Synergy with Xathrid Demon 0/5. We get it; for B, black can't even get a good chump blocker. This is a terrible activated ability, it may have been playable as B,T
ZEvilMustache
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(18 votes)
I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when the play testers decided the activated ability needed to be so expensive. What sort of arguments were made? Was "BT:" just too close to playable?
Vinifera7
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(8 votes)
Blightspeaker only costs more to cast, has 1 more Power, and only has to tap in order to use his ability.
True_Mumin
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Terrible. I would never consider playing this in any format.
SavageBrain89
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(4 votes)
The epitome of garbage.
LordZogar
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(10 votes)
When given the choice between this card and Swamp during an M10 draft, I always pick the Swamp, that way I can't accidentally use this card in my deck.
Iiory
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(4 votes)
still in this set ...well the girls are hot
ederchan
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
This card must be out for the next Core Set!!!!!
TroglodyteJB
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Worst card in the set.
person1234
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
They could've at least made it a 1/1 for 1 with a overcosted ability
inmypants22
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.9/5.0)(10 votes)
LOL Well I Like The Art But Ill Agree With Everyone On This Card
Titanium_Dragon
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
While I like 0/1s, I'm not really a big fan of this card. Several colors get evasive 1/1s for just one mana, and while this can help pull out stalled out games, so can Suntail Hawk.
DragonLord132
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(9 votes)
I prefer Orzhov Guildmage, at least I might be able to turn out 2 damage each turn. All the pingers are much better than this card.
OutlawD1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Get with it people, the new magic has commons that suck ass, and rares and mythics that are broken. Get with the program, go buy more booster packs and stop *****.
InfernoTowel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
bleh
darkfury
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
what if you draw something you cant use? i would use it as a late gamebreaker, not an early chump blocker as there are cards that are definitively better for the same cost
pseudointellectual
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I haven't found this card to be entirely useless. Late-game I can sometimes drop one or two on the table and use it to keep the pressure on my opponents. Acolyte of Xathrid also tend to get ignored, and if I can get a heavy hitter on the table the Acolyte will let me sneak in a win early. That said, I'll likely toss them out of my deck as soon as I get anything else.
Mode
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(4 votes)
I think wizards did not allow her to damage creatures with her ability as well (aside from getting red flavor this way), since this would lead to her own death, at least according to the flavor text: "Like all priests, she gives her blessings only to those truly worthy of them."
Ajani_is_da_man
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
surprisingly playable in limited ; )
Gaussgoat
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Pinging your opponent to death used to be great, back in the days of the Prodigal Sorcerer. She isn't totally awful for this, as she does her damage as "lifeloss" so anti-damage effects won't work.
While it isn't the worst card I've ever seen, it certainly is not great. Compare this to something like Guul Draz Vampire for the same cost, and I know which one I'd rather have on my side.
Passable at best, 1.5/5
Diachronos
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Onyx Goblet costs {2} more, but it can do the same thing for just a {T}. Plus you don't have to worry about someone using a pinger or weak spell to kill it off; just artifact destroying spells/abilities. And even then you don't have to worry nearly as much if you have Darksteel Forge or something like Leonin Abunas.
Uhhsam
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
strange that an acolyte of xathrid, if sacrificed for a xathrid demon, would do 0 damage...
MDStrawHat
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
wank
CeremonialBathory
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
If her ability hit all opponents it'd be a bit easier to understand why she was printed...but...
As for pseudointellectual's comment I don't see how this could be viewed as "pressure" - especially late game. By that time you could have a large creature (Demons come to mind) out with evasion (Fear, or Flying) that could keep them busy. This would only chip away at their Health, and unlike the Red and Blue versions of pingers - could also remove their creatures. Furthermore, she's useless combo'd with equipment such as Basilisk Collar that makes other pingers so formidable. This card isn't letting you "sneak the win early", getting that big creature out early did.
2 stars. 1 extra star for the art and the other one for being a bad card.
Aaron_Forsythe
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(28 votes)
Aaron’s Random Card Comment of the Day #49, 12/13/10
My plan for this card in M10 design was to have a mirrored pair of “Good Priest” / “Evil Priestess”, 1/1 creatures for and that had “: Target player gains 1 life” and “: Target player loses 1 life” respectively. Once we decided to put Soul Warden at common (as opposed to uncommon like it was in Tenth Edition and Ninth Edition), however, the white one no longer fit in the set. But we kept the black one.
Development messed with the numbers, putting mana in the activation, which I’m actually a big fan of. Cards without mana on them, like Onyx Goblet, give you a turn ultimatum—“I’m at 6 life; I am almost certainly dead in six turns”—but the mana activation on the Acolyte means you can buy yourself turns by forcing your opponent to spend his mana doing something else.
The card is “bad” from a pure power perspective, but I have no regrets about printing it at all. It brings many players joy to use cards like this (combat can get complicated an messy, but a card like this can win the game without much planning or risk), and there were M10 limited games when it was right to play this card.
The creative tie to Xathrid Demon was not one the designers or developers requested, but it is very cool, as it helped make M10 feel like it was showing glimpses of potential new worlds.
TherealphatMatt
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
"Like all priests, she gives her blessings only to those truly worthy of them. Unlike some others, her blessings suck."
Splizer
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I may have even gotten a fraction of understanding for this card's power level if she AT LEAST had 1 Power with which to attack with.
THAT would have made sense, it means that once the red zone clogs up she has the reach to keep pipping one's life total, no matter how ridiculous the activation cost is. But nooooooo.......
At least it puts your opponent on a clock. Plus the art is nice. The flavor text doesn't really make sense; is she really giving a blessing to somebody that truly deserves it, or is she just slowly bleeding a dude out? Let's not get overly poetic here.
Tiggurix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Such good artwork deserved a better card. I liked the original draft of this creature as a 1/1 for with no mana cost to activate.
Comments (34)
All the pingers are much better than this card.
"Like all priests, she gives her blessings only to those truly worthy of them."
While it isn't the worst card I've ever seen, it certainly is not great. Compare this to something like Guul Draz Vampire for the same cost, and I know which one I'd rather have on my side.
Passable at best, 1.5/5
As for pseudointellectual's comment I don't see how this could be viewed as "pressure" - especially late game. By that time you could have a large creature (Demons come to mind) out with evasion (Fear, or Flying) that could keep them busy. This would only chip away at their Health, and unlike the Red and Blue versions of pingers - could also remove their creatures. Furthermore, she's useless combo'd with equipment such as Basilisk Collar that makes other pingers so formidable. This card isn't letting you "sneak the win early", getting that big creature out early did.
first turn
1 extra star for the art and the other one for being a bad card.
My plan for this card in M10 design was to have a mirrored pair of “Good Priest” / “Evil Priestess”, 1/1 creatures for
Development messed with the numbers, putting mana in the activation, which I’m actually a big fan of. Cards without mana on them, like Onyx Goblet, give you a turn ultimatum—“I’m at 6 life; I am almost certainly dead in six turns”—but the mana activation on the Acolyte means you can buy yourself turns by forcing your opponent to spend his mana doing something else.
The card is “bad” from a pure power perspective, but I have no regrets about printing it at all. It brings many players joy to use cards like this (combat can get complicated an messy, but a card like this can win the game without much planning or risk), and there were M10 limited games when it was right to play this card.
The creative tie to Xathrid Demon was not one the designers or developers requested, but it is very cool, as it helped make M10 feel like it was showing glimpses of potential new worlds.
Unlike some others, her blessings suck."
THAT would have made sense, it means that once the red zone clogs up she has the reach to keep pipping one's life total, no matter how ridiculous the activation cost is. But nooooooo.......