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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Herald of Torment
Image from Wizards.com

 Herald of Torment
- Born of the Gods

Reviewed February 28, 2014

Constructed: 3.20
Casual: 3.40
Limited: 3.95
Multiplayer: 3.00

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

Herald of Torment

I really like the idea of a demon that possesses another creature and grants it all of its own power plus all of the host's at the cost of slowly draining away the host's life force, and when that creature dies, the demon comes loose and continues to wreak havoc. A solid P/T boost and an evasive ability is a great combo to Bestow onto just about anything that doesn't have defender, and the 1 life per turn is a small price to pay for the 3+ damage you'll be swinging for. I especially like the idea of putting this onto a creature with lifelink.

Constructed- 3.75
Casual- 4.5
Limited- 4.75
Multiplayer- 4.5

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Herald of Torment
 
I like this card inordinately much, if only for the fact that it's one of the few creatures in recent sets that isn't all-upside. Doesn't anyone else ever feel embarrassed casting a creature with power higher than its mana cost, plus a comes-into-play ability? Anyone? In fantasy settings, dealing with demons is always portrayed as a high-risk high-reward venture, and this particular demon is quite tempting. While he's unlikely to be quite as dominating in any setting where acceleration can give you an early Hypnotic Specter or Phyrexian Negator, he's still an early high-power creature, and his bestow ability opens other possibilities. I'm also thinking about Bad Moon, which got some new exposure from Time Spiral - decks that make use of that card may sometimes prefer high power and speed over numerous abilities.
 
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5

Paul

Welcome back readers todays card of the day is a powerful and cheap black creature. In standard I am going to say it straight up, I don’t think this card sees much play until a rotation or a drastic shift in the metagame. Mono black decks already have all the tools they need and this card does not fit as well as the other cards but the two black symbols and insane early body are powerful it just needs to find a home. In modern and eternal formats not enough bang for your buck and doesn’t play nicely with existing cards. In casual and multiplayer it’s a demon and has a decent bestow ability making it quite powerful, the life loss is much more relevant when you have multiple enemies gunning for you making it not the best choice in multiplayer without some life gain to offset its ability. In limited it’s a flying aggressive body that can hit early or turn one of your creatures into a flying threat, a powerful card. Overall a card on the fringe of constructed play.
 
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 2.0

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Herald of Torment which is a three mana Black
3/3 with Flying, Bestow for five mana, and at the beginning of your upkeep you lose one life.  The loss of life is a minor drawback if played earlier in the game or if used to give Flying to a bigger threat later in the game.  The low cost for the damage is well worth the trade and the double Black is a benefit for Devotion builds. This will be popular for more aggressive mono-Black designs and may even see competitive play, particularly after Nighveil Specter rotates out of Standard.
 
In Limited this is a very powerful card if used early, but is a terrible topdeck and dead weight in hand when behind.  The potential damage it can deal outweighs the risk of being killed by the loss of life, but it is decidedly better in a strong aggressive pool as by itself it has less flexibility.  A first pick in Booster or with a decent Sealed pool as it needs support and unlike some other rares can't carry a mediocre deck.
 
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5


Skid Rambo

Herald of Torment is a 3/3 flyer for 3 mana and that by itself makes this Demon worth playing. Like most of the powerful demons on the market,  Herald of Torment has its own drawback. Paying 1 life at the beginning of your upkeep is not that bad. At least you don’t have to sacrifice a creature! The bestow ability can make this card worth playing in the late stages of the game. Herald of Torment can handle almost all of the early flyers in Standard right now. Nightveil Specter is looking at its future replacement in mono-black. Herald of Torment can put your opponent in a tough spot if you are also running Desecration Demon. In a Draft, I could see Herald of Torment being used for the bestow cost and flying towards a beat down!  

Constructed: 3
Casual: 3
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3


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