I don't like this card much for constructed play
due to its cost. Interestingly though, in a slow
controlling Black deck, this card might be
useful. I absolutely love the card in limited.
It gives you a creature and does constant damage
to an opponent. That's good stuff.
It's like Confiscate and Pillory of the
Sleepless all rolled into one! Auras can be
tricky if they go on your own creatures, and
Auras that go on your opponent's creatures are
usually thought of just as removal. This card is
both, sort of. It removes a creature of your
opponent's and gives you one, so it's like a
2-for-1 (or a 1-for-0) and it deals damage on
its own. Your opponent can sacrifice the target
in response, but that gets rid of the problem
creature too-- albeit without you getting it.
And if your opponent has a way to kill
enchantments, you may find yourself spending 6
mana for nothing. But that's true for every
card, isn't it?
Enslave -
Whether you remember the glory days of Control
Magic or merely the more recent Persuasion,
taking other people's creatures is always
effective. This option for doing so is among the
more expensive (though still not so bad as
Yavimaya's Embrace), but gives a nice added
effect as well. 1 damage a turn doesn't seem
like a lot, but it can make a difference. As an
uncommon, you can expect to see these popping up
frequently in limited.
Enslave is a very fun card. Not only have you
stolen the creature and are now beating face on
its original owner, but the creature also has
some sort of ex-girlfriend complex and insists
on doing additional damage to its former
controller. Sweet. Unfortunately, it costs 6. Of
course, most of the critters you care to be
stealing are the ones that will be coming out in
the area of turn 6 (I'm looking at you,
dragons). Probably not fast or reliable enough
for constructed (not so great against a BDW
deck), but great for bomb stealing in limited or
group games.
Constructed - 2
Casual - 4
Limited - 3+
Aethereal
Tuesday -
Enslave
A more expensive Control Magic variant, but one
that adds the backlash of losing life. The life
loss is so small, though, that I doubt it'll
ever matter much. So really, this is just a
black Control Magic that costs extra.
Confiscate, which costs the same and can take
anything on the board, doesn't see play, so why
should this? There are better choices for your
black deck.
In casual, just play Control Magic or something
instead.
In limited is where I would consider this card.
It gives you a creature advantage, your opponent
a creature disadvantage, and if the ground is
too cluttered to attack, you can just sit there
and let this kill them.
Constructed - 2
Casual - 2
Limited - 3.5
-David N
Enslave
Confiscate...in black. The only difference is
that it will also do 1 damage to you each turn.
This card's casting cost is pretty high. If you
want control stick with blue, if you are using
black might as well use removal/with recursion
than control. In limited this card might see
some play as it can deal with really big
creatures or something pesky you can't handle.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 2
Limited: 3
David Fanany
Enslave
It's a spectacular card to look at, but
unfortunately Enslave doesn't really have a
niche right now in constructed play. For just
one more mana, you can have Debtors' Knell,
which steals one creature every turn, and opens
the door to ridiculous tricks with Loxodon
Hierarch and Angel of Despair. The existence of
Damnation also means that graveyards are more
than likely to be full. Does that mean Enslave
will never be played? I don't think so - Control
Magic, Threads of Disloyalty, and Persuasion saw
play way back when (mainly in sideboards).
Expect to see mono-black control stealing Ohran
Vipers and red Akromas with this card once
Lorwyn is released. Enslave isn't stellar in
casual, as you have a huge array of alternatives
from Control Magic to Word of Command to
Threaten to Insurrection, but this effect is
rarely seen in black, so it's definitely worth a
shot. In limited, Enslave will usually suffer
from a lack of targets, so it's best picked late
(if at all) and left in your sideboard for when
someone drops a Plague Sliver or Spectral Force.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 2/5
Limited: 2/5
LennonMarx
Constructed
A bit to pricy and dependent on what your
opponent is playing. Once ravinica rotates and
if a Mono Black control style deck pops up, this
could be very useful. I like the card, and it
has strong potential, just now isn't the time
for it.
2/5
Casual
Yes. Take a fattie and make them take damage
every turn. Here your almost guaranteed to hit
an angel, or a dragon, or a demon, or some huge
cretaure, especially in multiplayer. Very nice
as a 2-3 of in a black control deck.
3.5/5
Limited
Removal that puts a clock on your opponent and
gives you their best guy, what's not to love. I
don't know that it's a first pick in draft, but
it's pretty darn high if youre in black.
4/5
PsychoAnime
The 1 damage to
its owner should not be very significant
considering you just
took control of your opponent's best creature
and you're going to win anyway.
So you pretty much you get a tuned down
Confiscate so I doubt this will see
constructed play. It simply costs too much and I
rather play something strong
that will win me the game for 6 mana than
waiting for my opponent to play
something strong that's not Akroma or Simic Sky
Swallower and then taking it
to win me the game.
In casual however, people like big creatures,
and people like taking big
creatures even more, and there won't be any
shortage of big creatures. It
also helps in bleeder decks as an answer to a
threat and adds to the bleed.
In limited, there's only 1 thing better than
removal, and that's taking the
creature instead of destroying it. Getting 6
mana here is also much easier.
Constructed: 2/5, again, just too slow.
Casual: 4/5, great fun!
Limited: 4.5/5
Arcane
Enslave
Constructed: Its use in constructed Magic will
all be defined by the question, is 6 mana too
expensive to remove a creature if it means
dealing damage to your opponent? Most creatures
it would just be easier to destroy outright then
bring over to your side and risk the chance of
your opponent getting it back. And it’s not like
black is lacking in power creatures right now so
the need to take creatures just isn’t there.
Blue would take creatures b/c they really didn’t
have the power on their own (and ran Confiscate
to take any permanent thus not relying on their
opponent’s strategy being creature based).
Casual/Multi: Casual and multiplayer games
usually take a long time and thus see a lot more
fat Timmy creatures in their play, making a lot
more tempting targets. And enslave lets you
damage multiple players at once, hitting one
player with the creature you stole and damaging
the player you stole it from. The risk being of
course that more people at the table have a
chance of disrupting your enslave or the
creature it’s on, so you might lose the creature
before you get a chance to swing with it.
Limited: If you don’t have a big fat bomb of
your own then take your opponent’s. Answers to
enchantments are definitely rarer in this format
making it likely you’ll hang onto that creature
for most if not the rest of the game. And there
are definitely going to be lots of games where
you face down an opposing dragon with nothing of
your own to stand up against it. A lot of
limited removal too is based on low toughness
creatures (rift bolt, strangling soot, erratic
mutation, etc.) so Enslave helps take out
creatures with toughness 5+.
Constructed: 1
Casual: 2.5
Limited: 4
The Missing
Linc
Enslave
Constructed: Stealing a creature of an opponents
is always good in a constructed group game. In
order for this to be effective in a dual you
would need this to have a lower casting cost.
The added bonus of the owner losing a life is
nice.
Casual: This card has some flavor and I think
most casual players will like this.
Limited: This is really a great card for limited
where the casting cost is not so much of a worry
as the game will likely go to the time you can
cast it and playing this card will be a good
turning point. If it was not for the double
black in it's casting cost, I may have rated
this a 5.
Constructed: 3 for group, 2 for dual
Casual: 3
Limited: 4
Necro
nomikron
Enslave:
Constructed: I could see it being a one or two
of maindeck in some control decks that run
black. I know a lot of decks run a random
confiscate, and this effectively does the same
thing. Not a bad card at all. Unfortunately
doesn't work on Akroma (White), but, Solar Flare
isn't very popular anymore, so, there ya go.
Casual: Steal the biggest creature on the board
and punish the owner for running that big fatty?
Sign me up!
Limited: Removal that not only takes it away
from my opponent, but gives it to me instead?
Sounds like a deal to me. If I see this in a
draft, and I'm doing black, I take it, no
questions asked.
