Mark Rosewater has commented that the reason
Innistrad has so many ways to make Zombie tokens
is because that's what makes Zombies scary--
their overwhelming numbers. I think that's just
plain incorrect, and it's a disheartening
statement to hear from Magic's Head Designer.
Sure, the idea of "the horde" is pretty
intimidating, but a horde of anything can be
scary if they're enough of it. Zombies aren't
scary because of their numbers. They're scary
because of what they are-- dead bodies that
still walk the earth. They're scary because they
can't be killed-- they're already dead. If a
zombie comes after you, what do you do? Your
traditional weapons won't stop it.
Gravecrawler is a much better example of that
"don't waste your bullets" horror. Add to that
the fact that this is a 2-power creature for
only one mana, and it's a scary Zombie indeed.
It's frighteningly efficient, it won't stop
attacking (because it can't block) and it won't
stay dead unless you take drastic measures.
I've always had a certain interest for
splicing combos into other types of decks. I
stuck the old-school Izzet Guildmage-Lava
Spike-Desperate Ritual combo into my Kiln Fiend
deck. I once stretched a black midrange deck to
five colors just to put Maelstrom Nexus to use.
Gravecrawler is one of the Dark Ascension cards
that gets me thinking about interactions. It's
an acceptable - indeed, more than acceptable -
creature for aggressive zombie-based decks, and
is strong all around in the same sense as
Strangleroot Geist from the other day. The fact
that you can keep re-casting it, and the manner
in which you do so, hints at untapped potential
yet to be unearthed (no pun intended). Whichever
way you end up using it, Gravecrawler is
undeniably a strong creature.
Today's card of the day is Gravecrawler which
is a one mana Black 2/1 zombie that can't block
and can be cast from the graveyard if you
control a zombie. This is a very
impressive creature for Black and will be played
in nearly every zombie deck for the foreseeable
future. The not blocking is a very small
drawback as other creatures can block and Black
has no shortage of affordable removal options.
The advantage of playing it repeatedly for just
one mana has many combination opportunities and
even without that is a constant offensive thorn
in any opponent's side.
For Limited this is a bit low on power and
toughness for a first pick in Booster, but
supported with a few zombies is a major
advantage over the course of a game. Any
Sealed deck with zombies and some Black mana has
no reason not to play this and as always most
one mana creature are beneficial even without
effects factored in.
Welcome to the
card of the day section here at Pojo.com. Today
we continue looking at Dark Ascension by taking
a look at Gravecrawler. Gravecrawler is a black
rare creature zombie that costs just one black
mana for a 2/1. Gravecrawler cannot block, but
you may cast him from your graveyard as long as
you control another zombie.
Gravecrawler is one of the most broken
cards from this set. While I will not spoil how
exactly, let me say that with three other cards,
he can become an almost unstoppable force, and
when added with another card, it becomes
unstoppable, and extremely lethal. And it is all
found within Dark Ascension, Innistrad, and M12,
and mostly, with the exception of the M12 card,
involves zombies, and their assist cards.
Now, outside of that extremely ridiculous combo,
currently tormenting people at my store by the
hands of Erik Wright, the Gravecrawler is still
an amazing card, despite the fact it cannot
block. Who cares about blocking though these
days. There are other zombies to do that for
you. This guy is your grunt, the guy who goes
and grinds out the assault to set up other
phases. They block, he dies, you can cast him
again, or trigger Morbid. They don’t they eat
two damage that you could perhaps folow up with
an Artillerize. Not bad sending 7 damage just
because blocking him is useless. Add in other
factors from these sets and really start having
your way!
