There is no way that they made Mindless Null without thinking about how weak it was compared to Scathe Zombies and Warpath Ghoul. Has R&D caught onto the Chimney Imp fad and are going to try to make at least 1 creature in each set that's going to easily stick out as the worst creature? Kind of like making a new "Dan" for each set and then people could be giving that person props for being able to use it and win with it in limited.
This is a development failure, in my opinion. Even for draft, this card in senseless.
A worseScathe Zombies is hard to believe. I honestly don't know what they were thinking. Maybe they will talk one paragraph or so about it in some column.
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Quote from parinoid »
I rolled 5 D6's and got 3 fours. They must have changed the odds of getting a 4!
One With Nothing was actually played in sideboards.
This type of card is not a problem, the problem is with cards that are obviously downgrade of already bad cards.
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Quote from parinoid »
I rolled 5 D6's and got 3 fours. They must have changed the odds of getting a 4!
It's a top-down design. A Mindless Null is supposed to be a undead creature that is almost worthless without a Vampire controlling it.
Besides, this is nothing new. Look though the last several sets. It rewards draft players who make good decisions earlier than later.
A cost of 1B would have been fine or having "Mindless Null gets +1/-1 if you control a Vampire" or something would still be a great way to show the flavor without being really horrible.
I didn't say that this was something new, I'm just saying that maybe they're doing the "Dan" creature on purpose in each set.
One With Nothing was actually played in sideboards.
This type of card is not a problem, the problem is with cards that are obviously downgrade of already bad cards.
one with nothing was printed as a very narrow hoser like Mudhole, however, unlike mudhole which hoses no deck ever created, one with nothing was designed to keep a deck based on a card from the same set, owling mine from getting out of hand in block or type 2.
It also synergizes with hellbent and is really an efficient card for what it does, it is simply that what it does is something that you rarely want.
Mindless null and the new worse than healing salve card are more like chimney imp or sorrow's path...they are simply overcosted crap.
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"But then are we most in order when we are most out of order."-Jack Cade
"That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die."
- H.P. Lovecraft
Top-down design would have given it a lower casting cost. A 2/2 black creature with a drawback for 1B would make a lot more sense than this garbage.
I totally agree with you.
I'm with you on this weirdly bad creature...
NOBODY gets a 2/2 for 3 with a straightup drawback and no benefit, do they? How many generic 2/2s for 3 in any color in Magic do you see with drawbacks only? Even blue gets 2/2 FLYERS for 3 without drawback.
Just pick Alara block for example... what does a generic groundpounding 2/2 for 2B in BLACK get????
The level of badness of this guy is just shocking. A generic 2/2 for 3 that sometimes can't even block...
I mean, it's not truly unplayable... since you can sometimes have a sucky curve and be desperately short on creatures. But it's badness just sticks out. Especially at a CMC that is really well established and understood.
I think Numai Outcast was Wizards' way of testing just HOW MUCH life people are willing to play.
Anyway, screw toilet paper, I am now switching to Mindless Nulls whenever they are availible. It's not even a creature with a drawback. It's utter crap even IF it can block.
Sure, stuff like Snapping Drake and Goblin Piker are for limited. But Null isn't even playable against a 5 year old whose hand consists of a 6 of Clubs, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Chimney Imp, and a very large cumquat.
Cards with the post 8th Edition, color shifted and future shifted templates as well as the timeshifted and Coldsnap reprint ones tastes a little sweeter. Any gold cards with the old faces are a little saltier. European foreign (except Russian) cards with the mentioned templates above are not as sweet as their English counterparts and has a wierd after taste. All taste tests were done from fresh packs and all cards tasted are not foil cards. I have yet to taste Asian and Russian cards.
Strictly better than Vampire Nighthawk. You guys are crazy, in no way should this not be a 4-of in every black deck and might even force a black splash.
Eh, worthless cards are fine in small numbers. No good without evil and all that.
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We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.
Gen. George S Patton, Jr
Yea, this zombie is strictly worse than warpath ghoul in most every situation, unless you don't want him to be able to block, you know provoke effects and all that.
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"Wizards could put $100 bills in packs and people would complain about how they were folded."
Yea, this zombie is strictly worse than warpath ghoul in most every situation, unless you don't want him to be able to block, you know provoke effects and all that.
Also, they made sure to knock off 1 power so you can have both out on the field without fear of your opponent using Solar Tide against your Zombie deck.
My (serious) guess is that it was costed at 1B, but they discovered late in development that it was too cheap together with all the other efficient black creatures, so they did the safest thing possible and bumped it up to 2B.
Because a Grizzly Bears with a drawback would have been so overpowered :eyebrow:.
It's not so much that it is good, it was more likely a decision to flesh out the curve of Black's creature base for Limited concerns, since they already have some decent 2 drop options. This card is terrible, simple enough, but it's better than Bog Hoodlums was in Lorwyn Limited. If you somehow managed to be so short on playables without moving into another color you could run it as card 23... but then again you'd rather have a land since it is Zendikar and lands are awesome.
Looking at the comments made, I agree that this card wasn't made in a nutshell. The aggressive vampires in this set meant that this card had to be brought down for limited.
Somehow, I don't think they fully appreciate what they've done here. They've printed a card worse than Scathe Zombies. Just think about that, and the fact that it's never been done before. Not once, in 15 plus years of this game, 10,000 plus cards, and at least two blocks specifically designed to be terrible, have they ever done that. This is in every way a precedent and an all-time record, and they're obviously underestimating how many people will remember that fact.
Yeah, when a person designs a creature about which the best that can be said is "It's far superior to Wood Elemental," that person really needs to reexamine the choices they've made in their life.
Looking at the comments made, I agree that this card wasn't made in a nutshell. The aggressive vampires in this set meant that this card had to be brought down for limited.
That doesn't make a lot of sense for a couple reasons.
1- this cards is not a vampire.
2- this card could have been removed and red given an extra card.
3- I find it hard to believe that a 2/2 with a drawback is what broke block agro and not the 2/1 firststrike token remover, 2/2 edict, or 2/1 that comes back with landfall.
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Besides, this is nothing new. Look though the last several sets. It rewards draft players who make good decisions earlier than later.
Top-down design would have given it a lower casting cost. A 2/2 black creature with a drawback for 1B would make a lot more sense than this garbage.
A worse Scathe Zombies is hard to believe. I honestly don't know what they were thinking. Maybe they will talk one paragraph or so about it in some column.
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Dragon Appeasement is awesome, you just need to build the right deck for it. >.<
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This type of card is not a problem, the problem is with cards that are obviously downgrade of already bad cards.
Yeah as mentioned, don't put narrow jhonny fodder like mudhole in the same category as bog hoodlums.
A cost of 1B would have been fine or having "Mindless Null gets +1/-1 if you control a Vampire" or something would still be a great way to show the flavor without being really horrible.
I didn't say that this was something new, I'm just saying that maybe they're doing the "Dan" creature on purpose in each set.
one with nothing was printed as a very narrow hoser like Mudhole, however, unlike mudhole which hoses no deck ever created, one with nothing was designed to keep a deck based on a card from the same set, owling mine from getting out of hand in block or type 2.
It also synergizes with hellbent and is really an efficient card for what it does, it is simply that what it does is something that you rarely want.
Mindless null and the new worse than healing salve card are more like chimney imp or sorrow's path...they are simply overcosted crap.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die."
- H.P. Lovecraft
I totally agree with you.
I'm with you on this weirdly bad creature...
NOBODY gets a 2/2 for 3 with a straightup drawback and no benefit, do they? How many generic 2/2s for 3 in any color in Magic do you see with drawbacks only? Even blue gets 2/2 FLYERS for 3 without drawback.
Just pick Alara block for example... what does a generic groundpounding 2/2 for 2B in BLACK get????
Special abilities, not drawbacks... fleshformer, grixis battlemage, sedraxis alchemist, even the almost unplayable shore snapper had a positive ability, not a drawback!
The level of badness of this guy is just shocking. A generic 2/2 for 3 that sometimes can't even block...
I mean, it's not truly unplayable... since you can sometimes have a sucky curve and be desperately short on creatures. But it's badness just sticks out. Especially at a CMC that is really well established and understood.
I think Numai Outcast was Wizards' way of testing just HOW MUCH life people are willing to play.
Anyway, screw toilet paper, I am now switching to Mindless Nulls whenever they are availible. It's not even a creature with a drawback. It's utter crap even IF it can block.
Sure, stuff like Snapping Drake and Goblin Piker are for limited. But Null isn't even playable against a 5 year old whose hand consists of a 6 of Clubs, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Chimney Imp, and a very large cumquat.
Gen. George S Patton, Jr
Tribute to Dr. Jeebus
Not a little Sheeple.
Also, they made sure to knock off 1 power so you can have both out on the field without fear of your opponent using Solar Tide against your Zombie deck.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
One with Nothing is a good card. Closest thing extended Dredge has to Lion's Eye Diamond. Dragon Appeasement is hilarious in Donate.dec
BUG Dredge BUG]
WUBRG Storm WUBRG
UBR FaerieStalker UBR
EDH
Sygg, River Cutthroat (1vs1)
Maga, Traitor to Mortals (multiplayer)
So, of course, it was imperative to introduce a worse creature.
It's not so much that it is good, it was more likely a decision to flesh out the curve of Black's creature base for Limited concerns, since they already have some decent 2 drop options. This card is terrible, simple enough, but it's better than Bog Hoodlums was in Lorwyn Limited. If you somehow managed to be so short on playables without moving into another color you could run it as card 23... but then again you'd rather have a land since it is Zendikar and lands are awesome.
That doesn't make a lot of sense for a couple reasons.
1- this cards is not a vampire.
2- this card could have been removed and red given an extra card.
3- I find it hard to believe that a 2/2 with a drawback is what broke block agro and not the 2/1 firststrike token remover, 2/2 edict, or 2/1 that comes back with landfall.