Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh – Kamigawa: Neon Destiny
Date Reviewed: April 11, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.67
Casual: 4.67
Limited: 4.67
Multiplayer: 3.67
Commander [EDH]: 4.07
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Judging by the name, you might think Tezzeret’s new card was a reference to the old Mirrodin card Betrayal of Flesh. But having almost the same name doesn’t actually mean as much as you might guess, and instead he’s doing Tezzeret things – and doing them extremely well. Every single one of his abilities can be game-changing when used in the right circumstances, from his passive ability enabling combo decks in bigger formats, to his +1 and -6 generating insane card advantage in their own ways, to his -2 causing things to happen that shouldn’t really happen. That last one is fascinating, because while it doesn’t make a truly titanic creature like March of the Machines theoretically can, it can turn mana artifacts into midrange creatures and upgrade artifact creatures (it doesn’t specify “target noncreature artifact”). When you have four good abilities in one card, you (unsurprisingly) get a really powerful card.
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 5/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander [EDH]: 4/5
The planeswalker with the least hype is one of the most successful…fancy that. Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh does love artifacts, much like his past outings, and he has some interesting tweaks to play well with them. Permanently animating a Vehicle is massive if you have a solid Vehicle to do so (and his -2 lets you do other things, like making an emergency blocker or exposing an opponent’s artifact to creature removal), and even just looting isn’t so bad. The passive cost reduction on artifact abilities is an intriguing ability (though you will need to structure your turn carefully to get the most out of it, because this doesn’t ignore mana abilities), and all of this adds up to a value-oriented planeswalker with a lot of potency. And if you have time to get his ultimate off, you should win the game in short order as a result of the flood of card advantage you get.
Tezzeret’s interesting because, while he’s not flashy, he’s very good at what he does, and he’s quite potent in a set with a lot of artifacts to begin with. He’s good at grinding out longer games and providing a bit of immediacy, and if you build carefully, he’ll provide a lot of rewards in the process. Four mana is also great at enabling his strength, and I’d say he’s actually on the stronger side for a four-mana planeswalker.
Constructed: 4 (his strengths are a bit narrower, but he’s very good at what he does)
Casual: 5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 4.25 (being mono-blue is quite useful in giving him lots of homes)
One of the better Tezzeret planeswalkers we got in quite some time. Four mana for a four loyalty planeswalker is pretty good but on top of that is a nice static ability, only downside is this is an artifact focused card so it could be a miss if you’re drafting a different strategy. A compulsive research for the +1 ability is solid every turn but the real gem here is the -2 ability. Perfect for vehicle decks, it automatically makes your vehicle a creature without needing to crew. That could come in handy if you’re short on creatures or if you need to swing with everything to win the game.
Commander this is a good upgrade to the vehicles commander deck or any Izzet artifact based deck. The ultimate is good but not great, you really want to use this for the first two abilities and the static ability long term. Protecting it is essential to make sure strategies go off without a hitch!
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
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