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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Nameless Inversion
Image from Wizards.com

Nameless Inversion
- Lorwyn

Reviewed July 8, 2014

Constructed: 4.00
Casual: 4.13
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 3.63

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale:
1 - Horrible  3 - Average.  5 - Awesome

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Card of the Day Reviews 

BMoor

Deck Garage

Nameless Inversion

I saw a LOT of this card in Lorwyn block, and for the most part it was just -3 toughness for 1B. That's what people wanted, and that's what people used it for. And if that's all you use it for, then that's fine. Ravnica's Last Gasp was a solid kill spell and this can do that. But there's a lot more going on here for you to take advantage of.

First of all, it's not -3/-3, it's +3/-3. This means that if you've got a creature big enough to survive this thing, you can give it +3 power for that extra push. This can end the game a turn earlier, or turn a "bounce off the wall" block into a trade. It also means you can't use it to shrink a creature's power. Using Last Gasp for the power part is only good if it's letting your blocker survive blocking-- if you're using it on no blocks to take 3 fewer damage and not kill the creature, you're wasting it and misplaying. I like that you can't do that with Nameless Inversion, because you shouldn't be doing that in the first place.
Second, if the target survives, it now has no creature types. In Lorwyn block, most of the creatures that could spare 3 toughness were either Treefolk or Giants... or were benefiting from several tribal buff effects to achieve their size. That 5/5 Kithkin Daggerdare? It looks like it can survive +3/-3, but not if it isn't a Kithkin anymore. Even if robbing a creature of its tribal synergies didn't kill it, it usually hobbled it further. In a wider casual format that isn't to strongly tied to Lorwyn block, not so much, but then again, Casual players do love their tribal decks...

Finally, this card itself has all creature types. That means you can use it in a tribal deck and count it as one of the tribe, provided the tribe in question doesn't need it to be on the battlefield. Door of Destinies, for example, will gain a counter when you cast Nameless Inversion regardless of what type you choose. Find a combo!

Constructed- 3.5
Casual- 4
Limited- 4
Multiplayer- 3


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Nameless Inversion

Now, if you were reading yesterday, you read that whole thing about my lower enthusiasm for "this year's Terror" type cards. Nameless Inversion is one of the few; in fact, it made me genuinely smile when it came out. Not only was it part of a mini-cycle of "omg where did my face go" art in Lorwyn, it is one of the few this-year's-Terrors that has applications beyond the obvious. Is that dragon about to kill you in one hit because of Crucible of Fire? Not any more. Do you have a Tombstalker that can attack unhindered, but your opponent is on eight life? This is the card you want in your hand. Do you need to kill something through the protection of your opponent's Shared Triumph or Brass Herald? Go for it. I wish more this-year's-Terrors were like this!

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Nameless Inversion which is a two mana Black tribal instant with Changeling that is all creature types and when played gives target creature +3/-3 and removes all types until end of turn. While Grasp of Darkness is more potent as removal in mono-Black, this works very well in multicolor decks and can potentially power up your own creatures if they have four or more toughness. The tribal aspects work in your own theme decks allowing this to be searched, reduced in cost, recovered from the graveyard, or even trigger tribal effects depending on the build. Offensively this works as removal and negating types can be beneficial in some situations. Overall this is a removal card with quite a few applications that make it a top choice in tribal decks that can get several other benefits from using it.

In a Limited setting with this it is a very powerful removal card and decent power up in some situations. The tribal aspect has a great deal of support and will often be a factor when used against an opponent's creature. An easy second or third pick in Booster with a Black first pick or when using it to start a second color, which is very likely with the block's hybrid mana costs. In Sealed this is an automatic inclusion when using Black and multiple copies are reason enough to splash the color even if the pool is weak.

Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 5.0
Multiplayer: 4.5


Michael Sokolowski

Nameless Inversion saw a lot of play back in the days of Lorwyn. Generally used as a solid piece of removal or combat trick, Nameless had a few interesting mechanics up its sleeve that made it very fun to play with.

Having an instant with Changeling on it can actually prove more relevant than you might think. Anything that searches your deck for a tribal card (an elf card, a goblin card, a vampire card, any subtype so long as they don't specify it also has to actually be a creature) can find Nameless for you. There are also plenty of "reveal a [tribal] card from your hand" abilities to get some kind of beneficial effect. Plus of course there are even cards that say "return a [tribal] card from your graveyard to your hand." ALL of these things work with Nameless Inversion, giving it much more combo potential than a mere Doom Blade.

You mostly want the -3 toughness here, though there are situations where the +3 power could come in handy. Lowering toughness to 0 is always fun for black, as it's one of the few ways to easily get around indestructible and regenerate.

Having the target lose all creature types can sometimes be relevant, but won't always be. Back in the day there were lots of sneaky Shapeshifters and Changelings sneaking their way into tribal decks, getting crazy bonuses and setting up huge combos. Nameless Inversion was able to shut a lot of that down. Nowadays I don't think it'd be as important or powerful, unless you were fighting Slivers or something.

Overall Nameless Inversion has some of the things that are the hallmark of great and fun to use cards. I don't think it's uber powerful or broken or anything, nor is it for every deck, but it's got a decent amount of versatility and it's efficiently costed for what it does.

Plus now you know what would happen if only your arms turned into The Hulk!

Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4


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