You rarely see a card with this number of
abilities, in any color or set, and that's why I
find Silumgar Sorcerer to be perhaps the
scariest creature with the exploit ability. It's
interesting to note the number of recent
creatures that are essentially "modal", capable
of performing different jobs at different times,
and this one illustrates that as well. If you
just need to counter a creature spell right now,
he can exploit himself (not everyone notices
that the first time). If you want to trigger a
death effect or ability of some kind, you can
use him for that, exploiting either himself or
someone else, with or without a spell to
counter. You can use him as an emergency blocker
or a surprise end-of-turn attacker when there's
nothing else you need him to do. I'm impressed
they managed to fit so many modes and roles in a
deck into so few words of rules text.
Today's card of the day is Silumgar Sorcerer
which is a three mana Blue
2/1 with Flying, Flash, and Exploit that when it
comes into play you can sacrifice a creature to
counter target creature spell. This is at worst
a three mana Essence Scatter that can also be an
instant speed 2/1 evasive creature if
countermagic isn't needed. With a token or other
expendable creature available this is fairly
aggressive and can be an excellent response to a
combat trick power up to counter it and possibly
trade with the 2/1 netting a two for two
exchange. Overall it is playable and might
be popular with more aggressive Blue control
players as it is versatile and a good end of
turn play to use unspent mana.
In Limited this is a three mana 2/1 evasive with
Flash which is enough to be a second or third
pick after a Blue rare in most Booster drafts.
The double Blue prevents splashing somewhat, but
with a strong Blue pool in Sealed this is an
easy inclusion that can counter a big threat, be
a surprise blocker, or apply pressure at most
stages of a game.
There are a lot of things going on on this
little 2/1 uncommon creature. The best case
scenario, of course, is countering your
opponent’s creature spell by exploiting a
creature of yours that has a graveyard trigger,
then having an evasive 2 power creature to
attack with the next turn. That’s quite a
turnaround for three mana. The temptation is to
hold out for such as situation, but don’t
neglect to consider the lesser, but still
valuable options. Sometimes, you have no other
creatures, but playing the sorcerer and
exploiting it to itself to counter a nasty
creature is still a viable option. Other times,
flashing it in without utilizing the exploit
just for the flying creature is a solid way to
go, depending on the game state. Good players
recognize cards that give them many play options
for flexibility, and that’s exactly what this
card does. It might not be as splashy as some
other cards, but it’s solid.
