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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Liliana of the Veil
Image from Wizards.com

Countdown: Top 10 MTG Cards of 2011
#5
Liliana of the Veil

Innistrad

Reviewed January 2, 2012

Constructed: 4.40
Casual: 4.20
Limited: 4.30
Multiplayer: 4.00

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 of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Liliana of the Veil

Planeswalkers that cost five or more seem to just never quite make it to the top tier, the golden upper echelon of power that Ajani and Garruk first carved out, Jace 2.0 primed and polished, and Koth put the finishing touches. Since planeswalkers can only use one ability each turn, and need a few turns to charge up their ultimates, they really can't cost any more that four if they want to hit play soon enough to live up to their potential. Liliana satisfies that criterion, and so fortune is smiling on her already.

Her first ability is symmetrical yet easily exploited, as Liliana exists in a block that exploits graveyards. But even the most dedicated flashback or Bonehoard deck has cards it doesn't particularly want to discard, and Liliana can wrench them from their grasp. Her second ability is less symmetrical but just as hard to aim. Two counters is a bit much considering most players will have at least one extra permanent they're willing to part with. Still, as a repeatable effect, this can get mean fairly quick. The ultimate here is incredibly fearsome, forcing a sadistic choice of what to save and what to give up. If you've been a good Black mage and have been dutifuly killing creatures up until that point, and you'd better have if you want Liliana to survive that long, this becomes all the more crippling, as you can ensure they're left with embarassingly little, and with no hand besides, so they're at the mercy of the top of their deck for rebuilding. How deliciously dark that Liliana leaves opponents hobbled and brought low, but allows you to finish them off at your own convenience.

Constructed- 4.5
Casual- 4.5
Limited- 4.75
Multiplayer- 4.5


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Liliana of the Veil
 
There's something very interesting about this week and the top five, which I'll mention on Friday because it'll give away the rest of the week (but you'll probably have figured out what it is by then). Did you notice that between her three abilities, this second version of Liliana can destroy anything? Anything that can do so repeatedly is always going to appeal, particularly when it's a planeswalker. The only possible wrinkle is that black has so many ways to destroy so many different kinds of things that it may be hard to fit her in. But a card like this, with its combination of mechanical appeal and being a popular character, begs - nay, demands, as only a character like Liliana can - to be in a deck.
 
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5


Paul

Welcome back readers todays card of the day is Liliana of The Veil a powerful planeswalker. In standard this card has seen play in solar flare style decks and I stand by my position that reanimating this card with a Sun Titan is one of the most spectacular plays you can manage. The discard ability also feeds the reanimation strategy. The other abilities are similarly powerful sculpting the game state to your advantage, making it one of the most powerful planeswalkers available in standard. In extended and modern formats this card has a similar power level making it an excellent competitive choice. In eternal formats this is see playing in Pox decks as a fabulpous disruptive card taking care of the hand and creatures. In casual and multiplayer it comes down early and can Innocent Blood making it an extremely powerful planeswalker, people will aim to destroy it as much as possible. In limited it’s a bomb card that I would easily splash for and I would not take much over this card at all . Overall one of the most powerful planeswalkers available in a variety of formats and it does everything players need it to.
 
Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 3.5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's number five card of 2011 is Liliana of the Veil who has three abilities, three loyalty, and costs a reasonable three mana.  The +1 of each player discarding a card is nice for a dedicated Liliana style discard deck or at least can be somewhat disruptive to an opponent.  The second ability is very nice as just playing her and having the opponent sacrifice a creature is an excellent use of three mana, plus leaves her in play to potentially use her +1 or take an attack.  The -6 may be a bit tricky to pull off outside of a mono-Black sacrifice theme to keep the field clear, but the potential for removing threats, lands, or whatever is impressive.  Overall this planeswalker is going to be a popular addition to Black decks for the second effect alone while the others effects are just a nice bonus.
 
In Limited this is an easy first pick as removal, though the double Black is a hindrance, and should work as a nice beginning for a Black deck.  The other effects may not be as viable, but are still valuable and worth using.  A Sealed deck may have a harder time playing her early as two colors are needed, though the two colors for any opponents allows the ultimate to remove one with any choice.
 
Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 4.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 4.0

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

     Welcome to the card of the day section here at Pojo.com! Happy New Year to our readers. We kick off the New Year with one of the best cards from the past year, Liliana of the Veil. Liliana of the Veil is a mythic rare planeswalker that costs only three mana, one generic and two black mana. She has some seriously nasty abilities. Her first ability is a +1, and says each player discards a card. Her second ability, -2, makes target player sacrifice a creature. Her final ability is perhaps one of the meanest abilities I’ve ever seen. You separate all permanents target player controls into two piles, the player chooses a pile to keep, and then sacrifices the rest. And at only a -6, it won’t take long to get it off.

      Liliana of the Veil is mean, and that is no understatement. I really expected that she would’ve appeared higher on the list. Her abilities are very impacting no matter what format. In a limited format, she may just be used as a creature removal, or trying to force some discard. Her true potential becomes realized once you get to constructed formats, where you are able to build around her. That is when you see what her true capabilities are. Building a reanimation deck and discard deck is obvious, and it becomes very nasty. Once you get her abilities moving, the field becomes easy pickings, and it’s even more so when you utilize Madness with her ability to discard. Then it truly only impacts your opponents when the discard factor is applied. And then once her final goes off, it can decimate your opponents field. Make them choose whether they want their lands or their creatures, or all their things, or their trump card. There are many ways that you could choose to divide their permanents, but the fact is they loose half of them. And so long as your deck is backed by other good removal, you very well could handle whatever decision they make.

      A truly lethal planeswalker, no doubt. And a very good card for a variety of formats.
 
Limited: 5/5
Casual: 5/5
Constructed: 5/5
Multiplayer: 4/5


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