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A Complete Review of Legions (black)59. Aphetto Exterminator 2B UncommonCreature - Wizard 3/1 Morph 3B When Aphetto Exterminator is turned face up, target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn. ==> FUN: 4 Aphetto Exterminator isn't quite a Nekrataal, but a 3/1 creature plus the option of killing a weenie is far from bad. Add Weaver of Lies to the mix and you'll be able to do it twice. -- 60. Bane of the Living 2BB Rare Creature - Insect 4/3 Morph XBB When Bane of the Living is turned face up, all creatures get -X/-X until end of turn. ==> FUN: 4 Bane of the Living seems almost too strong. If you play it face-up, you get a well-costed threat. If you play it face-down, you can morph it cheaply with X equal to 0 or you can get rid of some weenies with X equal to 1 or 2. With enough mana, you can get rid of all creatures in play, including ones with protection from black. -- 61. Blood Celebrant B Common Creature - Cleric 1/1 B, pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. "Their blood is the nectar that nourishes the cabal." - Phage the Untouchable ==> FUN: 2 Blood Celebrant is handy when you're building a multicolor deck with heavy black, but you can't afford to rely on it. As soon as your opponent catches on, he'll kill your 1/1, giving you serious mana problems. -- 62. Corpse Harvester 3BB Uncommon Creature - Zombie Wizard 3/3 1B, T, Sacrifice a creature: Search your library for a Zombie card and a swamp card, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then shuffle your library. ==> FUN: 5 I like oddball cards like this one. There are enough good and useful zombies around these days to make a reusable tutor for them a good thing. Phyrexian Scuta can provide a strong creature and Gravedigger can get you the creature you just sacrificed back. Meanwhile, all the swamps you're getting are a nice bonus. You can even fetch another Corpse Harvester for double the fun. -- 63. Crypt Sliver 1B Common Creature - Sliver 1/1 All Slivers have "T: Regenerate target Sliver". "Death couldn't contain the slivers. What made us think we could?" Riptide Project researcher ==> FUN: 3 Crypt Sliver is too similar to Clot Sliver, except that it forces you to keep a sliver untapped instead of two lands. A significant difference if you're playing a defensive deck and keeping your slivers untapped anyway, but strategic play like that seems out of flavor for slivers, somehow. -- 64. Dark Supplicant B Common Creature - Cleric 1/1 T, Sacrifice three clerics: Search your library, hand, and graveyard for Scion of Darkness and put it in play. ==> FUN: 4 Without peeking ahead to how good Scion of Darkness is, I'll have to admit to paired cards like this. It's reminiscent of Kookus and his Keepers, Spirit of the Night and the three card combo to get it into play for free (I never did manage to pull that one off) and the two drakes that could call the Viashivan Dragon. Dark Supplicant can even be reused, as long as you have a plentiful supply of clerics. Even if your Scion of Darkness dies or gets bounced, your Dark Supplicant can get it back out of your graveyard or hand. -- 65. Deathmark Prelate 3B Uncommon Creature - Cleric 2/3 2B, T, sacrifice a zombie: Destroy target non-Zombie creature. It can't be regenerated. Play this ability only any time you could play a sorcery. Death is a secret he is willing to share. ==> FUN: 3 As assassins go, Deathmark Prelate is pretty bad. It certainly can't hold a candle to Royal Assassin. But it could be good in a zombie deck, especially if you have two Gravediggers available. That way you can use Deathmark Prelate's ability without it costing any creatures, because your Gravediggers always get eachother back out of your graveyard. -- 66. Drinker of Sorrow 2B Rare Creature - Horror 5/3 Drinker of Sorrow can't block. Whenever Drinker of Sorrow deals combat damage, sacrifice a permanent. ==> FUN: 2 I don't think Drinker of Sorrow will be the next Phyrexian Negator. The Negator is very risky to use, but with Drinker of Sorrow you're guaranteed to lose permanents. Even if I'm wrong about Drinker of Sorrow's strength, it's not a fun card. It's a kill-your-opponent-as-fast-as-possible card. -- 67. Dripping Dead 4BB Common Creature - Zombie 4/1 Dripping Dead can't block. Whenever Dripping Dead deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature. It can't be regenerated. ==> FUN: 1 A 4/1 will kill most potential blockers anyway, so the ability doesn't seem all that useful. It's certainly not worth paying six mana for a creature that's bound to get traded against a 1/1 most of the time. -- 68. Earth Blighter 1B Uncommon Creature - Cleric 1/1 2B, Sacrifice a Goblin: Destroy target land. ==> FUN: 4 It's not too hard to get a plentiful supply of Goblins. Goblin Offensive and Goblin Warrens spring to mind. Goblin Marshal from Urza's Destiny will do as well. If you can keep the destruction going for a few turns, your opponent should have some big mana problems, both in quantity and in color. Sadly, good players will pick off Earth Blighter with extreme prejudice if it can hurt them. -- 69. Embalmed Brawler 2B Common Creature - Zombie 2/2 Amplify 1 (As this card comes into play, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each Zombie card you reveal in your hand.) Whenever Embalmed Brawler attacks or blocks, you lose 1 life for each +1/+1 counter on it. ==> FUN: 3 The drawback is pretty bad, but I think it's still a good creature for a suicide zombie deck. Potentially getting a 5/5 or more into play early means your opponent is forced into the defensive. -- 70. Gempalm Polluter 5B Common Creature - Zombie 4/3 Cycling BB When you cycle Gempalm Polluter, you may have target player lose 1 life for each Zombie in play. ==> FUN: 3 It's not my type of card, but it looks like a good finisher in zombie decks. Even with only a few zombies in play it's still a cheap, uncounterable cantrip that gets your opponent closer to death. And if you don't have enough zombies or you happen to be playing against one of those annoying lifegain decks, you can play it as an expensive 4/3. -- 71. Ghastly Remains BBB Rare Creature - Zombie 0/0 Amplify 1 (As this card comes into play, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each Zombie card you reveal in your hand.) At the beginning of your upkeep, if Ghastly Remains is in your graveyard, you may pay BBB. If you do, return Ghastly Remains to your hand. ==> FUN: 4 Ghastly Remains can be used as a poor man's Squee, discarding it for some useful effect and buying it back next turn, without ever casting it. But it's pretty strong as a creature too, if you can manage to get enough zombies into your hand. -- 72. Goblin Turncoat 1B Common Creature - Goblin Mercenary 2/1 Sacrifice a goblin: Regenerate Goblin turncoat. "Goblins won't betray their own kind for any price. They'll do it for a very specific price." - Phage, the Untouchable ==> FUN: 3 Goblin Turncoat is an ok weenie, by black standards. It's a bit too small to make it worth sacrificing other Goblins to save it, though. With its one toughness, you'll end up regenerating it way too often. As a mercenary, it can also be fetched by one of the Mercadian Masques' Mercenary tutors, but that's probably not worth it for such a mediocre creature. -- 73. Graveborn Muse 2BB Rare Creature - Zombie Spirit 3/3 At the beginning of your upkeep, lose X life and draw X cards, where X is the number of zombies in play. ==> FUN: 5 Ouch! *Serious* ouch! Playing Graveborn Muse in a zombie deck is pretty much suicide, unless you have a good way of getting rid of it once your hand is full. Without other zombies, it's a personal Howling Mine. Sure, you'll lose life every turn, but you'll also get a Hill Giant in the bargain. -- 74. Havoc Demon 5BB Rare Creature - Demon 5/5 Flying When Havoc Demon is put into a graveyard from play, all creatures get -5/-5 until end of turn. ==> FUN: 4 Havoc Demon is expensive, but in addition to a 5/5 flier, which is often a big threat all by itself, you also get a free Wrath of God if your opponent manages to get rid of your Havoc Demon. Ok, it's not a complete Wrath, but six or more toughness is pretty rare outside green. -- 75. Hollow Specter 1BB Rare Creature - Specter 2/2 Flying Whenever Hollow Specter deals combat damage to a player, you may pay X. If you do, that player reveals X cards from his or her hand and you choose one of them. That player discards that card. ==> FUN: 4 Another one of Hypnotic Spectre's bastard children. Hollow Specter looks like one of the better attempts at making a balanced version of Hypnotic Spectre. If you just pay one mana every time Hollow Specter deals combat damage to your opponent, the effect will be that your opponent picks a card to discard. That's pretty good in theory, but with all the madness, flashback and threshold around these days, not to mention the Dodecapods, you'll be happy that Hollow Specter can attack without forcing a discard against certain decks. And a 2/2 with flying is pretty good all by itself. -- 76. Infernal Caretaker 3B Common Creature - Cleric 2/2 Morph 3B (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) When Infernal Caretaker is turned face up, return all Zombie cards from all graveyards to their owners' hands. ==> FUN: 5 With all the zombie sacrificing going on, Infernal Caretaker has a lot of potential. Especially if you can follow it up with a Ghastly Remains you just fished out of your graveyard. That could mean an instant 10/10 late in the game. The huge potential card advantage alone makes Infernal Caretaker worth trying in zombie decks, even if it isn't a zombie itself. -- 77. Noxious Ghoul 3BB Uncommon Creature - Zombie 3/3 Whenever Noxious Ghoul or another Zombie comes into play, all non-Zombie creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn. ==> FUN: 4 With all the morphies around, Noxious Ghoul could be very useful if you can follow it up with another zombie in the same turn. Your opponent will be forced to morph or let his face-down creatures die. -- 78. Phage the Untouchable 3BBBB Rare Creature - Minion Legend 4/4 When Phage, the Untouchable comes into play, if you didn't play it from your hand, you lose the game. Whenever Phage deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature. It can't be regenerated. Whenever Phage deals combat damage to a player, that player loses the game. ==> FUN: 3 Phage will probably become an expensive card, but I don't like it much. If your opponent uses Flicker or any other temporary remove-from-game effect on it, you lose. If your opponent has enough small creatures to block and kill Phage, you haven't gained much. If you do manage to get Phage through, the game is over. Phage is just too strong on one hand and too risky on the other. -- 79. Scion of Darkness 5BBB Rare Creature - Avatar 6/6 Trample Whenever Scion of Darkness deals combat damage to a player, you may put target creature card from that player's graveyard into play under your control. Cycling 3 ==> FUN: 5 *Much* better! Ignore the casting cost, because you'll rarely if ever want to play Scion of Darkness the old-fashioned way. Instead, use Dark Supplicant to sacrifice three clerics and you're in business. If your opponent can't deal with Scion of Darkness immediately, your card disadvantage will quickly turn to an advantage with all the creature's your animating. Combat damage is hard to stop from a 6/6 trampler. And if Scion of Darkness gets stuck in your hand, you can just cycle it away. -- 80. Skinthinner 1B Common Creature - Zombie 2/1 Morph 3BB When Skinthinner is turned face up, destroy target nonblack creature. It can't be regenerated. ==> FUN: 4 Another candidate for Nekrataal. It's more expensive to morph than Aphetto Exterminator and it's smaller, but it isn't limited to killing weenies. If you're facing one of those big green monsters, you'll be happy to have a Skinthinner available. And with Infernal Caretaker, you can reuse it later in the game. -- 81. Smokespew Invoker 2B Common Creature - Zombie Mutant 3/1 7B: Target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn. ==> FUN: 4 Early on, you get an ok attacker. Later in the game, you can start picking off your opponent's small and damaged creatures one by one. It's probably too expensive to use in an aggressive deck. -- 82. Sootfeather Flock 4B Common Creature - Bird 3/2 Flying Morph 3B (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.) ==> FUN: 3 You don't really want to attack with Sootfeather Flock face-down if you can help it, because you'll waste the useful flying ability that way. The only use for morphing in this case is bluffing or getting Sootfeather Flock into play sooner. -- 83. Spectral Sliver 2B Uncommon Creature - Sliver 2/2 All Slivers have "2: This creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn." "Sure, I've seen agents of the Cabal here and there. Well, not here, and certainly not in any of the sliver labs. Oh dear, I've said too much." - Apprentice researcher ==> FUN: 4 Much better than Barbed Sliver and Armor Sliver, who each only had half the effect at the same price. It's funny to note that in Tempest there were separate Slivers to pump power and toughness, but only one that gave a permanent power and toughness boost, whereas in Legions the tables have turned. There's only one pumper and there are two boosters, one for power and one for toughness. I guess the developers realized that boosting is a lot more powerful than pumping. -- 84. Toxin Sliver 3B Rare Creature - Sliver 3/3 Whenever a Sliver deals combat damage to a creature, destroy that creature. It can't be regenerated. It doesn't need to use its venom - it just needs you to know it can. ==> FUN: 5 As the flavor text implies, Toxin Sliver will make it very difficult for your opponent to block your army of slivers. But he or she can't just let your slivers through and soak up the damage. For one, the damage is likely to be too much and if you're also using the Ophidian Sliver, your opponent will be stuck between a rock and a hard place. -- 85. Vile Deacon 2BB Common Creature - Cleric 2/2 Whenever Vile Deacon attacks, it gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of Clerics in play. ==> FUN: 4 Vile Deacon is a 3/3 when attacking, even if you have no other clerics in play. In a cleric deck, it can easily become a 5/5 or more. -- 86. Withered Wretch BB Uncommon Creature - Zombie Cleric 2/2 1: Remove target card in a graveyard from the game. Once it consecrated the dead. Now it desecrates them. ==> FUN: 4 I'm going to hate seeing Withered Wretch played against me, because I like using lots of graveyard-oriented cards. As a well-costed weenie, it's not even a sideboard card but it can easily fit in the main deck. Withered Wretch could make a deck with Gorilla Titan and Carrion Wurm a lot more playable, so I'm not hating Withered Wretch completely. -- 87. Zombie Brute 6B Uncommon Creature - Zombie 5/4 Amplify 1 Trample Measure its determination by the screams of its prey. ==> FUN: 4 Expensive, but potentially big in combination with an Infernal Caretaker. A 10/9 trampler is pretty hard to deal with. |
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