Silverback Elder – Dominaria United
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 4.38
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Silverback Elder is ostensibly a reward for going mono-green, both in its massively efficient cost-to-stats ratio and in the way you get a reward for doing what mono-green decks usually do. The extras are intended to help you keep up with more traditional card advantage, though I’ll note that none of them is exactly universally game-breaking: artifacts and enchantments are theoretically not universal, you might need something to do with all those extra lands, and gaining life doesn’t always impact on what your opponent is trying to do. Still, any of them can add up to something big over time, and the second choice invites you to look for interactions – landfall comes to mind, as does anything that turns lands into creatures or sacrifices them for some effect. If you’re a Standard player, I’d advise keeping him and the first option in mind in coming months: remember that The Brothers’ War is coming very soon.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4
Silverback Elder continues the rich green tradition of comically efficient creatures. While his mana demands are green-heavy, you still get an excellent rate of return, an efficient body with a “fun” effect when you cast creatures. A repeatable Naturalize is particularly scary, and even if you don’t need it, you can still get some mileage out of the life gain or the potential land ramp. It doesn’t take long for Silverback Elder to push a game forward at a comical rate, and while lacking keywornds isn’t ideal, everything else about this card adds up to a superlative value creature in green decks.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.25 (hampered slightly by the set’s multicolor focus and needing triple green)
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
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