The reason I rate this card as a 5/5 is because it can singlehandedly screw up 2 forms of first turn kills.
One of those is the Protean Hulk "turn 0" klll, which doesn't have to be turn 0 at all.
The other one is one which I have personally felt: the Animate Dead + Buried Alive (allowed on the first turn by a pair of rituals or some other acceleration) that searches for a Worldgorger Dragon and some other creature that would kill the opponent instantly if given infinite black mana (such as Oona)
Decks that can kill on the turn 1 are the most dangerous there is, so a card that can stop them cold get to be 5/5 (see also, Leyline of Sanctity)
Posted By:
androkguz
(8/18/2010 7:15:55 PM)
Actually this isn't only way to kill an Emrakul. Read Emmy's text: When Emrakul of the Aeons Torn is put into the graveyard...
You can sac a Nihil Spellbomb in response to his graveyard trigger and exile him.
This just happened in an EDH game the other night. The guy casting Emrakul looked at it, then looked at the spellbomb,pulled the spellbomb out of its sleeve, ripped it in half, and replaced it.
Ironic because this is the guy who casts End the Turn to counter other people's Emrakuls.
Completely unrelated, Opera spellcheck says Nihil isn't a word. In its place it suggests other nihil related words along with Nichol and Unholy. O_o
Posted By:
Bandswithother
(12/18/2010 6:34:01 PM)
This is a turn-0 kill against a large section of the Legacy field.
Psychatog, your game got a lot harder.
Dredge, good bye.
Reanimator, you're dead.
Eggs, you're toast.
Vengevine, nice try.
Crucible of Worlds, you're worthless.
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...
Over half the decks in Legacy run some sort of recursion, many depend on it.
Any of those decks got you down? Stick our of these and four Tormod's Crypt into the sideboard of almost any deck. If it's black, use Bojuka Bog.
Posted By:
BegleOne
(8/21/2011 12:50:19 PM)
Finally, a viable Standard replacement for Relic of Progenitus. Also renders destroyed eldrazi creatures irrelevant.
While it may be counterproductive towards any and all zombie strategies, one should note that Black is moving towards Vampires as the primary tribe for the color. And Vampires don't give a crap what's in your graveyard.
5/5
Posted By:
DacenOctavio
(7/13/2010 2:47:03 PM)
This card's ability to perma-counter the absurd anti-mill cards that have sprung up of late makes me wish that I could play it in MUC-mill. I mean, I could, but I'd have to hope to get it in the opening hand. Suppose you could just sacrifice it to Mind Over Matter or something if it didn't work out.
Until Scars of Mirrodin, this was pretty much the only card that kept mill viable in standard (unless I'm missing one), which more-or-less forced mill to at least splash black - which isn't a bad choice by any means. Thankfully for those who like to run mono-blue, Scars gave us Nihil Spellbomb, which, while a much lesser card, at least gave the other colors graveyard hate and mill protection. Still, for decks with a dash of black, this card is absolutely brutal as a sideboard or even 2- or 3- of if you're really worried about dredge; it works great with some decks and will absolutely devastate some opponents.
This could also be why Void was re... (see all)
Posted By:
Lyoncet
(2/1/2011 7:23:47 PM)
@ bandswithother nihil is latin for "nothing" :P the MORE YOU KNOW! :teach:
Posted By:
stille_nacht
(8/20/2011 6:50:52 PM)
leyline of sanctity and leyline of the void
I think it is an egregious mistake to make something this powerful playable in all colours and free. It's not broken but it's not a card I like to see ever. This kind of hate makes the game less than fun.
Posted By:
Dream_Twist
(1/23/2013 8:56:52 AM)
Fare thee well, VengeDredge. We hardly knew thee...
Posted By:
DonRoyale
(7/8/2010 12:38:22 PM)
i find it interesting that black's leyline is the only reprint, while the other colors got new ones.
Posted By:
mdakw576
(7/9/2010 1:00:55 PM)
Attn- Vengevine and Bloodghast: "Go to Hell, Go directly to Hell! Do not pass the Battlefield, Do not collect your testiculars OR 200 dollars!!" Ha ha ha
Posted By:
Mike-C
(5/30/2011 7:45:19 AM)