A 6/6 with swampwalk will occasionally find
itself up against a Black Mage who chose Doom
Blade as his removal of choice, and just knock
them out of the game before they can even
register that a big ugly bug witch is wailing on
them. But even if Sheoldred never swings, she
can put away games. You drop her, and say go.
Unless your opponent can kill her at the end of
your turn, his upkeep rolls around and he
sacrifices a creature. Now, he might untap, draw
a kill spell, and just off that thing right then
and there, but he still lost a creature and a
kill spell-- a 2-for-1. And if your opponent
fails to do so, on your turn Sheoldred brings
one of your guys back to play. Now, even if your
opponent kills Sheoldred in combat, there's
still the little matter of whatever you
reanimated. Hopefully it was something good that
you discarded earlier for that very purpose, but
even if it was just a Blistergrub, Sheoldred's
dividends are growing. Every turn that goes by,
your opponent loses another creature, and you
reanimate another one. His army dwindles while
yours is rebuilt. The whole affair is about as
Phyrexian as it gets.
To me, New Phyrexia is more interesting than old
Phyrexia, as it has evolved along all five axes
of the color wheel and is much more diverse and
complex. Having said that, the first Praetor
we're examining is the one representing
Phyrexia's more traditional alignment. Sheoldred is
terrifying to basically any opponent who plays
creatures, and just as terrifying to anyone who
tries to kill your creatures. She also occupies
a special niche, ironically alongside Reya
Dawnbringer, as a reanimation target who
reanimates allies herself. I expect her to be
adopted in casual play right away, and perhaps
in constructed play further down the line.
Today's card of the day is Sheoldred,
Whispering One which is a seven mana 6/6
legendary with Swampwalk that returns creatures
from your graveyard to play and has each
opponent sacrifice a creature during their
turns. The cost is high, but this is a
really powerful card and has no hidden penalty
preventing it from being brought in through
another card's effect. The Swampwalk would
almost be negligible aside from Evil Presence
being reprinted in the same set giving a
slightly inefficient option for unblockable
damage. The other two effects are pure
card advantage with the second being
impressively so in Multiplayer. Mono-Black
sacrifice would have no shortage of creatures in
the graveyard and is likely to benefit from the
additional sacrifice made during the opponent's
upkeep as well. Overall a truly impressive
endgame threat for Black that quickly changes
the condition of the battlefield and justifies
the high cost.
For Limited this a major bomb that is manageable
for most decks as it only has two Black in the
casting cost. It should be very difficult
to remove with six toughness and the Legendary
status is unlikely to be a penalty in the
format. The card advantage it offers and
potential for Swampwalk to be beneficial,
especially if Evil Presence is drafted, makes it
a number one pick in Booster and clear choice
for Sealed builds barring extreme circumstances.
Welcome to yet another
awesome preview from New Phyrexia here at
Pojo.com. Today we take a look at Sheoldred,
Whispering One. Sheoldred is one of the
Legendary Praetors. Sheoldred happens to be the
black Praetor, and one of my favorite Praetors.
For seven mana, five generic and two black,
Sheoldred, Whispering One hit’s the board.
Sheoldred is a 6/6 with swamp walk, and some
other nasty abilities. At the beginning of your
upkeep, return target creature from your
graveyard to the battlefield, and at the
beginning of each opponents upkeep, they
sacrifice a creature. Now that is how a
legendary creature should operate.
So much power, and only for seven mana. Theoretically able to
be pulled off on turn one, more commonly able to
happen on turn three. That would be two Dark
rituals and another swamp. Regardless of how
Sheoldred ends up on the board, once there it
becomes a different game. The fact that now you
can sacrifice creatures and not worry, since it
comes back, means cards like Lord of the Pit and
Xathrid Demon have limitless ammunition. Not to
mention that her second ability will have your
opponents resources gradually depleting.
Definitely worth the mana, as Sheoldred has several ways to
exploit her abilities. And what is best about
Sheoldred? You can score a free one! How you may
be asking? By finding and going to your local
Prerelease event for New Phyrexia! That’s right,
Sheoldred is the promotional card for
participating at a New Phyrexia Prerelease. So
make sure you get your hands on the alternate
art foil Sheoldred, Whispering One, next
weekend, May 7th and 8th.
