Repeatable life gain every turn with no further
input from you is deceptively powerful. There's
a reason people play decks built around Soul's
Attendant. There's a reason people groan when
they see Wall of Reverence. And there's a reason
Clearwater Goblet was pretty much THE sunburst
card in Fifth Dawn. Oloro will set you up with
that kind of power straight from the very first
turn-- gaining you life FROM THE COMMAND ZONE.
It's almost reason enough to not want to play
Oloro, but his second ability will give you all
the reason you need. For one mana, he's a free
extra draw each turn and stings everybody else
for 1. Card advantage is how you win games, and
damaging other players is how games don't draw
on until everybody hates you. And it triggers
WHENEVER you gain life. Have a creature with
lifelink? Get in there and get an extra draw!
Have a Tanglebloom? It draws you cards! Have a
Soul's Attendant? Every creature is now a
cantrip! And if Oloro dies, you get to keep the
life gain effect!
Commander- 4.5
Casual- 4.5
Multiplayer- 4.5
David Fanany
Player since
1995
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Have I protested recently about legendary
creatures that don't have flavor text? Well,
I'll do it now. In gameplay, though, this guy is
basically the epitome of a build-around-me
legend for Commander decks. So much so that he
actually references the command zone by name,
meaning that the only way to stop him is Hinder
and Condemn (unless your group doesn't use that
"tucking" loophole. It always seemed like a
strange loophole to me). He might end up being a
little oppressive in lower-power playgroups, and
his explicit design for Commander limits his use
in other casual settings, but he's certainly
very good at what he does.
By the way, I don't suppose this card's name is
supposed to be a reference to Gandalf's "hidden"
backstory? It seems unlikely, seeing how a lot
of current Lord of the Rings viewers haven't
read and aren't aware of the novels' appendices,
but you never know.
Commander: 4/5
Casual: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno
Today's card of the day is Oloro, Ageless
Ascetic which is a White, Blue, and Black 4/5
legendary that has you gain two life at the
beginning of your upkeep whether it is in play
or in the command zone and whenever you gain
life you may pay one to draw a card and each
opponent loses one life. This is a solid
commander for an Esper build that gains life
from the beginning of the game and offers easy
repeatable card draw while burning opponents.
There's no real drawback in a Commander deck,
though the mana cost and three colors is less
appealing in Casual or Multiplayer it is still
worthwhile for the card advantage. Overall
this will likely be one of the top choices for
the color combination going forward and the
effects maintain a steady advantage over the
course of a game.
Commander: 4.5
Casual: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4.0
Skid Rambo
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic looks awesome sitting on
that gigantic throne. Yes, he is a W/B/U Giant.
Those colors are definitely out of whack for a
giant.
If Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is your Commander then
you will gain 2 life at the beginning of your
first turn and each upkeep after that. This
giant can help you gain life and draw cards,
while also doing some damage to each of your
opponents. When waiting in the command zone,
Oloro can practically negate 2 points of damage
per turn because of the built in life gain.
Drawing cards with a giant is just plain cool.
With all of that said, I really don’t like this
card. The 6 mana cost does not match the 4/5
body and by the time that you can take advantage
of the life gain/card draw it may be too late.
This card requires a big supporting cast to be
successful and that’s not what I like in 3 color
Legend.
