It took a long time to realize why this guy is so good.
-Beats on control for 2 (I.E. he's on curve)
-2 drop that demands removal
-Card advantage or card neutrality virtually guaranteed
-Legal in every format he could be legal in.
The fact that he's 2 mana for this effect is part of what's so brutal. He's the cheapest/earliest way to get it AND you get to start attacking.
May get a reprint in the modern masters. Here's hoping!
Posted By:
blurrymadness
(4/8/2013 8:12:24 AM)
Life for cards, best combination ever.
I really miss the old Skull...Believe I'm not the only one...
Posted By:
Rlcarioca
(5/19/2013 9:17:44 PM)
"Greatness, at any cost."
Just looked up the price for one of these. Damn right.
Posted By:
starfox444
(9/23/2011 10:05:57 AM)
Combined with a Sensei's Divining Top you can actually make sure you lose zero life. Grab a land every turn and whatever else is in those top 3. Great card.
Posted By:
Mill_Master
(12/20/2009 10:11:45 PM)
"but not if you run high mana cost cards" - DragonLord132
If you are running high mana cost cards with this card, you're either:
a) Running some serious library manipulation, probably a {BU} deck that will almost always know what's coming up next.
b) A risky player
c) An idiot. If you do end up flipping over a Darksteel Colossus and hit yourself for 11, or an Emrakrul, the Aeons Torn and hit yourself for 15, you deserve every bit of that damage.
A great card if you know what you're doing and provides fantastic card draw advantage
Posted By:
tcollins
(1/27/2011 12:45:21 AM)
Why does this card go for 20-40 dollars when Phyrexian Arena, a 4-6 dollar card, does it so much better for only 1 more black mana? Unless you’re running deck manipulation, Phyrexian Arena gives you the card for less life every turn AND you don’t have to reveal it! Additionally, this is a creature, which is generally easier to kill.
1 less mana is a really huge deal (especially when it's 1B vs 1BB; bob is easier to splash too). Bob draws you 1 more card because it comes down a turn earlier.
Yes, it's a creature and dies more easily. But there are still benefits for it. Swinging for 2 when the board is clear helps a lot, and makes tendrils require less spells to be lethal. And bob does make you lose some life, so being easier to kill means you can turn it off later in the game by saccing to, say, cabal therapy. But in general, Bob also doesn't make you lose any life if you flip over a land (moxes/lotus in vintage), and you're losing 1-2 life otherwise, with the occasional 5 fo... (see all)
Posted By:
mdakw576
(5/16/2012 4:18:30 AM)
A card that sacrifices life for card advantage? Horrible!
Other bad cards that waste precious life: Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Ancient Tomb, Channel, Pain Dual Lands, Pain Search Lands, and Necropotence.
If you still don't get the joke, I rated this card a 5/5. That should hint you.
Posted By:
001010011100101110
(8/25/2011 4:56:10 PM)
A good black mage can understand his great power and use it.
A good non-black mage can understand his great power and stop it as fast as possible.
A noob says: I don´t like losing live, this sucks.
This card is a true black card.
Posted By:
Cthulhu_Shin
(4/7/2011 9:59:18 PM)
I'm with tcollins on this one.
It seems to be popular for many people who comment on Gatherer to say "Yeah, it's a good card, but only if xyz." And that's the way Magic is meant to be played. If there were cards running rampant that fit in every deck, and were broken on their own right, then this game wouldn't be fun anymore.
Examples of broken cards that make any deck better (or at least work well in any deck) come with appropriately high resell prices. Moxen, Black Lotus, Jace 2.0, maybe...they all make many decks that much better. And to run a card that is that good, you pay through the nose.
So yeah, Dark Confidant is limited in its value depending on the deck you're running. But it's a damn good card, and you have to be competent in knowing where to use him. Just like everything else in this game.
Many of you here and on other card boards are really going to dumb down the game if you keep this up. A polite, friendly warning to you lot.
Posted By:
Lateralis0ne
(2/19/2011 3:35:00 PM)
You can tell if a player is good by showing them this card. If they don't know that it is great, then they aren't a good player.
It is really at the peak of what a card is allowed to do. 2 power for 2 mana plus card advantage, at the price of life.
Why is it amazing? Because it doesn't cost you much life at all in most decks that would run it, it swings for two, and there's just nothing BAD about it - if your opponent doesn't deal with Bob, they are very likely to lose.
Posted By:
Titanium_Dragon
(12/15/2009 1:53:14 AM)