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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day
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Image from Wizards.com |
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Living
Death
Tempest Rare
Reviewed July 15, 2004
Constructed: 3.6
Casual: 4.6
Limited: 3.5
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
our
Card of the Day Reviews
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Chris
Gerhardt
*
game store owner in CA,
ShuffleAndCut |
Definitely one of the most popular Rares of the
non Type 2 genre. We have a very difficult time
keeping this card in stock, and for good reason.
Living Death is an extremely solid card when you
build around it. Combo around its ability
using cards that get creatures into your grave,
either by choice or en masse.
Buried Alive,
Survival of the Fittest, even
Traumatize can pile your grave with the goods.
Then Living Death serves as first a
Wrath, then as a mass
Reanimate (sans the bad part). Yeah, wipe your
opponent's (and your) board, then come back
immediately with a nice contingent of creatures,
most likely much larger than your opponent's.
Once your opponent realizes what's coming, a very
sick feeling of impending doom will overtake them.
Casual really affords
Death its best showcase. Building around it
with an huge card pool is always fun. In
limited, Living Death can also be a situational
force, though you must be careful to use it
properly.
Constructed:
4
Casual: 5
Limited: 4
Current Price:
Living
Death -
Tempest - $15.34
Combos
Well With:
Buried
Alive -
Odyssey - $4.67
Traumatize -
Odyssey - $9
Survival of
the Fittest -
Exodus - $11.43
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Judge
Bill
*Level 2
MTG Judge
*game store employee
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Wow, we've never
reviewed this? That surprises me.
In the past, there
were decks built around this card. Probably
still are in some casual circles, as an effect
that acts both as a pseudo-Wrath and returns all
creatures that were in the graveyard to play is
a nice effect to build your deck around. It's
not powerful enough for tournament Extended
play, but it makes a very nice casual deck.
I don't ever
remember playing this is Rath Cycle limited.
Then again, I don't ever remember opening it,
either.
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 5
Limited: 2.5
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Jonathan
Pechon
2 Grand
Prix Top 8's
Multiple Pro Tour
appearances |
Living Death
It really took some time for this card to get used
optimally; once Survival of the Fittest was
printed, this really started to see some real
abuse. While not as ridiculously broken as
Survival is, it’s always been an extremely
flexible card that can act as a Wrath to stunt an
offensive, or cause a massive swing in a game by
causing a full graveyard to suddenly jump into
play. Even when Survival was banned, this still
saw play in the Rock, giving an example of the
real durability of this card.
Personally, I want to cast this on turn 25 or so
in a group game; while this may not necessarily do
a whole lot to help me win the game, it should
take quite a while for everyone to figure out what
has to be in play and what dies. In my mind,
that’s definitely at least a small granule of
“fun.” It's a strange card for Mental, but
obviously can be useful.
It took some doing to make this really useful in
draft, but smart play could make this into a
back-breaking swing in a game, allowing you to
clear your opponent’s board while giving you a
full spread of creatures to work with. It’s
situational, but definitely powerful.
Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 4.0
Limited: 3.0
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Jeff Zandi
5 Time Pro Tour
Veteran
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Living Death
Many cards have been created to turn players'
graveyards inside out,
installing an "up" escalator in the boneyard.
Living Death is the best of a
long list. In limited, Living Death is the kind of
bomb rare that could turn
your deck into a winner. In constructed, Living
Death was the key card in a
very important deck design. Living Death is not,
on the other hand, the
easiest card to play perfectly. Choosing the right
time can be tricky, and
this card needs to be exercised to be great.
CONSTRUCTED: 4.0
CASUAL: 4.0
LIMITED: 4.0
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Ray
"Monk"
Powers
* Level 3 DCI Judge
*DCI Tournament Organizer |
Living Death
I remember Wrath of God being a good card. So a
card that acts as a Wrath of God, and gets
creatures from the graveyard back into play, well
I would think that would be even better. And,
maybe, if I built my entire deck to get really
good creatures in my graveyard… Hey, I think I may
be on to something here!!!
Constructed: 5
Casual: 3
Limited: 3
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DeQuan
Watson
* game store owner (The Game Closet - Waco,TX) |
Living Death is one of those cards that's great in
constructed and casual play, but not so hot for
limited. However, even in limited it could be
worth it depending on your card pool. Either way,
this card is good. Lots of tricks you can do with
your creatures. You just have to be aware of what
you are giving back to your opponent.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 2.5
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Andy
Van Zandt |
Living
Death
Wrath of god is a good card. Replenish was a good
card. Replenishing
creatures sounds even better. One of the few five
mana cards that has made
its way from block constructed to current extended
decks.
constructed 3
casual 4
limited 4 |
Paul
Hagan |
Living Death --
I'm not sure I can really say anything bad about
this card. It isn't always the best card to draw
up, but it is a great backup plan for a creature
heavy deck or against a deck that doesn't run too
many creatures in the first place. If you browse
over the Rock decks from Extended, a fair number
of them will sneak one Living Death to tutor up.
In limited, I would play Living Death, just on the
grounds that it might save me at least one turn
(or turn the tide of the game all on its own).
Casual players should take a good look at Living
Death as well, as it can turn a group game
upside-down.
Constructed Rating: 3.5
Limited Rating: 3.0
Casual Rating: 3.5 |
w00t |
Living Death
Constructed - A component of The Rock deck. Not
always used, but it definitely has its uses.
Destroy all the creatures in play (ex. YOURS)
and bring back all the ones in grave (ex. MINE).
Not too shabby of an ability.
Casual - This ability can be extremely fun to
play up on. Put it in a deck with 0 removal, and
a lot of useful ways to get your creatures into
the grave. Tap your 5 mana, and boom. You WoG
your opponents board, and twilight's call your
grave. Fun card to build a deck around.
Constructed - 3.0
Casual - 3.0
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