Zombie apocalypse! Like Imperious Perfect before
him, this guy will buff all your Zombies as well
as give you a supply of Zombie tokens. He even
has the added bonus of being able to pluck
Anathemancers and Reveillark fodder out of your
opponent's graveyard. And who doesn't love
Zombocalypse?
Creatures are known for doing two things:
attacking and dying. Cemetery Reaper helps your
creatures (well, your Zombies) attack; he
repurposes your creatures (well, everyone's
creatures) after they die. If that doesn't make
a card good, I don't know what does.
Welcome back today’s card is the newest in
zombie tribal lords, Cemetery Reaper. Three mana
nets you a basic 2/2 body that grants +1/+1 to
all zombie creatures you control. In addition to
its tribal boost it allows you to pay an
additional three mana to exile a creature card
from any players graveyard and put a black 2/2
zombie token onto the battlefield. Granting an
immediate boost to the token it makes as well as
being able to deal with troublesome creatures in
players graveyards Cemetery Reaper has potential
as a tribal lord and graveyard disruptor. In
standard with Alara and the possibility of more
zombies in Zendiker zombie tribal may be a
interesting deck option although not on the same
level as Elves, Merfolk, or Kithkin. In extended
and eternal formats it may see some play. In
casual and multiplayer there exists a
fascination with zombies and many a kitchen
table is to be cluttered with armies of the
undead. Removing important creatures in other
player’s graveyards and pumping tokens could be
a useful ability for the diverse amount of cards
that appear in causal games. In limited if you
draft enough zombie support it could be a good
creature to pick for its ability to pump tokens.
Overall zombies may a resurgence in standard and
a boost in play in casual games. If an archetype
develops I nominate the name “ Pride, Prejudice
& Zombies” as a possible deck name. Stay tuned
this week for even more sinister cards available
to black mages.
Today's card of the day is Cemetery Reaper,
another zombie lord for primarily Black decks.
This M10 replacement to Lord of the Undead
doesn't return specific cards to your hand, but
can turn any creature into a zombie for you.
Constructed can potentially give rise to a
variety of zombie decks.
Either pure Black, Black/Blue, Grixis
Blue/Black/Red, or even Black/White. In any of
these this is a must include card as it pumps
and helps create the zombie horde. One of the
nice things to keep in mind is that Death Baron
from Shards of Alara is still legal and can be
used with the Reaper outside of Limited format.
The Reaper is also somewhat useful against cards
that can return from a graveyard, but cheaper
options exist.
Casual is a setting that tends to appreciate the
tribal theme a bit more than Constructed and as
such a zombie deck is a good fit. The two lords,
some changelings, and other zombies make for a
fun tribal design and one of the only options in
Black to run such a theme.
Limited would seem a bad place for a lord and
that is true for most colors as you generally
won't have more than a small handful of any type
and the double colored mana cost is a penalty.
Cemetery Reaper is an exception however as it
also produces tokens. Anything that adds
creatures gains value in limited and this is a
great card to run even without other zombie
cards. It is a difficult choice in booster draft
as picking it really locks you into a Black
pool, but letting it pass can also be risky. As
a 2/2 it isn't strong enough to need to
aggressively hate draft, but if you feel it is
the best card in the pack it can be a good start
to a deck. Just watch the next few packs to see
if Black commons and uncommons seem to be in
short supply as it will indicate what your
neighbors to that side are playing. If one or
more are also playing Black you will want to
work on adding another color relatively early.
Multiplayer is also a decent place for Cemetery
Reaper, but more for the removal effect as it is
more likely at least one opponent will be
looking at their graveyard to return a creature
to their hand or play.
In addition to that this lord is better than
Tenth Edition's as it won't power up any zombies
that aren't under your control. Creating a token
is nice as well, but it is a bit slow compared
to the weapons an opponent may bring to the
battlefield.
