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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Falkenrath Aristocrat
Image from Wizards.com

Falkenrath Aristocrat
Dark Ascension

Reviewed February 16, 2012

Constructed: 4.00
Casual: 4.00
Limited: 4.25
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

Falkenrath Aristocrat

I'm kind of surprised at how many multicolor cards Dark Ascension has. Usually there's one cycle of them at most, unless mutlicolor is a theme of the set. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Nor am I complaining about getting indestructibility in black and red, two colors which tend not to get it unless you count artifacts. I've always thought that indestructibility made so much sense in red. Red is a reckless color, and being invulnerable makes it so much easier to be reckless.

Falkenrath Aristocrat is far from invulnerable. A 4-power flyer with haste for four mana is an excellent aggressive play, and a sizeable target. With that one toughness, you'll need to sacrifice quite a few creatures just to keep Her Lordship alive for a few turns. But if those creatures were Humans, the Aristocrat's miniscule backside will be suitably inflated in due course, as will her ability to hit your opponent. Just one or two Human sacrifices will put her in Dragon-caliber territory, and from there not even the sky is the limit. But are there enough playable Humans in black and red to make that feasible? Well, Stormblood Berserker is still in Standard, along with all the Vulshok humans from Scars of Mirrodin. In black, there's Skirsdag High Priest who will thank you for sacrificing a creature, and Village Cannibals who also supports the sacrificing of Humans. There's also plenty of Act of Treason effects for when your opponent inevitably plays a Human. Humans do have a tendency to show up in all sorts of places, don't they?

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

David Fanany

Player since 1995

Falkenrath Aristocrat 
 
By any definition, Falkenrath Aristocrat is all upside, but she feels rather fair about it. Flying and haste on the one four-mana creature are definitely above the curve, but red and black may not always have something to back her up with. The ability to become indestructible almost at will is powerful, but requires that you build your deck around it (and all the good Human token cards are white!). As a card that's more than powerful enough for any tribal or non-tribal deck on its own, and can even be a non-obvious combo or synergy piece with some effort, I have no doubt Falkenrath Aristocrat will be a very popular card.
 
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Falkenrath Aristocrat which is a four mana Red and Black 4/1 with Flying, Haste, and can become indestructible for a turn by sacrificing a creature with a +1/+1 counter gained if that creature was human.  While this is a very aggressive card it really needs support to either increase the low toughness or a supply of tokens to keep it viable.  There are thirty-six Red or Black humans in Standard currently which may sound like a large pool to choose from, but eleven of them cost four mana or more which makes them a poor sacrifice choice.  A variety of designs can still be made with a human theme, a vampire theme, a blending of the two or adding a third color.  In any build it is likely to do some damage and be worth playing, though getting the most out of the Aristocrat while managing the battlefield takes some effort.
 
For Limited the low toughness and two color casting cost are noticeable drawbacks, but Red/Black works well and even one successful attack is enough value.  Haste and Flying are a solid combination and being able to keep it in play against most removal options can be difficult for an opponent to deal with if they lack Flying to block.  Even with a few flaws it is a good first pick in Booster which can be supported through later choices and the natural synergy with Red and Black in this set should be viable in most Sealed pools as well.
 
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5

John
Shultis
Phoenix
Gaming

      Welcome to Pojo.com’s Card of the Day section. Today we are taking a look at Falkenrath Noble from Dark Ascension. Falkenrath Noble is a mythic rare creature vampire that is a 4/1. Falkenrath Noble has flying and haste, and says that you may sacrifice a creature to make Falkenrath Noble Indestructible until end of turn. If the sacrificed creature was human, put a +1/+1 counter on Falkenrath Noble.

      Probably one of the most overlooked mythic rares when compared to the Huntsmaster of the Fells or Havengul Lich, but should definitely not be. Flying and haste are two really great abilities that usually mean it is hard to block, since the moment that the coast is clear, you send in this massive threat. And in the event something does become too big, a simple sacrifice makes her indestructible until end of turn. And what is better, if the offering was human, she gets stronger for next time!

      There are plenty of good cards to feed the hunger of the Falkenrath Noble, although they mainly lie in white, so trying to make a tri-colored deck seems hard to pull off, but let’s not forge, there are some other great option lying in black itself, such as the Bitterheart Witch. Once sacrificed to the Noble, you would give her indestructibility and a +1/+1 counter, then due to the Witch’s ability be able to go and grab any curse from your library and put it onto the battlefield attached to an oppnent. If doing this in response to attacking, grabing Curse of Bloodletting means the Falkenrath Noble would deal double damage to the player should the attack hit home.
 
Limited: 5/5
Casual: 5/5
Constructed: 5/5
Multiplayer: 3/5


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