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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Thraximundar
Image from Wizards.com

Thraximundar
Alara Reborn

Reviewed December 16, 2011

Constructed: 3.38
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 3.50
Multiplayer: 3.50

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 of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Thraximundar

It takes a minute to realize that when you first drop Thrax, he's swinging for 7 that very turn, and 8 the next turn. If your opponent runs Qasali Pridemage or Eldrazi Spawn tokens, or if you play Smallpox as a followup, then Thrax gets much bigger than that, surprisingly fast. And Black is full of cards like Geth's Verdict, Barter in Blood, and the various Edicts that you can fairly easily clear out your opponent's side of the board and Thrax will reward you for it. That said, if you don't have ways of making your opponent sacrifice creatures, then Thraximundar won't be hitting anyone very hard, given his lack of evasion. Of course you could argue that his first triggered ability IS a form of evasion, as it increases the attrition rate at which your opponent loses blockers. A player can only throw so many creatures under the bus before he runs out, after all. And Thraximundar is red (the color of "can't block this turn") and blue (the color of "target creature is unblockable"), so connecting shouldn't be too hard if you can keep this guy on the field long enough.

Constructed- 3.5
Casual- 4
Limited- 4
Multiplayer- 4

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Thraximundar
 
The name "Thraximundar" is one of the coolest in the entire Alara block, which makes it rather unfortunate that some people use him as an excuse to combine Wheel of Fortune, Demonic Tutor, and Mana Drain in Commander. If we look past the colors in his mana cost, though, we see a creature that's capable of dominating most settings where he appears, even without vintage spells. It's a little surprising how many strategies turn out to involve sacrificing creatures, and Thraximundar synergizes with the ones in his colors and strongly punishes the ones in the other two colors. Violent, abrupt, devastating, and feeding on death - the perfect "hero" of Grixis.
 
Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Thraximundar which is a seven mana Blue, Black, and Red 6/6 with Haste that causes an opponent to sacrifice a creature when it attacks and whenever a player sacrifices a creature you may put a +1/+1 counter on Thraximundar.  This would be a great card for mono-Black sacrifice, but the high casting cost and three colors in the casting cost are noticeable drawbacks as is the lack of any kind of evasion.  The multicolor nature make this a bit more suited to Commander style formats than other Constructed settings, though it can be made more viable when running dual lands in a mostly Black deck.
 
In Limited three colors on one card can be difficult to manage, so if this is in your Sealed pool or your opening pack in Booster getting color fixing should be a high priority.  Any sacrifice effects are also more valuable in a deck with Thraximundar and using any available in Sealed or drafting after this as a first pick helps make a somewhat difficult to cast card worth the effort.
 
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 3.0

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

      Welcome back to the card of the day section here at Pojo.com! We close out our week looking at a favorite of mine, Thraximundar from Alara Reborn! Thraximundar is a rare legendary-creature zombie assassin. Thraximundar is a 6/6 that has haste and says whenever he attacks, defending player sacrifices a creature, and whenever a player sacrifices a creature, you may put a +1/+1 counter on Thraximundar.

      His flavor text sums it all up: ‘His name means “He who paints the Earth red.”’ And that is exactly what he does. With a properly built deck, this guy is going to be trashing your opponent in no time flat. And if you really work at it, this guy is going to be huge while doing it. The best thing about some of his abilities is that he is pumped for creatures you sacrifice as well as whatever your opponents sacrifice. Meaning once he is out on the board, you can feel free to sacrifice your own creatures to a variety of fun abilities, all while making him huge! Saproling producers can easily be one of the greatest means to exploit the sacrifice. Since so many of the fungi that produce them have abilities to sacrifice them. But let us not forget some of Thraximundar’s friends from Alara, who benefit just as much as Thraximundar does for things dying. Rockslide Elemental and Scavenger Drake are my tow favorites to combo with Thraximundar for some really huge creatures. The best part of the three out and working in harmony is where does your opponent send their removal spell when facing the three together?

       All in all, Thraximundar is going to require the deck to be built around him to truly function at optimal performance. But he can also be a benefit to any zombie deck, or Grixis deck as well.
 
Limited: 2/5
Casual: 5/5
Constructed: 5/5
Multiplayer: 3/5


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