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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day


Image from Wizards.com

Profane Command
Lorwyn


Reviewed November 27, 2007

Constructed: 3.80
Casual: 3.90
Limited: 4.10

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.  3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating

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Card of the Day Reviews 


Jeff Zandi

 7 Time Pro Tour Veteran

Player since 1994

Level II DCI Judge

Member of the Texas Guildmages

Profane Command
 

This is a TOP PICK in Lorwyn booster draft, also very good in Lorwyn sealed deck. I haven’t played Profane Command in constructed yet, but I think it fits well enough in mono black, slow control decks like blue/black and perhaps more aggressive red/black control decks. The rare command cards from Lorwyn are all pretty interesting, upping the ante on all other multi purpose cards ever printed. Profane may be the best since all four of its abilities can make a really big difference in your game. Last night, I had this card in my Lorwyn draft deck, and I won every game when I played it, usually on the turn when I played it. I played it four times throughout a three round tournament, once making my opponent lose 4 life while giving his best creature -4/-4, another time I made my opponent lose 3 life while returning a crucial three casting cost creature from the graveyard to play, two other times I played Profane Command to make my opponent lose life while giving my creatures Fear so that I could attack for the win. While all four abilities are quite good, I think the pattern that emerges from my own experience is that you almost always want your opponent to lose X life! This card is literally my number one pick in Lorwyn draft period!
 

CONSTRUCTED: 3.5

CASUAL:              3.5

LIMITED:              4.0

BMoor

Profane Command

"Target player loses X life" makes this playable right away. The other three have various uses at various times, but the fact that one of the modes is straight burn to the opponent's face means this card will never be dead in your hand (unless you can't produce BB of course). That said, the other three modes are all solid enough that if you pick two of them, you'll never feel like you wasted a mode.

Constructed- 4
Casual- 4.5
Limited- 4.5

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Profane Command

My Timmy side likes the Commands because they're so big and swingy, but to the card designer in me it kind of looks like they just took several existing spells from the relevant color and jammed them onto one card. Regardless of which view you take, Profane Command has a good case for being the second best of them all. Generally this should be the last spell you play in a game, and because of the massive effect it has on the game state, it almost always will be.

Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 3/5

Arcane
Profane Command

Constructed: This is quite probably my favorite card in all of Lorwyn and it’s not hard to see why when you look at the power and versatility of the card. Being the only scaling command it’s power gets higher and higher the longer the game goes. Lose X life is ridiculous and though you don’t gain any life like you would off Consume Spirit, the ability to spend any color man on X opens the card up to a wide range of decks and still retain its power. The zombify effect (or stir the grave more accurately) is quite good as well as wouldn’t be nearly as good if X had to be the exact cost of the creature you’re trying to animate, and some of my favorite plays in the last Provincials involved draining for 6 and reanimating a Goyf. -X/-X is a great all around killer of creatures letting you clear out some pesky black or artifact creatures cards like Terror and Shriekmaw can’t touch in standard right now (and when you don’t want to lose your own men to a damnation). Finally giving fear to a team is the other half of the “I win” combo on this card. One part drain for 7-8, other part, my whole team is nigh-unblockable and it’s hard for your opponent to not be extending the hand. Late game the number of creatures that have to swing and the value of the drain is much lower meaning you can get away with a small drain for 3 and giving a few creatures fear that should be enough.

Casual: Reminds me of the song “How many people want to kick some (colloquial noun for behind)?” Having answers and threats for any situation makes any card great in multiplayer and the sheer number of combination that can be derived from this card make it very easy to see how well it can define games. Point a black blaze at one opponents head while swinging with a team past another’s defenses is a hard thing to say no to. The minus/minus effect helps take care of pesky indestructible creatures, and reanimating is a good way of coming back from crippling board clearers while getting a little something extra (more points if you combo with a 187 creature).

Limited: Power bomb, plain and simple. The double black might seem unwieldy to fit into a deck but remember that it will probably make the most impact on the late game and with lands like the Vivids and Shimmering Grotto the splash isn’t that unthinkable. Black is extremely deep in removal with other cards like Final Revels, Eyeblights Ending and Nameless Inversion, but I find it’s creature pool to not be that great (aside from shriekmaw) so it’s better suited as a secondary color. Just snag some good creatures and let Profane Command and the other spot removal take care of your problems. The drain makes it all worthwhile and the rest of the effects seem to be just icing on the cake (though the fear is probably going to be your default secondary mode).

Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 5
PsychoAnime

#1 Magic Noob in Canada since 2002
Profane Command

3 great abilities and 1 not so great ability. It's still pretty good though even without the last ability. The life loss is a powerful finisher, especially if you used Profane Command to revive a decently powerful creature as well. The -X/-X ability is removal, and that also works well with the revival ability. It clears out a blocker or perhaps something that can stop the revived creature. Definitely playable in constructed, and in casual and in limited too. It's really good in limited, combining removal and the opportunity to reuse a powerful creature.

Constructed: 3.5/5
Casual: 3.5/5
Limited: 4/5

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