Today's card of the day is Sire of Stagnation
which is a six mana 5/7 Blue and Black to cast
with Devoid that draws two cards and mills two
from an opponent when they play a land.
The high mana cost may be justified for the 5/7
body and draw effect, but the reliance on an
opponent triggering it is a huge weakness later
in the game. Barring quite a bit of
acceleration, cheating it into play, or removing
all lands from play this enters too late to have
enough impact on an opponent's decisions.
Enough mana should be available and not playing
a land should have little or no drawback. As is
this is very situational and does not apply
enough pressure to be worth much in most
formats.
In Limited the effect has some impact on an
opponent, particularly with the high mana curve
the set promotes, but the six mana 5/7 stands as
the more reliable benefit. In general this
is a somewhat mediocre first pick in Booster as
a large body with two colors to cast it.
For Sealed it can be played in a higher curve
Blue/Black build if the pool already leans that
way, but it doesn't add enough to force more
than a splash of one if it fits into the curve
well.
This card, at its very core is one of the very
best examples of why Battle for Zendikar is such
a dud in my eyes. It's such a great effect. mill
2 and draw 2 on a opponent landfall trigger? Oh
man, why isn't this a 4 drop? as a 6 drop, It's
not mythic, especially in colors that don't
ramp. It boggles my mind when you take such an
amazing tempo/control card, and neuter it by
overcosting it by at least 1. It doesn't have
evasion, which is why it wouldn't be completely
broken. If the opponent stops dropping lands,
it's vanilla. it dies to everything that kills
creatures. As it stands, unless your opponent is
playing higher cost or X spells, it's okay. I'm
not okay with the neutering though
It seems a little harsh for this card to hose
landfall so effectively, considering how popular
the ability has been and how iconic it is of
Zendikar. On the other hand, it does hit the
table rather late, by which time it may be less
relevant and you may sometimes need a more
immediate answer. If your opponent has a low
curve, it can also be effectively turned off by
their choosing to stop playing lands and running
on what they have. Against decks that want to
keep playing until very late in the game, it
might be effective in getting you an advantage,
but it is not as versatile or universally
effective as some Eldrazi are.
