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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day
Daily Since November 2001!

Transcendent Master
Image from Wizards.com

Transcendent Master
Rise of the Eldrazi

Reviewed May 14, 2010

Constructed: 2.67
Casual: 3.67
Limited: 4.00
Multiplayer: 3.33

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating

Click here to see all our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Transcendent Master

Despite the fact that you need six levels before he becomes anything more than a 3/3, I think Transcendent Master is one of the best level up creatures printed. Why? Two reasons. One, the more mana you sink into him, the harder he becomes to kill, both through increased toughness and indestructibility. He protects your investment. And two, his level up cost is very cheap. Most levelers cost three or more mana for each level. This guy gains levels easily.
 
Constructed- 3
Casual- 4
Limited- 4
Multiplayer- 4

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Transcendent Master

It's too bad shadow wasn't a keyword in Rise of the Eldrazi, as I think it could have been cool if what this character transcended was the material realm and the ability to be touched by other people. Even so, Transcendent Master is one of the most dangerous levelers, as he advances with any colored mana, and should rarely spend more than one attack step as a 3/3 creature, and once he's at his last phase, you have to have either white or blue cards to deal with him effectively.

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Transcendent Master which is a 3/3 for three mana making it quite decent for White and the Level Up ability being only one colorless is very manageable.  The catch is it takes six more mana before the first upgrade and that only makes it a 6/6 with Lifelink.  It takes a total of twelve mana spent after summoning to make it into a 9/9 Indestructible with Lifelink and that keeps it from really being viable in Constructed formats.  Not a horrible card, but just too slow to really see a great deal of play.
 
For Limited the base creature is a good play, if a bit slowed down by having the double White in the casting, but the level up is well within reason for the slower set.  With Eldrazi meeting or exceeding the twelve colorless mana this card can obtain it fits in quite well with the high cost colorless theme.  A good first pick in Booster that may lock you into White or consider Eldrazi Spawn Token support and acceleration from Green.  With Sealed the playability goes down slightly if your pool doesn't have other colorless or a strong White base, so it isn't likely to just be splashed.
 
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 3.0


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