I find it hard to understand why this card is
considered so good in limited, but for some
reason, it is. When I have had it, I have felt
that the mana pressure it creates is as bad for
me as it is for my opponent even though I
realize my opponent gets to deal with it a turn
sooner than me. Still, I’m just not FEELING this
card, for whatever reason. I DO get that a six
toughness for four mana is pretty hard to say no
to in limited. I could imagine this card being
good in constructed somehow, maybe as a white
sideboard card against aggressive decks with
lots of creatures. You could play it,
immediately have a big blocker while slowing
down your opponent’s ability to do things. Aggro
decks run less mana, too, so Magus could really
shut them down, giving your white control deck
more time to find cards like Wrath of God.
CONSTRUCTED: 3.5
CASUAL: 3.5
LIMITED: 3.0
Aethereal
Thursday -
Magus of the Tabernacle
Tabernacle of Pendrell Vale on a stick. This is
a potential option to use in U/W sideboards over
Porphyry Nodes. It comes out a lot later than
Nodes does, but sticks around, and is hard to
kill to boot. In a U/W control, though, I'd
probably play Magus of the Disk before I played
this, because he does more than just deal with
creatures. Magus of the Disk doesn't really see
that much play right now, so I don't think this
guy will either.
In casual, I'd rather play the original, because
it doesn't cost 4 mana.
In limited, it's a bit expensive for a 2/6, and
the ability is one of those "I'll kick you while
you're down" abilities. It's better than some of
the other cards this week, though, and good
against aggressive decks, so it's worth
considering.
Constructed - 2.5
Casual - 2
Limited - 3
David Fanany
Magus of the
Tabernacle
I'm a big fan of this card, though in the
interests of balance I should point out that he
has a couple of significant disadvantages
compared to the original Tabernacle at Pendrell
Vale. As a creature, the Magus is easier to
remove, and that also means his static ability
affects himself. On the other hand, if you're a
control deck, would you pay one mana every turn
for a creature that blocks Scab-Clan Mauler and
Paladin en-Vec, and requires two or more burn
spells to be taken down without getting hit by a
Rumbling Slum in the same turn? And if he made
your opponent pay to keep his Maulers, Paladins,
and Slums (and Llanowar Elves!), slowing him
down from playing more threats and giving you
time to draw your Akroma? I think that's a
pretty good deal, which is why I think Magus of
the Tabernacle could find a niche in W/x control
decks, as a sort of white Carven Caryatid. He is
an all-star in multiplayer, when there are so
many more players to tax. Don't be surprised,
though, if he turns you into a lightning magnet.
He also destroys that Ambush Commander deck
that's been annoying you. In limited, he does
what he does in constructed except even more so.
He blocks anything short of Spectral Force, he's
difficult to remove without incurring card
disadvantage, and he punishes your opponent for
overextending almost as good as Damnation. Play
him.
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 5/5
LennonMarx
Magus of the
Tabernacle
Constructed
This might well have a place in some kind of
creatureless or near creaturless control build,
though im not sure if this would beat out
Porphyry Nodes or not. In any case, this has
sideboard potential against weenie decks. You
get a 2/6 blocker, and they either lock down
their resources or lose their team. The only
trouble is they can still swing in with what
they have left, trading one guy for 6-8 points
of damage, then burn you out next turn, or some
such sillyness. On second thought, just play
wrath, and if youre looking for something beyond
wrath, look to his Disc bretheren first.
2/5
Casual
More opponents equals more taped land to pay for
creatures, and more guys gunning for your dude.
It might be a bit pricy, but you might as well
play The Taberncale at Pendral Vale over this,
as it is harder to kill and cant be countered.
1.5/5
Limited
Im not really sure about this guy here..
Creatures win limited games, and this makes a
large number of creatures hard to keep around,
both for you and your opponent. If youre vastly
behind, this might help even it out, but it will
also make it harder for you to come back. It
still is removal though, with a nice body
attached, so it isn't all bad, and it's likely
playable.
2.5/5
PsychoAnime
Review by PsychoAnime
I'm going to say it now, I quite like this card.
It has a big enough body to defend against one
attacker and it's ability
takes care for a swarm of attackers. But it
ruins your creatures as well! Hey,
if you're running this, you better not be
running a lot of creatures anyway.
Now now, although I like this card, I don't want
to be biased. It's only
effective against aggro, but by turn 4, you're
already in a dangerously low
amount of life and any burn can finish you off.
However, White can gain life,
so it's still ok.
I can't really think of any disadvantage that
will make this completely
unplayable, so for now, I'll give it a decent
score.
Constructed: 3/5, I think it's usable, though
not as power as I would like it
Casual: 3/5, I like it and it works nicely with
Hokori, the Dust Drinker.
Limited: 1.5/5, It's a big wall although it's
ability isn't as nice here.
Arcane
Magus of the
Tabernacle
Constructed: 2/6 for 4 mana makes a pretty
decent wall for control based decks, and if he’s
one of the only creatures out in play for you
his ability isn’t really going to hurt you all
that much, while causing your opponent to commit
more creatures to the board (and thus spend more
mana to keep those creatures out) to actually be
able to hit you. The most ideal situation I
could see using this card is where you can play
him then Bust (of Boom & Bust) then play a land
to be able to him around next turn, then watch
as your opponent fails to be able to pay for his
creatures. Shuts down a lot of weenie or token
based strategies preventing them from being able
to keep the sheer numbers in play that they need
to. Honestly though in constructed if you want
to destroy your opponents creatures you play
Wrath, you don’t give your opponent the choice
to keep them around or not, probably find its
best home in sideboards against the above
strategies.
Casual/Multi: This card sounds like a great idea
for a multiplayer game where you make your
opponents pay for their creatures they want to
commit to the board, but in my experience taxing
effects like this one are one of those abilities
that just cause players to just groan and all
want to gang up on you, so be prepared to defend
yourself in some way. Redeeming it slightly
though is the fact that it is (in a limited way)
a form of recursive creature kill, the only
problem is that if their creature is big and
powerful enough they’ll just pay the one and
smash you with the fatty, or if their creature
has a graveyard effect (like Yosei or Kokusho)
they’ll just laugh and thank you.
Limited: Creatures accumulate on the board
pretty quickly leading to creature stalemates as
you nor your opponent feels like committing to
the red zone, this can change that stalemate
slightly by reducing the overall numbers of
creatures in play, and force both players to
attack (or lose creatures) more if they want to
play any more spells, and if you have more mana
than your opponent this is going to mean you
have more creatures that will stick in play. I
can’t think of any major limited combos with
this card off the top of my head, but I’m sure
there’s one. Not the best rare you want to be
pulling in PC but still not a bad pick.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 2
Limited: 3.5
The Missing
Linc
Magus of the
Tabernacle
A 2/6 body tacked on to a really decent ability
will likely make this card see play. I have
already put it into my boom/bust land
destruction deck. If I can destroy all lands,
this really works as a wrath of god. Even when
they are land shy, it keeps the rush away. In
limited, while it's ability may not be something
anyone really wants, it is still a 2/6 ground
blocker. With many a toughness at 2 in this
limited environment, it is a solid pick.
Constructed: 4
Casual:4
Limited: 4
Necro
nomikron
Magus of the
Tabernacle:
Constructed wise, this card can be a pretty good
sideboard card. It is a big blocker and hurts
opponents that try to creature rush you. You
stall their plans while just paying a measy 1
mana per turn to keep the magus alive.
Casual: Big table, lots of creatures? Slam this
thing down and watch everyone panic. However,
this thing makes you a big target by the guy
with 20 goblins on the table. Thankfully,
however, said 20 goblins won't be around for
very long, or at least the person playing them
will have problems doing anything else while
it's down.
Limited: Ehh, not really. You're going to be
running a lot of creatures yourself.
