Niko, Light of Hope – Duskmourn
Date Reviewed: October 18, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.50
Casual: 5.00
Limited: 4.13
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
It’s interesting that Niko lost their spark, but retained the Shard tokens. Apparently that was not connected to their planeswalking abilities, and we get the benefits here. This is the kind of card that just screams to be played in casual combo decks, and you can tune the rest of your deck to make the copying ability as straightforward, complex, value-heavy, or downright crazy as you like. I’m tempted to try making enormous mutate piles and then turning Shard tokens into that, just to confuse everyone else and myself. One thing you have to watch out for is that Niko’s two cards are still the only source of Shard tokens, so your deck may need something to do if they get removed or otherwise hindered. But even that doesn’t feel like it’s not going to be enough to hold them back too much!
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4 (your crazy creature selection will be somewhat bounded if Niko is your commander, but these colors really like every word of their game text)
Back bereft of a spark, Niko still packs their familiar shard-commanding abilities, albeit with a bit of a twist this time. Niko, Light of Hope creates two Shard tokens on entry, but they can blink a creature out in order to make all of your Shards a copy of it for that turn. This can be quite the party trick if you have something with a potent death or sacrifice trigger…or you just want to smash faces even harder. It is a slow blink effect, but it still has room to be effective, and getting something out of harm’s way can pay off.
Honestly, while Niko feels maybe a bit too slow to be a star, they’re still dangerous in a more methodical deck. If they get removed immediately, they’ll still (usually) let you scry 2 and draw 2 cards eventually at worst, and those Shard tokens are nice as ways to grind out advantage. They do play well with Kaldheim‘s Niko Aris, though it does make for a slow and mana-hungry combo, but there are plenty of places for that to shine.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
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