Mirrodin Besieged EDH Set Review: Part 2 (Black)

 Much like his Mirran twin, this guy is just too small to be a realistic threat in the EDH world. He does have a slight upside in that Infect makes him a slightly better blocker, but he's still pretty underpowered. Even die-hard Infect players should give this one a pass, but they probably won't.

Alright, so we get two playable board sweepers in this set. Nice. This is probably the best one of the Zenith cycle, although I greatly prefer the Green one, as it seems more fun and creative. But the Black variant is hugely powerful, and should see plenty of play, despite having stiff competition in the form of Damnation and Decree of Pain. Profane Command also competes as a XBB spell, and is rather more versatile.

 I've been known to play Doom Blade in an EDH deck now and then. It's not super, but it usually does the trick. So will this, usually. It's really just a metagame call as to which restriction is tougher: "non-black" or "non-artifact".

The existence (and vast superiority) of Puppeteer Clique means that this won’t get played much, unless the Clique is such an MVP in your deck that you want the redundant effect. Or, if you just don’t HAVE a Puppeteer Clique, this could be an okay stand-in. As someone who LOVES robbing my opponents graveyard, I should love this card… but I don’t. It’s playable, but Black just has access to many better versions of this effect.

 Woah! This is right up there with Phyrexian Rebirth and Consecrated Sphinx in power and potential. He’s nearly a Titan in stats, as a 6/5 for six, which is good. He has an ETBF ability that is often going to at least have a small impact on the board, and this is supplemented by a nice triggered ability that, if left on the board for long, will wreck an opponent’s life total. Furthermore, against certain decks (namely, Token decks) he can easily be a one-card, instant-win combo. His mere existence will make Rhys and Rith players quake in their seats.

I initially skipped this without planning to even mention it. However, after seeing it in action at the prerelease I decided to at least post it here for props. It's a solid card-advantage machine, in a subtle way. First off, you are getting a 2-for-1 deal, that much is obvious. But if the two creatures you get back cost your opponent a card each to get rid of, you are really getting more like a 4-for-1. It's still probably not quite EDH material but it IS better than I thought...

 If a deck is already running Tainted Strike, there's a good chance it would want this too. One has surprise, the other has permanence. There are situations were either could be better than the other.

I can’t fathom why you’d want this even in an Infect-heavy deck. It’s just a big stupid guy for a slight discount, with a significant drawback. There are better options even with so few Infect guys currently in print.

 Pretty weak, sadly. I was really counting on her being more playable. She's not terrible, mind you, but a little on the weak side for EDH. I imagine her art will convince a few players to overlook this fact, however.

Expensive removal is expensive! And all that extra mana, just so you can Proliferate? That’s a pretty narrow bonus that might not do anything at all. If you have a deck that is just all about the Proliferation, this card is for you… otherwise it is crap.