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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day
Daily Since November 2001!

Death's Shadow
Image from Wizards.com

Death's Shadow
Worldwake

Reviewed March 8, 2010

Constructed: 2.00
Casual: 2.65
Limited: 2.10
Multiplayer: 2.13

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

Click here to see all our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Death's Shadow

Sure, it looks like it'd be amazing, but it can only exist in play if you're at 12 or lower, and even then, if you're at 12, this is a 1/1 for 1. I don't doubt that there's combos with it-- for example it'd be good in a deck with Dark Confidant or Phyrexian Arena-- but you should make sure you have some such combos before simply throwing this in your deck. Not only is this not an effective one-drop, it doesn't even become relevant at all until the late game.

Constructed- 2.25
Casual- 2.5
Limited- 2
Multiplayer- 2.5


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Death's Shadow

One of the most interesting cards I've seen in a long time. A superbly executed design that seems like it could have been a creature from Ravenloft or some other old-school Dungeons and Dragons book? Check. A part of a combo which, as Jacob Van Lunen showed last week, can take an opponent from 16 to zero in one turn? Check. A reminder that while Death in the tarot deck has figurative meanings, in other situations it's much more literal? That's a big check.

Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 2/5

Paul

Magic the Gathering Card of the day: Death’ s Shadow

Welcome back readers today’s card of the day is an Interesting black creature from Worldwake. For one black mana you get a 13/13 creature, besides being nigh ridiculous stats the card is black so there is a downside. Death’s shadow gets –X/-X where X is your life total. Wow a big catch for the small mana cost this card is better late game, It lacks evasion so it’s not the greatest finisher as it can be chump blocked over and over. In standard this card is interesting but doesn’t fill too many deck gapes in the powerhouse constructed format, you could put it in a deck with Platinum Angel though this is too expensive and fragile to see play outside of casual. There currently isn’t a powerful deck in any competitive format, standard, eternal or extended that this card would see play as it is inefficient and does not have a set power level. In casual and multiplayer this card is fun combine with life loss cards and bash face, combine with Platinum Angel or better yet Worship, a lot of hilarious and powerful options are open to players. In limited this card becomes a huge beater the lower your life, having a creature dependent on your life total and there by dependent on an opponent is never a good thing although this card could swing till they run out of chump blockers its lack of evasion hurts this card.

Constructed: 2.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 1.5
Multiplayer: 2.5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Death's Shadow which is only the second creature to be printed in a black border with a power and toughness as high as thirteen, but with a converted mana cost of nine less than the previous example of Krosan Cloudscraper. (Autochthon Wurm also has fourteen toughness, but costs fifteen mana and has Trample, Convoke, and no direct penalty beyond the mana cost.) That power comes with a price as it often does with Black as it requires your life total to be quite low before it can even remain in play. With no evasion or protective ability this just isn't a creature likely to stand on their own merits, but there is some potential with combinations that can open up possibilities. Morbid Bloom would give you thirteen Saproling tokens and Dead Reckoning can destroy nearly any creature in the game. A large number of cards also benefit when a creature is sent to the graveyard and Death's Shadow would count for that as well if played just to go to the graveyard, but a creature with an optional sacrifice or an actual removal spell would offer more value.

For Constructed, Casual, and Multiplayer this can be a bit of a fun card, but one with almost no direct playability. Being entirely dependent on either dramatically low life can work with a few cards such as a Platinum Angel, Ali From Cairo, Fortune Thief, and Lich that can each keep you in the game, but Death's Shadow just doesn't meet the criteria for a win condition. Even a 1/1 for one with a self-sacrificing ability offers far more in almost every scenario.

In Limited this is a bit more likely to see play from the lack of other options, tendency for life totals to stay relatively low for several rounds, and the presence of Dead Reckoning. Dead Reckoning may not be the best removal, but it has the most potential power in the format and is generally passed around a table at least once in a Booster draft and when combined with Death's Shadow can destroy targets few other cards available could handle. Even with that option the timing required for this card to be effective is a major hindrance and if played expecting to be used in the late game a higher mana costing creature without the major drawback should be played instead. As a final note for rare drafters the value of Death's Shadow is quite low and that should not be used as a deciding factor in selecting this as a first pick.

Constructed: 1.5
Casual: 1.5
Limited: 2.0
Multiplayer: 1.5


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