It's probably unusually Spikish of me to keep
drifting my attention back to Ob Nixilis' +1
when his other abilities are also elegant and
deadly. It's just that few cards have allowed
you to trade life for cards so efficiently since
Phyrexian Arena. Yes, Nixilis can be attacked or
Lightning Bolted, but between him gaining
loyalty and you drawing extra answers, you will
be in a good position to either protect him or
move on if he is removed from the table. I like
his ultimate very much, but it doesn't have too
much support in smaller formats right now;
Eldrazi end the game much faster, and recent
sets don't have the sort of prison elements that
make Underworld Dreams-style effects work. But
it's crazy in multiplayer, especially in the
style of "go big" EDH environment with things
like Wheel and Deal, Rites of Flourishing, and
Wheel of Fate.
Today's card of the day is Ob Nixilis Reignited
which is a five mana Black planeswalker with
five loyalty. The +1 has you draw a card
and lose one life which is a fairly typical
Black effect and solid card advantage for the
small cost. The -3 of destroy a creature
is useful and a reasonable price allowing a
potential two uses by the third turn it is in
play. The -8 emblem is a death sentence
for any one opponent in a Multiplayer game and
puts a very effective clock up for one on one,
enhanced by the +1 if Ob Nixilis is kept in
play. Overall this is a powerful later
game threat for Black that escalates into a win
condition if protected, though it is likely to
see play mostly in Multiplayer as a way around
non-life gain defensive builds.
In Limited this can win games with any of the
effects as repeatable removal and card draw are
both huge in the format. A very clear
first pick in Booster and with anything other
than a terrible Black pool should be the start
of a very competitive Sealed deck.
Probably in my top 3 favorites in this set. A
draw and a kill spell on a 5 drop planeswalker
is nice. It has the possibility to be a nekusar
enabler. it's hardly perfect, but a nice piece
of tech
