Once he comes down, he's a Runeclaw Bear. Even
if you paid the kicker, he's a 2/2 for 3 mana
once your opponent's creature has been sacked.
Once in play, his only usefulness is alongside
Vampire tribe enablers.
But he's worth playing, if only because he's a
black deck's only answer to Great Sable Stag or
White Knight. And he is one less creature for
your opponent and one more creature for you in
one card, so it's card advantage.
I don't care what anyone says, I always liked
Cruel Edict. This is arguably a step up;
Nekrataal was considered anywhere from good to
insane in its day, and the Gatekeeper is still
"live" even against the likes of Great Sable
Stag. Being a vampire is just gravy.
Constructed: Blacks one main answer
to anything that is pro black, Great Sable Stage
etc. A lot of good black cards require Dark
Ritual mana to work on first turn. Three black
is always a key number.
Casual & Multiplayer:
Go Vampires. Good unncommon for any new player
or casual player.
Limited: This is a top
creature pick for black. Black is real strong
with creature removal in Zendikar limited. If
one shows up I would pick it up. Vampires work
real good together, just have to open up at
least 6 or more for sealed or draft as many as
possible.
Overall a great unncommon.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Multiplayer: 3
Limited: 4
Later
Miguel
Paul
Magic The Gathering COTD: Gatekeeper of Malakir
Welcome back readers today’s card of the day
is the powerful tool for vampire decks, a cruel
edict with a body. For two black mana you get a
2/2 creature decent but the kicker ability is
obviously why this card see’s a fair amount of
play, by paying an extra black mana you make
target player sacrifice a creature. A powerful
ability as removal is always great and sacrifice
gets around indestructibility as well as things
such as shroud and the like. Triple black mana
limits the playability of the card but its most
significant amount of play is in mono black
vampires so the casting cost is not a big
hindrance. In standard gatekeeper is a must play
in competitive vampire builds due to the fact it
is removal and can chump or swing for x amount
of damage. Other decks sporting black may not
have the mana requirements to make this an
effective card. In extended vampires have not
made a big impact yet but with rotation in quite
a while that may change. In eternal formats the
only vampire seeing play is the efficient
bloodghast and I see it staying that way for
quite a while. In casual and multiplayer being
able to hit the player whose creatures are the
biggest threat at the table is a powerful
ability and if they only have one big creature
it doesn’t matter how indestructible it may be.
Vampires are good choice for multiplayer as it
only takes one player to be at 10 or less life
for the ferocity to be unleashed on all players.
In limited its removal take it if you dedicated
black and to start a vampire subtheme very
powerful.
Today's card of the day is Gatekeeper of
Malakir a potentially three mana 2/2 with a
Cruel Edict effect. This is a very solid
creature for the cost, but is limited to
mono-Black builds. The sacrifice effect can get
around otherwise unkillable targets, but any
other options for your opponent allow them to
keep their preferred creature.
In Constructed, Casual, and Multiplayer this
is a solid card for mono-Black and is very much
worth playing when supported with other removal
or vampires. A creature plus removal in one is
efficient and card advantage as you get the
effect, removal of an opponent's creature, and a
creature of your own for just three mana.
For Limited the all Black mana cost is
crippling as the format tends towards at least
two or more colors. In a two color deck, evenly
divided, this won't be playable with the effect
until around your sixth mana source. Being
forced to play this for two may happen more
often and that turns this into a harder to cast
vanilla 2/2. In Sealed despite this being
removal it is quite weak unless the land base is
predominantly Black mana. In Booster draft if
going for a mono-Black deck these should be
picked up whenever they come around the table
and will likely be passed by anyone not playing
the color.
