While that gives black a lot of different removal options, having a flying/trample 5-drop beater that filters your draws seems like a nice option that gives me something to do that isn't "kill the stuffs", which I'm excited about. Also, it's a 6/6 in black that doesn't have a drawback! I'll probably cut Night Incarnate for this.
Cards good, but we’ve all been tricked by black five drops that look good but aren’t before.
Have we? Other than Priest of the Blood Rite (which had a drawback if you couldn't get rid of the priest), I can't think of a recent good example of this. Even if it gets removed immediately, you can still filter a draw step or two before it dies, which is its own value, and this is something I wouldn't mind reanimating in a pinch.
5 mana and pretty much fails the Vindicate test, requires life payment before it gives you any (potential) value. The body is pushed but I'm not sure that's enough for a 5-drop.
My first impressions tend to be overly positive but I think may be the black 5 we've been waiting for. Not only does it filter you draws but it fills your yard, for ZERO mana! For 8 life you can dig through 20% of your deck to set up a combo or find that all important removal spell. And it's a serious beatstick at 5 mana.
5 mana and pretty much fails the Vindicate test, requires life payment before it gives you any (potential) value. The body is pushed but I'm not sure that's enough for a 5-drop.
In any other color sure, but black 5 drops are either useless or distinctly mediocre apart from (Shriekmaw).
This stands out from the crowd by a hefty margin for me, a 6/6 flying trample demon with no downside is good, the ability is just gravy.
This seems like an upgrade over a lot of cards I currently play at 720. Abyssal Persecutor, Bloodgift Demon, Tombstalker... it's not strictly better than any of them, but I think I'd draft this card over any of them. Not sure what the cut will be yet, but I'm gonna give this a spin.
I like Custodi Lich more than most, but one way or the other, I'll find room for this. The body is huge and the ability doesn't suck. Lots of uses, be it for setting topdecks or filling the graveyard.
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Has no ETB/LTB, but that no-drawback, evasive body is nice. The activated ability doesn't seem especially abusable in cube, but digging and/or binning recursive black creatures seems decent.
This card is an absolute shoe in large cubes, but I’m more skeptical in smaller cubes (<=450).
I’m going to test it and I have pretty high hopes. The impact of the surveil 2 is going to be key. I have a feeling it makes up for the vanillaness, but I could be wrong and my hopes of a good black 5 besides Lich and Shriekmaw will be dashed.
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Going to test it out, but have a feeling it'll be only OK and will be MUCH better in standard than in cube.
Card is incredible if you can heavily build around graveyard value. To break it, it needs to go in decks where there's a lot of graveyard payoff.
Surveil becomes a far more valuable resource if you can mill a flashback spell or a bloodghast etc.
Don't think there's enough in cube to make this card come close to it's peak potential.
I've been yearning for more universally playable graveyard payoff for a while now... Plenty of cubeable enablers, not nearly enough payoff. This goes into the enabler category... though still good on it's own without the payoff.
I think this is testable. It wins very fast, and even if it's about to die you can get some amount of value off the ability unless you're way behind in life. Will test.
This is a (delayed) ETB Vampiric Tutor if you believe hard enough. Being able to plow through planeswalkers and survive / did for Wildfire is big game. I’m definitely most excited for this in Wildfire shells, but this could also be good graveyard enabler for grindy midrange decks. I don’t like it more than my current 5-drops, but I’ll swap out Noxious Gearhulk for this. I like it enough at 540, but probably wouldn’t consider it if my cube were smaller.
I'm extremely excited about this one. I agree about concern about 5cmc card that can just die, but it's a stat-monster with an unbelievable amount of filtering power. If you have a Burning/Wildfire deck it lets you dig for your key card on curve. It plays very well if you're utilizing the graveyard, and can even be top-end for B-aggro decks. Especially ones that get Dark Ritual. I don't think it'll be a high pick, but feels like a great card for 540 lists, and wouldn't be surprised if it makes the cut in 450.
I think this needs a good test. Really pushed stats and a 'free' ability is a combination that does have precedent for being good in the format. 6/6 flying trample for 5 is something I would expect to have a drawback, not a genuinely decent ability tacked on. I love Custodi Lich, AMK Liliana is decent enough, but there's not too many options. I often consider (and build for) Shriekmaw as not really being a 5 drop, even though it's often played as one.
I'm extremely excited about this one. I agree about concern about 5cmc card that can just die, but it's a stat-monster with an unbelievable amount of filtering power. If you have a Burning/Wildfire deck it lets you dig for your key card on curve. It plays very well if you're utilizing the graveyard, and can even be top-end for B-aggro decks. Especially ones that get Dark Ritual. I don't think it'll be a high pick, but feels like a great card for 540 lists, and wouldn't be surprised if it makes the cut in 450.
Don't forget that if you're playing this, you're in black and have likely taken some of the black removal at the table, and it survives most of what red has to offer. There's still plenty of things that kill this, but perhaps fewer than something like Lyra.
I think this will play nice. Will Need to test first though. Also, if you play this turn 5 you probably have already drawn 12 cards which leaves you with 28 left. If you activate 4 times, = you can see up to 50% of your library without any other draw spells etc.
This seems great to me! Currently, my 5-drop black slot is:
-Custodi Lich
-Night Incarnate
-Shriekmaw
While that gives black a lot of different removal options, having a flying/trample 5-drop beater that filters your draws seems like a nice option that gives me something to do that isn't "kill the stuffs", which I'm excited about. Also, it's a 6/6 in black that doesn't have a drawback! I'll probably cut Night Incarnate for this.
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I love it. So much.
In any other color sure, but black 5 drops are either useless or distinctly mediocre apart from (Shriekmaw).
This stands out from the crowd by a hefty margin for me, a 6/6 flying trample demon with no downside is good, the ability is just gravy.
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I’m going to test it and I have pretty high hopes. The impact of the surveil 2 is going to be key. I have a feeling it makes up for the vanillaness, but I could be wrong and my hopes of a good black 5 besides Lich and Shriekmaw will be dashed.
Regular 450 unpowered cube (with some custom cards) - 450 Unpowered
Card is incredible if you can heavily build around graveyard value. To break it, it needs to go in decks where there's a lot of graveyard payoff.
Surveil becomes a far more valuable resource if you can mill a flashback spell or a bloodghast etc.
Don't think there's enough in cube to make this card come close to it's peak potential.
I've been yearning for more universally playable graveyard payoff for a while now... Plenty of cubeable enablers, not nearly enough payoff. This goes into the enabler category... though still good on it's own without the payoff.
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I'm not sure he'll be great, but he'll probably eventually [ie. post-Standard] be a budget pickup
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In reanimation decks, you can surveil to bin threats and keep reanimation on top.
Overall, I think it's more about making the next play more achievable, not the creature itself.
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Don't forget that if you're playing this, you're in black and have likely taken some of the black removal at the table, and it survives most of what red has to offer. There's still plenty of things that kill this, but perhaps fewer than something like Lyra.
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