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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Abhorrent Overlord
Image from Wizards.com

Abhorrent Overlord
- Theros

Reviewed October 31, 2013

Constructed: 3.40
Casual: 4.30
Limited: 4.40
Multiplayer: 3.90

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 of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Abhorrent Overlord

Seven mana is a lot unless it wins you the game outright. This is eight power MINIMUM of flying creatures... most likely more. And though a well-timed removal spell will kill the Demon, it leaves tokens behind it to carry on its legacy (unless the removal spell was Cyclonic Rift or Supreme Verdict or the like. So most often, this WILL win you the game outright... if you haven't already lost it. This can really only work in a slow format or a ramp deck, or perhaps a deck with a lot of stalling tactics (Extort.dec?) but it certainly promises a glorious experience for those who can cast it.

Constructed- 3.5
Casual- 4.5
Limited- 4.5
Multiplayer- 4.5


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Abhorrent Overlord

It's funny how strongly R&D controls and centralizes counterspells in blue (as well as card drawing to a certain extent), while every color has a creature that can make a huge herd of tokens. It's not like one of those affects game balance in every format and the other doesn't . . . oh, wait. My complaint is not about the second ability: every color has a way to make use of a vast herd of tokens, especially black with its Grave Pact and Altar's Reap. I'm not sure when R&D will realize which one of those abilities actually affects game balance in every format, but I am sure that everyone will have fun playing with Abhorrent Overlord.

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


Paul

Welcome back readers todays card of the day is Abhorrent Overlord one of my absolute favorite cards from the set and I will eagerly explain why. At seven mana this is more of a finisher card and provides an evasive 6/6 creature with a downside inherent in all good demons, the upside is that it brings along its own sacrificial fodder in the form of evasive harpy tokens and scales with your devotion to the dark side. In standard I could foresee this card seeing play in black devotion based decks as it acts as a sort of flying grave titan but definitely is a niche card. In modern and eternal formats it’s just too expensive and doesn’t provide enough incentive for deck inclusion in general. In casual and multiplayer it provides numerous flying chump blockers and a solid demon as well as scaling well with how many black permanents you control and can be abused with come into play effects for maximum profit. In limited it’s clearly a bomb but make sure it you have enough creatures to feed to it and a deck dipping heavily into black. Overall a powerful creature that has some uses in a multitude of locations perhaps competitive most certainly casual.

Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Abhorrent Overlord which is a seven mana Black 6/6 with Flying that puts 1/1 Flying tokens into play equal to your devotion to Black and requires you to sacrifice a creature at the beginning of your upkeep each turn. Seven mana for at least seven evasive damage available to attack on the next turn with no other cards involved is quite strong and that number only increases with other permanents in play before Overlord arrives. This is a powerful card, but the high cost and relying on other permanents for maximum benefit will likely keep it from being seen in competitive formats.

For Limited this is an amazing bomb that outright wins games with minimal support and dominates when combined with other Devotion effects. Getting six or more tokens is relatively easy and the evasive force put into play by this is very difficult for most opponents to handle. An easy first pick in Booster and barring an atrocious Black pool should be a top consideration for the centerpiece of the build in Sealed.

Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 5.0
Multiplayer: 4.0


Skid Rambo

This is a different style of Demon than we Magic players have become used to. Abhorrent Overlord comes into play and gives the player Harpies of all creatures. 1/1 flying Harpies to boot! It is really hard to knock a 6/6 flyer that gives you X creatures for only 7 mana, but I will knock it anyway. The fact that you have to sacrifice a creature at the beginning of your upkeep will turn most players away from this card. Maybe the mana cost of 7 will turn you off, but look at it like this. Paying 7 mana for 3, 4, 5 or even 6 flying creatures is actually very strong. Abhorrent Overlord has the power to change a game quickly, no matter what format it is being played in. I still can’t believe that this card was in a Theros Pre-Release deck!

Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 3.5


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