MTG Salvation

Holy canoli, it's a 5/5 flier for 3 mana!



OK, a free card for your opponent is a pretty steep drawback. Still, maybe this is good enough in aggro or tempo decks that can kill fast enough that the card disadvantage doesn't matter so much? Maybe the card disadvantage can be mitigated with land destruction, or targeted discard, or good ol' Black Vise? You can even ritual it out on turn 1 with Dark Ritual! Mike Flores is comparing it (not entirely favorably) to Goblin Guide! If I squint just right, is this thing playable?

I mean, it's a 5/5 flier for three mana! Worth a test at least? Maybe?

Warning for image leeching.
—OP_Forever

Seems testable but unlike Goblin Guide, the drawback is guaranteed.

This is gonna hurt. Auto-include card #3 for me so far.

Quote from eidolon232

This card looks quite strong to me. Unlike Goblin Guide a black 5/5 with evasion is a threat in every stage of the game and way harder to kill as well.

To be fair, it's an enchantment creature so not that much hard to kill.

I don't know exactly how good this thing will be, but it's probably worth testing. There are a lot of cards out there that have proven that tempo advantage can be worth the card disadvantage. We'll have to see if this is one of them. I really wish is wasn't an enchantment creature though, as that allows a lot more cards to kill it.

I suppose giving your opponent an extra card a turn just isn't enough of a drawback so I guess they had to add something. Still, being an enchantment creature might not be that bad. In your entire cube, wtwlf, I count 8 cards that hit Master of the Feast that wouldn't normally kill this creature, 8 in mine, and only 6 in the Cubetutor.com average 450 cube. Almost all of those are in green.

The worst case scenario would be to have this incapacitated without being removed from the battlefield by something like Faith's Fetters, Narcolepsy, or Icy Manipulator. It's a manageable risk for a pretty high reward. I'm kind of a sucker for risky, swingy cards so I think I'll give this a shot. I guess I'm not crazy for thinking this could be cube worthy after all.

I like how the drawback triggers on my upkeep so their sorcery removal can't get rid of it before he bashes for 5 if they want a card.

I agree, I think triggering on your upkeep is what pushes this guy over the top. Also I ma already running Abyssal Persecutor, so my black decks come loaded come fully aware that self sacrifice might have to happen. And this guy gives me another chance to flog one of my favorite bet cards. Carrion Feeder

This guy is worth trying for sure. Wizards has certainly answered my call for black 3 drops. This one will be the 4th new one in less than a year I want to play.

Makes me want to play contamination.

Another good recent black three drop - I will certainly be trying this out. Like others have said, it's great that he triggers on its owner's upkeep. Certainly a steep drawback but a 5/5 flier for 3 is way above the curve for black. I also like the concept and art here.

I do not know about Constructed, but this will be a workhorse in Limited play.

This guy needs testing to get a feel for, but I don't imagine being able to consistently beat his drawback. Instant speed removal being an automatic 2-for-1 with no damage dealt is problematic. If your opponent can chump with spirit tokens, he could be a bigger liability than if he weren't on the board in the first place... he needs to be doing something at all times in order to justify his presence on the board.

Quote from dschumm

I agree, I think triggering on your upkeep is what pushes this guy over the top. Also I ma already running Abyssal Persecutor, so my black decks come loaded come fully aware that self sacrifice might have to happen. And this guy gives me another chance to flog one of my favorite bet cards. Carrion Feeder

This guy is worth trying for sure. Wizards has certainly answered my call for black 3 drops. This one will be the 4th new one in less than a year I want to play.

Makes me want to play contamination.

I don't think self-sacrifice effects have any particular synergy with this card. Once you play this, the plan should be to attack your opponent to death with it, not to let your opponent draw a couple of cards and then sacrifice the Demon. Of course it's nice to be able to dodge the nightmare scenario of a neutralized-but-still-on-the-board Demon, but there's not many Cube-able effects of that type.

As to the value of the card itself, I think initial experiences will vary wildly; sometimes it will be a quick 2-for-1 for the opponent, and sometimes the undercosted flier will just win the game. My gut feeling is it will be about as succesful as Abyssal Persecutor, i.e. not quite good enough for a permanent spot in medium-sized lists.

I think the Abyssal Persecutor comparison is somewhat valid, except that this card is FAR far better. It costs 3 instead of 4 and the drawback isn't nearly as bad.

I really, really hate making cuts in my black section. but this just looks like it could be a game ender before the disadvantage really hurts. RB aggro with this, black vise, and goblin guide is going to happen in my cube. 2 solid black aggro cards so far this time around.

Well, the Persecutor's drawback is something you can control yourself, at least to some extent. It essentially has no drawback until your opponent is at 0 life, and then you can get rid of it.

This new Demon will always draw your opponent a card before it does any damage, and you have no control over whether your opponent will draw into an answer or not.

But I agree that it's definitely possible this card will turn out to be superior.

Also, giving this guy haste on the turn it comes out is the nuts. I'm a fan.

I love that the art literally makes this card a fattie.

Definitely going to test but I am skeptical.
1 card a turn is a pretty enormous drawback but 5/5 flyer for 3 is extremely powerful.

Very hard to weigh the advantage vs the disadvantage.
I'm leaning towards him being not good enough but I could see
Me eating my words.

Abysal

What is it with Theros block and good enchantment creatures for 1BB? Nighthowler, Herald of Torment and now this? I think I'll stick with the Herald though. It is much smaller, but the drawback is also a lot less frightening and bestow is useful.

This + Fate Unraveler

But who is cubing with Fate Unraveler?

What does cubing mean?

Playing a card in a cube. You do realize that you are in the cube forum here?

I had no idea. Sorry.

I think I'll test this guy and if he doesn't work out go with Herald of Torment, as I haven't had a chance to pick one up yet. I am pretty skeptical about Master of the Feast, but his stat/cost ratio is just too good not to try.

I really, really hate making cuts in my black section. but this just looks like it could be a game ender before the disadvantage really hurts. RB aggro with this, black vise, and goblin guide is going to happen in my cube. 2 solid black aggro cards so far this time around.

I feel you, my Black section is so synergistic I always get worried I'll throw the balance when I have to cut something.