Everybody gets two cards a turn! Also everybody
but you takes 2 damage per turn. Possibly more,
if they've got card draw spells. This is a great
example of a commander who helps keep you from
becoming a target. Nobody wants to kill the guy
giving them extra cards! An extra card is worth
taking 1 damage for it, right? That's why
Phyrexian Arena is good! Nobody really pays
attention to the fact that you're getting extra
cards without paying life for them. And they
won't, until you drop Megrim and Underworld
Dreams and start casting Skyscribing and Mind
Shatter, with all that mana you built up while
nobody was targeting you. MWAHAHAHAHA!
Commander- 4
Casual- 3.5
Multiplayer- 4.5
David Fanany
Player since
1995
Nekusar the Mindrazer
Sometimes design is really transparent. Like
when there's an archetype in Commander in
blue/black/red decks based around forcing
opponents to draw cards and then punishing them
for drawing lots of cards, but you can only have
one copy each of Underworld Dreams and Spiteful
Visions, so wouldn't it be cool if there was a
commander who does that stuff in his rules text?
Fortunately, sometimes the obvious design makes
for a good card. Nekusar is probably clearly the
optimal commander for that Underworld
Dreams/Spiteful Visions deck, but I'm not sure
you would want him in a deck in his colors that
had a different theme, both because he'd pull
focus and because he'd make you a target.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
the powerful wizard Nekusaur. This creature has
also caused quite a splash in commander with its
printing, allowing Grixis colored decks to have
a general who really embodies the bear hug
strategy. Each opponent is going to get some
extra card advantage but the price isn’t cheap.
Nekusaur not only facilitates faster gameplay
from its draw ability but puts each opponent on
a clock. Combined with effects such as Forced
Fruition and Wheel of Fortune and Underworld
Dreams this creatures becomes one of the most
scary strategies. The only downside is no
immediate impact and opponents have access to
the extra cards first and Nekusaur has a
somewhat fragile body. This card in casual and
multiplayer fits nicely into decks already based
on this concept of punishing opponents and also
has highly relevant creature types. Overall
Nekusaur has made quite a splash in commander
and has already proven to be a popular general
and a supporter of a major strategy.
Commander: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Multiplayer: 5.0
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno
Today's card of the day is Nekusar, the
Mindrazer which is a five mana Blue, Black, and
Red 2/4 legendary that has every player draw an
extra card at the beginning of their draw them
and whenever an opponent draws a card it deals
one damage to that player. Once the effect
gets rolling it only takes a little support to
do notable damage, particularly if the entire
deck is built around card draw. Opponents will
be in the difficult position of not wanting to
attack you to maintain card advantage, but if
they hold back too long they can get killed by
the effect. There are many cards that work
with this and an entire Commander theme is both
possible and viable. Overall this is a strong
threat when supported, that brings a different
style for the format and the same design can be
modified for Casual and Multiplayer.
Commander: 4.0
Casual: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Skid Rambo
Nekusar the Mindrazer is a rotting Zombie
Wizard. This guy is an angry Howling Mine that
burns your opponents, but gives them extra
cards.
You get to draw an extra card as well, if
Nekusar survives to see your next up keep. The
appealing thing about this Mindrazer is all of
the cards that can complement him. Phyrexian
Tyranny is the first card that comes to mind
when I look at Nekusar’s mana cost. This zombie
wizard may not be the best choice for a
commander but it can be a great compliment to a
better card. If you are playing casually with
some friends, then this zombie can do some
serious damage because you can run more than one
copy in your deck. Overall, Nekusar doesn’t reek
of dominace but this zombie has the ability to
kill multiple people at once.
