Monoblack aggro these days is all about
Vampires. Nantuko Shade is a powerful card, but
I wonder if it'll find a deck that wants it. It
can grow frighteningly large and make opponents
furrow their brow as they try to find an optimal
blocking scenario that doesn't exist-- if you're
willing to spend most or all your mana for the
turn pumping it. On the one hand, that usually
results in you getting to kill an opponent's
creature or dealing him massive damage. On the
other hand, you may not have the mana you need
to cast spells that turn. It's definitely an
aggro card. When you've already got a creature
on the board that's as big as you need it to be,
you don't need more spells. Usually.
A very famous piece of flavor text from Torment
reads "Empires rise and fall, but evil is
eternal." So is Nantuko Shade. Don't be afraid
of the heavy commitment to the color that he
demands; don't be afraid of his one toughness
during everyone else's turn. Make your opponents
afraid of what happens during your combat step,
and party like it's 2002.
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Nantuko
Shade
Well, Well, Well, today's card of the day is
one of the more interesting reprints to come out
of M11. Nantuko Shade is a powerful card for
mono black decks and should not be played almost
anywhere else. In standard this card along with
Grave Titan could push Mono Black Control into
the limelight, the powerful pump ability makes
it a good early beater or a late game finisher.
In extended I can see this card receiving a fair
amount of play in Mono Black decks and and decks
utilizing Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth and a solid
black base. In eternal this card see's a fair
share of play in Mono Black builds and Eva green
decks the reprinting only makes it easier for
players to get their hands on. In casual and
multiplayer it can take out numerous players and
can be combined with Cabal Coffers for immense
damage, its also a great early or late drop. In
limited its a money card albeit not a great one,
it requires a heavy commitment to black but if
you can do it go for it.
Today's card of the day is an old favorite
Nantuko Shade which for a casting cost of two
Black is a 2/1 that can be given +1/+1 for one
Black until end of turn. This is a very
efficient pumpable creature when usually the
effect costs several additional mana either in
the initial cost or in the payment.
Intelligent use of the timing can keep your
opponent guessing and this will see play for the
duration of standard in aggressive Black decks
next to cards like Vampire Nighthawk.
For Limited this is a great card with a bit of a
drawback of needing a pretty dedicated Black
deck to be played on the second or even third
turn reliably, plus supported with enough mana
to be pumped throughout the game. Played
early or late this is a good draw, so it is
worth including and an excellent first pick in
Booster for the usefulness in any stage of the
game. In Sealed if you have the pool run
as much Black as possible and play this, you
likely won't be disappointed.
