Urborg Lhurgoyf – Dominaria United
Date Reviewed: August 31, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 4.50
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 3.00
Commander [EDH]: 3.38
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I’m very pleased to see this guy in Dominaria United‘s card list. Lhurgoyfs are iconic to Dominaria and important in Magic tournament history, and it was unfortunate that we didn’t see any in our previous homecoming. I’m still kind of hoping for more atogs, too, but lhurgoyfs are probably the big one.
And speaking of that tournament pedigree, this creature type with these stats will instantly remind longtime players of Tarmogoyf. Word is that Future Sight‘s most polarizing card is not as dominating as he once was, but I think the comparison is at least partly valid. Urborg Lhurgoyf is a good topdeck in the late game, and there will be situations where he can similarly be played early and grow into a threat (potentially even bigger than his famous ancestor, too). With or without paying his kicker costs, blue and black are well positioned to either get cards in the graveyard or take advantage of the fact that they’re there for his sake. And he also encourages decks in any of the implied color combinations to rely on creatures, which adds an interesting tension and tradeoff to their strategy and construction.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4 (arguably more user-friendly than Tarmogoyf, as you only have to track one card type and one graveyard)
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3
After over a decade, lhurgoyfs make their return to Standard, and their champion is a creature that calls to mind the infamous Tarmogoyf in both mana cost and size. Urborg Lhurgoyf has a bit going on (besides being adorable), so let’s unpack it.
On the surface, Urborg Lhurgoyf resembles green self-mill beneficiaries like Splinterfright and Boneyard Wurm (and even the original Lhurgoyf): count the number of creatures in your graveyard, and it’s that big. Unlike Lhurgoyf, it only pays attention to creatures in your graveyard…but unlike the other creatures, it has both the ability to instantly help stock your graveyard and not die if a graveyard gets wiped out. Kicker is an interesting wrinkle, letting you mill up to six cards to help further graveyard interactions and make your harmless little lhurgoyf less little and less harmless in the process; if you need neither, it is still a threatening creature in a late game and can imperil opponents later.
Obviously, Urborg Lhurgoyf is no Tarmogoyf; that one would just spiral viciously out of control as the game got played, but the newest member of the tribe still has a lot to offer. Lacking keywords is a downer, but seeing as how it’s only two mana and can help further self-mill by giving a big body on top of it all, it’s not so bad.
Constructed: 4 (it’s cheap and helps self-mill strategies out, so I’d be surprised if this saw no play whatsoever)
Casual: 5 (it’s a lhurgoyf and deserves it)
Limited: 3.5 (you’re likely going to need to kick this, but it’s still a nice payoff for Simic, Golgari, or Sultai shells)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 3.75 (the main downside here is that it’s locked to Sultai (or more colorful) shells, but I think it’s a good enough inclusion in those)
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