Rise of the Dark Realms – M14
Date Reviewed: November 7, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 5.0
Limited: 3.4
Multiplayer: 4.
Commander [EDH]: 4.0
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Earlier this week, we were talking about a comparatively narrow and time-dependent reanimation spell; today, we’re talking about the ultimate reanimation spell, at least if you go by scale. Its floor is as a value spell or reset button, and its ceiling is an instant win; it goes particularly well in combo decks involving milling yourself or others, or both. Nine mana is, for many decks, an absolute mountain of a cost, but it’s also the luckiest number in famous cosmologies, and you more than get what you pay for. And there are even more ways to pay less than nine mana than when it came out: that was years before either Jodah or Torrential Gearhulk. I’d say this is an ideal reanimation spell for casual play – if you’re going to do that, you may as well make it memorable for all your friends.
Constructed: 2.5
Casual: 5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Expensive, flashy, and bereft of subtlety, Rise of the Dark Realms is one heck of a mass reanimation spell, letting you get everything back for 9 mana. Your creatures, opponents’ creatures…all will serve you, and they will do so without a say in the matter. If you can use this in the wake of a board wipe, you can break a game wide open then and there, and so it goes.
Of course, the whole “nine mana” thins is…not irrelevant, but it makes this card irrelevant in many cases. It’s also a card that demands a fair bit of set-up, either by getting your things into the graveyard or getting those of others. This is definitely a fitting and flashy mythic rare, full of bombast and splendor, but making this work oft takes a bit more effort than the average spell. Great when it goes off…but if it goes off is a separate matter.
Constructed: 2.5 (a bit too cumbersome to be a real top-end threat)
Casual: 5
Limited: 3.25 (if you get to nine mana, this could win you the game if things have been trending in a particular direction)
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
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