The biggest significance of Deceiver Exarch is
that it acts as a replacement for Pestermite in
the famous Kiki-Jiki combo. But because it costs
exactly the same as Pestermite, it serves only
as redundancy. As a 1/4 with no evasion, it is
no better at attacking than Pestermite, though
if you've made infinite copies of it that hardly
matters. And it denies you the option of tapping
your own permanents or untapping an opponent's,
for whatever reason you may find. If you're not
using it as a combo, it's about as useless as
Pestermite was outside of combos. Only Deceiver
Exarch isn't surrounded by cards that reawrd you
for playing creatures of its type like
Pestermite was.
Even if there was no opportunity for this guy to
go "infinite" with Splinter Twin, I'd play him
anyway. Throwing him down at the end of your
opponent's first main phase, thus tapping an
attacker and most likely blanking another for a
mini-Cryptic Command, is strong enough. Using
him to lock down an opponent's counterspell mana
at the end of their turn, or using it during
their upkeep to block the second colored mana
they need for a Titan, doubles his utility. If
you dip into to older sets, you can find him
with Mystical Teachings and recur him with
Reveillark. What's not to like?
Welcome back readers today we are reviewing
Pestermite err I mean Deceiver Exarch a lynchpin
of a highly successful standard deck Splinter
Twin. For three mana you get a 1/4 body decent
sized flash means it can strike when opponents
least expect it and of course the cards ability
allows for infinite tokens combined with
Splinter Twin. In standard I am happy to see a
popular combo deck I mean a real combo deck not
something pseudo combo deck such as Valakut.
This card is powerful and popular in standard
and I can perhaps see it making a showing in
extended eventually. In eternal I don’t think
this card has the chops but perhaps ran in
tandem with Kiki Jiki and Pestermite so you are
not railroaded by Cabal Therapy or Extipirate.
In casual and multiplayer it allows for some
interesting combos or a solid body and tap
effect to keep opponents off your back, the
combo potential I feel is the greatest. In
limited it requires at least a splash of blue
but it’s a good filler card a solid body and the
possibility of combat tricks shouldn’t be
overlooked. Overall a powerful piece of a combo
and not too shabby in its own right.
Today's card of the day is Deceiver Exarch
which is a three mana 1/4 Blue creature with
Flash that allows you to tap an opponent's
permanent or untap a permanent you control when
it comes into play. The four toughness
makes it difficult to kill with burn and it is
part of a very effective combo with Splinter
Twin. The effect is useful, but not
repeatable without support which is limiting and
leaves it as a somewhat effective blocker with
minor offensive options. The cost is fair
for the effect and creature you get, plus it
excels as part of the combination which makes it
playable by itself and a strong basis for the
deck. Overall this is something to keep an
eye on and prepare instant speed removal or
countermagic for as it is likely at least some
people will be playing a deck with the concept
in local tournaments.
In Limited a three mana 1/4 isn't going to be an
offensive powerhouse, but playing it before an
opponent's attack with Flash to tap a large
creature then have it ready for your turn is an
effective move. The toughness is quite
nice for the format and it can survive several
rounds blocking Infect or other creatures which
makes it valuable even after using the effect.
Disperse and Vapor Snag work to reset the
ability, but unless the opponent has their own
comes into play effect to take advantage of, or
you have a card with a tap ability, you will
probably be better off returning their creature
to hand instead. While not a top draft
pick in Booster it is a fairly versatile support
card both there and in Sealed and just one Blue
in the cost makes it viable for multi-color
decks.
Welcome to
another card of the day review for you here at
Pojo.com. Today we take a look at Deceiver
Exarch from New Phyrexia. Deceiver Exarch is a
1/ 4 Blue creature that costs two generic and a
blue mana. The Deceiver Exarch, like all the
other Exarchs, has two abilities when it enters
the battlefield for you to choose which to use.
The first is whenever it enters the battlefield,
untap target permanent you control, the second
is whenever it enters the battlefield, tap
target permanent an opponent controls.
While the second ability is nice, and can open a lane
for an attack, it is the first ability that gets
all the attention. The first ability could
easily set up a combo that lets you put as many
creatures on the battlefield as you want. The
combo involves Deceiver Exarch and Splinter
Twin. The Deceiver Exarch with the splinter Twin
taps copying itself, the copy targets the
enchanted Deceiver Exarch, which you can tap
again, etc. But for what purpose? The combo is
fun in standard, but only reaches its fullest
potential in vintage. With Pandemonium out, this
combo will end the game. The hard part is
keeping creatures off of your Exarch. But with a
toughness of four, and running blue for
counters, I’m sure you’ll figure that out.
Easily a fun card, even if it is used just to untap a Titan
Forge allowing you to drop a 9/9 a turn sooner.
