the zombie creature type makes this card a bit better. He is a bit pricey, but he has an extremly nice ability. I am so tempted to try and make a new type 2 zombie deck now ^u^
HalcyonDays
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(5 votes)
He's actually really good, despite the mana-cost. I was surprised that the Sphynx from this set was 8 mana, and this guy is 7. He seems a whole lot more practical, and crippling. Though, the protection probably accounts for it. Anyhow, throw Unscythe on this guy and you've got an unstoppable combination. Necromancer's Covenant for the hell of it and, as was mentioned before, Death Baron ALWAYS helps...
The_Somnambulist
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Try following up Thraximundar with Malfegor (not necessarily in the same turn) before you attack, b/c he also causes creatures to be sacrificed, so that of course counts toward Thraximundar's 3rd ability. Not to mention you could have cleared your opponent's creatures out, boosted Thrax. in the process, and giving you a clear shot at their face, all at once.
Of course I will also say it's a great card by itself as well, the mana is a bit tricky to come by.
xXV4lkyr13Xx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I don't see why anyone would be surprised at the Sphinx's mana cost being 8, because I would think that it would obviously be alot easier to use it with Master Transmuter. I'm not that big on black, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall something that get's a black creature out as easily as Master Transmuter can get Sphinx of the Steel Wind out. Oh, and to whoever was talking about using Thraximundar in 2 headed giant, there is always that little card called Terminate that i believe would take care of him instantly, I think.
Iwaaan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
playing this with Defiler of Souls racks up the +1/+1 counters on Thrax, while simultaneously wiping the board against any mono color decks.
Even against a multi-color deck though, the combination is still pretty good.
Planeswalker_Honliqs
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Is it just me or is he totally made to counter decks using Devour.
His third ability counts all players, so your opponent while he is using Sprouting Thrinax or Dragon Fodder to boost his Devour creatures he's also adding counter to Trax!
Guest1077336039
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Thraximundar is an awesome card, but pricey, I think if i was going to use that much mana i would use Phage the Untouchable , by the time you got that much mana up, you could have Endless Whispers out then attach Nettlevine Blight to Phage the Untouchable and its game over. but thats just me.
InfernoTowel
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I just got this in a booster and am quite happy about it. When he attacks, not only does your opponent lose a creature, but it pumps up Thrax! Attack an opponent that has only one creature out -> they sacrifice it -> 7 damage
God_of_Destruction
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(4 votes)
Nice artwork..nice subs...nice in everything... a bit pricey but a few mana boosts and this can come out in at least turn five or six...back it up with Malfegor and Defiler of Souls to maximize the potential... and spells that make ur opponent (or even you) sacrifice creatures...and Death Baron will really help a lot...oh and add a little Necromancer's Covenant, and ul outnumber ur opponent pretty much a lot...Now death really stalks the land...
Zulp
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(29 votes)
Can you say "Best card name ever"? Seriously, that just rolls off the tongue. THRAXIMUNDAR.
Qazior
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Barter in Blood in multiplayer will help though u have to have other creature on the field
Antihero420
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I personally LOVE this guy in multiplayer. Ideally I play grave pact, before I drop him Play Thraximundar, and follow him up with a Fleshbag marauder, sacking itself. everyone else sacs two creatures and Thraximundar gets REALLY REALLY BIG!
CommandoDroid1
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(5 votes)
I got my friend this card for his birthday. Ever since, he's been unstoppable.
Eggroll
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Another win card. WHY DOES GRIXIS HAVE SO MANY AWESOME CARDS!?
MasterOfEtherium
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(24 votes)
His name means "he who paints the earth red."
kikukillerofkings82
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
its a great card over all but has an easy way to counter it simply use yoke of the damned
StrikeLancer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is great with some token generating cards along with Vampire Aristocrats to speed up the sacrifices.
Dingo777
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
you guys are forgeting, his other abilities
you declare him attacking and he is a 7/7 unless your opponent is out of creatures, and then it is a straight 6 to their face
2 headed giant with a jund/devourer deck partner and this guy will be crazy, not might, will
@xXV4lkyr13Xx, he has haste, and terminate is the only card that can kill him at instant speed, besides, there is a counter to every card, your opponent could just as easily use cancel or spell snip, no card is perfect, but this is one of the more awesome ones
and yeah the sphinx has pro R+G, but is still hit able with spot removal, meet kor sanctifiers
shadowx83
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You guys are missing the big Picture...Use Dragon Arch
Duddits
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
In my zombie deck: 4 Diabolic Tutors, a Whispersilk Cloak (would like a couple more) and 1 Thraximundar. It's only been beaten once.
Donovan_Fabian
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I don't like this card actually, its still 7 mana, but it has no evasion or shroud or anything. While I understand that clearly not all creatures can have shroud or flying or something, note that it says when thraximundar attacks.. well all that means is if I have a terminate in hand and he's played I terminate him on the spot before my opponent gets to use him. More over, I can always sacrifice tokens, or birds of paradise etc., at which point he's a high power haste creature. Flameblast dragon is also pretty similiar by comparison and one mana less with flying, and the x ability can hit players and planeswalkers. He's still a good creature, but 7 mana is to late in the game to be making a come back, you're either already ahead when you play him, or your not likely to be able to make a board advantage with just thraximundar, as any pacifism, crystallization, or other removal will take care of it completely. It's true though, if you play him and your opponent has no removal and doesn't draw any for several turns, then it kills.
windwaker
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
Coolest. Card. Ever.
WER386
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If it were a 3/3 and cost 2 or 3 less mana it would be epic. The only drawback I see from this guy is it has no trample... no, seriously: opponent has 2 creatures, you attack with this alone you kill the two creatures and get a 7/7, then what?; a timed casting of Dragon Fodder can keep this guy attacking for like 2-4 turns and still don't scratch the opponent's leg. Beside that its a bomb unleashed, pay off immediately after you drop it into the table and pay off later when your foe tries to decide what to sacrifice and what use to block this thing.
HairlessThoctar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Insanely awesome for being a zombie, an assassin, lots of colors thus enabling fun EDH decks, humongous, hasty, having an awesome ability, having another awesome ability, cool-sounding name, and sweet flavor text.
That being said, he doesn't seem like an assassin to me. Assassins thrive on the art of subtelty, and from what I've read in various Savor the Flavor articles, this guy isn't very subtle. Seems more like a Warrior or a Berserker to me.
Man, how cool would a Zombie Berserker be?
Dr_Pompous
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
LAME. Why is this an assassin? How would I use this in a mono-black deck!? What a tease.
gnoll69
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Its going to be fun with Kozilek's annihilator mechanic
Studoku
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The original anihalator. Rawr!
I'm not to fond of the art though. Raymond Swanland seems like he's perpetually moving sideways.
Aun
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Not worth Mythic. Althought, mythic is said to be given to creatures with special, not necessarily powerful abilities. I still wish he'd be less expensiver or at least stronger.
Selez
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh my god Oh my god Oh my God SPAWN TOKENS!!
Somebody needs to notice the synergy here and stick this guy in a standard deck.
WHY IS HE BLUE????!?!?
ZombieSnail
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Cool name bro. Playing something called Thraximundar is a privilege.
metalevolence
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(56 votes)
HOW MANY BABIES DOES IT TAKE TO PAINT A NURSERY? DEPENDS HOW HARD THRAXIMUNDAR THROWS 'EM
NeoSin
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I LOVE Swanlands artwork, the thick defined lines, the often blurred painting in orange, red, and tan colors. The epic feeling of combat and contrast. Hes the top artist in magic right now, I think.
NecroticNobody
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thraximundar, can you say Elder Dragon Highlander? Lets put you with It That Betrays and some other Eldrazi.
ClockworkSwordfish
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Everything about this guy is badass. The name, the value, the power, the art, the creature type combination, the ability, everything. Amazing. AND you get to make badass painting quotes when you play him.
MrCleric
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This Guy is the best Legendary Aggro/ hasty beater EVER. Can you say GRIXIS EDH General :)
The annihilator before annihilator (except they can only sacrifice creatures)
Hayw00d0909
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I need this guy for my U/B Zombie Reanimator deck.
I want to see my friend's wreck their pants when I yank him out for the cost of B and 7 life with Reanimate.
Yes, that is my ultimate dream.
Stray_Dog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thraximondo is mondo cool!
BloodJunkie
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is a really wicked card when used in combination with Curse of the Cabal or other things of the sort. There's so many cards that make your opponents sacrifice creatures, thus making the combinations unlimited. For that reason, I give it 5/5.
@Scu mbling1: I completely agree with you. His creature type doesn't fit his abilities at all. Zombie Warrior, or Zombie Avatar would make more sense.
scumbling1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy is a fun general for EDH. He's got a synergistic set of abilities and amazing artwork. NeoSin does a great job articulating the beauty of the illustration. Overall, I really like the card.
My only complaint is his creature type of assassin. An assassin is a selective, covert killer; the assassin chooses a single target and eliminates it with cunning and precision. Thraximundar is an armor-clad warlord, riding a giant fellbeast into battle. When he attacks and forces a sacrifice, it's evocative of the attrition of war, rather than a well-planned attack. Thraximundar just seems like a blunt insturment of destruction, and I don't think he could sneak up on a blind man. I really think he should have been a zombie warrior.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Planeswalker_Honliqs:
Nobody runs devour because it's so bad. The only creatures worth letting them munch your dudes are Mycoloth (because of the huge token army) and Voracious Dragon (because it can straight-up end the game).
Anyway, the Jund mini-cycle of creatures that get thesamecounterswhenever any creature dies for any reason is better because they have relevant evasion and cost considerably less, not to mention the fact that they get monstrously huge in Eldrazi Spawn decks because you're sacrificing spawns to make mana, which simultaneously puts counters on them.
NedjimbO_Goblin_Mage
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(12 votes)
Is it just me or is there absolutely nothing blue about him?
It's ok though Thrax, you make a great EDH general.
http404error
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(6 votes)
His name means "Eldrazi spelled backwards".
infernox10
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's like he was the precursor to the Annihilator mechanic (only for creatures, of course).
RedAtrocitus
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(12 votes)
All Eldrazi Spawn tokens have "Sacrifice Eldrazi Spawn: Put +1/+1 counter on Thraximundar"
ROBRAM89
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I AM THE THRAXIMUNDAR, TWISTED THRAXIMUNDAR
Polkovnik_Skyfox
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Good ol thraxi. I pulled a playset of them among my first 5 packs or so when I started playing magic. My win to loss ratio was around 30/8 back in those days.
AngelPhoenix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Card is sick, possibly my favorite multicolored creature behind Dakkon Blackblade.
And yeah, @RedAtrocitus LOL good lord that's insane. Sac four tokkens, tap 3 mana, Thrax gets 4 counters and his best buddy Blood Tyrant comes out to play. Artwork is sweet too.
Shadoflaam
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(5 votes)
Okay. "Everybody Thraximundar! Vaminos bailar!"
He does sound like a salsa dance.
1maketoilets
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(18 votes)
His name sounds like a name of some metal band. THRAXIMUNDAR! PAINT THE EARTH RED!
BastianQoU
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
He's a zombie assassin. How much more epic can this guy possibly get?
LordWooFakFak
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Favorite EDH general ever.
Tesseract112
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(9 votes)
This guy is so badass that I can't even handle it.
He is the perfect finisher in my Cruel Control deck. I wait out the early game with Vapor Snag, Grixis Charm, Recoil, Surveilling Sprite, and Pain (Part of Pain // Suffering) Then the real fun comes when Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker drops, followed by 2 or 3 Cruel Ultimatums and if they aren't dead by then Thrax finishes them. The only thing that sucks is no one usually survives Bolas's Ultimate. If they do though, no one lives past Thraximundar.
Vedalken_Arbiter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Needs the oracle updated to reflect his having Annihilator 1.
@Vedalken_Arbiter It's not quite Annihilator 1. Thraximundar has "whenever ~ attacks, defending player sacrifices a creature," not "whenever ~ attacks, defending player sacrifices a permanent."
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Using some intuitive facility with languages I picked up from studying how Tolkien invented Elvish, I'm going to guess the Grixis-Alaran Standard translation runs something like this:
har= he
arra= to paint *not a Grixis word, as they don't have art
rax= red
i= who
mund= world
dar= name ending (equivalent to 'er' in English or 'eur/euse' en Francais, perhaps)
Thar-arra-rax-i-mund-dar= Harraraximundar, which would have been necessarily shortened to Thraximundar for easier pronunciation. He who paints the Earth red.
That looks likely, but I confess that guessing which element is 'paint' and which is 'red' are significantly harder than suggesting probable answers to the rest of the translation, and my divisions of syllables could be off.
Finding the element corresponding to the verb 'to paint' was particularly difficult, and I settled on a word that sounded unlike the harsher language that would have produced 'thar' and 'rax'. 'Mund' and 'Arra' then, probably come from the same language of origin, which I believe to be Nayan. I realized that Thraximundar couldn't have been named in Grixis. His name was most certainly first made by a recorder of some invasion elsewhere on Alara, especially considering the concept of 'painting' seems alien to Grixis (no art, or only ruins of art from Ancient Times, with no words for it left in the Modern Grixis language). However, a responsible scholar would take care to make sure that the name felt connected to the thing being named, and would probably try to create something that sounds 'Grixis-y' to them, and they might even know some Vithian dialects (Knight of New Alara in particular suggests that what little culture there was on Grixis was diffused to the other planes). I hypothesize the victims were not of Esperan origin, as I don't think they were enlightened enough to concieve of the importance of naming this creature with any more care than whatever the Vedalken word for 'Abomination' might be. Therefore that leaves Jund, Naya, and Bant as possible origins for the namer of Thraximundar. I discard the probability of a Jundian name, as they wouldn't care much what the name of the thing they're killing is.
He was probably named by some survivors of an attack on Naya or Bant, since they are the only Alaran culture that would have paint that might also have a similar language structure to Grixis (having human cultures themselves. the Vithian humans might even be distantly related to Elves of Naya). Also, the pattern of naming definitely suggest one of the Red-aligned, more primitive Planes. Since we have ruled out Jund and Grixis as being unlikely to be able to produce the name on their own, then either it was a Nayan, or possibly a well-travelled Bantian or Jundian who created the name.
theblackknight42
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This plus nether traitor, genesis chamber, and phyrexian alter = infinite mana, infinite sacs, and best of all infinite thraximundar.
coolest freaking general ever!
longwinded
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@DarthParallax
You can't be afraid to shy away from the literal when translating. When you think about words in English such as "sufferer" or "doer" you don't tend to think of them as meaning "one who suffers" or "one who does". You don't have to, because -or and -er let you encapsulate the notion of "one who verbs" quite easily. Similarly the "he who" portion of thraximundar could come from simply casting a verb into a noun/operator form. The -ar suffix is used in the infinitive form of some romance language verbs, and it is also permitted to use the infitive as a noun, so it's not hard to see "Thraximundar" as a verb without straying too far from the pseudo-Latin that spawned it.
Mundi is world or more loosely earth, and some portion of the word should clearly mean "red", but there's no reason to get too literal with "paint". To paint something a color is not really any different than to make something a color, and to paint red is no different from to made red or redden. How would you translate "redden" into a language that didn't have it as a verb? Probably as make/paint red. Similarly, how would you translate the verb to red into a language where red is only an adjective or noun, but never a verb? Probably as redden if available, or paint red if not.
If thraxi some how meant some form of "red", then thraximundi could easily mean "red earth" and thraximundar, "earth redden-er". Now, why thraxi should translate somehow into "red(den)" is a question worth asking, since mundi is very obvious to people with even a passing familiarity with Latin. The only thing I can think of is that "Thrax" was the Latin form of Thracian, and the people of Thrace were widely believed (were?) red-headed. That's stretching it, but perhaps there's more mythology that I'm missing somewhere. (Or perhaps Creative similarly stretched a word because it sounded exotic with the "x" in it.)
Salient
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This guy as Commander will be all the more hilarious with Rooftop Storm, but note, you can't cast him for free from the command zone more than once; the "costs an additional " modifier takes effect after the "you can pay for this" effect. So no generating infinite storm from sacrificing Thraximundar to Ashnod's Altar 1,298,584,749 times. Just sayin'.
Okuu-chan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
If you run this guy as your general, get Havengul Lich. Never have to Gen-zone your general again!
gman92
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Why are half the comments in all italics?
Superllama12
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What I don't get is why he's an assassin. I mean, I get that he kills stuff, but how is a giant flaming zombie likely going to sneak up on somebody?
igniteice
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@NedjimbO_Goblin_Mage Red - haste. Black - sacrifice. Blue - counters. Run some proliferate (Inexorable Tide, Steady Progress, Tezzeret's Gamble) and the counters will flow.
@Superllama12 He's such a badass assassin that he manages to kill creatures without lifting a finger. He just shows up to fight and they fall over dead. And be honest, if you saw this guy coming after you, you'd probably say you've lived a good life and end it right then and there too.
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Equip with Unscythe, and laugh manically.
Extra flavor points if you then proceed to kill Sedris with him. What a lackluster king...
MisterAction
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'd say the flavor of a red assassin, while unusual, is implemented perfectly here. The victim sees him coming a mile away, but he's so fast that he still makes the kill. Unfortunately, he moves so quickly that it's a toss-up as to whether he killed the right target.
This isn't the first redassassin either. Like his pedigree, Thraximundar can be trusted to do a job... just not always the job you wanted him to do.
MechaKraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In many ways, Thraximundar is still stronger then Grimgrin, Corpse-born. Thrax can come out and swing in the same turn due to haste, and his saccing ability can get around your opponents creatures who have shroud/hexproof. We'll compare to Grimgrin.
Grimgrin is only two colors, so he can come out more easily, and he is cheaper too. Grimgrins saccing ability also has a nice little combo, where you can pump him up indefinitely if you have Rooftop Storm and Gravecrawler out. Running both Grimgrin and Thrax is a definite option though!
Anyway, something to remember is that Thrax can and probably will be chumpblocked. This is where you pump him up to give him trample/unblockabilty. There are many ways to do this, here are a few - Distortion Strike, Artful Dodge, Fury Charm.
SocialExperiment
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy and Kresh the Bloodbraided are a frightening combination. Every time they attack, they each get +1/+1, and what blockers aren't killed by Thraximunders ability won't last long against the constant barrage. Add a Deathbringer Thoctar and you can deal a minimum one point of direct damage per turn (probably more; most people will chump block Thrax and Kresh) and maybe a Lightning Reaver To join the offensive, providing yet more direct damage if he gets through even once.
tarvofthemudhole
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If there was ever a more deserving candidate for general tucking cards such as oblation, I haven't found it.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Just to be completely boring, here's the break-down of his name:
Thraxi - He who paints Mund - Earth ar - Red
Now, if there's a new card with any of these words in it, and now you know that what it's code for. Enjoy!
That being said, Mundungu could translate into something if we can determine what "ungu" means.
MTGundy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Do you still have to sacrafice a creatue if he attacks a planeswalker you control. Do yhou still count as the defending player?
thesorrow138
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
decided to make a BRB zombie deck with nicol bolas as the planeswalker. threw in liliana of the dark realms as mana feed... but was still missing something incredible. Then there was this guy.
Exclaimer999
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's a shame his name doesn't mean "He who paints the world black."
He IS centered on black, and it would be a hilarious reference to that song.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hey, hes a commander that will do some damage right when you cast him.
asskicker123456789
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Love it!!!!
Kadaver666
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thrax is great when you force your opponent to sacrifice with something like Killing wave, combine it with Liliana of the Dark Realms final ability and you can set the life payment to whatever you want, pay it for Thrax and sac the rest, force the opponents to do the same, Ultimatum, kill themselves trying to keep a creature with the life payment or sac out everything they got, in turn pumping up Thrax and then basically die anyway in a single swing from Thrax. slap a Whispersilk Cloak on him so he has Unblockability and Shroud and you're set.
Silver-Paladin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I am so sick of seeing this guy in EDH/Commander.
Hunter06
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@metalevolence
That comment made my day, lulz 5/5 Stars
patronofthesound
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Between this and sedraxis specter for top grixis cards.
I'm writing a song based on this guy. Give me some lyrics!
EDIT: Two years later, I wrote a song about this guy: https://soundcloud.com/joshua-m-boniface/thraximundar
LordRandomness
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Commanders with haste are nice.
Commanders that act as removal are nice.
Commanders with haste whose attacks act as removal (and sacrifice, at that!)? Very nice.
Xineombine
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Thrax has a baby brother
Manite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Something I just realized: Every Shard except Grixis got a Legendary tricolor iconic creature (Jenara, Asura of War, Sharuum the Hegemon, Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund, and Uril, the Miststalker). Grixis lacks a legendary tricolor Demon. Thraximundar is big and forces players to sacrifice creatures. Now what are two properties common to Demons? I'm starting to suspect Thrax here wasn't designed as a Zombie Assassin. And quite frankly that makes me feel his current typing is redundant with Sedris around.
I think Thrax should have traded places with Malfegor, who if I recall was the closest thing Grixis had to a ruler before his demise, meaning Mal should have been while Thrax would have worked fine as a . Another "could have been" scenario brought to you by Grixis' former demon-dragon overlord.
CogMonocle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Manite
Because i'll let thraxi lead my deck into battle wayy before sedris or malfegor.
We can either discard our and with a demon, or ride motorcycles and eat small children with a zombie assassin.
I for one choose the latter! And I REALLY hope this guy is in the grixis commander precon. Assuming they do the dragons again his only real competition for the slot is mishra and sedris. REALLY hoping its him, he seems to support what the rest of the deck wants to do better than sedris (you most likely won't have many creatures to use sedris's ability with) and I don't think they'd use mishra? One can ony hope its him. I'll buy that precon in a heartbeat if it is.
Also i feel like he fits in a grixis deck way better than a rakdos deck, personally. Iunno.
Comments (92)
Of course I will also say it's a great card by itself as well, the mana is a bit tricky to come by.
Even against a multi-color deck though, the combination is still pretty good.
His third ability counts all players, so your opponent while he is using Sprouting Thrinax or Dragon Fodder to boost his Devour creatures he's also adding counter to Trax!
When he attacks, not only does your opponent lose a creature, but it pumps up Thrax!
Attack an opponent that has only one creature out -> they sacrifice it -> 7 damage
you declare him attacking and he is a 7/7 unless your opponent is out of creatures, and then it is a straight 6 to their face
2 headed giant with a jund/devourer deck partner and this guy will be crazy, not might, will
@xXV4lkyr13Xx, he has haste, and terminate is the only card that can kill him at instant speed, besides, there is a counter to every card, your opponent could just as easily use cancel or spell snip, no card is perfect, but this is one of the more awesome ones
and yeah the sphinx has pro R+G, but is still hit able with spot removal, meet kor sanctifiers
The only drawback I see from this guy is it has no trample... no, seriously: opponent has 2 creatures, you attack with this alone you kill the two creatures and get a 7/7, then what?; a timed casting of Dragon Fodder can keep this guy attacking for like 2-4 turns and still don't scratch the opponent's leg.
Beside that its a bomb unleashed, pay off immediately after you drop it into the table and pay off later when your foe tries to decide what to sacrifice and what use to block this thing.
That being said, he doesn't seem like an assassin to me.
Assassins thrive on the art of subtelty, and from what I've read in various Savor the Flavor articles, this guy isn't very subtle.
Seems more like a Warrior or a Berserker to me.
Man, how cool would a Zombie Berserker be?
I'm not to fond of the art though. Raymond Swanland seems like he's perpetually moving sideways.
Somebody needs to notice the synergy here and stick this guy in a standard deck.
WHY IS HE BLUE????!?!?
Can you say GRIXIS EDH General :)
I want to see my friend's wreck their pants when I yank him out for the cost of B and 7 life with Reanimate.
Yes, that is my ultimate dream.
@Scu mbling1: I completely agree with you. His creature type doesn't fit his abilities at all. Zombie Warrior, or Zombie Avatar would make more sense.
My only complaint is his creature type of assassin. An assassin is a selective, covert killer; the assassin chooses a single target and eliminates it with cunning and precision. Thraximundar is an armor-clad warlord, riding a giant fellbeast into battle. When he attacks and forces a sacrifice, it's evocative of the attrition of war, rather than a well-planned attack. Thraximundar just seems like a blunt insturment of destruction, and I don't think he could sneak up on a blind man. I really think he should have been a zombie warrior.
Nobody runs devour because it's so bad. The only creatures worth letting them munch your dudes are Mycoloth (because of the huge token army) and Voracious Dragon (because it can straight-up end the game).
Anyway, the Jund mini-cycle of creatures that get the same counters whenever any creature dies for any reason is better because they have relevant evasion and cost considerably less, not to mention the fact that they get monstrously huge in Eldrazi Spawn decks because you're sacrificing spawns to make mana, which simultaneously puts counters on them.
It's ok though Thrax, you make a great EDH general.
And yeah, @RedAtrocitus LOL good lord that's insane. Sac four tokkens, tap 3 mana, Thrax gets 4 counters and his best buddy Blood Tyrant comes out to play. Artwork is sweet too.
He does sound like a salsa dance.
I just died a little on the inside.
It's not quite Annihilator 1. Thraximundar has "whenever ~ attacks, defending player sacrifices a creature," not "whenever ~ attacks, defending player sacrifices a permanent."
har= he
arra= to paint *not a Grixis word, as they don't have art
rax= red
i= who
mund= world
dar= name ending (equivalent to 'er' in English or 'eur/euse' en Francais, perhaps)
Thar-arra-rax-i-mund-dar= Harraraximundar, which would have been necessarily shortened to Thraximundar for easier pronunciation. He who paints the Earth red.
That looks likely, but I confess that guessing which element is 'paint' and which is 'red' are significantly harder than suggesting probable answers to the rest of the translation, and my divisions of syllables could be off.
Finding the element corresponding to the verb 'to paint' was particularly difficult, and I settled on a word that sounded unlike the harsher language that would have produced 'thar' and 'rax'. 'Mund' and 'Arra' then, probably come from the same language of origin, which I believe to be Nayan. I realized that Thraximundar couldn't have been named in Grixis. His name was most certainly first made by a recorder of some invasion elsewhere on Alara, especially considering the concept of 'painting' seems alien to Grixis (no art, or only ruins of art from Ancient Times, with no words for it left in the Modern Grixis language). However, a responsible scholar would take care to make sure that the name felt connected to the thing being named, and would probably try to create something that sounds 'Grixis-y' to them, and they might even know some Vithian dialects (Knight of New Alara in particular suggests that what little culture there was on Grixis was diffused to the other planes). I hypothesize the victims were not of Esperan origin, as I don't think they were enlightened enough to concieve of the importance of naming this creature with any more care than whatever the Vedalken word for 'Abomination' might be. Therefore that leaves Jund, Naya, and Bant as possible origins for the namer of Thraximundar. I discard the probability of a Jundian name, as they wouldn't care much what the name of the thing they're killing is.
He was probably named by some survivors of an attack on Naya or Bant, since they are the only Alaran culture that would have paint that might also have a similar language structure to Grixis (having human cultures themselves. the Vithian humans might even be distantly related to Elves of Naya). Also, the pattern of naming definitely suggest one of the Red-aligned, more primitive Planes. Since we have ruled out Jund and Grixis as being unlikely to be able to produce the name on their own, then either it was a Nayan, or possibly a well-travelled Bantian or Jundian who created the name.
coolest freaking general ever!
You can't be afraid to shy away from the literal when translating. When you think about words in English such as "sufferer" or "doer" you don't tend to think of them as meaning "one who suffers" or "one who does". You don't have to, because -or and -er let you encapsulate the notion of "one who verbs" quite easily. Similarly the "he who" portion of thraximundar could come from simply casting a verb into a noun/operator form. The -ar suffix is used in the infinitive form of some romance language verbs, and it is also permitted to use the infitive as a noun, so it's not hard to see "Thraximundar" as a verb without straying too far from the pseudo-Latin that spawned it.
Mundi is world or more loosely earth, and some portion of the word should clearly mean "red", but there's no reason to get too literal with "paint". To paint something a color is not really any different than to make something a color, and to paint red is no different from to made red or redden. How would you translate "redden" into a language that didn't have it as a verb? Probably as make/paint red. Similarly, how would you translate the verb to red into a language where red is only an adjective or noun, but never a verb? Probably as redden if available, or paint red if not.
If thraxi some how meant some form of "red", then thraximundi could easily mean "red earth" and thraximundar, "earth redden-er". Now, why thraxi should translate somehow into "red(den)" is a question worth asking, since mundi is very obvious to people with even a passing familiarity with Latin. The only thing I can think of is that "Thrax" was the Latin form of Thracian, and the people of Thrace were widely believed (were?) red-headed. That's stretching it, but perhaps there's more mythology that I'm missing somewhere. (Or perhaps Creative similarly stretched a word because it sounded exotic with the "x" in it.)
Red - haste. Black - sacrifice. Blue - counters. Run some proliferate (Inexorable Tide, Steady Progress, Tezzeret's Gamble) and the counters will flow.
@Superllama12
He's such a badass assassin that he manages to kill creatures without lifting a finger. He just shows up to fight and they fall over dead. And be honest, if you saw this guy coming after you, you'd probably say you've lived a good life and end it right then and there too.
Extra flavor points if you then proceed to kill Sedris with him. What a lackluster king...
This isn't the first red assassin either. Like his pedigree, Thraximundar can be trusted to do a job... just not always the job you wanted him to do.
Grimgrin is only two colors, so he can come out more easily, and he is cheaper too. Grimgrins saccing ability also has a nice little combo, where you can pump him up indefinitely if you have Rooftop Storm and Gravecrawler out. Running both Grimgrin and Thrax is a definite option though!
Anyway, something to remember is that Thrax can and probably will be chumpblocked. This is where you pump him up to give him trample/unblockabilty. There are many ways to do this, here are a few - Distortion Strike, Artful Dodge, Fury Charm.
Thraxi - He who paints
Mund - Earth
ar - Red
Now, if there's a new card with any of these words in it, and now you know that what it's code for. Enjoy!
That being said, Mundungu could translate into something if we can determine what "ungu" means.
He IS centered on black, and it would be a hilarious reference to that song.
That comment made my day, lulz
5/5 Stars
EDIT: Two years later, I wrote a song about this guy: https://soundcloud.com/joshua-m-boniface/thraximundar
Commanders that act as removal are nice.
Commanders with haste whose attacks act as removal (and sacrifice, at that!)? Very nice.
I think Thrax should have traded places with Malfegor, who if I recall was the closest thing Grixis had to a ruler before his demise, meaning Mal should have been
Because i'll let thraxi lead my deck into battle wayy before sedris or malfegor.
We can either discard our and with a demon, or ride motorcycles and eat small children with a zombie assassin.
I for one choose the latter! And I REALLY hope this guy is in the grixis commander precon. Assuming they do the dragons again his only real competition for the slot is mishra and sedris. REALLY hoping its him, he seems to support what the rest of the deck wants to do better than sedris (you most likely won't have many creatures to use sedris's ability with) and I don't think they'd use mishra? One can ony hope its him. I'll buy that precon in a heartbeat if it is.
Also i feel like he fits in a grixis deck way better than a rakdos deck, personally. Iunno.