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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Card of the Day

Daily Since November 2001!

Rakshasa Gravecaller
Image from Wizards.com

Rakshasa Gravecaller
- Dragons of Tarkir

Reviewed April 9, 2015

Constructed: 2.88
Casual: 3.25
Limited: 3.88
Multiplayer: 2.88

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

Click here to see all of our 
Card of the Day Reviews 


David Fanany

Player since 1995

Rakshasa Gravecaller
 
I remember when it was easy to determine when something was card advantage and when it wasn't. Ancestral Recall is easy; Wheel of Fortune when you have no cards in hand and your opponent has five is even easier (and also pretty disgusting, if you think about the math). The exploit mechanic is hard. I'm being encouraged, you might say, to lose a creature just to get this guy? And in return I get some kind of effect that may be worth a card, but could put me behind on the table?
 
And then, you get to Rakshasa Gravecaller, and you realize that he can help you go wide with lots of tokens, ones from a relevant tribe, and then once you're in a good mood about that you start thinking about creatures like Rotting Rats that don't mind dying, and you look at his stats and realize there are five-mana creatures - even some in green - that can't get past him reasonably. And you start wondering about other exploit cards, and perhaps wondering if there's more to Magic's various advantages than just pure math.
 
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5

Paul

Welcome back readers today's card of the day is a a five mana Grave Titan, well it does a good impersonation. For five mana you get a 3/6 body which is sizable, the secondary ability is Exploit allowing you to sacrifice a creature and if you do you get two 2/2 zombies onto the battlefield. The goal is to have a creature that it is profitable to sacrifice in order to get the maximum amount of power from this card as paying five mana for two zombies is not as efficient. In standard this card is interesting it has the large upside of flooding the board with bodies the downside is it requires five mana and is conditionally good, I don't expect to see this card seeing as much play as Grave Titan however it has potential which could result in sporadic play. In modern and vintage and legacy this card is blatantly unplayable due to its mana cost and minimal effect. In casual and multiplayer this card is quite powerful in zombie decks as it brings more bodies and any deck looking to sacrifice creatures for profit can make good use of this cool cat. In limited its a very powerful card the amount of power and toughness for its mana cost is an amazing ratio with a minimal drawback. Overall a card better suited to limited games and kitchen tables however it has some competative potential.
 
Constructed  2.5
Casual: 3.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 3.0

Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno

Today's card of the day is Rakshasa Gravecaller which is a five mana Black 3/6 with an Exploit option that puts two 2/2 black zombie tokens into play.  This is very solid when Exploiting other comes into play effect creatures or an otherwise weak in the middle game one or two mana 1/1.  The mana cost of five is reasonable for what you get, though is a bit high for anything competitive so it will mainly see play in Casual, Commander, or Multiplayer.  The types aren't heavily supported either, so overall it is a decent card that just misses being a serious threat.
 
In Limited this is a great early pick in Booster as it potentially puts seven power into play on three bodies, even with the sacrifice this is a notable improvement in most situations.  The single Black allows it to be included with other splashed cards in a multicolor Sealed deck and there is little drawback to including it whenever Black is already in the build.
 
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 3.5

Mattedesa

Deck Garage

Rakshasa Gravecaller
 
So, basically what you’re doing here is paying 5 mana and sacrificing your weakest creature to get a 3/6 and two 2/2’s. That’s 7/10 of creatures, which is a pretty good deal…IF you have a suitable weak creature to sacrifice…WHICH means you are running weak creatures you don’t mind sacrificing. If you don’t have something you can or want to sacrifice, his usefulness goes WAY down. a 3/6 for 5 mana is not something you want to be playing, except maybe in a defensive limited deck, and 5 mana just for two 2/2’s (if he exploits himself) isn’t any better. The potential upside is high, and it could be really good in sealed, but the conditions to make him good keep this guy in the fairly unexciting range.
 
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 2.0

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