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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Dark Confidant
Image from Wizards.com

Dark Confidant
- Modern Masters

Reviewed July 16, 2013

Constructed: 4.80
Casual: 3.25
Limited: 4.10
Multiplayer: 2.90

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

Dark Confidant

The life loss on this is incredibly chancey, and yet Dark Confidant fueled most (if not all) of the top tier decks in the Standard it was legal in. It's not hard to build a solid deck with nothing costing over three mana-- and drawing cards is indeed worth it. Most novice players look at this card, cringe at the potential life loss, and move on. But that's often because those players haven't quite realized A) how much a high mana cost hinders a card's power, B) how important it is to draw extra cards, and C) how un-important having a high life total is, as long as you have enough life to stay alive. Now that Altar's Reap has been printed, the Confidant is only more powerful, as you have an easy way to stop the life loss that grants you even more cards.

Constructed- 4.75
Casual- 2
Limited- 4.75
Multiplayer- 3


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Dark Confidant
 
I have to write this review carefully, lest I run out of superlatives halfway through. See, the thing about a lot of creature abilities is that they have foils in other cards, many of which are useful in other contexts too. A creature that cares about graveyards suffers against Relic of Progenitus, and you can even maindeck that because somebody shoved the words "draw a card" into its rules text. A creature that disrupts your opponent's hand can be stopped by all the anti-discard measures they've printed down the years to make sure that nobody rules the world with their Quest for the Nihil Stone decks. But a creature that puts you ahead on the one concept that makes Magic run, just by living, is always going to be relevant. A creature that attacks and blocks on the curve and accelerates you to the later stages of the game will always have a role to play, regardless of what turn he comes down. A creature that facilitates any and every style of deck's game plan, and asks only for one of the resources that is least relevant in return, will never go out of fashion. And there is only one creature that does all of those things.
 
Constructed: 5/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 2/5

Paul

Welcome back readers todays card of the day is the other marquee card of Modern Masters Dark Confidant. Dark Confidant is a lynchpin of modern providing a powerful card advantage engine for decks to utilize while also providing a decent attacker that can influence the game early. As a constant source of card advantage Dark Confidant is one of the strongest creatures of all time as trading life for cards has been a known powerful strategy combine with deck manipulation for best effect. In legacy Sensei’s Divining Top and a plethora of cheap and powerful spells provide opportunities for this card to shine. In casual and multiplayer this card is fine in one on one games as it can allow you to gain an advantage but in multiplayer could be highly irresponsible if not outright suicidal to try and eek out an advantage for this card as multiple enemies derail its power immensely. In limited it’s a cash grab card that can provide an aggressive body but which limits the casting cost of some of your spells. Overall one of the most powerful creatures ever printed and can provide an insurmountable advantage.
 
Constructed: 5.0
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.0
Multiplayer: 2.0

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Dark Confidant which is a two mana Black 2/1 that has you reveal the top card of your library at the beginning of your upkeep, lose life equal to the converted mana cost, and add it to your hand.  This is an excellent card in an aggressive low mana cost build where taking more than three damage for a card is unlikely, or in decks that manipulate the library to control what gets revealed and what gets drawn.  This is a huge target for removal, but for just two mana that is not a real drawback and has to be removed before the next upkeep to not net a card advantage.  As a 2/1 it also works for early damage and has multiple avenues of being sacrificed or removed if your life point total gets dangerously low.  Overall one of the top creatures for efficiency in a deck made to take advantage of the effect.
 
In Limited formats where this is available it is a major source of card advantage, but extremely risky as trying to build or use a deck without higher mana cards can be difficult or lacking in raw strength.  If a low mana curve pool is both available and viable it should be the centerpiece of a very powerful design.  In Booster this should be a first pick for the potential it offers, the value as a rare draft, and as a hate draft to prevent another deck from using it against you.  In Sealed managing to use it effectively might be unlikely, but the consideration should be made as it provides a huge advantage.
 
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4.5


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