Why is this rated so low? It will hold up pretty well for non-destruction based removal (Lightning Bolt) and gets nice mana. Turn 6 you're looking at 8 mana (+2 yessss), turn 7, 10, turn 8, 12. Non-mono black it's pretty bad, but in mono black, it can really ramp the mana.
AbyssalManZero
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Magus of the coffers, Pestilence & Magebane Armor = Fun, fun, fun XD
Add Everlasting Torment for those pesky INDESTRUCTABLEs and life gaining decks..
fangsterr
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(7 votes)
creature form of cabal coffers. They should've made it 3CMC and a 2/2.
A3Kitsune
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Make him too small and he looks a lot like Rofellos.
Auteur
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
When you have a 4/4 for 5 out, you're probably not too worried about further mana acceleration. Might be good for powering finishers like Consume Spirit, though.
be-ash
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
yup its a great card mix with doubling cube and mana reflection for head aches and epic mana production
land_comment
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Nirvana Reverant is better.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like how this card is costed high, actually. It makes me want to combine it with other high mana-producing black cards and finish off with a Consume Spirit. Ramp into Ramp into Black Fireball. Classier, IMO, then Tendrils of Agony.
@ Elysiume and most of the destruction-based removal is in black and has a non-black restriction. Obviously not as good as its progenitor, but its not a bad replacement
The thing is, this doesn't waste you a land drop, like Cabal Coffers does.
I've noticed that, if you want your money's worth on Cabal Coffers, you need 4 swamps out: that's 5 land drops (because if you calculate it, Coffers could've counted as a swamp, so if you had 3 swamps, you use 2 to tap it, and then you get : equal to 3 swamps)
By time you get 5 lands out, you could play this.
No, this isn't better than Cabal Coffers. It's counterable, it requires a turn to wait before you get mana, and it can be killed more frequently with removal. However, after playing 2-coloured and aggro decks with Cabal Coffers in it, I can say that it isn't as good as I initially believed.
This is rated (somewhat) low because it's a niche card. The problem is that once you're at five mana, accelerating beyond that is rarely a good plan. Yes, you can totally use him to power an epic Drain Life, or as part of an infinite-mana combo or to massively pump your shade or whatever... but all of those rely heavily on other fairly specific cards; you are rarely going to see a deck with a large number of cards that do well with more than five mana.
His 4/4 body, with no other abilities, is a bit below what his cost is worth -- this means that if you draw him and don't immediately have a combo or something to do with the mana he produces, he's a bad card. And it's hard to envision a deck with him where that won't happen fairly often.
As a result, this card is fun for kitchen table combos but not really practical beyond that. Sure, you might remember the time you used him to fuel that epic Drain Life or made your Shade huge or whatever, but I suspect you're just not remembering all the times you drew him and then did nothing in particular with him.
(I mean, it's not terrible, and you can totally throw him in a deck with a bunch of shades and stuff and he'll probably do all right. But it's a card with significant limitations; generally, high P/T on a creature that taps to use its ability is not a good thing, because it means you're paying mana for both its ability and its stats when you're only going to be able to use one at once.)
Comments (21)
Add Everlasting Torment for those pesky INDESTRUCTABLEs and life gaining decks..
Why go crazy just once?
and most of the destruction-based removal is in black and has a non-black restriction. Obviously not as good as its progenitor, but its not a bad replacement
But, as RJDroid wisely said, why not run them all if your budget allows it?
I've noticed that, if you want your money's worth on Cabal Coffers, you need 4 swamps out: that's 5 land drops (because if you calculate it, Coffers could've counted as a swamp, so if you had 3 swamps, you use 2 to tap it, and then you get
By time you get 5 lands out, you could play this.
No, this isn't better than Cabal Coffers. It's counterable, it requires a turn to wait before you get mana, and it can be killed more frequently with removal. However, after playing 2-coloured and aggro decks with Cabal Coffers in it, I can say that it isn't as good as I initially believed.
Sure sounds like a good way to spend four turns to me.
4/5 Stars
Plus, 4/4 body is nothing to scoff at, this guy can easily bitchslap away moderately powerful creatures.
This card references Cabal Coffers and is part of the "Magus" super cycle of rare creatures. The cards in Planar Chaos all reference one of the most powerful lands ever; the others are Magus of the Bazaar, Magus of the Tabernacle, Magus of the Arena, and Magus of the Library.
The Time Spiral part of the cycle focuses on powerful artifacts: Magus of the Candelabra, Magus of the Disk, Magus of the Mirror, Magus of the Jar, and Magus of the Scroll. The Future Sight part of the cycle focuses on powerful enchantments: Magus of the Moat, Magus of the Future, Magus of the Abyss, Magus of the Moon, and Magus of the Vineyard.
This is rated (somewhat) low because it's a niche card. The problem is that once you're at five mana, accelerating beyond that is rarely a good plan. Yes, you can totally use him to power an epic Drain Life, or as part of an infinite-mana combo or to massively pump your shade or whatever... but all of those rely heavily on other fairly specific cards; you are rarely going to see a deck with a large number of cards that do well with more than five mana.
His 4/4 body, with no other abilities, is a bit below what his cost is worth -- this means that if you draw him and don't immediately have a combo or something to do with the mana he produces, he's a bad card. And it's hard to envision a deck with him where that won't happen fairly often.
As a result, this card is fun for kitchen table combos but not really practical beyond that. Sure, you might remember the time you used him to fuel that epic Drain Life or made your Shade huge or whatever, but I suspect you're just not remembering all the times you drew him and then did nothing in particular with him.
(I mean, it's not terrible, and you can totally throw him in a deck with a bunch of shades and stuff and he'll probably do all right. But it's a card with significant limitations; generally, high P/T on a creature that taps to use its ability is not a good thing, because it means you're paying mana for both its ability and its stats when you're only going to be able to use one at once.)