I... think I'm going to end up over-rating this
one. I'm telling you right now that I'm probably
giving this one more credit than it deserves.
Either that or I've recognized a sleeper bomb
that nobody else has, but something tells me
that if this card were as good as it look to me,
someone would have figured it out.
You see, when I look at this card, I see
something that looks quite a lot like Tarmogoyf.
Hear me out before you dismiss my opinions as
the ravings of a delusional idiot. This is a 1/1
for two mana that gives itself +1/+1 for each of
something that there could, in theory, be any
number of. Tarmogoyf counted different types of
cards, which effectively capped him at 8/9, and
is treated as one of the most powerful creatures
ever printed for an aggro deck. Wight of
Precinct Six counts creature cards, and the
average aggro deck runs a good 20 or 30 of
those-- even control decks often run 8 or 10. Am
I saying that this Wight is as powerful as
Tarmogoyf?
No. Tarmogoyf is as powerful as it is because it
counts ALL graveyards. You can cast an instant
or sorcery on turn one, preferably a tribal one
or a Duress to make an opponent discard
something, and have Tarmogoyf come down as a 2/3
for two that keeps getting bigger. You can build
your own deck to exploit Tarmogoyf. But with
Wight of Precinct Six, your own graveyard
doesn't count-- you have to depend on your
opponent to run enough creatures, and then you
have to kill or mill those creatures. Against a
creature-light deck, you may have
to sideboard this out.
The Wight gets better in any format that
supports a lot of creature-based decks,
especially Limited and Multiplayer. But be aware
that you may have to sideboard it out sometimes,
or else you may find it doesn't live up to your,
or my, expectations.
I have to be honest, readers: I never really got
into the style of deck that just attacks the
opponent's library and has no other path to
victory. I kind of feel naked without some kind
of creature on the table in front of me,
regardless of whether I'm playing aggro or
control. Fortunately, we're starting to see
cards that take advantage of milling without
forcing you to renounce every other type of
card, and cards that play well with milling but
don't force you into a linear deck. Wight of
Precinct Six is the epitome of that type of
card. He can be hit and miss at times, but he
can also be a black Tarmogoyf, and he works with
either Dimir's milling or black's more
traditional weapons of discard effects and
Terror variants - well worth the mana cost, I'd
think.
Today's card of the day is Wight of Precinct
Six which is a two mana Black 1/1 zombie that
gets +1/+1 for each creature in the graveyards
of opponents. This is a decent card for
zombie, mill, or mono-Black decks as even with
two creatures in an opposing graveyard it is a
two mana 3/3. As the game goes on it only
gets better, though not having Intimidate or
another effect keeps it from being a true
finisher. With or without support it is
playable and will likely be seen in a variety of
formats, predominantly Multiplayer where it can
enter play at leviathan size with ease.
In Limited this can often be a weak card to have
in your opening hand and generally isn't worth
playing until several turns in at least, as
anything below a 4/4 or more is wasting the
potential while putting it at greater risk for
removal. It is a solid topdeck later,
though the lack of other effects remains a key
weakness as nearly anything can block it.
Even as a two mana 2/2 it is an automatic
inclusion in Sealed and a second or third pick
in Booster as the low cost threat aspect
overrides the slightly situational nature in a
creature driven format.
