Grave Pact
This card is pretty difficult to play thanks to
its triple black mana cost.
For constructed, Grave Pact has never really
proven itself beyond the fun-casual level, not
that there's anything wrong with that. In any
limited environment in which it has appeared,
Grave Pact has been a fairly powerful card. I've
never played Grave Pact in a limited deck
before, but whenever I play an opponent who
manages to get Grave Pact in play, it has ALWAYS
been a big problem for me. Once you have Grave
Pact in play, every creature YOU lose equals
your opponent losing a creature as well. You
block his only creature, say a 6/5 Ancient
Silverback with your 1/1 chump-zilla, then Grave
Pact makes your opponent sacrifice his 6/5
regenerating monster! Pretty sick. I don't like
cards like this for limited, because I tend to
limit my limited decks to (a) creatures and (b)
things that directly kill creatures and, okay,
(c) things that give me card advantage. Grave
Pact does b and c to a certain degree, but it is
rather hard to cast and it is possible for it to
be a dead card, or nearly a dead card in some
situations.
CONSTRUCTED: 3.0
CASUAL: 3.5
LIMITED: 3.5
Grave Pact
The ultimate combo piece in any deck that can
sacrifice creatures. Multiplayer is where this
deck shines, but it gets frustrating in duels
just as easily. No card ever made your opponent
more reluctant to kill your creatures as this
one did, and this is in the color that most
proficiently sacrifices its own creatures.
Constructed- 4
Casual- 5
Limited-3
Grave Pact -
This is one of those cards that came out during
my two year hiatus from Magic. And when I came
back, I was introduced to the stunning power
that this card posseses. When it was first used
against me I thought that I must be reading it
wrong, because there's no way a card so strong
would be printed for such a small cost. But it's
true, and it's incredible. Grave Pact is
dominant whenever it hits the table. The only
decks that don't fear this card are those no
creatures at all. Any deck that relies on a
limited number of non-token creatures and
removal to get them through the red zone - which
is to say most decks - hates Grave Pact. Even if
you have no way to abuse it (say, by using the
Symbiotic Creatures from Onslaught or even a
Pentavus), this card is still worth playing. All
of your opponent's removal has the potential to
become a 2-for-1 in your favor, and creature
combat becomes a lot more costly. The three
black mana can be harsh, but this card is going
to continue to show up in high level decks as
long as it's legal.
Erm. I always thought of this as a really casual
card, one that ought to give everyone laughs at
the multiplayer table. You might want to
consider it in B/W control, and bring out hordes
of weenies, Wrath them, and watch your opponent
cry, but when it comes down to the crunch, this
card just doesn’t cut it for real constructed or
limited play. Keep this one in your casual deck
for a few laughs now and then.
Standard: 2
Casual: 4
Limited: 2
KC MetroGnome
Grave Pact -
10/13
Grave Pact is one of the sickest multi-player
combo pieces ever created. Any sacrifice outlet
plus this plus a few creatures gives you instant
board control. Just make friends with the people
playing enchantment hate and you've got it made.
It's harder to make it work for you in
constructed or limited, because you're getting a
1 for 1 trade instead of a 1 for 12 trade, but
not unheard of either. It would play nicely with
Nantuko Husk to help eliminate blockers on the
kill turn. There might be more efficient ways to
do that, though.
Constructed - 3
Casual - 5
Limited - 1
Aethereal
Grave Pact
A really fun black card to use. There are lots
of ways to abuse this effect and make your
opponents lose creatures. Note that opponents is
plural...this card is best in a multiplayer
game, as it works on every opponent. In normal
two-player games, this costs a little too much
and isn't as abuseable.
In limited, if you're playing heavy black and
can support the BBB in the cost, I'd throw it
in. It can give you a huge advantage in winning
the creature race.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3
Matt Cortez
Grave Pact
Constructed - When I see this card the first
thing to pop in my head is Nantuko Husk. The
only draw back of the card is the cost. It's a
great card and I'm surprised that we don't see
this a lot more.
Casual - If you do not think this card is fun in
casual then I do not know what to say. THEY SAC
A CREATURE WHEN ONE OF YOURS GOES TO THE
GRAVEYARD!!
Its crazy fun and it get's even more fun when
there are multiple people playing.
Limited - unlike yesterday's card this one
benefit's only you. but like yesterday's card
this one is to mana intensive. If you can run it
do it. It is completely worth it but the triple
black is going to be hard to cast.
Constructed - 4.0
Casual - 5
Limited - 4.0
GB250
Grave Pact
Here's another 9th edition enchantment that sees
comparatively little play, despite looking
pretty neat on paper. For the cost of 1BBB, you
set up a situation where whenever a creature of
yours dies, for any reason, every one of your
opponents also lose one. This can prove to be a
devastating effect when paired with the right
cards. Play a Smallpox with a creature to
sacrifice, and your opponents are forced to
sacrifice two. Not much is going to be left
alive after a mass sacrifice of your creature
tokens to Nantuko Husk, for example. In fact,
take a look at Monday's card, Phyrexian
Soulgorger. Play it the turn after you resolve
the Pact to turn your serious drawback into a
way to slowly wipe out the board. Find a way to
keep creatures in play, and your opponents will
have little choice but to take 8 from a creature
that only costed 3 mana as long as you feel like
paying its cumulative upkeep. Alas, such tricks
aren't constructed viable, but that's not to say
that Grave Pact still doesn't have more useful
applications...
Constructed: 3/5. This card definitely says
"Build around me." Do not expect sucess by
sticking one into any old deck. It must be heavy
to mono black, it should have lots of abilities
that sacrifice creatures, and it must have a
decent way to make a lot of them. Otherwise,
Grave Pact won't be hitting anything truly
relevant, and it would have been better to spend
that 1BBB on something else on turn 4.
Casual: 4/5. Has the potential to really screw
with your friends' plans. When ALL players are
sacrificing whenever you do, it will give you a
large amount of card advantage, especially if
you are simply sacrificing or blocking with
creature tokens, while they are being forced to
lose things like Watchwolf and Paladin en-Vec.
Limited: 2/5. Like Furnace of Rath from
yesterday, I would not expect sucess in limited
if you pick this. The effect can be quite good
if you luck into the right tools, but since you
can't really build around it ahead of time, its
effectiveness isn't nearly as high.
Gackley Ferguson
Hello readers,
and happy Friday the 13th to you all! Finishing
with the themes of unlucky 13 and 9th Edition,
we wrap up the week with Grave Pact.
Much like yesterday's card, today's feature
won't win you the game single-handedly, but I
feel that it has more uses than Furnace of
Wrath.
Again, if you just plop Grave Pact down, and
play the game as normal it probably won't do you
much, but if you combo it with other things then
It'll really shine. One of my friends uses a
token deck which has Grave Pact, and if it
starts going off then you have to be really
careful. His main maneuver is having out Savra
Queen of the Golgari, Gutless Ghoul, and Grave
Pact.
He'd sacrifice a Golgari Creature (green and
black) to Gutless Ghoul to gain two life...then
he gains another two life from Savra (since it's
green) then pays two life (since it's black) and
makes everyone else sacrifice 2 creatures.
Meanwhile he's sitting back with an army of
tokens to swarm in with. Imagine...the Timmy in
all of us is loving this card!
Here's the verdict.
Constructed: 4/5- This is probably the best
format since you can most tweek your deck to
revolve around the sacrificing theme.
Casual: 4/5- As with Constructed, in Casual
theme it's probably a lot better since the aray
of cards available to you is even greater than
Constructed.
Limited: 1.5/5- I really don't see this card
doing well in this theme, not enough cards to
combo with it.
Mr. Anderson
Today's Card of
the Day pays tribute to Friday the 13th. No,
it's not Jason Vorhees or Freddy Krueger, but a
wicked fun card called Gravepact. This card is
the definition of casual play. It's best used in
a deck with some sacrifice outlets and a way to
bring them back into way. Shall I be so bold and
say zombies? This card will give your friend's
fits and tantrums. It screams, "Go ahead and
kill one of my creatures!" In constructed, I
will just say maybe. In limited, stay away from
it, unless you're playing with quite a few
Swamps. I love the 9th edition art of this card,
but's it's even cooler when it's foil. This is a
fun card to use in a Halloween deck.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 5
Limited: 1
Until then, sacrifice recklessly and laugh at
said opponent.
Darkuraii
Gravepact
One of blacks great enchantments. Even though
triple black is hard
play in a draft, this is a great
constructed/casual card. Graveback
turns any sacrafacial payment into a benefit,
and is easy to construct
a deck around. And with a cost of four its quite
easy to search for
using everyones favorite transmuter, Dimir House
Guard. Overall a
crazy card, delightful to combo buffs and
tourney junkies.
Constructed- 5
Casual- 4
Limited- 3
Cyrus Huang
Constructed:
Despite being completely unplayable in
competitive play, people still make G/B
sacrifice decks with this guy revolving around
golgari cards. Most of these decks combo grave
pact with something like Shambling Shell or some
other dredger to get a Cruel Edict every turn,
with extra benefits too if Savra is on the
field. Unfortunately, the deck is ultimately too
slow against aggro decks since you're forced to
play lower tier expensive creatures that have
synergy with Grave Pact and Savra. Also it's too
slow for control not doing much until turn 4 and
even when it's out it's still not fast enough to
make any impact.
.5 for the G/B deck it goes in. It's not as
crappy as Furnace of Rath because burn decks
shouldn't even run that. Grave Pact decks kind
of have to run Grave Pact.
1.5/5
Limited: This is a really really annoying card
in limited.You play non-splash black, you play
this. It would be a bomb if it didn't have a
triple casting cost. Simply all of your
creatures become 1-for-1's, which gives you a
ridiculous advantage in competing for board
advantage. A good amount of your creatures will
also become 2-for-1's, taking down one creature
in combat damage then taking another creature
down due to the Grave Pact effect. Now you
really don't need to worry about making
unfavorable trades and all of your chump
blocking becomes a 100 times more effective.
When you drop this card, you might as well swing
with all the non-utility creatures you got every
turn because your opponent will be hurting no
matter what. Creatures are the meat and potatoes
of sealed decks. If you can equal your opponent
in creature advantage, you should be at least
tied with him throughout the game.
3/5
The Enigma
Grave Pact
This is one of those cards that has so much
potential that has yet to be tapped.
If used in the right combo, it can act as a
partial Wrath of God. It’s best used with
something that use can use as a sac outlet, to
put your creates in the graveyard for a good
effect, and then have Grave Pact make the
sacrifice even better. Wonderful with something
like Plagued Resulka. In constructed, there’s
quite a few of these sac outlets. The Resulka.
Ghost Council. In Casual, there are a million
different ways to loose creatures. Some of the
best are Thrulls. Sac them for counters, mana,
or discard abilities, and then have your
opponent loose a creature for it. (This get’s
even better with Debtors’ Knell.) In Limited,
the odds of you drawing a sac outlet for this
are quite small. Pass it if you can.
