Abhorrent Oculus – Duskmourn
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 4.25
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Believe it or not, I had either not seen or forgotten about Abhorrent Oculus when I was writing recently about 3/3s for three mana. Technically this is way more than that, if you can get it out and it survives; the first part is a lot less of an “if” in the era of surveil, and even the first part is somewhat helped by the rest of blue’s abilities. Of course, you’re probably also not playing this on-curve unless you’re really all-in on the graveyard stuff, and doing nothing but surveilling or self-milling may not always be a wise choice. Still, I feel like the payoff you get from the Oculus is disproportionately large for such a seemingly fragile setup, even if all you get is a 5/5 flier for three mana plus the things you can manifest. And if you manage to flip things that generate even more value, I don’t even know how to count that.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
An undercosted flier that plays well with the themes of the set, Abhorrent Oculus is pretty threatening both on its…uh, face and in its nuance. A 5/5 with evasion that also makes a 2/2 on each of your opponents’ turns is pretty crazy, and that’s before we talk about them being manifestations of dread and all that. If you get a good pull, that 2/2 might not just be a 2/2 by the end of your next turn, and it’s still a good way to enable a lot of offensive pressure. The only real issue is the additional card cost from the graveyard, which may matter less in deeper formats, but 6 can be a bit trickier to get to in Standard. This is certainly a major threat, though, and it’s even fine in multiples if you have the cards to spare.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4 (I do think the card cost is a bit steeper here)
Limited: 4.5 (extremely good if you can get it out; amusingly, manifesting it might work better here)
Multiplayer: 4.5
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
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