This thing is a 6/6 flyer for seven, that
effectively "casts" Diabolic Tutor when you play
it. The biggest problem with Diabolic Tutor is
that you pay four mana to go get a card, but you
haven't actually impacted the board or hindered
your opponent-- you just spent an extra card and
your fourth turn to go get whatever you'll be
doing on your fifth turn. Rune-Scarred Demon
will never have that problem, because no matter
what you get, you also have a 6/6 flyer as well.
Nobody would ever Diabolic Tutor for a Diabolic
Tutor, but casting Rune-Scarred Demon to go get
a second Rune-Scarred Demon is a perfectly good
play, because then you'll have two flying
Demonic bodies in the air. In fact, you could
build an air force by chaining Rune-Scarred
Demons, and still use your last one to fetch
whatever you want!
Regular readers probably remember that there's
no bigger fan than me of spell-like effects
attached to a creature. Rune-Scarred Demon
brings along one of the most powerful spells of
all time, but it comes rather late - will the
card you search for still matter at seven
mana? I wouldn't use him in combo decks, as if
you manage to cast him it'll probably be more
attractive to just attack than do whatever he
searched for. I could see a niche for him in
control decks, despite having less of an impact
than Grave Titan. You might use him as another
layer of inevitability, to search for another
finisher, if you think your opponent has
Celestial Purge. Time will tell, I suppose.
Magic The Gathering Card of the Day: Rune
Scarred Demon
Welcome back readers as we continue to review
the newest core set cards. Today’s card of the
day is Rune Scarred Demon a Demonic Tutor
stapled to a 6/6 flying creature for the bargain
price of seven mana. In standard six mana is the
current level of highly playable creatures
namely the titans and Wurmcoil Engine. Solely
comparing this to existing cards does not a good
review make, the ability to tutor for a needed
singleton or another backbreaking bomb can be
devastating but I currently can’t think of any
decks especially those running black that would
run this over Grave Titan or even Wurmcoil
Engine. In extended the same principle applies
although this card could see a small percent of
play. In eternal it’s expensive but could see
mucho play in Dream Halls style deck. In casual
and multiplayer this is a near perfect card a
bomb for the kitchen table and EDH games it is a
reasonably threatening body and a tutor in one
package making its combo potential great with
flicker effects or just grabbing relevant cards
from your deck. In limited this is a nuclear
bomb grabbing another solid threat or much
needed spell and being able to fly at opponents
for six? Sigh me up. Overall a modestly powerful
card that may see competitive but will see
casual play forever.
Today's card of the day is Rune-Scarred Demon
which is a seven mana 6/6 Black creature with
Flying and has the Demonic Tutor effect of
searching your library for any card and adding
it to your hand when it comes into
play. Demonic Tutor has long been
restricted or even banned in the few
formats it can be played in and the newer
version Diabolic Tutor costs four mana.
This demon having the effect for no added mana
cost and no penalty makes it a bargain and card
advantage where the Tutors are not.
The cost for this is a bit high, but with only
two Black to deal with it can be used in decks
using artifacts or Green for acceleration.
Playing a 6/6 with Flying followed by another
major threat on the next turn or preferably
something to combo with it will often win games.
Overall this may see some use as part of a combo
and could even make it on the tournament scene,
though mono-Black will generally use a lower
curve.
In Limited a large creature, with Flying, card
advantage, and no drawback that can be played
easily in multicolor decks is about as good as
it gets. An easy first pick in Booster and
should always be a serious consideration in
Sealed barring a truly unplayable Black pool.
This will absolutely win games when something
useful remains in your library and the slower
format should allow it to see play in most games
it is drawn.
Welcome to a new week
of reviews here at Pojo.com. To kick this week
off we are looking at Rune-Scarred Demon from
M12. Rune-Scarred Demon is a 6/6 flier for five
generic and two black mana. The Rune-Scarred
Demon also has a built in Diabolic Tutor when it
enters the battlefield, allowing you to search
your library for a card and put it into your
hand, and then shuffle your library.
While a little over priced, I think this card is fun. Since
most demons hurt you, it is nice to see one that
helps you in some capacity. Even if it is just
searching for a card. I think that the cost
could have been reduced to six mana though.
Still a 6/6 flier in black for seven with any ability
that doesn’t involve killing yourself is a good
thing. Not anything that will likely be blowing
doors off pro play, or a card people are
tripping over themselves to get, just a decent
card.
