I know we reviewed this guy fairly recently, but
I think he definitely deserves to be on this
year's top ten list. There are very few cards
that manage to genuinely add something to a
creature type or archetype from two decades ago,
much less in such a simple and elegant way. My
main question about this card is actually what
they're going to do the inevitable next time
they decide to make a Sliver legend. Once you
have one that can literally make them all
invincible, what else does the archetype need?
The number six card of the year is Sliver
Hivelord which is a five mana and five color 5/5
that gives slivers you control Indestructible.
This is a very strong effect and can more or
less end a game when it hits play if the
opponent doesn't have non-destruction forms of
removal or an alternate win condition. It
doesn't help build up a sliver force like the
Queen or Overlord, so it is unlikely to take
slots in a deck before them. As something
for the Overlord to search out and to help
support a swarm of tokens this is quite nice and
a worthwhile addition to an existing five color
sliver build.
In a Limited format with this it is a very
difficult card to utilize as it has five colors,
though a 5/5 Indestructible for five is solid it
needs other abilities to really stand out with
the mana requirement. In Sealed it can be
built around if there is enough support, but
running is problematic at best with anything
less than an excellent draw. For Booster
it has value as a rare draft, though slivers are
popular and drawing a pool for it depends on the
pod.
We just reviewed Silver Hivelord a few weeks
ago, and I can't say I've come to any new
conclusions about him. Sliver decks are pretty
much casual decks, and the Hivelord is built for
casual. Go, go, indestructible Silvers!
