This guy works perfectly in any Human tribal
deck with Black in it-- most of the Innsitrad
Human cards in Black were about sacrificing
Humans, or triggering off of their deaths. It's
just a shame that he won't share Standard with
them for longer, but there's still time for an
enterprising deckbuilder to make it work. Even
when Innistrad departs and Theros descends on
us, there'll be plenty of Humans around, and
getting extra tokens out of something that's
going to happen anyway-- your creatures dying--
is always worth it. And in Modern, both
Innistrad and this Necromancer will be around
for a good, long, time.
Even in Limited this is a solid choice. Cards to
be built around like this don't usually work in
Limited, but if you manage to get one of these
you can almost certainly pick up a few Corpse
Haulers or some other common Humans.
I didn't originally plan to do two history
lessons in a row, but it strikes me that this is
basically an updated version of Rotlung
Reanimator, from Legions. There's no Pyroclasm
or Firespout type card in Standard, but there
will always be a use for that sort of effect:
one of the things creatures do by their nature
is die, and there will always be some kind of "lol
I destroy everything" global effect in a current
set (cue Ian and Sylvia singing "The Circle
Game"). That's before you even start trying to
take advantage of the effect in some sort of
synergy or combo.
Today's card of the day is Xathrid Necromancer
which is a three mana Black 2/2 that puts a 2/2
Black zombie token into play tapped whenever it
or another human you control dies. This is a
great card for a tribal deck that is still solid
by itself as in most situations it adds card
advantage by replacing itself and possibly
others with a new creature.
A sacrifice engine theme is well supported by
this, though it takes a little more work to
manage. Overall this is a solid card that will
see some play in a variety of different decks
and particularly alongside cards that require a
sacrifice like Altar's Reap or Bone Splinters.
In Limited this is a very useful creature
even without other humans as it is effectively a
two for one at worst. As a first pick in Booster
it can be supported with other humans and
possibly create additional tokens. In Sealed
with or without support it is always worth
including in a Black deck for the effectively
free blocker or attacking into a trade.
At minimum you're going to get another 2/2 when
this card dies. XN makes it a little harder for
your opponent to gain card advantage with their
kill spells.
This card actually pairs quite well with Corpse
Hauler. In fact I think that Shelac the
Necromancer might be Xathrid Necromancer
!
According to the MTG wiki Xathrid Demons are the
kind that offer power in exchange for blood or
flesh....and now you know!
Fun ruling from Gather: If Xathrid
Necromancer dies at the same time as another
Human creature you control, its ability will
trigger twice.
