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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Geralf's Messenger
Image from Wizards.com

Geralf's Messenger
Dark Ascension

Reviewed February 10, 2012

Constructed: 3.70
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 3.20
Multiplayer: 3.50

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

Geralf's Messenger

When you're paying BBB for something, you know you better get something good for it. And Geralf's Messenger is like the philosophical opposite of Kitchen Finks, a card that was much beloved by all back when it was legal. This card hits an opponent for 2 just by entering play, and will do so again when it returns through Undying. The fact that it enters tapped just means that it can't block on the turn it enters play, which is fair considering lots of Zombies come into play tapped, and lots of black creatures explicitly say they can't block. The fact that Geralf's Messenger can block once it untaps, and hits for 3 (and 4 the second time it comes out) for only three mana, makes it a solid addition to any mostly-black deck, especially Zombie decks.

Constructed- 4
Casual- 4.25
Limited- 3.75
Multiplayer- 3.75

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Geralf's Messenger

They say you shouldn't shoot the messenger, but I'm not sure it would help here anyway. Comes-into-play abilities are such a natural fit for the undying keyword that I assume the only reason there aren't more of them in Dark Ascension is because the designers didn't want to make it too easy for us. Just as well, perhaps, as the best things in gaming are those that pose a challenge, and Geralf's Messenger indeed won't be put in just any random deck. The heavy black casting cost may limit the possibilities there, and its prospects in competitive Magic, but it's still a solid creature with good abilities. Any deck that doesn't mind being mono-black, or has a way to repeatedly bounce creatures (Skull Collector), could do a lot worse.

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


Paul

Welcome back readers todays card of the day is the reverse Kitchen Finks causing your opponents to lose life and having undying instead of persist but enters the battlefield tapped unfortunately. In standard mono black had a real brief resurgence and now is seen mostly in mono black infect varieties, I foresee this card seeing play in emerging zombie decks as well as decks featuring a heavy black component obviously mono black decks. In extended and modern this card is slow but has potential in some builds I personally like it in the rock style decks the life loss accumulates fast and this is just a good value card. In legacy and vintage this card is overshadowed and even if you’re going mono black there are probably faster options for players interested in the power of mono black. In casual and multiplayer this is a powerful early drop and prevent people from attacking into it as they might lose a creature and lose some life making it a rattlesnake of sorts, also it is a zombie so that opens up precisely 1 billion deck ideas and types and powerful support for the zombie tribe exists and continues to be getting better. In limited its severe mono black requirement hampers what decks it can go in but it is not a bomb but a solid all around card if you have a heavy black emphasis this could be a contender. Overall a card with constructed applications and quite a powerful zombified version of Kitchen Finks.
 
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 2.5
Multiplayer: 3.0

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Geralf's Messenger which costs three Black mana for a 3/2 zombie with Undying that comes into play tapped and has target opponent lose two life.  This is yet another strong addition to mono-Black sacrifice or zombie themes as a 3/2 then 4/3 threat that will most often cost an opponent four life without even attacking.  Entering into play tapped is not a major issue when it automatically causes a loss of life and overall it is a card that will see play in competitive formats.
 
For Limited the triple Black is a major problem and will keep this out of any Sealed build that isn't able to produce a nearly mono-Black deck.  Booster can potentially pick this first and stick to one color draft choices, which the Undying and loss of life effects make a viable option, but anyone else at the table drafting Black will seriously impact the value of that decision.  Messenger is a very nice card that can be difficult to play in the format, so keeping it sidedecked or hate drafting may be the best play if your pool isn't exactly right for it.
 
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4.5

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

 
        Welcome to the card of the day section here at Pojo.com. To close out this week, we continue our look at Dark Ascension with Geralf’s Messenger. Geralf’s Messenger is a rare black creature zombie that costs three black mana for a 3/2. Geralf’s Messenger enters the battlefield tapped, has Undying, and says whenever Geralf’s Messenger enters the battlefield, target opponent loses two life.
       Geralf’s Messenger is an amazing rare from Dark Ascension, just like so many others. The Undying with an enters the battlefield ability is just so much fun to exploit for ones own reasons. The loss of life is nice, but what makes it even more fun is he has a decent power and toughness for only three mana. The main drawback that RnD gave the zombies is the enters the battlefield tapped part, in effect, showing that zombies are “slow” after being reanimated. But when combined with Amulet of Vigor in Extended or older formats, this effect is null and void. And there were plenty of cards printed that allow removal of counters, so even the Undying effect can be overcapitalized, again, and again.
 
Limited: 4/5
Casual: 5/5
Constructed: 5/5
Multiplayer: 3/5


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