Protection from a color is always a pretty sweet
ability, as it's both evasion and an active
defense against removal spells. The Baron has
protection from two colors-- the two that have
the most removal spells between them-- in a
multicolor block where seven out of ten guilds
have one color or the other in them. Lifelink
also means that you'll be generating an
advantage with every attack even if your
opponent has something that can block it. A 4/4
with evasion and lifelink, that's as hard to
kill as the Baron, would be an excellent play
for 3WB even without its last ability. Once that
triggers, there's really no hope left for your
opponent.
I know it's probably not reasonable to expect
complete consistency in creature types between
visits to a setting years apart, but I feel that
the recent revisits did raise some questions
they haven't addressed at all. Where were the
Phyrexian Sliths and Atogs? And where were all
these Orzhov vampires back when Teysa first
visited Utvara? Perhaps they were hoping that
all the powerful cards in those sets would
overshadow the questions - Blood Baron of
Vizkopa is certainly very powerful. He follows
in the footsteps of the original Ghost Council
card, by giving Orzhov decks a control card and
a finisher in the form of a creature that's very
hard to deal with.
The most eye-catching part of this card's
rules text is certainly the part where it
becomes a 10/10 flyer, and although it looks
excessive, I think it's actually intended more
for multiplayer. That sort of boost helps you
come back if you've become a target for some
reason, and it helps you become a major threat
if someone else is close to being eliminated
from the game.
The number four card of the year is Blood Baron
of Vizkopa which is a five mana White and Black
4/4 vampire with Lifelink, protection from White
and Black, plus gets +6/+6 and Flying while you
have thirty or more life and an opponent has ten
or less. The last effect is can shorten the game
by two attacks by itself, which isn't bad in a
vacuum and is likely to at least partially occur
relatively often. The real standout points are
the 5/5 body with two very relevant protections
with a bonus of Lifelink. Getting past a very
popular combination, either Orzhov or
Black/White tokens, and many removal options
gives this enough potential to appear in
multiple formats. Multiplayer in particular, but
Constructed could easily run this as a finisher
or sideboard response.
In Limited this is an easy first pick on the
way to an Orzhov build and can seriously
threaten seven of the ten guilds. There's no
real drawback to a five mana 4/4 with Lifelink
either and if the final effect is enabled the
game is likely to be over.
Blood Baron of Vizkopa is another creature that
I hired to be part of my Sanguine Bond deck. If
you play Standard, then you should either love
or hate the Blood Baron. This vampire is a
nightmare match up against Black & White decks.
There are a lot of players out there that rely
on direct kill spells and Blood Baron of Vizkopa
is protected from most of those spells. If you
play Commander, then you should know that the
Blood Baron is one of the most dangerous
creatures in that format. Overall, Blood Baron
of Vizkopa is one of the best, if not the best
Vampire ever made. I would be up for that
argument any day!
