Compare this to Meddling Mage. On the one hand,
this doesn't need to hit the board before the
card it's trying to censor. If your opponent
casts Jace, the Mind Sculptor, you can drop one
of these and nullify it. You dont' have to worry
about guessing the right card-- you can wait
until your opponent shows you the thing you're
worried about.
On the other hand, the Revoker only stops
activated abilities. Name Steel Hellkite, and it
still gets to swing for 5. Name Grand Architect,
and you've hindered your opponent's mana
acceleration but not the +1/+1 bonus to blue
creatures. Name Sword of Body and Mind, and your
opponent can't equip it to a creature, but the
creature already wielding it isn't stopped at
all. Name any instant or sorcery... and your
opponent laughs at you and then casts the spell
you named with no hindrance whatsoever.
Basically, this card is useful as a sideboarded
answer to planeswalkers, or maybe a few other
cards that depend on activated abilities, but
not much more. Sure, a 2/1 for two isn't bad,
but it sort of is when you realize how easy it
is for your opponent to kill the Revoker and get
his planeswalker back. Any amount of damage, or
any card capable of destroying an artifact or a
creature will do it. Crush and Go for the Throat
are the only things in Standard that fail to
kill this thing.
I've heard it argued any ability becomes better
when you put it in a creature's text box,
because at least it attacks for two (or
whatever). Personally, I always thought the
non-creature versions (Blood Moon, Phyrexian
Arena) were a little underrated after the
release of the creature versions (Magus of the
Moon, Graveborn Muse) - they're harder to kill.
Either way, Phyrexian Revoker is likely to find
a role somewhere. Not only is it the only effect
of this type available to Standard players, it
fits right into the Steel Overseer deck's
aggressive curve.
Well hello Pithing Needle with legs
good to see you. In standard
and extended this will see a fair
amount of play as it shuts
down planeswalkers such as big
bad Jace The Mind Sculptor and
other creatures such as
Noble Hierarch tapping for mana, the
fact it can beatdown for two points
of damage is not bad either.
In eternal another Pithing Needle is
important and one with the body of Dark
Confident is even better it
can shut down Mox and Lotus and
Tezzerett it’s a powerful card. In
casual and multiplayer it can
cripple one player or multiple if
they are playing similar cards, or if
they are playing a general in EDH
such as Azami. It’s a small
fragile creature so don’t expect it
to stick around long. In limited its
an ok beater that can shut down some
of the opponents cards and is a
sought after card from the
set, take that for what it’s
worth. Overall a powerful card
that will see play in a
variety of formats.
Today's card of the day is Phyrexian Revoker
which is a two mana 2/1 with an effect similar
to Pithing Needle which gives it the advantage
of being able to deal damage with the added
weakness of being far more vulnerable to
removal. Pithing Needle was an excellent
and extremely popular card and this should see a
ton of play in sidedecks if nothing else.
Overall a bargain for the price as it can deal
the two damage for the two mana and disrupt a
key component of combo decks or a big threat.
For Limited it can be difficult to guess what
your opponent may have in their deck in the
first game of a match before it gets played, but
afterwards you can name anything that proved to
be a threat. Even if the effect is never a
factor a two mana colorless 2/1 is quite
playable in the format, so it should always be
included in a Sealed build. For Booster
this does warrant a first pick as it can buy
time against threats or simply attack if the
early advantage making it a decent draw in any
stage of the game.
Welcome back to pojo.com’s Card of the
Day. Today we take a look at the Phyrexian
Revoker. The Phyrexian Revoker costs 2 generic
mana for a 2/1. While that is a deal in most
scenarios, it gets even better with the
Phyrexian Revoker. The Phyrexian Revoker’s
ability is when it comes into play, name a
non-land permanent. Activated abilities of the
named permanent cannot be activated. So let me
first go and explain what an “activated ability”
is. An activated ability is any ability with a
cost that is separated by a colon. Cost could
mean anything from tapping to paying mana,
sacrificing, etc. This shuts down toms (tap
deals one damage), mana producers, including
Eldrazi spawns. However, there is something else
that uses activated abilities, Planeswalkers.
That’s right for two mana you literally shut
down any troublesome planeswalker.
In standard right now that could mean
stopping control decks relying on Gideon Jura,
or Jace, the Mind Sculptor. It of course shuts
down some other nasty things, but they seem to
be by far the worst.
In vintage, I think that people would
still prefer the Meddling Mage as far as
lockdown. But a creature version of a Pithing
Needle is still just as nice. Which in
actuality, the Phyrxian Revoker is better than
the Pithing Needle, since Pithing Needle doesn’t
stop mana abilities, while the Phyrexian Revoker
does.
Simply put, being able to just stop a
Planeswalker from working is most impressive,
and stopping creature abilities can be easier
solved with Linvala, Keeper of Silence.
