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Pojo's Magic The Gathering Card of the Day


Image from Wizards.com

Magus of the Tabernacle
Planar Chaos


Reviewed March 22, 2007

Constructed: 2.98
Casual: 2.81
Limited: 2.98

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 


Jeff Zandi

 5 Time Pro Tour
 Veteran

Magus of the Tabernacle

I find it hard to understand why this card is considered so good in limited, but for some reason, it is. When I have had it, I have felt that the mana pressure it creates is as bad for me as it is for my opponent even though I realize my opponent gets to deal with it a turn sooner than me. Still, I’m just not FEELING this card, for whatever reason. I DO get that a six toughness for four mana is pretty hard to say no to in limited. I could imagine this card being good in constructed somehow, maybe as a white sideboard card against aggressive decks with lots of creatures. You could play it, immediately have a big blocker while slowing down your opponent’s ability to do things. Aggro decks run less mana, too, so Magus could really shut them down, giving your white control deck more time to find cards like Wrath of God.

CONSTRUCTED: 3.5
CASUAL: 3.5
LIMITED: 3.0

Aethereal

Thursday - Magus of the Tabernacle

Tabernacle of Pendrell Vale on a stick. This is a potential option to use in U/W sideboards over Porphyry Nodes. It comes out a lot later than Nodes does, but sticks around, and is hard to kill to boot. In a U/W control, though, I'd probably play Magus of the Disk before I played this, because he does more than just deal with creatures. Magus of the Disk doesn't really see that much play right now, so I don't think this guy will either.

In casual, I'd rather play the original, because it doesn't cost 4 mana.

In limited, it's a bit expensive for a 2/6, and the ability is one of those "I'll kick you while you're down" abilities. It's better than some of the other cards this week, though, and good against aggressive decks, so it's worth considering.

Constructed - 2.5
Casual - 2
Limited - 3
 
David Fanany Magus of the Tabernacle

I'm a big fan of this card, though in the interests of balance I should point out that he has a couple of significant disadvantages compared to the original Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale. As a creature, the Magus is easier to remove, and that also means his static ability affects himself. On the other hand, if you're a control deck, would you pay one mana every turn for a creature that blocks Scab-Clan Mauler and Paladin en-Vec, and requires two or more burn spells to be taken down without getting hit by a Rumbling Slum in the same turn? And if he made your opponent pay to keep his Maulers, Paladins, and Slums (and Llanowar Elves!), slowing him down from playing more threats and giving you time to draw your Akroma? I think that's a pretty good deal, which is why I think Magus of the Tabernacle could find a niche in W/x control decks, as a sort of white Carven Caryatid. He is an all-star in multiplayer, when there are so many more players to tax. Don't be surprised, though, if he turns you into a lightning magnet. He also destroys that Ambush Commander deck that's been annoying you. In limited, he does what he does in constructed except even more so. He blocks anything short of Spectral Force, he's difficult to remove without incurring card disadvantage, and he punishes your opponent for overextending almost as good as Damnation. Play him.

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 5/5
 
LennonMarx Magus of the Tabernacle
Constructed
This might well have a place in some kind of creatureless or near creaturless control build, though im not sure if this would beat out Porphyry Nodes or not. In any case, this has sideboard potential against weenie decks. You get a 2/6 blocker, and they either lock down their resources or lose their team. The only trouble is they can still swing in with what they have left, trading one guy for 6-8 points of damage, then burn you out next turn, or some such sillyness. On second thought, just play wrath, and if youre looking for something beyond wrath, look to his Disc bretheren first.
2/5

Casual
More opponents equals more taped land to pay for creatures, and more guys gunning for your dude. It might be a bit pricy, but you might as well play The Taberncale at Pendral Vale over this, as it is harder to kill and cant be countered.
1.5/5

Limited
Im not really sure about this guy here.. Creatures win limited games, and this makes a large number of creatures hard to keep around, both for you and your opponent. If youre vastly behind, this might help even it out, but it will also make it harder for you to come back. It still is removal though, with a nice body attached, so it isn't all bad, and it's likely playable.
2.5/5
PsychoAnime Review by PsychoAnime

I'm going to say it now, I quite like this card.

It has a big enough body to defend against one attacker and it's ability
takes care for a swarm of attackers. But it ruins your creatures as well! Hey,
if you're running this, you better not be running a lot of creatures anyway.

Now now, although I like this card, I don't want to be biased. It's only
effective against aggro, but by turn 4, you're already in a dangerously low
amount of life and any burn can finish you off. However, White can gain life,
so it's still ok.

I can't really think of any disadvantage that will make this completely
unplayable, so for now, I'll give it a decent score.

Constructed: 3/5, I think it's usable, though not as power as I would like it
Casual: 3/5, I like it and it works nicely with Hokori, the Dust Drinker.
Limited: 1.5/5, It's a big wall although it's ability isn't as nice here.

Arcane
Magus of the Tabernacle

Constructed: 2/6 for 4 mana makes a pretty decent wall for control based decks, and if he’s one of the only creatures out in play for you his ability isn’t really going to hurt you all that much, while causing your opponent to commit more creatures to the board (and thus spend more mana to keep those creatures out) to actually be able to hit you. The most ideal situation I could see using this card is where you can play him then Bust (of Boom & Bust) then play a land to be able to him around next turn, then watch as your opponent fails to be able to pay for his creatures. Shuts down a lot of weenie or token based strategies preventing them from being able to keep the sheer numbers in play that they need to. Honestly though in constructed if you want to destroy your opponents creatures you play Wrath, you don’t give your opponent the choice to keep them around or not, probably find its best home in sideboards against the above strategies.

Casual/Multi: This card sounds like a great idea for a multiplayer game where you make your opponents pay for their creatures they want to commit to the board, but in my experience taxing effects like this one are one of those abilities that just cause players to just groan and all want to gang up on you, so be prepared to defend yourself in some way. Redeeming it slightly though is the fact that it is (in a limited way) a form of recursive creature kill, the only problem is that if their creature is big and powerful enough they’ll just pay the one and smash you with the fatty, or if their creature has a graveyard effect (like Yosei or Kokusho) they’ll just laugh and thank you.

Limited: Creatures accumulate on the board pretty quickly leading to creature stalemates as you nor your opponent feels like committing to the red zone, this can change that stalemate slightly by reducing the overall numbers of creatures in play, and force both players to attack (or lose creatures) more if they want to play any more spells, and if you have more mana than your opponent this is going to mean you have more creatures that will stick in play. I can’t think of any major limited combos with this card off the top of my head, but I’m sure there’s one. Not the best rare you want to be pulling in PC but still not a bad pick.

Constructed: 3
Casual: 2
Limited: 3.5
 
The Missing Linc Magus of the Tabernacle

A 2/6 body tacked on to a really decent ability will likely make this card see play. I have already put it into my boom/bust land destruction deck. If I can destroy all lands, this really works as a wrath of god. Even when they are land shy, it keeps the rush away. In limited, while it's ability may not be something anyone really wants, it is still a 2/6 ground blocker. With many a toughness at 2 in this limited environment, it is a solid pick.

Constructed: 4
Casual:4
Limited: 4
Necro
nomikron
Magus of the Tabernacle:

Constructed wise, this card can be a pretty good sideboard card. It is a big blocker and hurts opponents that try to creature rush you. You stall their plans while just paying a measy 1 mana per turn to keep the magus alive.

Casual: Big table, lots of creatures? Slam this thing down and watch everyone panic. However, this thing makes you a big target by the guy with 20 goblins on the table. Thankfully, however, said 20 goblins won't be around for very long, or at least the person playing them will have problems doing anything else while it's down.

Limited: Ehh, not really. You're going to be running a lot of creatures yourself.

Constructed: 3.5/5
Casual: 2.5/5
Limited: 1/5

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