Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter – Double Masters MTG Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

Like Karador yesterday, Vish Kal can be a combo card, as white and black are good at generating creatures and are good at effects involving sacrificing things and/or +1/+1 counters. He’s effective whether you decide to go fast or slow; a large number of counters at once or an ever-growing inevitability. He’s also equally effective whether you want to make a web of interactions or just kill a bunch of things with his third paragraph and attack with a big flying general. The only possible wrinkle is potentially being a little overshadowed by Edgar Markov. I’d say he really commands a different style of deck, though, so perhaps that’s okay.

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 3/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
Commander: 4/5

Vish Kal is one of those combo-tastic creatures, thanks to being a free sacrifice outlet that can also double as removal. As long as you’re on top of your game and have creatures, Vish Kal can turn them into removal, and he can even use those to empower an especially potent swoop. Seven mana is a lot for a deck, but he can definitely get your board rolling once he gets entrenched, and black/white is a color combo that has rarely minded seeing its own things meet with an unfortunate death experience.

Constructed: 1.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 4 (big enough to beat down, and it’s even removal)
Multiplayer: 3
Commander: 3.5