Bloodletter of Aclazotz – Lost Caverns of Ixalan
Date Reviewed: December 11, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 4.13
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 4.00
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Aficionados of Magic trivia will note that this card’s mana cost is an echo of Furnace of Rath. Though it lacks the symmetrical effect, and strongly incentivizes attacking (right down to the reminder text), I suspect its applications will be similar – you’ll usually be waiting to play it until the moment when it will do the most damage, even without the possibility of it backfiring. It doesn’t always do enough on its own to just run it out on curve, but the times that opponents lose to it, they’ll really remember. And it’s a fairly unique combo with Sanguine Bond, so I give a lot of credit for that.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Bloodletter of Aclazotz’s damage-doubling is not “unique”, per se, but it’s rare to see it come in for this low a price point. It also is a replacement effect instead of a triggered ability, so there’s that. Pair this with evasion and a decent stat line, and Bloodletter of Axlazotz is both a fast clock and a way to speed up the clock with the creatures you have.
That said, there are a couple hang-ups. This only doubles life loss incurred by opponents, not damage done, and so this fares worse against creatures and planeswalkers. The triple-black casting cost is also tricky; it’s not insurmountable, of course, and there is good mana correction (both now and after the new set drops)…but it can be tricky to put together triple black. Still, this is quite potent at pushing the game faster, as this is a 5-turn clock on its own and will make its other friends advance the clock even faster.
‘Verily, swooping is bad. This card’s pretty good, though. And while vampires aren’t heavily supported in this set, vampires are nicely supported overall…as are demons, I suppose.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
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