Just a quick question that I've wondered about--what is the upside to Erebos, God of the Dead's "As long as your devotion to black is less than five, Erebos isn't a creature." ability?
Not a rules question. Moved to Magic General. -MadMage
Erebos is an indestructible 5/7 creature (when it is) with 2 other great abilities. At four mana, that's quite a bargain! There HAS to be some drawbacks.
Rule 112.2a: Abilities can be beneficial or detrimental.
You do realize Erebos still has its abilities (indestructible, "opponents can't gan life" and "draw a card") even if it is not a creature, right?
Let's rewrite the card a little.
Erebos 3B
Legendary Enchantment
Indestructible
Your opponents can't gain life. 1B, Pay 2 life: Draw a card.
As long as your devotion to black is five or more, Erebos becomes a 5/7 creature in addition to its other types.
Essentially the same card, but now its ability is written as an upside rather than a drawback.
However, original Erebos is still a better card, because it is a creature card outside the battlefield, so he can be a Commander, may be reanimated, and so on.
Just a quick question that I've wondered about--what is the upside to Erebos, God of the Dead's "As long as your devotion to black is less than five, Erebos isn't a creature." ability?
Not a rules question. Moved to Magic General. -MadMage
Can't be exiled by path to exile, or such cards, when you have less devotion. Also, most enchantment hate is destroy, so it is very hard to remove when not a creature; much harder than when it is a creature.
As someone who plays several of the Theros gods in commander decks, I can safely say that the ability is a significant upside. You lose out on a body, but it's not that important in a 40 life multiplayer format, and in exchange, you dodge a hell of a lot of removal (Swords to Plowshares, Reality Shift, Toxic Deluge, Evacuation, Hallowed Burial, Fleshbag Marauder, Duplicant and so on). When I play my Xenagos, God of Revels deck for example, I actively avoid getting to 7 devotion, as it makes the general, and as a result the whole deck as it's built around him, significantly more fragile for effectively no benefit.
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Not a rules question. Moved to Magic General. -MadMage
Rule 112.2a: Abilities can be beneficial or detrimental.
RULES OF MAGIC :
http://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/rules
Let's rewrite the card a little.
Erebos 3B
Legendary Enchantment
Indestructible
Your opponents can't gain life.
1B, Pay 2 life: Draw a card.
As long as your devotion to black is five or more, Erebos becomes a 5/7 creature in addition to its other types.
Essentially the same card, but now its ability is written as an upside rather than a drawback.
However, original Erebos is still a better card, because it is a creature card outside the battlefield, so he can be a Commander, may be reanimated, and so on.
Can't be exiled by path to exile, or such cards, when you have less devotion. Also, most enchantment hate is destroy, so it is very hard to remove when not a creature; much harder than when it is a creature.
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