Well it looks satisfyingly badass. And even when it "bricks" it's a 6CMC 6/6 flying trample, draw a nonland card, lose one life, which is pretty awesome value. Not sure about standard but I'm hoping to open one in draft.
Well, no real surprises here, we knew his ability and we've seen this art everywhere. Still disappointed Belzenlok wasn't revealed to be nothing more than three poodles standing on each other's shoulders wearing a trench coat and fedora.
Oh man, I'm so glad my favorite character Belzenlok finally gets a card. Definitely worth waiting the 25 years since the Brothers War between Belzenlok and Belzenlok. And when Belzenlok defeated Belezenlok at the end of the Ice Age, or when Belzenlok fired the Belzenlok Weapon into the heart of Belzenlok during Invasion? So dope.
I guess that's the end of Spoiler season there are no cards but Demonlord Belzenlok
Well, there it is, the best card of the game, can open a portal to phyrexia, is a planeswalker, made the ice age in the shard, etc
Al Hail Demonlord Belzenlok
Evincar of the Stronghold, Scion of Darkness, Doom of Fools, Lord of the Wastes, Master of the Ebon Hand, Eternal Patriarch of the Cabal !
They just started way too strong with Griselbrand , it was an impossible task to match that powerlevel.
So by flavor they fail big times to match the powerlevel of the demons to what they are supposed to be in rankings.
----
Still reasonable card with some build-around , never really disappoints but also delivers nothing that tickles constructed enough to make a huge impact , especially not in older formats, Griselbrand just does anything better if you are in for a reanimation target.
Yes he should be stronger then Griselbrand, I get not stapling an insane ability to Belzenlok. But they didn't even give him more Power and Toughness.
But much like the Weatherlight compared to say Heart of Kiran, we seem to be falling short cause WOTC is afraid to push it, in the one set they should. I mean it should at least have the remove loyalty counter to crew mechanic.
If you make a deck where this guy's ability kicks in properly, you've made a really messily paced deck. Is 6/6 for 6, flying and draw a card really that much better than the standard green 6/6 for 6 trample common dude that's in every set? It's obviously better, but, like, how much better? When you get down to it you've just changed the color, made the evasion a bit more reliable, it draws you a card (unless you're playing a very silly deck) and you can only have one on board. Looks like an uncommon to me, not a mythic.
And the art is kinda... pedestrian? A horned blandish guy with arms outstretched and some red in the background. Standing at a kinda wrongish angle.
Kinda meh I guess?
I'm in the same boat as you. I think hes really not... well... cool or good. Not a fan of the art... he just looks like a horned meathead with wings. He's the most basic demon I could imagine. He's got decent stats for his cost, and he can draw cards as long as the criteria is met. So for a Mythic rare? Not very spectacular. An Elder Demon? Mehh... We already mentioned Griselbrand is way sweeter.
All around this demon feels pretty lackluster in comparison to other Legendary Demons and honestly just other demons in General.
Personally the only reason I like him is his flavor... and his card really has nothing to do with it.
They managed alright with Razaketh been superior to Griselbrand with his stats(ofcourse in constructed Griselbrand is superior). Kinda disapointed that they din't make Belzenlok bigger.
Idk even about comparing him with Grislebrand because that card is kinda silly itself in a different way, but like... Tombstalker? Way more powerful. That 4/5 for 2BB guy from the latest Inistrad block, too, is way more playable. There were other really strong ones. It's obvious they didn't want this guy to dominate formats, and I get the greed appeal his ability has for a certain demographic and all that... But it's kinda meh and looks like it's supposed to sell itself on the coolness factor alone, and it's not really all that cool, either.
He runs a necromancy death cult? You think his abilities would have something to do with that. I don't know pay 2B, Sacrifice A Creature and your opponent takes damage equal to the creatures power and you gain life equal to its toughness or something. I expect a bit more from an Elder Demon, but he is weak and not even especially flavorful, he just has a worse Griselbrand Ability, Plus Griselbrand recovers any life lost paying for his ability via lifelink. I mean sheesh at bear minimum he should be an 8/8.
It should have been a creature about killing historic (like etb draw 1 card for each historic opp control + hose historic trigger or sagas) make me feel like this demon its trying to rewrite history!
So is Ben Swolo's workout the new paradigm for sci-fi fitness?
That aside, much as I love the character they have developed for Belzenlok, I am less sure about the card. The effect isn't unique and probably won't hit more than a couple cards. I like exiling lands late game and this still could end up being decent value, but I am not wowed.
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EDH Decks UWB Oloro, Ageless Ascetic's spring of life RUG Animar, Soul of the Elements and friends... lots of them WBG Karador king of two worlds (value and attrition) WRKalemne's Angels BRUG Yidris's Wild Party UWBR Breya's Terrifying Tinker Toys UBRThe Pretender
I'd like to think that Belzenlok's ETB is representing him taking pieces of history in your library bit by bit and twisting them for his own purposes.
In any case, the ranking for Liliana's demons gameplay-wise seems to be: Griseldaddy > Razaketh, the Crocodile Feast > Belzenlok, the Scion of Darkness, the Evincar of the Stronghold, the Eternal Patriarch, the Alpha and the Omega, the Source of all Things, the Chicken and the Egg, the... > Kotho-who?
Very intrigued by the possibility of building around him in EDH and drawing my entire deck (minus lands) the turn I cast him, thanks to filling it with nothing but 4-drops and up. Ideally with something in play to prevent me from dying, heh.
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I guess that's the end of Spoiler season there are no cards but Demonlord Belzenlok
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
GWUBRDraft my Old Border Nostalgia Cube! and/or The Little Pauper Cube That Could!RBUWG
Modern:WDeath & TaxesW | RUGRUG DelverRUG
Spirits
As for the card itself it's certainly strong, although not too strong, but that's not a bad thing.
Belzenlok.
Definitely edh useable particularly when you don't need lands anymore
And again purity will reverse the effects of the damage
And I believe there are tricks involving "whenever you take damage" cards
Well, there it is, the best card of the game, can open a portal to phyrexia, is a planeswalker, made the ice age in the shard, etc
Al Hail Demonlord Belzenlok
Evincar of the Stronghold, Scion of Darkness, Doom of Fools, Lord of the Wastes, Master of the Ebon Hand, Eternal Patriarch of the Cabal !
Belzenlok's Defeat sounds more like "Belzenlok's Victory" at this point.
There, corrected it
So by flavor they fail big times to match the powerlevel of the demons to what they are supposed to be in rankings.
----
Still reasonable card with some build-around , never really disappoints but also delivers nothing that tickles constructed enough to make a huge impact , especially not in older formats, Griselbrand just does anything better if you are in for a reanimation target.
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
But much like the Weatherlight compared to say Heart of Kiran, we seem to be falling short cause WOTC is afraid to push it, in the one set they should. I mean it should at least have the remove loyalty counter to crew mechanic.
I'm in the same boat as you. I think hes really not... well... cool or good. Not a fan of the art... he just looks like a horned meathead with wings. He's the most basic demon I could imagine. He's got decent stats for his cost, and he can draw cards as long as the criteria is met. So for a Mythic rare? Not very spectacular. An Elder Demon? Mehh... We already mentioned Griselbrand is way sweeter.
All around this demon feels pretty lackluster in comparison to other Legendary Demons and honestly just other demons in General.
Personally the only reason I like him is his flavor... and his card really has nothing to do with it.
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He runs a necromancy death cult? You think his abilities would have something to do with that. I don't know pay 2B, Sacrifice A Creature and your opponent takes damage equal to the creatures power and you gain life equal to its toughness or something. I expect a bit more from an Elder Demon, but he is weak and not even especially flavorful, he just has a worse Griselbrand Ability, Plus Griselbrand recovers any life lost paying for his ability via lifelink. I mean sheesh at bear minimum he should be an 8/8.
Insidious Dreams
See where this is going?
That aside, much as I love the character they have developed for Belzenlok, I am less sure about the card. The effect isn't unique and probably won't hit more than a couple cards. I like exiling lands late game and this still could end up being decent value, but I am not wowed.
EDH Decks
UWB Oloro, Ageless Ascetic's spring of life
RUG Animar, Soul of the Elements and friends... lots of them
WBG Karador king of two worlds (value and attrition)
WRKalemne's Angels
BRUG Yidris's Wild Party
UWBR Breya's Terrifying Tinker Toys
UBR The Pretender
In any case, the ranking for Liliana's demons gameplay-wise seems to be: Griseldaddy > Razaketh, the Crocodile Feast > Belzenlok, the Scion of Darkness, the Evincar of the Stronghold, the Eternal Patriarch, the Alpha and the Omega, the Source of all Things, the Chicken and the Egg, the... > Kotho-who?