Sacrifice Garza's Assassin:
Destroy target nonblack creature.
Recover - Pay half your life, rounded up. (When another creature is put into your
graveyard from play, you may pay half your life,
rounded up. If you do, return this card from
your graveyard to your hand. Otherwise, remove
this card from the game.)
2/2 Reviewed July 06, 2006
Constructed: 2.7
Casual: 3
Limited: 2.35
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ... average.
5 is the highest rating
As interesting as the Recover mecanic looks,
this is probably the worst card to have it. It's
essentially Seal of Doom for BBB, plus a 2/2
body. that's alright. But half your life to
Recover it? If you need to recover it, you won't
be able to afford it, and if you can afford it,
you won't need it. I guess if you're REALLY
dedicated to Black it could do as a 2/2 that can
pull a 2-for-1 with damage on the stack, but
don't get your hopes up about bringing it back.
The recover mechanic is very cool, but this is
not the best showcase of its power. Paying half
your life for anything that doesn't say "you win
the game" is usually an overpayment. Ignoring
the recover ability for a moment, this is still
a pretty cool creature. The mana cost is a bit
harsh on anything but a mono-black deck, but
it's still fairly solid. For limited purposes,
this is definitely strong. Any removal effect is
strong, and ones that are attached to creatures
doubly so. One of the most useful aspects of
Garza's Assassin is actually its ability to
interact with your other recover abilities.
Depending on the strength of those effects, this
could be extremely versatile.
HEAVY Black commitment, but that'a probably how
it should be. Recover, as a new Coldsnap
ability, is interesting - but very expensive and
too situational. So if we look at it without
considering the optional Recover cost, it's
still an excellent card if you're commiting to
heavy Black. BBB - Destroy target non-Black
creature - and..heck, it's a creature in the
meantime - maybe doing some attacking - maybe
blocking and then taking something out.
As far as Recover, though, it's a very costly
ability. You most likely would not use it unless
you felt it was absolutely necessary. Another
point is, you can't just "recover" it anytime.
It triggers only when another creature goes to
the grave. If that doesn't happen, you can't
recover it. Also, it triggers when the very next
creature goes to the grave, and you have to
decide right then if you want to recover - it's
your only window. If you don't take it, then it
is removed from the game, and you won't get
another chance. In my experience, too many IF -
THEN statements highly detract from something's
playability and worth. So, the chance that
Recover will really come in handy and at JUST
the right time, if at all, and also while you
are willing to pay the cost, are just too slim.
Recover seems more of a random "get lucky"
ability than something to count on.
