Nine-Lives Familiar – Foundations
Date Reviewed: November 13, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
This card delivers exactly what it promises, and frankly, that’s something we haven’t gotten enough of in recent sets. There are probably advantages to complexity expansion; certainly there are people out there who will defend complexity creep even when it’s called by that name. But Magic is the kind of game where interesting and unique things can emerge from simple wordings and starting states, and Nine-Lives Familiar is a great example of that. Depending on what other cards or decks you tend to like, it will likely appear to be either a creature that’s annoying in combat or one that can be sacrificed for an effect multiple times. But it’s all the little nuances that make it such a great card. It starts with eight revival counters and goes down, which means that it works with proliferate. It mentions a unique counter type, which means that Un-sets can generate them out of nowhere if you go that way. It’ll stay in the graveyard until the end of the turn if it went there early in the turn, which means that it can be a quick temporary boost for delirium, lhurgoyfs, and the cards that care about different mana values in the graveyard. And heck, you can even play it just because it’s a cat (I might well do that). Once again, this card looks simple and unassuming, but I think it’s going to be one of Foundations‘ big hits.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
This kitty may not be the most immediately imposing, but looks aren’t everything. The fact that the cat keeps coming back as long as it has a life to spare opens up a world of intrigue and combo potential, and while you do need to properly cats Nine-Lives Familiar, a creature this persistent is quite impressive. I feel like this feline is going to be more of a combo piece and an enabler; it’s just a 1/1 with no keywords, but it being able to keep coming back means all manner of nefarious scheme can benefit from it. And, in the worst case, it can block attacks over nine turns, and that can sometimes be all you need.
Constructed: 3.5 (it feels prone to breaking something, somewhere)
Casual: 5 (kitty)
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 4
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