At first glance, it's a bit fiddly, since it
doesn't do anything until you get three quest
counters on it. But this is a bit of a
subversion, since it only costs one mana (which
means you can get it out plenty early enough to
have it charged fairly soon) and the thing you
have to do to make it fire is damage your
opponent, which you probably wanted to do
anyway. And the good news is, once you get it
charged up, it'll damage the opponent a lot more
and gain you life in the process.
I am a huge, huge fan of this card, which
seems to fit so perfectly into so many different
parts of the game. It even punishes your
opponents for playing with Ravnica dual lands.
Scrounge up your old copies of Dauthi Slayer,
and while you are, ponder which is the best part
about becoming a bloodchief: no longer having to
attack to win the game, or the stylish outfits?
-Balding
for just over 5 years
-Playing MTG for just over 10
Bloodchief Ascension
Man do I love this card. This card is a
multiplayer's dream card. Unfortunately in
multiplayer, when you play this, you are often
putting a target on your head. So, plan to have
some good defensive blockers ready as people
will be hesitant to attack anyone but you for
fear of this thing getting a counter on it. I
have already toyed around with this in a few
casual decks and love it. Mill them for 10
cards...gain 20 life, they lose 20 life. Simple
as that. However, in a mill deck, it is a little
difficult to get the counters on it as so much
tends to be dedicated to mill. Thus, in a two
player constructed deck, this is a secondary way
to get some damage out there in the later game.
This is one of my favorites. Not sure it will
break much into competetive constructed, but I
still love it.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno
Today's card of the day is Bloodchief Ascension
another of Zendikar's quests that gains counters
whenever an opponent loses two or more life.
The actual effect is fairly powerful as each
time a card is put into an opponent's graveyard
they lose two life and you gain two life. With
this card almost any kind of deck destruction
can lead to a very quick defeat for your
opponent and at a single mana the threat can be
on the board and dealing damage early in the
game.
In Constructed and Casual this can see some
serious play as a new archetype or simply as an
alternate faster win condition for deck
destruction. Some sort of enchantment removal
may wind up becoming standard sidedeck material
if this takes off.
With Limited the power is drastically
reduced, but still noticeable.
Three turns of two damage each can be a tall
order and fewer cards are available to take
advantage of for a combo. Generally not a top
pick in Booster unless you plan on drafting
Hedron Crabs and reliable sources for the two
damage. In Sealed it is even more difficult to
assemble a viable deck, but if Black seems to be
a playable color Ascension only needs to deal
damage once to be more than worth the mana cost.
In Multiplayer this is a truly impressive
card as it can gain a counter for every turn
during which any opponent lost at least two
life. With the counters in place the life gain
and damage are an excellent advantage which
leaves opponents little recourse aside from
actually removing the enchantment itself. This
is lessened somewhat as actual deck destruction
is weaker in the format, so without the quest
the rest of the deck is underpowered. Even with
that weakness few cards can dominate the format
as efficiently as this and it is worth playing
four of in an appropriately designed build.
(Also, note that it can only add one counter
each turn even if all opponents receive two or
more damage.)
