Set reviews are pretty common on these here intrawebz. So, rather than bore you all with another long-winded take on why Karn is probably unplayable and Mental Misstep will change the face of legacy, i figure i'd live up to the blog's name and take a look at the black cards only. I'll mostly be looking at standard, since it's what most people care about, but i'll also consider limited.
Blind Zealot: This card seems pretty awesome in a black aggro draft deck. The problem is that in MSS, that generally means Infect but maybe there are the tools to change that in the new format. I'm not convinced, but this still seems like a solid draft pick in the middle of the pack. In terms of standard, this seems like a worse Gatekeeper, with a decent upside of being unblockable by some/most decks. A semi-unblockable 2/2 for 3 might be good with some recursion, but it probably doesn't do enough on its own.
Caress of Phyrexia: Pretty close to being Strictly Worse than Sign in Blood. One more card for far more than double the cost. Card advantage/draw is great, but the price is far too high here, and is probably worse in draft that it is in standard, due to prominence of Infect.
Chancellor of the Dross: This seems pretty hillarious in something like EDH if you get it in your opener. In standard it's far too expensive for a french vanilla 6/6 flier. In draft it's obviously pretty solid, especially if the slowdown we saw in MSS continues into MSN (so is this what Wizards refers to when they talk about the new Magic Online? MSN? Rumbled!). There are better bombs to first pick from this set, and the decent leyline effect is negated by having a seven mana card in your opening hand, but a 6/6 lifelink flier is hard to pass P1P1.
Dementia Bat: I guess i should leave the puns to LSV, but you really would have to be demented to play this in anything but limited. Even there it's filler at best. Nine mana for a Mind Rot on a 'meh' body? I really hope i never have to run this.
Despise: Sweet; Inquisition for Walkers and Creatures. This seems like an absolute auto-include in any black decks. Maybe not a four-of, since Inquisition is better against low curve/no walker decks but you'll probably want four between the main and the side. For black players this might be the most important card of the set. As for limited, since it hits creatures this might actually be playable, which is rare for a duress effect. I wouldn't try and take it early, but i'd be happy to wheel one.
Dismember: I'm not as excited as everyone else about this card. For black players the extra -1/-1 isn't much better than Grasp since there aren't many five toughness threats played in standard right now. For other colours, well... is killing a Thrun worth four life? Is killing a Titan worth 2-for-1-ing yourself AND taking four damage anyway (possibly seven if it's an Inferno)? In limited this card will be excellent but i still expect to see it mostly in black decks. Like all the Phyrexian mana cards, though, it gets better against Infect.
Enslave: Cool, Mind Control in black. Like any MC effect, this is obviously solid in limited, but will probably see zero standard play. The cost is high, and black has much better ways to deal with creatures. Looking forward to seeing someone cast this on a Vatmother and hopefully in a deck with Caress of Phyrexia.
Entomber Exarch: Gravediggers are generally playable in limited, and this one has some versatility to boot. Granted, i can't see the second clause being used often, there are always corner cases (maybe you have an empty graveyard). In standard this will be the same as every Gravedigger, unless someone needs an alternate win condition for their Megrim (Liliana's Caress, whatever) deck...
Evil Presence: Urborg for extreme budget EDH players? Yeah, this is unplayable everywhere.
Geth's Verdict: I tend to overvalue cards that make your opponent sac creatures, but this one seems pretty legitimate. In standard there aren't enough decks where shroud is relevant enough for this to be good, but in draft this could be okay. The loss of life is a vaguely relevant upside with Phyrexian mana around, but be aware of the downsides in a format where expendable creatures abound.
Glistening Oil: Tainted Strike is somewhat playable in MSS as a finisher in a deck that couldn’t quite get the critical mass of Infect creatures. This card is closer to Phyresis, which was never playable in any format. The built-in recursion is nice but mentioning this in the same sentence as Rancor seems laughable, and so is any deck that plays this.
Grim Affliction: This seems okay in Limited, where it goes into basically any deck thanks to the abundance of one toughness creatures. It’s marginally better in an infect deck, of course, but I’d rather have almost any other black removal spell. As for standard – no.
Ichor Explosion: If you’re looking for a wrath effect in black in standard, clearly this is not the card you want. Even in limited, seven mana is a lot for a conditional card that kills your stuff as well. This kind of card is the downside of drafting the last set first because in pack three you will have a better idea of whether your deck wants this card or not. Expect to wheel this in a decent pack with good players.
Life’s Finale: This seems like a pretty huge blowout in limited. Wrathing for six with an upside has proven to be good already in this format thanks to Phyrexian Rebirth. In certain board states this is probably even better. Removing all villain’s on-board threats AND three that haven’t been cast yet seems insanely good. In standard this is probably too slow, and there are better things to do with six mana nowadays, if you hadn’t noticed.
Mortis Dogs: This seems like pure limited filler. You should get it late in the pack, which is nice, and I expect to see at least one case of a killing his own Dogs to drain the last few points in a stalemate.
Parasitic Implant: Clunky removal and even clunkier combos with a card like Mortis Dogs above does not make a good card. Run this if you’re light on removal but you don’t need to pick it high like you do with good removal.
Phyrexian Obliterator: Wellllllll… is it good enough to bring back our beloved control deck? On its own, probably not, I’m afraid. There are other tools, but this card alone won’t make or break a deck. That said, it is good, and it can only be played in mono black for obvious reasons. Being a 5/5 on turn four is obviously great, but in a world of titans, ‘dies to removal’ is huge. This leaves nothing behind after being ‘Throated’ but if it sticks around for a turn or two it will warp the game around it. Even dying to a Titan is probably beneficial for you since sacrificing six permanents is back-breaking. In draft you’ll probably windmill slam this for value, and then try desperately to draft mono black. In standard, as much as I want this card to be amazing, I really can’t say how good it is yet. Then again, if it isn’t tier one, I can at least get them a little cheaper #banmythics
Pith Driller: This seems reasonable but not great. If it had infect this would be awesome, but without it… meh, killing a Myr on turns four-through-five is not very exciting, neither is a 2/4 body. Less Driller Killer and more Filler Driller.
Postmortem Lunge: This seems like a sometimes better/sometimes worse take on last set’s Morbid Plunder. It’s better if you’re getting back an evasive guy but getting back anything else for this cost is not really worth it. Moreso than most reanimate effects, this one really scales with the quality of your creatures and is probably not first pickable in draft.
Praetor’s Grasp: I hate using smilies in any article, but… what the heck o_O This card seems awful. Maybe I’m missing something, but even out of the board in game two in limited, this does almost nothing. I guess if your opponent’s deck has just one win condition… you’re probably going to win anyway because they don’t know how to build a draft deck. I expect Tom to open at least six of these in his packs over the next year or so.
Reaper of Sheoldred: First-pickable in a weak pack, this card seems pretty solid to me. Obviously it’s not constructed-viable but in limited this is an awesome reach card for the infect deck. Even as a blocker it has inevitability and as an attacker it’s always getting in for one unless they have removal.
Sheoldred, the Whispering One: In limited this is the windmill slam for black in this set. This is what you get for seven mana, and it’s definitely worth it. In standard is loses to Titans and will probably never see play unless mono black becomes a deck, since it’s pretty sick in the mirror. Personally though, I’m eyeing up a black EDH deck.
Surgical Extraction: Seems like all of the contentious cards from this set are in black. I’ll just go with Alexander Shearer’s article from last week: “How to Waste two Life at Instant Speed.” There’s not much more to add; this card is bad.
Toxic Nim: Bleh, I’m not a fan of infect, and this just seems overpriced to me. Regenerate for one black seems good but even in limited there are better things to do with six mana. Left alone, this is going to eat through the opponent’s board pretty quickly, but it dies to EVERYTHING and is a liability in the infect mirror: Tap six, play Toxic Nim, say go. Opponent casts Virulent Wound, timewalks you.
Vault Skirge: Cute design, right? You pay two life to get it in play in an off-colour deck, then it gets the life back… eventually. The art is cool, the frame is sweet, the card, however, is awful. With infect, this would be a strict upgrade from Plague Stinger, without infect it’s close to strictly worse.
Whisper Specter: I exspecter (sorry…) this to be 15th pick on a regular basis. Specters are very hit and miss, but this is definitely the latter. Three mana for a 1/1 that only makes villain discard if you sacrifice it? Awful.
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