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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Hex Parasite
Image from Wizards.com

Hex Parasite
New Phyrexia

Reviewed May 11, 2011

Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 3.75
Limited: 3.50
Multiplayer: 3.80

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

Hex Parasite

Hushed whispers from the corners of the Internet and backwoods cardgame shops across the globe herald Hex Parasite as the silver bullet to thwart planeswalkers, as the Mindsculptor's long-overdue assassin. I say those folks have forgotten that Hex Parasite is a 1/1 artifact creature, the easiest thing to kill in all of Magic. Remember, when your opponent's planeswalker resolves, your opponent gets priority first, meaning once the Mindsculptor hits the table, he gets at least one ability to go on the stack before you can even touch him. Can't Jace 2.0 bounce creatures? Oh, Hex can certainly do a number on any planeswalker that lets him live. And even if Chandra Nalaar, Sorin Markov, or Karn Liberated spend their first turn axing the Parasite, you can still clean off a few counters in response... if you have enough mana open. You can't pat 2 life for the X part, after all. But I do think that Hex Parasite will enjoy a slot in some folks' decks. Maybe not as a means to thwart planeswalkers, but there are plenty of cards that acquire counters they'd rather not have. Infect does put -1/-1 counters on creatures, and Hex Parasite can cure them. Hex can also drain charge counters off opponents' artifacts, or deny quest counters to opposing Ascensions and the like. The power boost? Hardly relevant-- attack with it and it gets chump blocked, and dies because it has one toughness. At best the power boost turns Hex Parasite from a combo cog to a potential combat trick. But I see Hex Parasite the same way I see Negate-- it's a good tool to have when you're tightening up your deck's strengths and weaknesses, and I expect to see it used, but it's not going to bend the format extensively, and it's not going to scare Jace the Mindsculptor into staying home.

Constructed- 3.5
Casual-3
Limited- 2.5
Multiplayer- 3.75

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Hex Parasite
 
Hex Parasite comes as an attempt, rather late in Magic's overall life, to fight not only planeswalkers but also decks that manipulate charge counters and +1/+1 counters. Despite this card's apparent frailty, I've always been an advocate of versatile cards, and I can't argue against a creature that any deck can use to fight Jace, and which can be used equally well against more obscure threats like Darksteel Reactor and Chance Encounter.
 
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Hex Parasite which is a one mana creature that can work against anything with counters and isn't removed in the process.  For a low cost of two life and X mana this can deal with planeswalkers, charge counters, Infect, and many other threats.  Even if none are present it is still a one mana 1/1 which makes this an easy choice to maindeck or sidedeck and it should see a great deal of play.
 
In Limited a one mana 1/1 is always good, though not often as a first pick, but in this case working as a counter to many set mechanics allows it to truly shine.  Unlike other creatures with the same cost it is probably best to hold this until needed for the effect.  Seen as utility or removal and a creature this is worth the first choice in Booster and should always be included in your Sealed pool.  As an artifact it works in any color deck and at a single mana it doesn't alter any mana curve. 
There is no drawback to playing it and it should always have some benefit as a draw for some part of the effect and a potential blocker. 
It is a possible offensive threat as well, but using the effect when it enters the battlefield is more likely to avoid removal and prevent the opponent from using the counters themselves.
 
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.5

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

     Welcome to today’s card of the day here at Pojo.com. Today we take a look at Hex Parasite from New Phyrexia. Hex Parasite costs just one generic mana. Hex Parasite is a 1/1 artifact creature that has x and a black Phyrexian mana: Remove x counters from target permanent. For each counter removed, Hex Parasite gets +1/+0 until end of turn.

    Hex Parasite is being called the new Planeswalker killer, yet I disagree. While it is very effective at taking planeswalkers out, nothing can be deemed as good of a Planeswalker killer as the Vampire Hexmage. But, in terms of removing counters for multiple reasons, Hex Parasite is quite effective. And the ability to weaken a Planeswalker while pumping the Hex Parasite is just fun.

     Again, I feel that this card is getting too much attention, but that is just my personal opinion. Many think that this card is worth the hype, I just feel it is a decent, multi-use card.
 
Limited: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Constructed: 3/5


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