Meh... I like Teferi a lot better. Draining one life from each opponent is *really* underwhelming.
The Demon Token is pretty cool, and the Ultimate looks fun, but the overall package is a little less powerful than I would have expected.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Melek, Izzet Paragon Oona, Queen of the Fae Bruna, Light of Alabaster Gisela, Blade of Goldnight Rhys the Redeemed Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord Sen Triplets The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
uprobably the second worst black walker of all time. first being swamp lili. even that is debateable
I think it's hard to say that about any walker than can generate value proportional to his cost the turn he comes in. A 5/5 flyer for 5 mana is a rock solid deal even if someone kills Obby immediately. In fact I don't think wotc has ever printed a 5/5 flyer for less than 5 without a significant downside, so 5 is the default cost for just his -2. How many other walkers can really say that they generate value equal to their mana the turn they enter without dying? Tezzeret 1.0, Sorin 1.0(arguably), dack fayden,. karn(arguably)...not even JTMS can really make that claim, and even the ones that can are usually debatable. But this guy is not debatable, 5 for a 5/5 flyer isn't thrilling but it's definitely not a bad deal. He's not the most exciting PW I've ever seen, but he's definitely not weak.
uprobably the second worst black walker of all time. first being swamp lili. even that is debateable
I think it's hard to say that about any walker than can generate value proportional to his cost the turn he comes in. A 5/5 flyer for 5 mana is a rock solid deal even if someone kills Obby immediately. In fact I don't think wotc has ever printed a 5/5 flyer for less than 5 without a significant downside, so 5 is the default cost for just his -2. How many other walkers can really say that they generate value equal to their mana the turn they enter without dying? Tezzeret 1.0, Sorin 1.0(arguably), dack fayden,. karn(arguably)...not even JTMS can really make that claim, and even the ones that can are usually debatable. But this guy is not debatable, 5 for a 5/5 flyer isn't thrilling but it's definitely not a bad deal. He's not the most exciting PW I've ever seen, but he's definitely not weak.
I'm pretty sure all the above walkers generate much more value in addition to providing much much more utility. They really can't even be mentioned in the same sentence with this guy. A 5/5 on turn 5 is one of the least overpowered things you can do in edh. I'm say he's decent in standard, extremely underpowered in edh. He's +1 might as well be a non factor. His -2 is the only reason to play him. If you translate him to a normal 20 life game, his -2 is worse than putting a 3/3 token into play (7 turn clock, a 5/5 is 8 in edh). He is very boring and bad.
I'm pretty sure all the above walkers generate much more value in addition to providing much much more utility. They really can't even be mentioned in the same sentence with this guy. A 5/5 on turn 5 is one of the least overpowered things you can do in edh. I'm say he's decent in standard, extremely underpowered in edh. He's +1 might as well be a non factor. His -2 is the only reason to play him. If you translate him to a normal 20 life game, his -2 is worse than putting a 3/3 token into play (7 turn clock, a 5/5 is 8 in edh). He is very boring and bad.
You can't really say a 5/5 is an EDH 3/3. His relevance in combat doesn't shrink with the life totals.
The other walkers' abilities are generally better scaled to EDH, sure. Ob's ability is pretty straightforward in power level. But on the other hand, his ability can't really be negated in its usefulness. Lots of walkers are pretty conditional - dack needs an artifact to steal, sorin's not really worth it unless you have a clear primary adversary, and karn isn't really worth it unless you need a sorcery speed removal spell. Certainly all those effects can be very, very strong, but they can also be pretty useless. A 5/5 flyer is rarely useless and has a pretty high value at any point in the game. Besides that, it's a great defense for your walker, which none of those walkers are very good at. In fact, it might be the best-defended 5-drop-walker with the arguable exception of vraska.
Now he's definitely no tezzeret, but I wouldn't feel too bad about putting him into the ring against most of the other walkers I mentioned, or any walker really. He's a pretty solid wincon for a mono-black control deck that shouldn't have too much trouble defending him and letting him crap out demons while they keep control of the board.
I don't see it. Karn's primary utility is to give decks answers to things they otherwise don't have, which is huge and much more relevant than a 5/5. Sorin I think is incredibly useful. It's basically a game police that stop people from doing stupid things. His +2 is also much more relevant that this guys. Dack is very relevant on group games. Almost every deck runs artifacts and at worst, he cycles 2 cards, much better than gaining 3 life. Also, I wouldn't call a 5/5 a great defense at all, it dies to any sort of bounce or removal. Alot of decks can even ignore it and just swing past to Ob, congrats, you just spent 5 mana and 2 life on a 5/5 flyer commander. Infact, I don't thing Ob can survive the turn in basically any game aside from ones playing 2 group hug decks. If he does survive, it's because he's no threat, not because a 5/5's in the way.
Interesting... he's only really great in EDH games with more people b/c of his +2 yet at the same time the more people there are in the game the easier it'll be for someone to just take him out. I'll need to try these commander walkers out first before I can really judge them. None seem particularly strong so far but considering it's such a new idea I'll give wizards the benefit of the doubt.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Casual Decks WRBoros Aggro (Glorious knights of badassery) RBRakdos Bloodthirst (Undercosted waves of fat s***) URIzzet Talrand/Pyromancer (b/c I hate you) GRGruul Ramp and Stomp (SO FAT. SO FAST. RAWRRR) GBGolgari Birthing Pod (b/c you wanted a challenge. I did warn you this BS is banned though) BWOrzhov Lifegain Aggro (Removal for dayzzz) WGSelesnya Tribal Golem-splicers/token (meh. Needs more upgrades. Perhaps switching to bant?) WUAzorius Flicker (b/c I wanna annoy the f*** outta you) GUSimic Evolve Aggro (Aggro takes a journey to the weird side of the color pie) BUDimir Control (b/c I wanna peel your skin off and flay you within an inch of life before I kill you) URWJeskai Ascendency Tokens (MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA) RWBMardu Warriors (Butcher is da bomb) GU Simic Morph (slow as s*** but oh so fun) WBGAbzan Dredge-animator (PURE EVIL) GWHexproof Aggro (Deal with it. Lemme guess, you cant?)
EDH Decks UBRNekusar (Multiplayer MONSTA. 1v1 Klutz) GRB Prossh (Set up engines. WRECK FACE) GEzuri (Hey so I heard you liked Elves...) UTalrand (Counter. Cantrip. Counter. Cantrip. Repeat till opponents die-- possibly of boredom)
Tiny leaders WUDaxos (basic 3/1 fliers do basic s***. Also Daxos) RWAnax and Cymede (Heroic weenie beats)
Standard RRMONO RED AGGRO (RAWWWRRRR!!!!) WUHeroic Aggro (Easy mode beatstick)
I don't see it. Karn's primary utility is to give decks answers to things they otherwise don't have, which is huge and much more relevant than a 5/5. Sorin I think is incredibly useful. It's basically a game police that stop people from doing stupid things. His +2 is also much more relevant that this guys. Dack is very relevant on group games. Almost every deck runs artifacts and at worst, he cycles 2 cards, much better than gaining 3 life. Also, I wouldn't call a 5/5 a great defense at all, it dies to any sort of bounce or removal. Alot of decks can even ignore it and just swing past to Ob, congrats, you just spent 5 mana and 2 life on a 5/5 flyer commander. Infact, I don't thing Ob can survive the turn in basically any game aside from ones playing 2 group hug decks. If he does survive, it's because he's no threat, not because a 5/5's in the way.
That's considering Karn as a removal spell, though. And while he's definitely flexible, 7 mana for sorcery-speed utter end isn't exactly blowing my mind. And don't forget - he costs 2 mana more. Frankly I'd rather have the new obelisk than karn in most decks.
I don't see sorin as "preventing people from doing stupid things" at all unless those stupid things are "gaining a bunch of life", but that's stupid in the "who cares" way and less in the "stop breaking the game" way. He's a decent way to kill someone if you have enough power on board, but besides that he's kind of useless. Sure his +2 is better, but again he does cost 6 instead of 5.
Dack is cheaper and has a higher ceiling for sure, but he's also very restrictive in his colors and doesn't defend himself (usually). I wouldn't say he's worse than Obby but he's not reliably better either.
A 5/5 flyer is an amazing defense compared to most other walkers that "defend themselves". Elspeth 1.0 was the gold standard of planeswalkers for a long time, in part because of her ability to defend herself with a token the turn she comes out. And while Ob costs 1 more, a 5/5 flyer is immeasurably better at defending a planeswalker than a 1/1 soldier. Is a 5/5 immortal? Hell no, but it's bigger than most things on the board, so anyone trying to kill Obby is most likely going to either lose their best attacking creature or use a removal spell.
Planeswalkers are universally pretty easy to kill in EDH, but people will only waste the resources to do so if they think it's worth the cost. Killing Karn or Dack or Tezzeret or Sorin is easy peasy, but fighting through a 5/5 flyer (plus whatever else is already on the board and whatever removal might be in the black players' hand) is enough resistance that it may not be worth it for other players, which gives you time to crank him for value and make more demons or try to get to his ultimate.
Well I don't agree with the assessment of Karn or Sorin. But I'm tried of arguing. So I'll just say that I'm pretty disappointed in Ob, creative wise and power wise.
Well I don't agree with the assessment of Karn or Sorin. But I'm tried of arguing. So I'll just say that I'm pretty disappointed in Ob, creative wise and power wise.
I don't necessarily disagree creative-wise. He's not the most thrilling planeswalker (although so far none of the 3 we've seen have really blown my mind so whatever). Functionally he's really similar to new Sorin, but less terrible. I think for what he wants to do, namely be a finisher for mono-black control, he's totally fine. he generates a lot of power very quickly. I do wish his +2 didn't suck so badly but it probably couldn't be too strong given how strong his -2 is.
But I definitely think it's a mistake to say that he's "bad". He's not situational and he defends himself quite well. It's like saying polukranos sucks compared to control magic. Sure, control magic can be way better in right circumstances, but sometimes you just need a big blunt beatstick. And Obby is that beatstick.
I have seen a couple comments about making his plus do 2 life. I play Oloro, who is incredibly overpowered as it is. This Planeswalker is very good for him. If he caused two loss to each opponent, that would be way too much. By turn five I usually have at least fifty life, now I start gaining an additional six per turn. I'm happy with him as he is...
Balancing cards based on interactions with a single card is a very poor way of balancing.
The problem in the equation you present is Oloro, not Ob.
2 life would have been perfectly acceptable.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Melek, Izzet Paragon Oona, Queen of the Fae Bruna, Light of Alabaster Gisela, Blade of Goldnight Rhys the Redeemed Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord Sen Triplets The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Ugh, so disappointed. Wanted Leshrac badly, got human version of crappy demon that ALREADY HAS TWO CARDS. Given that because of this we're getting a completely new character in red (because white is almost certainly the Lithomancer) instead of Jaya or Jeska or even freaking Slobad, this majorly blows.
Beyond that...eh? The first ability is OK as long as you're playing with 4+ opponents; otherwise in most cases it's worse than Sorin 1.0's +2. The second ability is fine and what he'll likely be used for exclusively. The ultimate is hot garbage: so for 8 loyalty, I get the option to pay two mana AND sac a guy, for Disciple of Bolas minus the 2/1 body. Whooo. There's no reason that couldn't have worked as a once-per-upkeep without the mana cost or sacrifice. What a waste, and what a wasted opportunity. He's fortunate the rest of his deck looks awesome.
Worst choice ever. When they finally could have printed Leshrac or Tevesh Szat, they choose a boring guy nobody cares about, who already has 2 different legends printed. Just the worst choice ever. And the card sucks too.
But the again, after seeing Freyalise a Leshrac card would probably have *****ty art and be underpowered as hell. So maybe it's for the better...
Personally I like the Ultimate. Seems actually attainable and useful to me. Sure you need to build for it and it isnt just "I win" like some other ultimates, but it is a crazy awesome advantage
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light.
I invision a future where one is not mighty when he can silence a crowd with brutality,
but when he leaves them speechless with wisdom.
Ugh, so disappointed. Wanted Leshrac badly, got human version of crappy demon that ALREADY HAS TWO CARDS. Given that because of this we're getting a completely new character in red (because white is almost certainly the Lithomancer) instead of Jaya or Jeska or even freaking Slobad, this majorly blows.
Beyond that...eh? The first ability is OK as long as you're playing with 4+ opponents; otherwise in most cases it's worse than Sorin 1.0's +2. The second ability is fine and what he'll likely be used for exclusively. The ultimate is hot garbage: so for 8 loyalty, I get the option to pay two mana AND sac a guy, for Disciple of Bolas minus the 2/1 body. Whooo. There's no reason that couldn't have worked as a once-per-upkeep without the mana cost or sacrifice. What a waste, and what a wasted opportunity. He's fortunate the rest of his deck looks awesome.
You want his ultimate to just gain you life equal to your biggest creature and draw that many cards? You've seen new sarkhan's ultimate, right? He only draws 2 cards per turn and at the steep cost of having 0 max hand size. Hell, Titania's ultimate only draws that many cards once, basically.
And of course, assuming you have to sacrifice the creature, i'd much rather have an instant-speed ability than an upkeep trigger. Disciple of bolas is sorcery-speed, which makes it kind of lame usually. This is more like unlimited 2-mana momentous fall, which is especially nice when you can easily make 5/5 demons.
It's not the most exciting ultimate, but the thing about ultimates in EDH is that they're all kind of equal. If the ultimate is insanely good (i.e. tamiyo) people will do everything possible to kill her first. If it's a mediocre ultimate, (i.e. garruk 1.0) then people won't freak out about it, and it's much more likely to actually happen. So while his ult isn't the most powerful, it's also probably going to actually happen pretty frequently.
At any rate, his -2 is the reason to play him. It pays for his cost immediately, and it's pretty easy to keep doing it. On top of that, being in black gives him access to tutors to get synergies with him, and removal to defend him.
As far as the choice of the name, it's a bit disappointing but I guess I don't care that much personally.
Ob Nixilis is planeswalker who was turned into a Demon by the use of the Chain Veil. He went to the plane of Zendikar, hoping to use its rich mana to purge the curse and restore his original form, but lost his spark as a result of Zendikar's powerful, chaotic mana.
To add further injury to humiliation, Nahiri, Zendikar's self-appointed protector, implanted a hedron on his forehead, stripping him of what power he still possessed, causing his wings to shrivel. When he could finally rise from the ground, the bones in his shoulders crumbled. His wings were useless and they fell off a few days later. Trapped on Zendikar, he vowed revenge on the plane and its inhabitants.
The Demon Token is pretty cool, and the Ultimate looks fun, but the overall package is a little less powerful than I would have expected.
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
I think it's hard to say that about any walker than can generate value proportional to his cost the turn he comes in. A 5/5 flyer for 5 mana is a rock solid deal even if someone kills Obby immediately. In fact I don't think wotc has ever printed a 5/5 flyer for less than 5 without a significant downside, so 5 is the default cost for just his -2. How many other walkers can really say that they generate value equal to their mana the turn they enter without dying? Tezzeret 1.0, Sorin 1.0(arguably), dack fayden,. karn(arguably)...not even JTMS can really make that claim, and even the ones that can are usually debatable. But this guy is not debatable, 5 for a 5/5 flyer isn't thrilling but it's definitely not a bad deal. He's not the most exciting PW I've ever seen, but he's definitely not weak.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
I'm pretty sure all the above walkers generate much more value in addition to providing much much more utility. They really can't even be mentioned in the same sentence with this guy. A 5/5 on turn 5 is one of the least overpowered things you can do in edh. I'm say he's decent in standard, extremely underpowered in edh. He's +1 might as well be a non factor. His -2 is the only reason to play him. If you translate him to a normal 20 life game, his -2 is worse than putting a 3/3 token into play (7 turn clock, a 5/5 is 8 in edh). He is very boring and bad.
You can't really say a 5/5 is an EDH 3/3. His relevance in combat doesn't shrink with the life totals.
The other walkers' abilities are generally better scaled to EDH, sure. Ob's ability is pretty straightforward in power level. But on the other hand, his ability can't really be negated in its usefulness. Lots of walkers are pretty conditional - dack needs an artifact to steal, sorin's not really worth it unless you have a clear primary adversary, and karn isn't really worth it unless you need a sorcery speed removal spell. Certainly all those effects can be very, very strong, but they can also be pretty useless. A 5/5 flyer is rarely useless and has a pretty high value at any point in the game. Besides that, it's a great defense for your walker, which none of those walkers are very good at. In fact, it might be the best-defended 5-drop-walker with the arguable exception of vraska.
Now he's definitely no tezzeret, but I wouldn't feel too bad about putting him into the ring against most of the other walkers I mentioned, or any walker really. He's a pretty solid wincon for a mono-black control deck that shouldn't have too much trouble defending him and letting him crap out demons while they keep control of the board.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
WRBoros Aggro (Glorious knights of badassery)
RBRakdos Bloodthirst (Undercosted waves of fat s***)
URIzzet Talrand/Pyromancer (b/c I hate you)
GRGruul Ramp and Stomp (SO FAT. SO FAST. RAWRRR)
GBGolgari Birthing Pod (b/c you wanted a challenge. I did warn you this BS is banned though)
BWOrzhov Lifegain Aggro (Removal for dayzzz)
WGSelesnya Tribal Golem-splicers/token (meh. Needs more upgrades. Perhaps switching to bant?)
WUAzorius Flicker (b/c I wanna annoy the f*** outta you)
GUSimic Evolve Aggro (Aggro takes a journey to the weird side of the color pie)
BUDimir Control (b/c I wanna peel your skin off and flay you within an inch of life before I kill you)
URWJeskai Ascendency Tokens (MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA)
RWBMardu Warriors (Butcher is da bomb)
GU Simic Morph (slow as s*** but oh so fun)
WBGAbzan Dredge-animator (PURE EVIL)
GWHexproof Aggro (Deal with it. Lemme guess, you cant?)
EDH Decks
UBRNekusar (Multiplayer MONSTA. 1v1 Klutz)
GRB Prossh (Set up engines. WRECK FACE)
GEzuri (Hey so I heard you liked Elves...)
UTalrand (Counter. Cantrip. Counter. Cantrip. Repeat till opponents die-- possibly of boredom)
Tiny leaders
WUDaxos (basic 3/1 fliers do basic s***. Also Daxos)
RWAnax and Cymede (Heroic weenie beats)
Standard
RRMONO RED AGGRO (RAWWWRRRR!!!!)
WUHeroic Aggro (Easy mode beatstick)
I don't see sorin as "preventing people from doing stupid things" at all unless those stupid things are "gaining a bunch of life", but that's stupid in the "who cares" way and less in the "stop breaking the game" way. He's a decent way to kill someone if you have enough power on board, but besides that he's kind of useless. Sure his +2 is better, but again he does cost 6 instead of 5.
Dack is cheaper and has a higher ceiling for sure, but he's also very restrictive in his colors and doesn't defend himself (usually). I wouldn't say he's worse than Obby but he's not reliably better either.
A 5/5 flyer is an amazing defense compared to most other walkers that "defend themselves". Elspeth 1.0 was the gold standard of planeswalkers for a long time, in part because of her ability to defend herself with a token the turn she comes out. And while Ob costs 1 more, a 5/5 flyer is immeasurably better at defending a planeswalker than a 1/1 soldier. Is a 5/5 immortal? Hell no, but it's bigger than most things on the board, so anyone trying to kill Obby is most likely going to either lose their best attacking creature or use a removal spell.
Planeswalkers are universally pretty easy to kill in EDH, but people will only waste the resources to do so if they think it's worth the cost. Killing Karn or Dack or Tezzeret or Sorin is easy peasy, but fighting through a 5/5 flyer (plus whatever else is already on the board and whatever removal might be in the black players' hand) is enough resistance that it may not be worth it for other players, which gives you time to crank him for value and make more demons or try to get to his ultimate.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
But I definitely think it's a mistake to say that he's "bad". He's not situational and he defends himself quite well. It's like saying polukranos sucks compared to control magic. Sure, control magic can be way better in right circumstances, but sometimes you just need a big blunt beatstick. And Obby is that beatstick.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Balancing cards based on interactions with a single card is a very poor way of balancing.
The problem in the equation you present is Oloro, not Ob.
2 life would have been perfectly acceptable.
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
EDH:
Niv-Mizzet
Legacy:
The Rack
Modern
Venser, the Sojourner Control
Beyond that...eh? The first ability is OK as long as you're playing with 4+ opponents; otherwise in most cases it's worse than Sorin 1.0's +2. The second ability is fine and what he'll likely be used for exclusively. The ultimate is hot garbage: so for 8 loyalty, I get the option to pay two mana AND sac a guy, for Disciple of Bolas minus the 2/1 body. Whooo. There's no reason that couldn't have worked as a once-per-upkeep without the mana cost or sacrifice. What a waste, and what a wasted opportunity. He's fortunate the rest of his deck looks awesome.
UBDragonlord Silumgar WGKarametra, God of Harvests
BRUNekusar, the Mindrazer BGMazirek, Kraul Death Priest
URMelek, Izzet Paragon UGPrime Speaker Zegana
WUHanna, Ship's Navigator BWUSydri, Galvanic Genius
WUBRGSliver Queen RBBladewing the Risen
WBKarlov of the Ghost Council RGXenagos, God of Revels
GFreyalise, Llanowar's Fury RWAurelia, the Warleader
RIb Halfheart, Goblin Tactician BDrana, Liberator of Malakir
UAzami, Lady of Scrolls WNahiri, the Lithomancer
WBGDoran, the Siege Tower CEmrakul, the Promised End
Curving him into Sorin isn't that bad, really. I would expect Sorin Markov to gain even more popularity.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
But the again, after seeing Freyalise a Leshrac card would probably have *****ty art and be underpowered as hell. So maybe it's for the better...
I invision a future where one is not mighty when he can silence a crowd with brutality,
but when he leaves them speechless with wisdom.
And of course, assuming you have to sacrifice the creature, i'd much rather have an instant-speed ability than an upkeep trigger. Disciple of bolas is sorcery-speed, which makes it kind of lame usually. This is more like unlimited 2-mana momentous fall, which is especially nice when you can easily make 5/5 demons.
It's not the most exciting ultimate, but the thing about ultimates in EDH is that they're all kind of equal. If the ultimate is insanely good (i.e. tamiyo) people will do everything possible to kill her first. If it's a mediocre ultimate, (i.e. garruk 1.0) then people won't freak out about it, and it's much more likely to actually happen. So while his ult isn't the most powerful, it's also probably going to actually happen pretty frequently.
At any rate, his -2 is the reason to play him. It pays for his cost immediately, and it's pretty easy to keep doing it. On top of that, being in black gives him access to tutors to get synergies with him, and removal to defend him.
As far as the choice of the name, it's a bit disappointing but I guess I don't care that much personally.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Ob Nixilis really likes candles. ( His Dark Rituals are scented with peach and jasmine! )
I'm thinking he and Mikaeus, The Lunarch get along.
UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU's prison: blue is the new orange is the new black.
BSidisi, Undead VizierB: Bis zum Erbrechen
GTitiania, Protector Of ArgothG: Protecting Argoth, by blowing it up!
GYisan, The Wanderer BardG: Gradus Ad Elfball.
Duel EDH: Yisan & Titania.
In Progress: Grand Arbiter Augustin IV duel; Grenzo, Dungeon Warden Doomsday.
Ob Nixilis was a Planeswalker before his appearance on Zendikar.