it up to 4 toughness somehow, but that starts to feel too much like a combo. Lurking Evil or Hidden Horror on turn one will do it, but if you don't have the ritual, you can't play the Bully either and even if you do have it, a single Shock kills the Horror and, during your upkeep, the Bully as well.

73. Stronghold Discipline, 2BB, Sorcery, Common Each player loses 1 life for each creature he or she controls.

==> TOUR: 2 - FUN: 2
As a finisher it's too expensive and not strong enough. Especially in tournaments you'll rarely have more than a few creatures out, unless you play green, but then you're usually more worried about Perish.

74. Vicious Hunger, BB, Sorcery, Common Vicious Hunger deals 2 damage to target creature. You gain 2 life.

==> TOUR: 4 - FUN: 4
With so much good removal available to black, it doesn't need this as well, but nevertheless, it's a nice card and costed just about right.

75. Volrath the Fallen, 3BBB, Creature - Legend 6/4, Rare 1B, Discard a creature card from your hand: Volrath the Fallen gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the converted mana cost of the discarded card.

==> TOUR: 3 - FUN: 4
A nice card, especially because it can get insanely big in fun decks. Just like Squee, this is a legend you don't mind drawing a second copy of. Just feed it to himself for a 12/10 until end of turn. It might even see serious play in a reanimator deck (use it to fill your graveyard with other nice reanimate fodder, although usually that won't be necessary anymore).