Sheoldred, the Apocalypse – Dominaria United
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 4.50
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 4.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.63
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
The circle is almost complete. All of the Praetors have revealed themselves, except for the Mother of Machines herself – and that event is sure to be both cool and terrifying when it comes. And also, someone pointed out to me that Sheoldred appears to have attached her humanoid parts to a dreadnought, as though she wasn’t scary enough already.
That connection with a powerful Legacy deck is perhaps fitting, even though Sheoldred doesn’t quite have the same impact or suitable deck types. That’s because when she starts doing things, it snowballs into situations that can be hard to deal with. Her first triggered ability helps offset the life loss that goes with many black abilities (including card drawing, fortuitously). I think her second trigger will actually get even more interest, as mass card drawing is very popular in Commander, and many players will welcome another way to punish it – especially one that can be a commander itself.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.5
Weirdly simple and elegant, Sheoldred’s second outing is fairly simple: punish opponents for drawing cards, reward you for doing the same. While we’ve seen those sorts of draw punish effects before over the years, Sheoldred ups the ante by giving you a reward for that card draw…and given that black likes to bleed itself out to augment its draws, that’s surprisingly synergistic. A 4/5 with deathtouch is also surprisingly vicious for four mana, and her relative cheapness will go a long ways towards giving her room to do her thing. I do wonder how well she’ll fit into Standard: the body is remarkably effective for what it is, and most opponents will be at least taking one hit. If there’s a sleeper (heh) card in the set to make waves, this might be the one…card draw is one of the main ways decks tend to roll through games, and she provides value for and against people just by sitting there.
Constructed: 3.5 (erring on the side of caution; I think she has potential, but I don’t yet know where)
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.5
Commander [EDH]: 4.75 (she has plenty of shells she fits into already, like Nekusar)
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