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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

True-Name Nemesis
Image from Wizards.com

 True-Name Nemesis
- Commander 2013 Edition

Reviewed January 8, 2014

Commander: 3.90
Casual: 4.15
Multiplayer: 3.70

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

True-Name Nemesis

This is absolutely disgusting in any 1v1 format. Your creature has PROTECTION from YOUR OPPONENT. It's like hexproof, indestructible, and unblockable all on one creature. And it has three power, when usually blue creatures this hard to deal with are 1/1's, to give their victims time to find an answer. This will make quick work of whomever it "names" when it hits the board.

In multiplayer, it has less utility. It can't reliably be dealt with by one player, sure, but there are other opponents who see nothing but a 3/1 creature. The opponent you named, meanwhile, now has legitimate reason to go after you instead of them. On the other hand, blue also has cards liek Deadeye Navigator and plenty of bounce, so if you needed to, you could always bounce and replay the Nemesis naming another player...

Commander- 4.5
Casual- 4.75
Multiplayer- 4


David Fanany

Player since 1995

True-Name Nemesis
 
Fun fact that has absolutely nothing to do with Magic: this card's name can be seen as a clear reference to the ending twist of the famous fantasy novel A Wizard of Earthsea. I'm honestly a little surprised that Magic hasn't gotten very much flavor mileage over the years out of the idea that names have power, an idea that has existed in folklore for millennia.
 
In gameplay, True-Name Nemesis really tests your skills at politics. If you're good at managing other players in multiplayer games, you should be trying to arrange a situation where it deals a ton of damage to the biggest threat at the table and nobody is tempted to get rid of it on their behalf. It's important to remember that its protection does nothing if the chosen player leaves the game for any reason, so you should have a way to bounce and replay it. Or else save it until there's only one opponent left and you can have an inevitable threat, but that's not fun.
 
Commander: 3/5
Casual: 2/5
Multiplayer: 3/5


Paul

Welcome back readers while this week has had a slightly different scoring system I would be remiss to not mention the stir this card is causing in eternal formats. True Name Nemesis being a Merfolk has legacy players salivating, the fact it’s an almost impossible to interact with only increases its power level and monetary value making it one of the most sought after Commander 2013 cards. The tribal implications for this card make it a great fit in those style decks and also in highly aggressive decks running blue making it a powerful choice. Being able to give your creature protection from your friends is also pretty awesome. Overall this card has definite possibilities in casual and multiplayer and certain commander decks, it also is one of the few cards to have a profound competitive impact.

Commander: 4.0
Casual: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4.5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is True-Name Nemesis which is is three mana 3/1 Blue merfolk rogue that as it enters the battlefield gains protection from a chosen player.  This is oddly more powerful in non-Commander formats such as Casual or legacy as temporary alliances in Multiplayer, most Commander games, and most of all two-headed giant weaken the impact of protection from one opponent. The preference for global or non-targeted effects is a drawback in those settings as well, but in Casual and Legacy this is very powerful and has few responses.  Another weakness in Commander is the two Blue in the casting cost out of three mana as the multicolor format makes casting it a little less convenient than a primarily Blue build.  Overall this is a highly valued card currently and will likely see play at least occasionally for years to come, but outside of one on one Commander is less likely to see play in the format it was printed for.
 
Commander: 3.0
Casual: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3.0


Skid Rambo

True-Name Nemesis is a Merfolk Rogue that MUST be countered or you are probably going to lose. My only beef with this creature is that it is not a white creature. How often are blue given protection from anything? Now, back to the current creature that is quickly becoming the most popular Commander card on the market. True-Name Nemesis is way overpowered in a casual formats and ridiculously dominant in a commander duel. If True-Named Nemesis has a weak spot, it is in the multiplayer format. In a multiplayer game the True-Name Nemesis is just another 3/1 that can agitate one of the other players. You can be that guy that gets a playset of True-Name Nemesis and beats your friends to death at the kitchen table!
 
Commander:  5
Casual: 5
Multiplayer:  4


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