What does this guy do? I'll tell you what he does, he destroys fools and he don't give a damn. He has protection from red and white, that means he can't be Path to Exile'd, Lightning Bolt'd, Volcanic Fallout'd, Slagstorm'd, yadda yadda, basically, the only removal in the format that he dies to consists of:
Okay so the last one makes him not look so tough, but he still has potential! He is invincible in combat to virtually every creature in the format (pretty much losing only to a 4/5 + goyf or a big eldrazi that will kill you anyways) and he comes down on turn 3, which is much better than coming down on turn 4.
His other downside is that infect does not play nicely with other kids. He would have to be the sole damage dealer (although maybe you could fit a Blighted Agent in to give him company), but giving him an equip basically spells game.
Being CMC 3 gives him the same CMC as the critical artifacts that turn him into a standalone finisher. this means you can run the playable Drift of Phantasms to search this guy up. He would have to fit in a control shell as you will need to find this guy or the phantasms, but he can wall like a true champion even without equips to stall it out.
It's like trollhammer all over again except this guy is much more badass than troll and he kills twice as fast.
What does this guy do? I'll tell you what he does, he destroys fools and he don't give a damn. He has protection from red and white, that means he can't be Path to Exile'd, Lightning Bolt'd, Volcanic Fallout'd, Slagstorm'd, yadda yadda, basically, the only removal in the format that he dies to consists of:
Okay so the last one makes him not look so tough, but he still has potential! He is invincible in combat to virtually every creature in the format (pretty much losing only to a 4/5 + goyf or a big eldrazi that will kill you anyways) and he comes down on turn 3, which is much better than coming down on turn 4.
His other downside is that infect does not play nicely with other kids. He would have to be the sole damage dealer (although maybe you could fit a Blighted Agent in to give him company), but giving him an equip basically spells game.
Being CMC 3 gives him the same CMC as the critical artifacts that turn him into a standalone finisher. this means you can run the playable Drift of Phantasms to search this guy up. He would have to fit in a control shell as you will need to find this guy or the phantasms, but he can wall like a true champion even without equips to stall it out.
It's like trollhammer all over again except this guy is much more badass than troll and he kills twice as fast.
Great card, wonderful wall, Infect + First strike is ridiculous. He dies to 4/3's not 4/5's (well those too, but you know).
You nailed it though, only real issue is that if you're running a non-infect build it get kinda clunky doing two kinds of damage.
I'll agree tossing a sword on him would be great, be it SoFaF or SoBaM (I personally dislike this sword). That way you get 4 colors of protection on him.
Feast and Famine. He's assuming Vapor Snag is unplayable.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
That depends harshly on the deck you play him in. Without Infect he could only block 1 of 2 Goyfs, thanks to nfect he can kill even 6/7 Goyfs etc.
Also he's a better finisher for a BX heavy-Control deck in which he's the only finisher (maybe with Nexus as follow up) - which is obviously atm not a good deck, but there still are situations where his Infect is better than "not having it"
i think he was referring to printing him with the wither mechanic instead. it is unfortunate that we got such an insular mechanic in such a recently designed set. However, not all is lost, the fact that he has infect means he is effectively a 4 power beater when he isn't blocked. additionally, it means he is that much stronger when unblocked and wielding an equipment. instead of killing in 5 hits, he kills in 2 with hammer and 3 with a sword. even without an equipment, 4 effective unblocked power is just enough to be a control finisher.
the non-wither portion also gives a nice edge against life gain and obviously martyr decks hate this dude.
He doesn't have a place in infect decks right now imo. He is double black in heavy green deck that needs a lot of green, some blue, and some black with 4 lands as inkmoths. He's already on a shaky mana base that doesn't need to be made more risky.
still does die to smother and go for the throat. But the fact that he does poison damage holds him back. If he had wither instead he might be a format allstar.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter."
A local friend of mine has a mono-black deck that is basically 4x Bob, 4x Crusader, then a bunch of discard, with a few kills spells. Basically an all-out control deck. I've never piloted the thing myself, but the thing about discard is that it's never really terrible, at least in your opener.
The problems is, yeah, he doesn't really just fit into any old deck because of Infect. It would most probably have to be a dedicated control deck with him as one of the only finishers.
I have a mono black control deck I've been tweaking that runs him and Skithiryx as the finishers. Setting a clock twice as fast as normal can be pretty gnarly.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH WBRKaalia of the VastRBW BChainer, Dementia MasterB Legacy 0Manaless Dredge0 RGoblinsR Standard RBWThe AristocratsWBR
I have a mono black control deck I've been tweaking that runs him and Skithiryx as the finishers. Setting a clock twice as fast as normal can be pretty gnarly.
Phyrexian Crusader
What does this guy do? I'll tell you what he does, he destroys fools and he don't give a damn. He has protection from red and white, that means he can't be Path to Exile'd, Lightning Bolt'd, Volcanic Fallout'd, Slagstorm'd, yadda yadda, basically, the only removal in the format that he dies to consists of:
-Mass Sweepers that don't do damage
-Abrupt Decay
-Other Jund Stuff
Okay so the last one makes him not look so tough, but he still has potential! He is invincible in combat to virtually every creature in the format (pretty much losing only to a 4/5 + goyf or a big eldrazi that will kill you anyways) and he comes down on turn 3, which is much better than coming down on turn 4.
He is also a house with Loxodon Warhammer and the swords, namely Sword of Feast and Famine because it makes him vulnerable only to *** variants.
His other downside is that infect does not play nicely with other kids. He would have to be the sole damage dealer (although maybe you could fit a Blighted Agent in to give him company), but giving him an equip basically spells game.
Being CMC 3 gives him the same CMC as the critical artifacts that turn him into a standalone finisher. this means you can run the playable Drift of Phantasms to search this guy up. He would have to fit in a control shell as you will need to find this guy or the phantasms, but he can wall like a true champion even without equips to stall it out.
It's like trollhammer all over again except this guy is much more badass than troll and he kills twice as fast.
Great card, wonderful wall, Infect + First strike is ridiculous. He dies to 4/3's not 4/5's (well those too, but you know).
You nailed it though, only real issue is that if you're running a non-infect build it get kinda clunky doing two kinds of damage.
I'll agree tossing a sword on him would be great, be it SoFaF or SoBaM (I personally dislike this sword). That way you get 4 colors of protection on him.
Also, Sword of Life and Death?
"I am disillusioned enough to know that no man's opinion on any subject is worth a damn unless backed up with enough genuine information to make him really know what he's talking about."
-H. P. Lovecraft
and if you want pro-blue you can always go for fire and ice, albeit the 2 damage doesn't work out the way you'd hope it would, it's still strong.
i think he was referring to printing him with the wither mechanic instead. it is unfortunate that we got such an insular mechanic in such a recently designed set. However, not all is lost, the fact that he has infect means he is effectively a 4 power beater when he isn't blocked. additionally, it means he is that much stronger when unblocked and wielding an equipment. instead of killing in 5 hits, he kills in 2 with hammer and 3 with a sword. even without an equipment, 4 effective unblocked power is just enough to be a control finisher.
the non-wither portion also gives a nice edge against life gain and obviously martyr decks hate this dude.
Sexy Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios
EDH
G Isao
Above poster is rignt. BB is a bit heavy when you need G and GG mostly.
He dies to dismember all day and can't be targeted by apostle's blessing. When WUR Delver and RDW were more popular, he was a boss!
He's a bit on the slow-side and seems to have been replaced by noble hierarch in BUG Infect.
WU Resto Blade
RUG Tron
BUG Infect
WBG Melira Pod
WBRG White Jund
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson's letter to John Adams, April 11 1823
The problems is, yeah, he doesn't really just fit into any old deck because of Infect. It would most probably have to be a dedicated control deck with him as one of the only finishers.
EDH
WBRKaalia of the VastRBW
BChainer, Dementia MasterB
Legacy
0Manaless Dredge0
RGoblinsR
Standard
RBWThe AristocratsWBR
Same, I run a MBC shell with him, Skithiryx, inkmoth nexus and lashwrithe.
My Trades