Any player with an ounce of sense will take the
4 damage. If they don't the Devil will swing for
4 damage every turn until they find a kill spell
or a big enough blocker. And even then it's
Fling fodder or a decent blocker in its own
right. Still, one mana to make your opponent
cringe and say "okay, I'll take the 4" isn't
bad. Even better in multiplayer, where you get
to make all your opponents look at each other
nervously and play a little game of Chicken in
each other's eyes-- and if nobody blinks, you
might get a 4/3 for one mana. Of course, if you
really want to find a way to abuse this card,
Pandemonium, Juniper Order Ranger, or Morbid
triggers would be a good place to start.
When Dave Price was winning world-level events
with his Sligh deck back in 1997, I wonder if he
could ever have dreamed that one day aggressive
red decks would have access to plays like this.
If you'd printed a one-mana sorcery that dealt
four damage to a player in Alpha, it probably
would have been out of print in the late 1990s.
The same goes for a 4/3 for one mana.
Ironically, the kind of Dave Price-style deck
that wants creatures like this hasn't been
particularly good in competitive Magic recently,
but if any card has a chance of resurrecting
them, Vexing Devil is it. Even if it doesn't,
there's always Blood Artist and the like.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
Vexing Devil a powerful creature that more often
than not is just a better Lava Spike most of the
time just going to players faces early in the
game. In standard most decks running red and
going for the burn approach should run this card
providing a decent body sometimes or a powerful
burn spell is amazing. In extended and modern
even with the plethora of powerful burn cards
available I still think this card is nuts even
if your opponent gets to choose the effect this
card is still nuts, providing a body when your
opponent can deal with it or 4 damage to the
face when your opponent thinks he or she can
spare the life its still everything a burn deck
could use making it an awesome card in my book.
In legacy there are much better burn cards
available for decks I could foresee this seeing
a small amount of play but overall I don’t think
it will make much of a dent in legacy. In
vintage this card is not good enough to make it
into main decks or sideboards barring some
unlikely situation. In casual and multiplayer
its not as good but combined with Torpor Orb you
get a 4/3 for a single mana and with other cards
with bad enter the battle field triggers you
could have a fun deck. In limited its decent in
aggressive red decks. Overall a card I feel is
completely underrated and provides an amazing
power boost to red decks.
Today's card of the day is Vexing Devil which
is a one mana Red 4/3 that any opponent can
force to be sacrificed by having it deal four
damage to them. Early on most opponents
will just take the four damage which is
acceptable for a burn theme as it exceeds a
Lightning Bolt, but reduces the potential
compared to creatures over time. The
middle and later stages of the game may see
larger creatures or removal as a response, which
can be overcome with support. With the low
cost of one to cast this it should not be
difficult to attach an available equipment to
improve the odds of survival. Overall this
is a strong card for Red decks, particularly
direct damage based, and will likely be more
popular in older formats than newer as a larger
pool of burn is available to make a dedicated
build.
For Limited this is almost always going to be
four damage to the opponent or rarely absorb a
removal spell, which makes it quite powerful.
One mana creatures are generally useful even if
this one doesn't manage an attack and it works
as support for Morbid. A solid first pick
in Booster and a good starting point for a Red
focus or sub-theme in Sealed.
Welcome to the
Pojo.com card of the day section. We are closing
out our week looking at Vexing Devil from Avacyn
Restored. Vexing Devil is a rare red creature
devil that costs one red mana for a 4/3. When
Vexing Devil enters the battlefield, any
opponent may have it deal four damage to him or
her, if a player does, sacrifice Vexing Devil.
Hard to say how I feel about the Vexing Devil. I do
really enjoy the fact that regardless, you
should be able to assign four damage with the
Vexing Devil. But the problem is most players
will choose the initial four damage. There are
ways around it, but then you have to use two
spells to keep him out, and in multiplayer, that
is still not guaranteed. But I have also learned
to fear him being allowed to stay. I’ve played
him only to see him Path to Exiled, or Oblivion
Ringed right off my field. Perhaps some of the
best advice I can offer is use him late game,
never as a first turn drop. Sure, four damage
first turn may seem nice, but four damage late
game could well be the deciding factor, so his
chance of hitting the table are great. That, and
late game you could have the determining factors
in place already. Should you have a Mikeaus the
Unhallowed out, they would have to pay eight
life for him to stay gone. Then if you have out
Warstorm Surge, they would be taking four
anyways, and would likely not want to deal with
eight damage.
