Bloodghast – Zendikar
Date Reviewed: February 13, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.50
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 3.63
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.63
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
We’ve talked before about how some cards are just a lot better than they look, and I’d say Bloodghast is a pretty good example of that. It has an actual disadvantage; it also has a couple of advantages, one comparatively minor and one that seems big but not always reliable. Except . . . all but the absolutely most aggressive of decks will be designed so they draw lands semi-regularly, meaning that a lot of turns where you’re making other plays will come with an incidental 2/1 attacker. And it also turns late-game land draws from being largely dead to meaning up to four 2/1 attackers – at the time of the game when they’re also likely to have haste. If anything, Bloodghast has always been underestimated: all of this is just about its attacking abilities, but it’s one of the best creatures to use in sacrifice strategies, graveyard strategies, and probably more besides.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
A creature that doesn’t stay dead, and one that comes back easily just by playing the game, is quite a force, and Bloodghast certainly came out at a perfect time for it, with Zendilkar‘s fetch lands making it possible to recur Bloodghast with little effort. It can’t block, but that’s hardly an issue; a free 2-power creature that has trouble staying dead makes this quite efficacious, and self-mill strategies have no real trouble getting multiple Bloodghasts in the graveyard to all come back. It even can gain haste in a pinch, and this makes a Bloodghast flood especially fraught when life totals dip low.
Bloodghast’s return to Standard is interesting; it’s been a threat that has greased the wheels in Modern for years as a sort of aggressive clock that can also combo with plenty of synergies. I don’t know that Bloodghast will dominate in this format, but 2 power does get to several crew thresholds (especially in multiplicate), and the value of a free creature can never be understated. Just don’t rely on this as your sole gameplan, and you’ll be golden.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
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