Ertai Resurrected – Dominaria United
Date Reviewed: September 9, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.00
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 4.50
Multiplayer: 3.50
Commander [EDH]: 3.63
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
We can now apparently reconstruct what happened after the Apocalypse novel’s events that I mentioned yesterday: the Phyrexian medics stitched Ertai back together and he said “No more messing around – I’m ending that Gerrard once and for all.” He’s a little late for that, but he’s sure to cause lots of problems in Magic games via this card. Between his various modes, he invokes some very powerful cards in his colors. In fact, he might be one of the strongest Nekrataal variants, because they’re almost always sorcery speed, and that’s before you consider that he can also be a counterspell. The impact of the opponent getting to draw a card will vary in different contexts, but that might just mean that players hold him back for the most dangerous card in their opponent’s deck; when they do, the 3/2 stats attached to him will ideally help them fight their way back on the table, too.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5 (there are much more exciting cards I’d recommend as a commander, but he does what he does well, even from the 99-card deck. And one of his colors has access to flickering)
Back from his untimely death at the hands of Squee over two decades ago, Ertai 3.0 has a couple more tricks up his sleeves. And seeing as how he has more arms than average, you’d hope for him to have more on hand, right? The long and short of it is that he’s your choice of a Disallow or a Hero’s Downfall stapled to a 3/2 body…with the caveat that whoever had the thing getting stopped or killed gets to draw a card. That definitely tamps down the power a bit, but not by much; this is still a flexible, potent answer in Dimir or Dimir-containing shells, and an answer being flexible and hard often compensates for other deficiencies. He’s also a 3/2 with flash, which isn’t to be undersold, and stapling a solid body to either Disallow or Hero’s Downfall isn’t so bad, and I imagine you can even use Ertai to muck up negative triggers against you in a pinch. I’d say Ertai’s going to be a strong card overall; he’s not perfect, but flexibility goes a long way, and he’s nothing if not flexible.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.5 (removal + warm body is solid enough)
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.75 (unlikely to make waves as a Commander, but he’s a good value card overall, thanks to his aforementioned flexibility)
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