The Vampire Lord. Sickest Planeswalker Alive . The Art Is Beyond Amazing. And Hes Got A Built In Mindslaver.
ratchet1215
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This guy is just so simple, so elegant, so flavorful, so powerful...and yeah, reusable Mindslaver is pretty much sweet. 4.5/5
Laguz
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Infinitely better than Nissa. Sorin won't get burned and killed instantly like Nissa will, he'll get to his ultimate 17 times as fast and his ultimate isn't potentially suicidal for his controller. Mindslaving is a cool ability and his artwork is extremely good.
Saha
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So that's why the second ability sets the opponent to ten life. Also pretty nice to kill a creature every turn and get life from it.
Demonic_Angel13
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Best ever planeswalker! His second abillity has great potential with cards like Bloodghast and finaly black has some turn control. Great art, great abillities. 5/5
Donovan_Fabian
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(5 votes)
This guy is officially the new most powerful planeswalker. He's easy to use, and even though his last ability is way awesome and very powerful, its the second ability I'm interested in. If you play him for 6 mana, use that 10 life ability right away, and then next turn play 2 soul's fire on a 5 creature (which is really easy these days), for 3 mana a piece at 6 mana (note that 6 mana is the same amount you need to put sorin on the field), then you win the game.. in two turns.. on like turn 6-7. Either your opponent has a conter spell or they can't come back from that, and you can still also drain 2 life off them the next turn as well, for a total of 12 instant damage at 6 mana. On top of that, there are a lot of new vampires whose ability reads "if opponent has 10 life or less" and it activates all those abilities, and in a much cooler way than nissa and her elves since your vampires don't have to be in play or even have vampires at all to get the use of it. He can also "ping" other planeswalkers so they never get to use their abilities and he gains more for his, at least thats the way I assume that works unless said otherwise (note that almost instant kills nissa).
This card single handedly destroyed me at a prerelease. His first ability is great and his second one is a death sentence if they have vampires that can benefit...
SocialExperiment
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Quite possibly the best Planeswalker so far.
Adren
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This Vamp takes down 'walkers, creatures, players... This guy's all you need! I will definately try for a playset!
Lateralis0ne
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Could someone explain to me how this card is a 'planeswalker plinker'? Am I missing something in the rules of the planeswalker supertype compared to players and the creature supertype?
DominusNox
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
he plinks planeswalkers because of the ruling that damage dealt to player from a spell or ability can be redirected to one of that players planeswalkers. essentially you do two damage to target player and after it resolves you direct it to his planeswalker.
makochman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(4 votes)
The art is awesome but the card is overhyped. What kind of deck would ever use him?
RamenRazer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
^^lol.
djpraiseadelik
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I just got one Friday in the Zendikar Booster Draft and he's definitely going in but for a different reason than what others would want him for.
In my black/red deck I'm doing a lot of burn and a lot of discard (with Lightning Bolt, Megrim, and Blightning being the cornerstones). But I'm also running 4 Goblin Artillery. His 2 damage/2 life gain will really help dampen the blow those artillery will do to me by mid to late game. Combined with two Vampire Nighthawks and two Akoum Refuge it lets me tap those artillery with some reckless abandon early and otherwise can give me some life protection if I start off slow.
And that's just his first effect...
Styny
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
The first time i saw this card i thought it was the most broken card ever. This planeswalker is so powerful, its not even funny. +2 for a mini lightning helix, The second ability goes hand in hand with Vampires, and the last ability... what more can be said?
darkfury
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
basically just Chandra Nalaar 2.0. he is better the more health your opponent has and the more 10- vampires you have. if they let you target your allies, you could potentially save them if they had less then 10 life and were about to die
yasin757
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
2 dmg and 2 life much better then chandra Nalaar
Duddits
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
The artwork makes him look like a gunfighter. All he needs is a Colt .45 in his right hand. Very cool!
blackhart-xxx
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
WOW!
Plantboy81
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Mindslaver was/is awesome. It was like a SUPER Word of Command. This guy is THE S*** (read UBER_GUY). I can't WAIT to get a playset! Muah-ha-ha!
Belz_
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(10 votes)
Meh. Too expensive, and the second ability is a bit narrow. Also, controlling the opponent's turn is nice but it's not the game-ender that you get from certain other planeswalkers.
LovesBlack212
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Out of the new planeswalkers from Zendikar, yes he's by far the best. 2 damage and gain 2 life, I'll take it and taking an opponent down to ten is okay (his weakest ability in my mind). Taking another players turn is also no joke, look for black control to come back.... Yippeee. My favorite color is black and they are making it the best; thank you.
majinara
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(4 votes)
He's good but I have the feeling that people tend to overrate him nonetheless, especially when they say Chandra Nalaar is worthless compared to him. I mean, Chandra is easier to cast, since she costs one mana less and only two colored mana instead of three. She also comes into play with 6 counters and has 7 after the first activation, while this guy comes into play with 4 and has 6 after activation, even though he costs more mana. Also Chandra can kill creatures with up to 6 toughness the turn she comes into play, while Sorin can only kill those with up to 2 toughness. He's good, but quickly overrated imho.
Neutralion
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(3 votes)
What to say? You control target player next turn. However, with deck in which half of cards give me life, I think Ajani Goldmane is better for me.
Sharki
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
A vampire lord, indeed! any deck with him will probably suck their foe dry!
Antinormal
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(6 votes)
Pulled a foil one from a booster, along with a Day of judgment , absolutely insane luck.
Anyway, Sorin really saves my life in my UB mill deck. The deck is really slow, so his pinging ability keeps me alive by removing low-toughness creatures and gaining me some life. His second ability makes you everyone's target in free-for-all multiplayer, though. I don't use the second ability since my deck doesn't care about my opponent's life total, but imagine how devastating it can be against all those life gain decks. His third ability is really fun, especially when you use your opponent's removal on his own creatures or just randomly waste his/her spells. The only downside is the high mana cost and the colored mana, but that's easy to get in slow control decks, which he is meant for anyway.
Hardly playable for vampire aggro decks, he's way too slow, but works just great in casual vampire decks.
Dalika
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.9/5.0)(4 votes)
This is easily the best planeswalker out of them all, his abilities are amazing plus hes a vampire
mangadan
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Seriously, when were you planning on using the second ability? Am I missing something, or is this about the last card that you'd want in a vampire aggro deck?
mutantman
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(9 votes)
I think Sorin's best place is alongside other planeswalkers. His +2 ability and good starting loyalty make him second only to Nicol Bolas as the hardest planeswalker to deal with, and his Mindslaver ability makes him incredibly deadly if you don't deal with him.
The mana cost is pretty restrictive, but once he's in play, he can dominate the board.
Really, it's the first ability that makes him great. Adding 2 loyalty counters a turn just makes him really hard to deal with. He gains you life with his ability, but he also gives you pseudo-lifegain by forcing the opponent to attack him instead of you or risk getting Mindslavered. And he gains you even more virtual life by killing off dudes that would have attacked you. And he protects your other planeswalkers splendidly--Mindslavering is really good when you have a Chandra Nalaar one turn away from her own ultimate. The fact that he builds up to his Mindslaver so quickly forces your opponent to deal with him before they deal with the other 'walkers you have out, which gives your other 'walkers more time.
The second ability is hardly ever going to be useful (except in EDH, obviously). Anyone who says Sorin goes in a vampire deck isn't thinking. Vampires are an aggro deck; Sorin is a control card. Aggro decks typically don't run six-mana spells that don't win the game on the spot. How many of the good vampires actually have a 10 life effect that's worth paying six mana to trigger? "Oh, my Bloodghast has haste and my Vampire Lacerator stops dealing damage to me, yay!" And in an aggro deck, your opponent is often going to be pretty close to 10 life already by the time you get to turn 6, in which case Sorin is a weaker Lava Axe, and that's saying something.
So yeah. Good card for black control decks and for decks with lots of other 'walkers. Not a vampire tribal card.
Omnibeing
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I have a rather simple question but I don't recall seeing a post regarding the answer. Is Sorin Markov considered a vampire? This would provide some additional benefits to a vampire deck. Any info on this matter is greatly appreciated.
Zangetsu00
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
first off 6 manna isn't that much really, not when you can use his second ability right off the bat, bring in a couple blood ghasts with a single drop of a land, and suddenly all your Gull Draz Vampire's gain intimidate? oh and even if you can't manage that just having Vampire Nocturnous on the field with maybe 2 other vampires (and considering how cheap vampires are) is no difficult task to finish the game in the turn Sorin hits the field. The only thing about it is that by turn six if your vampires haven't already brought your opponents lifepoints down below ten on their own, your in trouble anyway. and yes Omnibeing, he is a vampire and there are a couple vampire cards that go well with him.
BillyBullshot
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Technically, to answer Omnibeing's post, Sorin Markov is not strictly a vampire. I mean, nowhere on the card is the fact indicated. If his art was that of Storm Crow, he wouldn't be "considered" a vampire at all...
Raveknight
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Sorin says you take two dmg his buddy gains two life
Sorin says you take two dmg his buddy gains two life
your turn
Uh oh!!... Sorin did'nt say go, you lose your turn ^_^
Dilleux_Lepaire
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
For those who ask about the vampireness of Sorin, he's only a vampire flavorly. His first two abilities reflects this : drinking blood (damage and gain of life), 10 life (which activates many vampires' abilities). However, it is not considered a vampire, for his planeswalker status overwrite any other thing he could have been. Take Tezzeret. Even with his etherium enhancements, it is not considered an artifact, because it is a planeswalker.
It is a great addition to vampire decks, however, due to the synergy with them, and providing a late-game answer to life-gain or anything that stops all of your creatures (like a Meishin, the Mind Cage or a Blazing Archon).
b00kworm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
His second ability + Hidetsu's second rite = INSTANT WIN
Plus life drain for +2 (not 1!) and reusable mindslaver BEST PLANESWALKER YET
only downside is high mana cost, but once you get him out, his +2 loyalty first ability will make him faster than most other planeswalkers
Jokergius
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Lightning Helix/ Magister Sphinx's 2nd ability /Time Warp all wrapped into ONE Planeswalker? Awesome. PLUS it gives people a second look at Mono-black decks, again!! yay!!
edit: Mindslaver is TOTALLY different than Time Warp. You CONTRO that players ENTIRE turn, then, I suppose. Ergo, you look at their hand, and stuff...still...YAY!!
benlivinmusic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In a Vampire deck with the lifelink vamps to keep you alive until he comes out works. Also throwing in four Dark Rituals to a Legacy deck works. He does really well in a tribal deck like Nissa.
Smoked_Peasant
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sorin is a card that in theory is both awkward, but powerful. In practice, I have found in my experience, he's rather... effective. I've never not had him out, and thought "I wish this was something else". I have however, had times when I could never muster the mana to play him, or even if I could play him, that he was the best play I could make in that turn. But, such is the fate of all expensive planeswalkers.
For what he does, he wouldn't be fair at five mana. Six is a fair cost, but it's a high cost. In a modern black deck, It's either cast X and Y, or play Z (this guy) and nothing else that turn, the turn you're probably close to winning (or losing).
I just hope that this guy's printing won't preclude the printing of a Baron Sengire PW, my one dream for MTG.
theabyss
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
oh man get this...i dont think i will ever see his last ablity used so well....i made the guy cast contol magic on his own creature...made him demonic tutor for a blightning and cast it on him self
hardstones
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.9/5.0)(4 votes)
good card, but controlling players turn isnt too useful...
Ava_Adore
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.9/5.0)(5 votes)
I dont really like him, his first ability is great, probably one of the best a pw has gained so far.
his secound ability is not so great,
his third ability is one i dont like, by the time you get his third ability pumped out, your opponent probably wont have any cards left in his hand, or any worth using, although you could get lucky and be able to pull off something big. point is gaining control of someones turn sounds better thatn it really is.
but at least with most other pw, you know what your getting with their third ability!
I think i would rather all my cards to be indestructible thank you very much,
or to gain all creatures in the graveyard,
or a heap of dragons,
or deal 10 damage to my opponent and all their creatures
but he is very flavourful and i wouldnt say he is bad (except for his cost)
2.5/5
Snaxme
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Second ability = synergy with a lot of "If opponent has 10 or less life" vamps.
remnant_phoenix
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(17 votes)
@Gezus82: Not all vampires are elegant and refined. In most vampire mythologies, it's the older vampires that are cultured and refined as they have the benefit of very old age (more knowledge and a broader worldview) without the drawback of physical age. At the same time the younger, newly turned vampires tend to be anywhere from "rebellious teenager on a power trip" to "barbaric monster" and the older ones have to reign them in. Even then there are older vampire societies that intentionally embrace their monstrous qualities. This isn't a rant. I'm just really into supernatural creature mythology.
The most important thing to consider in the case of Zendikar vampires is environment. Zendikar is an extremely hostile place that does not allow strong civilization and culture to prosper. And, despite the fact that they don't age, vampires on Zendikar probably don't live as long as those on other planes because of the dangers inherent to Zendikar. All in all, I'd say Zendikar inherently encourages its citizens, including vampires, to be more primal than their counterparts on other planes.
Another note for this case is Sorin. Forget a broad worldview, as a planeswalker he has a broad worldsview. His backstory on this site tells us that he hasn't been in Zendikar for a LONG time and that he is the oldest planeswalker not counting Nichol Bolas. It makes sense that he would fit more into the achetype of the wise, cultured, and well-traveled vampire, whereas the non-planeswalking vampires of Zendikar have a very different situation.
Once again, not ranting. I'm just a supernatural mythos nerd and a grade "A" Vorthos.
There is hope for you yet Gezus82, I hear that vampires are replacing zombies as the standard black creature, so we may visit a more cultured plane with a good lot of vampires soon. I'd love to go back to Ravnica after the Guildpact has broken and gang wars and organized crime have thrived. The vampire underworld of Ravnica in such an environment would be sickly awesome.
So, as for the card itself...
First pack of my first Zendikar draft I pulled this guy. He won me multiple games. His first ability can seriously turn the tide of a close game. His second has excellent vampire synergy, and once again, can really turn the tide.
Based on some comments I've seen, I think his final ability is a little underrated. Yes, its usefulness varies depending on what your opponent is playing, but I don't think that matters as much as people think it does.
In the very worst case (example: your opponent is playing a creature-based deck with nothing that can actually be used against him) you can at least waste your opponent's spells and abilities (cast his ceature pump spells at the end of his turn so that they can effectively be thrown away and tap out all of his mana), eat up an entire turn that he won't get any new mana abilities played, and have a Master Warcraft for the turn, and that's strait up GOOD.
In the best case you can violently turn your opponent's deck against him (examples: if he's playing direct damage or has a sacrifice mechanic for his creatures) and that is EXCELLENT.
Either way his final ability can REALLY change the landscape in the game and is never really wasted IMO.
I can see why some would say that he's not that great in standard because of his cost, but in a deck with mana acceleration it's no problem. Even without acceleration he can really seal the deal late game. The key phrase with this guy in my experience is "tide-turner." Unlike Nichol Bolas, you don't build a deck around him and you don't play him to dominate the game. You play him to turn a game going downhill toward your favor. You play him to end a standstill. You play him to put the final nails in the coffin.
Sorin is one of my new favorite cards ever. He and the Zendikar vampires inspired me to make a mono-black deck, which is something I never thought I'd do as black has been my least favorite color for a long time.
gamerboy6000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is crazy. This card single-handedly won me a tournament once.
ChampionofSquee
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
the whole turn stealing thing completely dominates, i played my deck with Markov against my deck with Darigaaz, the igniter Karrthus Tyrant of jund, Kumano Master Yamabushi, with all three out, its a tri-color burn deck and with Sorin's final ability, i dealt one damage to Darigaaz from Yamabushi and then five more to him from random burn spells in the deck, leaving Darigaaz out of the game. I probably could have done more with the turn but eliminating the igniter sufficed. Sorin won in the next couple turns. Also i haven't seen anyone mention this, but he, like Bolas, picks up really quickly. Meaning, he can use his big ability and recover from it pretty easily. Liliana Vess and Chandra Nalaar are both also amazing but they go up by +1 loyalty, whereas Sorin, Bolas, and Jace all can build up a decent cushion before using their largest abilities so you can cast them within two turns of each other, that would take quite a while on Nalaar and Vess. Granted, Liliana's would be for the most part useless within two turns of itself, but Nalaar's would basically be an instant win, unless you're playing a serious life gain deck. I really want Sorin to become a character in the Web Comics because he's completely awesome. A duel deck with him would be awesome except whoever you put up against Sorin Markov would be dead shortly.
RaLuna
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(13 votes)
incidentally, there's a mathematician named S. Sorin who did research on Markov Chains
Hunterr
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Awesome 1st ability, but his ultimate isn't as "zOMG he/she did WHAT?" like other planewalkers'. Still, the 1st ability kinda makes up for that.
bpmbrent
★★☆☆☆ (2.6/5.0)(4 votes)
i still think Elspeth, Knight-Errant is the best planeswalker. but sorin is still disgusting
EnV
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Best planesalker ever. I second that motion. I can use him in my vampire changeling deck.
SORIN=ZENDIKAR TEN LIFE OR OR BUST POLICY.
Layton
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
strictly worse than storm crow
Mafoo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It was so fun taking control of by buddies turn while he was using Artifacts.
"I sacrifice everything to your Arcbound Ravager, then sacrifice Arcbound Ravager to itself, and tap all of the lands that I couldn't sacrifice. MY TURN! I WIN!"
Quite fun.
daekoaram
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I just love this card , it easily destroys creatures with 2 life total and i gain life , then the mind control is just superb :) , this card saved me for so many ocassions :D 4 out five! if the mana cost is lower then it would be 5 hrehehe!
GooberSnotpants
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think what we need to consider is all the vampire abilities that trigger when your opponent is at ten life. While his second ability is narrow, in a vampire deck, he can make all the stuff on your side of the field go wild really fast.
OMFGrhombus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I'd really only play him for the first two abilities, and even then he's marginally two expensive for my liking. The last ability I can only see being occasionally useful. If it was closer to a Sen Triplets-esque ability while still adding something extra like not having to pay mana costs of spells you stole then I would see the appeal.
Gezus82
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Yes an elegant vampire, thank you wizards. I was a little ***ed when I saw the vampire creatures from this set as they were so barbaric. vampires are supposed to be elegant, cultured, and refined. and so far very few meet that requirement. so thank you for at least making the planeswalker fit that image. one more to add to the list: baron sengir, Szadek, and now Sorin
thank you Phoenix, I tend to think of vampires as they are portrayed by Lord Byron and Bram Stoker as nobles, and forget about the old eastern european where as you said vampires are wild and barbaric.
yet those also are different than how they are portrayed here in zendikar. they are not nobles so differ from the western european stories, yet the are civilized and have their own city, so they are not wild animals like in the eastern european stories. It's really more of a middle-ground that is developed here where the vampires have their own civilization and culture which is completely separated from the other race. This is not so common and truly quite innovative flavor-wise. Props to Phoenix for pulling me out of my bubble and allowing me to see this. Though I still prefer the noble vampires and find the more engaging, and I hope we go back to a ravnicaish plane where they play a prominent role.
ParadoxCry
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
I wish people would stop associating Sorin with vampires. I mean, he is a vampire and flavour-wise it's cool, but the card dosn't relate to vampires at all in game terms; unlike Nissa Revane he is NOT a tribal planeswalker! Sorin's most at home in a control deck, IMHO. I run him in a U/B Bloodchief Ascension/Control deck with Hideous End, Countersquall and despite what i said above; Vampire Nighthawk. And, if i do say so myself, the deck is pretty awesome.
If you're playing a control deck, his mana cost isn't really a problem at all; colour fixing is effortless these days and i drag games far beyond turn 6, which he then wins most of for me. His first ability is incredibly useful; you're either eating low-toughness creatures (which are always annoying to control players, regardless of power) or leeching life off of your opponent at a very efficient rate for a +2 ability. His second i don't find so useful myself, but i can see that it has a very high potential. As for his final ability, anyone who disses it is either very ignorant or just plain thick. At the very, very, very, VERY worst it's a Time Warp (which i also run in my control deck), and at best it's a game-winner. You can completly destroy some decks with it, if you're clever.
Flavour-wise, Sorin is my favourite planeswalker and i'm extreamly pleased i own a copy. 5/5 all the way.
greenandblack
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(2 votes)
seems like the second ability will be more useful then the last ability most of the time.
Uhhsam
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
what happens if both players have sorin on the table, and both are at or above 7 loyalty? let's player A uses his sorin to take control of player B's next turn. while controlling player B's turn, player A uses player B's sorin's ultimate to take control of his own next turn. would that be a way to waste player B's loyalty counters by having player A take control of his own next turn? or would it cause player B to control player A's next turn?
Dirgimzib
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Uhhsam - You can't have two Sorin's out at the same time. Planeswalkers work in the same way Legendaries do, in that you can't have two of the same kind out at once. They'll both just instantly go to the graveyard.
Ventrisor
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Do you guys reckon i should trade s lotus cobra for a sorin markov? i want to add him to my vampire deck, and i was just wondering if it was a good trade.
cspence1010
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@ParadoxCry I have to disagree. I understand what your saying, and I bet he does work great in a control deck, but I feel he is tribal to vampires, maybe it doesn't stand out as much. His first ability is like a good deal of vampire cards, taking life and gaining it. His second plays along with quite a few vampire cards in which gain a bonus when an opponent has 10 or less life (Bloodghast, Gull Draz Vampire, Ruthless Cullblade, and Vampire Lacerator). As for his last ability, that does seem off from what the vampire of zendikar are like, yet it is still vampire lore (the whole mind control). Not to mention its hard to compete with what his last ability is when you already have great cards like Blood Tribute and Malakir Bloodwitch.
f_fivefiftyseven
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Why is everybody mentioning mana burn with the Mind-Slaver ability? Didn't they get rid of manaburn in the new rules?
faisjdas
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Cool card, but a little to costly.
Dethraven
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Awesome planeswalker in the right deck. I personaly have paired him with Chandra Nalaar. R/B deck with seething songs and dark rituals, put Chandra out first with seething song, wait till i can use her 10 dmg to player and all creatures they control, then drop Sorin, instantly make their life 10, and sac Chandra FTW.
TheWrathofShane
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Slightly off topic sorry, but heres my new plainswalker idea
Phage the Untouchable (3)BBBB Comes with 5 +1 Pay 2 life, This life loss cannot be reduced or redirected -2 Remove target creature from the game -8 Target opponet Looses the game
PaladinOfSunhome
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I find it interesting that a Black creature is able to control another players turn, but I like this card none the less. The fact that his first ability can target creatures or players is good and it gives him a plus. I really like the art, like he's looking down at his pray.
4.0
NeoSin
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(3 votes)
I would rather pay 2 more mana for Nicol, honestly. But then again, Hes in myh Grixis control deck WITH Nicol, and having the two of them out at the same time means I win : )
Zoah
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
His minus ability is only mediocre, it might bring victory back into view if you opponent just did some ridicules combo to get five million life or something, although that a bit of a stretch of the imagination, its still best to consider all possibilities.
I think what this ability was actually meant for was to allow certain combos to happen when your opponent's life is at ten. (A lot of new vampires seem to have some effect pertaining to that) The only downside with this is that you can't spam this minus ability like you can with Jace, Garruk, Nico Boles, or a few others. So there isn't much of an extra function to explore with this move. This makes him slightly rigged.
In my opinion the best part about this plainswalker is his plus ability and his highish loyalty. His plus ability allows for healing, kill-power, slow damage, and the list goes on. His high loyalty combined with this makes him tough to get rid of and puts is ultimate ability within reach on turn number two after you summon him, though rather or not you use it is completely up to you.
Control your opponents turn? Possibly mean, but without manna burn it will be much harder to make them self destruct... Perhaps you could attack with their delicate wizards that aren't meant for combat, assuming your opponent has any. Overall, it's just not as game ending as some ultimate abilities are...
Base rating: ***
high loyalty: +* Nasty plus move: +** Rigged minus ability: -* less than game ending final: -*
Final: ****
Nuclear_Pony
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Despite what people say he has some synergy with vampires, examples have been given. You can drain your opponent(s) with black sorceries / instants, but why would you ? Sorin can do it for you with snap of his fingers. It's not very obvious like in the case of Nissa but it's definitely there. Didn't WotC mention he is a vampire planeswalker and the 2nd oldest planeswalker. If I ever got a play-set of him, he'd go straight into my vampire deck replacing Liliana Vess.
slaveofbolas
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
one of my favorite cards. although unfortunately its hard to get him to the point where i can control a turn. like everyone i play is like im not letting that happen, but soo much fun when it does. one of my favorite magic cards, and characters. A plus =D
VoidedNote
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Sorin makes life gain decks cry.
magicrocks18
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In my opinon the card that works best with sorin is Hidetsugu's Second Rite. Use sorin to deal 10 damage then use this. Awesome kill
yubbs
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
just wondering if you can revive planes walkers with cards like animate dead, if so use a diabolic tutor to bring him to ur hand and then discard him (not hard in a mono black deck) and then bring him back with animate dead on potentially your 3 or 4th turn, put your opponent down to 10 health and then hit the rest with your now jacked up vampires with the ability of "if opponent has 10 or less life"
IshubarashI
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I'm becoming very disappointed by the simple minded people claiming controlling someone's turn isn't very useful. The entire focus of this game is STRATEGY, and if you can control someone's turn and: 1. waste their spells 2. send their creatures to pointless deaths (especially those pesky low toughness creatures they keep for abilities but never attack/block with) 3. tap all lands and leave the player defenseless- You've essentially taken control of the entire game and left this player bound and gagged, potentially setting them back by several turns, or at the least leaving them nearly defenseless and taking advantage of any opportunities this leaves you during your turn. Sorin's last ability is brilliant, and anyone who claims otherwise has simply never seen it in action. Once you're on the receiving end of Sorin's mindslaver ability you'll understand its power.
His second ability is useful in that it can target any player, including yourself; bouncing yourself back up to 10 life at the brink of death is very very handy in a mono black deck. Especially considering he gets the loyalty back fairly quickly.
His last ability is nuts. It's a shame Mana Burn no longer exists though.
KarmasPayment
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
"His second ability is useful in that it can target any player, including yourself; bouncing yourself back up to 10 life at the brink of death is very very handy in a mono black deck. Especially considering he gets the loyalty back fairly quickly." -PhyrexianLobbiest
It might just be that my eyes are poor, but I beleive his second ability says, "-3: Target opponent's life total becomes 10."
+ all of the other Vampires in the crew that are deadly without the Life total issue.
His main ability is an awesome combo with Sanguine Bond, and is fairly devastating on its own.
His ultimate leaves a little to be desired, but should be enough to put someone away if you've got enough guys on the board.
5/5
AXER
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(4 votes)
This guy looks cool.
cloneffect
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Really cool, but very undervalued. Like, he hasn't really found a home. Cruel control ran him for a bit, I guess; he was the star of Grixis Burns, but that wasn't explored enough. He's kinda designed for vamps, with the whole ten-life synergy, but that only works with the aggro vamps, and he's too expensive, mana-wise, for that build. A mana cheaper and he'd probably have seen a lot more play. Too powerful to go ignored forever, though, especially once Alara block rotates and Type 2 really slows down, that six mana should become a lot more payable. Because for that six mana you can just whack them down to ten and set them on the clock, or shock them for 4-point life swings to set you up for mindslaver. Mindslaver. Wow. But with so much good burn around right now, and so much good card draw, that -3 ability looks almost as good....
iNathan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
this guy is dope. he kicked butt in the books too, which made me like him even more.
Daikoru
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Everytime someone managed to use his 3rd ability on me, it was a turn I couldn't do anything anyway. Could really screw someone over thought if he has abilities that say "sacrifice some permanent: something happens". If he has some counters waiting for you in his hand, you could counter his own cards~. Lot of fun possible, if used at the right time, that is.
Elder_Kraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love Sorin. I've just put together a Superfriends-style multi-player deck using Liliana, Sorin, the first Chandra, Tezzeret, and Nicol Bolas. After Damation, I pop out Chandra or Sorin for crowd control. Sorin's 2nd ability is good for use either with Tezzeret's ultimate to bring down life-gainers to killing range or for an instant kill using Chandra's ultimate. Even better if Sorin only comes out when one of the other two is ready for an ultimate so they don't see Sorin coming in advance. Cool, cool art, cool, cool utility.
NickTrips
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hands down, my favorite planeswalker....
brianc_mtg72
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is beast... I mean ok it takes a little work on mana, but he rewards!!!
EggShen
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ PhyrexianLobbiest,
Vicious Hunger doesn't target both players and creatures. Not saying I like the mini lightning helix de***or better, but it might actually be more accurate than calling it a vicious hunger.
Additionally, you are not considered an "opponent" of yourself. So you can not use the second ability to bounce your life total back to 10.
Still a rad card, though.
hugemanatee
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I still say it should be lgitimate to use his ultimate power to say "I make you concede during your next turn" now dance puppet, dance.
Daijin26
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@PhyrexianLobbiest
Even if Mana burn still existed, you wouldn't have been able to use Sorin's Mindslaver ability to burn your oppenent because Wizards would have printed the same clause on Sorin that they did on the actual Mindslaver (the original print, not the reprint in Scars) that your opponent can't take mana burn while you control their turn.
In fact, when mana burn was still around, it that was in the official rules about taking over a player's turn.
So either way, you wouldn't have been able to use Sorin to make your opponent burn himself.
Toversnol
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Is it possible to put a 'Demonic Appetite' on a creature opponents controle while using his ultimatum?!?
LarsBM
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Good card, great artwork but should've been a five drop imo. Even though he is a good planeswalker it's just so much you could do with six mana and by the time you get him out his first ability normally isnt really that helpful.
Pwnsaw
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
His -3 kills control, his +2 eats aggro babies. His mindslaver seems overshadowed by his first two abilities. With a little proliferate though, he could mindslaver the turn after he comes out.
divine_exodus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Interesting card. Let's see....
His +2 ability is formidable. It is one of the better first abilities that most planeswalkers have. (I'm looking at you, Jace Beleren) The fact that you both gain life and make another target lose life is useful, especially against an annoying chump blocker or Ondu Cleric.
His -3 ability can be useful, but it can also be a lot better. It really is only worth the -3 loyalty when vs. a white lifegain deck. Considering his other abilities, you think this would be better.
Finally. This last ability is extremely powerful. As many others have said, yes it is Mindslaver, and yes we know everything you can do on an opponent's turn. I won't repeat everyone else, but I will remind people that you can tap lands even if you are not going to use the mana that they produce. So during your opponent's turn, you can still tap all their lands and attack with creatures you know will get killed. It is also fun to use spells meant to target your creatures. (Pacifism)
All in all, he is one of the better planeswalkers, though certainly not the best. Undoubtedly playable.
Final Rating:
4.5/5
Aburaishi
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
So... he has Ajani Vengeant's -2 ability for 1 less damage, only it gives him +2. Sure he costs 2 more mana, but even getting out Vengeant 2 turns earlier, he only has 1 more loyalty counter than Markov comes in with, and then proceeds to gain them slower. This card basically just takes Vengeant, slaps him in the face a couple times and calls him a sissy. I don't like it.
iaiji
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Absolutely hilarious in EDH, oh I'm sorry, I meant Commander. 40 life you say? Bwahahahaha!!!!!
BloodJunkie
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(5 votes)
This has to be my favorite card ever printed. The art is fantastic to say the least.
I play him in a UB removal control deck with lots of bounces, counterspells and destroy effects. So pretty much by turn six, my opponent has very little in play anyhow. I drop Sorin and I win. Happens every time.
5000/5
Yes. That's right. 5000/5
I don't think Sorin Markov can be rated in stars. He is comparable only to Hennessy.
- Eternal life, eternal love, or a single glass of Hennessy?
Tough choice, but I'll take the Hennessy thanks -
fanofmagic
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Cool guy, ugly fingers
Stray_Dog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm guessing if he was a DnD character his alignment would be neutral evil.
Khultar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
yes i totally agree when they say its hard to tell hes a vampire...but thats only if you dont look at guys like guul draz vampire and ruthless cullblade and such, they often hve to do with the opponent having 10 or less health, so sorin is a core vampire, hes just so much more is all
tonyf
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this card is cool but it makes me fell bad NOT hey i just bot this and put it in a mono black vampire deck its swet deck
iSlapTrees
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(8 votes)
"The vampires of this world don't know the pleasures of hunger. They gorge themselves without savoring the kill." —Sorin Markov
The quote from Feast of Blood, which proves those vampires are aggro type where as sorin takes his time and savor the kill (control).
Superllama12
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Probs my fav 'walker, with Bolas and Koth
Azrael1911
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In EDH Sorin Markov's ability is what my playground calls "Life Nuke," for it basically reduces you to a quarter of your starting health as soon as he hits the field (6 mana is not very much at all in EDH) while still retaining that one loyalty counter, giving him continued field advantage and his 2 damage 2 gain ability.
dienoob
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
best card in my deck I can make people scream in 2hg dropping there hp to 1/4 on the 6th turn, or in 1v1 picking out monsters with toughness 2 or less and then mind control to waist people's spells. Mostly this card make sure my fire swamp deck finish anyone off no matter what kind of deck he has by making sure he is in that 10 hp range.
sorin688
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
this is the best card ever the first ability rocks and you can deal instant damage and gain instant life. also his second move can be casted inasantly. so first move you get i either there at 10 or your at ten if your already at 3 or something. and finally you can take over there turn though you can't forefit for them you can waste there stuff tap them monsters and force them to play right into your plan. but aside from the abilitys this is deffinantly my favorite art or card if you have more than one hundred dollars i recomend you put this in your deck. all the planeswalkers are very good but this is my fav followed by jace the mindsculptor/berline and liliana vess (or however you spell it ) thses are my fav's.
infernox10
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
...
Very mean to use in EDH. D;
Kryptnyt
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(5 votes)
The best thing about Sorin Markov is that his name sounds fairly Russian, leading to the idea that he has an awesome Russian accent. "Vine? I never drink... vine."
Goatllama
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Opponent pulled Filigree Angel + Master Transmuter lifegain on me with a Borderpost and an Eternity Vessel on the field. He basically had around 300 life. On my turn (probably one turn before death), I use Markov's mind control with a Vampire Hexmage on the field. Hex the Vessel, the borderpost to his/my hand with the Transmuter, play a land, reset his life to 0. One of the best plays I've ever made, all thanks to Markov.
Marcl91
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
Play it, let your opponents life become 10 and finish the game with Hidetsugu's Second Rite. Another fun way to win :-)
Delixu
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(5 votes)
The planeswalker I rate the lowest, to be honest. Cannot see how I'd make him fit into any of the decks I've ever played with.
AlunJaceImpostor
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Love this guy. Second ability just makes me want to build a vamp deck around him. Artwork is SWEET too. 5/5
Splizer
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
If I could be granted one wish to design an upcoming Duel Decks set, it would be Sorin vs Venser.
(Yeah, yeah, unlikely, but I think it would sell like hot cakes)
SgtSwaggr
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
The first Russian planeswalker, commrades!
A3Kitsune
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Confirmed as being in Magic 2012.
lorendorky
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
One use of his +2 ability followed by a single proliferation = ultimate next turn.
MuffinMafia
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I don't understand why people think controlling someones turn isn't more powerful in most cases, then taking an extra turn.It is giving you a Time Walk. Your gonna use his spells making them useless. Your gonna attack, if u can, yourself because tapped creatures is always good then blow out all his mana just in case. Next turn you swing in Sorin does another drain life and it should be game.
Plus vs blue decks whats not better then countering thier own spells with thier own counter spells :) Course i can Sorin will not see the light of day in a counterspell deck
Mike-C
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Want to take 3 turns in a row? How do you say no to that?!
azlev
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Aside Karn and Nicol Bolas, Sorin can stop or kill other planeswalkers by dealing damage on then.
grok_grok
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I run him in my casual level up deck, using Gilder Bairn, Training Grounds, and Paradise Mantle to increase his counters the turn he's dropped. Funniest thing to do, using Lighthouse Chronologist with him in Multiplayer and telling everyone, that can either give up or watch as you play with yourself.
D3nt3
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
He's Back in M12!
marwinshieldscale
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
it's official he's going to be reprinted in M12 I just hope he dosn't replace my liliana
PKleck
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(3 votes)
If you use his -3 ability in EDH you're a tool that likes to suck fun out of games and strictly plays the format to win and win alone. You should go elsewhere if you do this...some people actually like to create their own fun (with the others at the table) as opposed to completely sapping someone else's by ending their game on turn 6. /rantend
~someone who has had to exit casual EDH games too often because of this
dabarne
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
i really need this card!!!!!!!
NatalyNeeSama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Wow, Sorin is quite cute too xD
Now, speaking seriosly: He is awesome, aside with Liliana, he is my fav plaineswalker.
I find the last ability so much fun, is a test for your capacity to screw yourself, but using he opponent deck as a guinea pig xD
Kindulas
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
His art is easily some of the best ever. I might complain about how the background seems greenscreened, more so even than others, but the actual character design is both amazing and incredibly well done. Other drawings of him don't compare, though they're cool to. I'd say what I like about it except that would be everything, so I'll just mention the black eyes and amazing hair. That's the main thing, the art on sorin's thirst and sorin's vengance don't do justice to the hair, though I guess that Rise poster mostly did. The only reason he isn't my favorite planeswalker for charater is that I'm a sucker for brash, female powerhouses, and Chandra is the definition of that. But Sorin has, objectivly the best aesthetic design.
001010011100101110
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
What's the flavor of the second ability when your opponent had 1 life? You... blow blood back into their neck? What... the... fu
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
So. Sorin, Lord of Innistrad:
+1 make a vamp token with lifelink -2 make an anthem emblem -6 destroy 3 other planeswalkers and steal them
Makes tokens with lifelink. Interesting. Strong, but overpowered? unlikely.
*** out emblems. Now that's new. but doesn't increase toughness, so Red can still use any number of sweepers without worry.
Ultimate: oh. oh gods. this is horribly broken. No, literally, this guy will get banned everywhere Doubling Season is legal. Why?
Experiment Kraj, plus Doubling Season, plus Sorin Lord of Innistrad. Sorin enters the battlefield with 6 due to Doubling Season. Experiment Kraj can use Sorin's Ultimate and target Sorin. Sorin comes back with 6, you steal 2 other Walkers. repeat ad infinitum to steal all creatures and Planeswalkers on the battlefield. Commander just died.
EDIT: yes, I know Kraj's abilities works on creatures. I also know people have already cracked Kraj + Planeswalkers. I forget the cards to do it, but look up Kraj's comments. It all works out.
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I once saw someone playing this against a lifegain deck. His opponent went from 120 to 10 to 0 life in one turn. It was beautiful.
Better than the lord of Innistrad, by much much more. Markov's mana cost is worth it; having four loyalty when he enters and having a +2 ability as opposed to Lord's +1. In my opinion, Markov's first ability can really change a lot of things, and is just as good for black/white as Lord. His -3 ability is a game changer, especially in a Two-Headed giant match. The only downside is that you may have used the first ability enough to make it irrelevant, and it can't target yourself. Lord's -2 really doesn't do that much, but it can end up being good. I think Markov's 2nd is better overall. Lord of Innistrad's last ability is not good. It takes him at least three turns to get up to it, and it's not that great. It destroys three creatures or planeswalkers, which many people like because "omigarsh it can kill other planeswalkersssss!!!1!!1!one!" I think that planeswalkers are not so commonly used that if your point is to use the last ability on a planeswalker, you will just hoard it for a while. Besides, Nicol Bolas, PlaneswalkerNicol Bolas, PlaneswalkerNicol Bolas, Planeswalker can do it while gaining loyalty. Markov's -7 only takes 2 turns to get up to because of his first being a +2 ability. It would be hard to lose using it. You can TAKE CONTROL OF ANOTHER PLAYER'S TURN.
Nuff said.
Axelle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
TVTropes claims this is a Sephiroth clone. That is ridiculous.
GhostCounselor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Both Sorin planeswalker cards are pretty awesome. Lord of Innistrad is a more efficient play, but Sorin Markov will affect the game in a much more drastic fashion. The ability to reduce your opponent's life total to ten alone is worth it, and is capable of at least putting you back in a game that you had otherwise lost. And not to mention essentially being able to extort two life from opponents is rather nice, especially for a bleeder style player like me.
The one thing I'm curious about is what exactly you can do when you "control your player's next turn". Can you make them attack themselves? Can you Blasphemous Act them? Say your opponent has a Jace, The Mind Sculptor, can you have Jace exile their library instead? That's what I want to know.
Hunter06
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My first Mythic, he been in pretty much every deck that can use him. 5/5 Stars Edit, Probably my second favorite Planeswalker behind Jace, at least Vorthos wise
Sorin is much better than he looks. Six mana might seem like a lot for someone who just does two damage each turn, but I've found that his +2 ability almost always ends up killing some annoying creature, and if it doesn't, it can just hit the opponent. Not to mention that he can set the opponent's life total to 10 instantly upon coming out.
Comments (136)
Also pretty nice to kill a creature every turn and get life from it.
In my black/red deck I'm doing a lot of burn and a lot of discard (with Lightning Bolt, Megrim, and Blightning being the cornerstones). But I'm also running 4 Goblin Artillery. His 2 damage/2 life gain will really help dampen the blow those artillery will do to me by mid to late game. Combined with two Vampire Nighthawks and two Akoum Refuge it lets me tap those artillery with some reckless abandon early and otherwise can give me some life protection if I start off slow.
And that's just his first effect...
I mean, Chandra is easier to cast, since she costs one mana less and only two colored mana instead of three. She also comes into play with 6 counters and has 7 after the first activation, while this guy comes into play with 4 and has 6 after activation, even though he costs more mana. Also Chandra can kill creatures with up to 6 toughness the turn she comes into play, while Sorin can only kill those with up to 2 toughness.
He's good, but quickly overrated imho.
Anyway, Sorin really saves my life in my UB mill deck. The deck is really slow, so his pinging ability keeps me alive by removing low-toughness creatures and gaining me some life. His second ability makes you everyone's target in free-for-all multiplayer, though. I don't use the second ability since my deck doesn't care about my opponent's life total, but imagine how devastating it can be against all those life gain decks. His third ability is really fun, especially when you use your opponent's removal on his own creatures or just randomly waste his/her spells. The only downside is the high mana cost and the colored mana, but that's easy to get in slow control decks, which he is meant for anyway.
Hardly playable for vampire aggro decks, he's way too slow, but works just great in casual vampire decks.
The mana cost is pretty restrictive, but once he's in play, he can dominate the board.
Really, it's the first ability that makes him great. Adding 2 loyalty counters a turn just makes him really hard to deal with. He gains you life with his ability, but he also gives you pseudo-lifegain by forcing the opponent to attack him instead of you or risk getting Mindslavered. And he gains you even more virtual life by killing off dudes that would have attacked you. And he protects your other planeswalkers splendidly--Mindslavering is really good when you have a Chandra Nalaar one turn away from her own ultimate. The fact that he builds up to his Mindslaver so quickly forces your opponent to deal with him before they deal with the other 'walkers you have out, which gives your other 'walkers more time.
The second ability is hardly ever going to be useful (except in EDH, obviously). Anyone who says Sorin goes in a vampire deck isn't thinking. Vampires are an aggro deck; Sorin is a control card. Aggro decks typically don't run six-mana spells that don't win the game on the spot. How many of the good vampires actually have a 10 life effect that's worth paying six mana to trigger? "Oh, my Bloodghast has haste and my Vampire Lacerator stops dealing damage to me, yay!" And in an aggro deck, your opponent is often going to be pretty close to 10 life already by the time you get to turn 6, in which case Sorin is a weaker Lava Axe, and that's saying something.
So yeah. Good card for black control decks and for decks with lots of other 'walkers. Not a vampire tribal card.
Sorin says you take two dmg his buddy gains two life
your turn
Uh oh!!... Sorin did'nt say go, you lose your turn ^_^
It is a great addition to vampire decks, however, due to the synergy with them, and providing a late-game answer to life-gain or anything that stops all of your creatures (like a Meishin, the Mind Cage or a Blazing Archon).
Plus life drain for +2 (not 1!) and reusable mindslaver BEST PLANESWALKER YET
only downside is high mana cost, but once you get him out, his +2 loyalty first ability will make him faster than most other planeswalkers
yay!!
edit: Mindslaver is TOTALLY different than Time Warp. You CONTRO that players ENTIRE turn, then, I suppose. Ergo, you look at their hand, and stuff...still...YAY!!
For what he does, he wouldn't be fair at five mana. Six is a fair cost, but it's a high cost. In a modern black deck, It's either cast X and Y, or play Z (this guy) and nothing else that turn, the turn you're probably close to winning (or losing).
I just hope that this guy's printing won't preclude the printing of a Baron Sengire PW, my one dream for MTG.
his secound ability is not so great,
his third ability is one i dont like, by the time you get his third ability pumped out, your opponent probably wont have any cards left in his hand, or any worth using, although you could get lucky and be able to pull off something big.
point is gaining control of someones turn sounds better thatn it really is.
but at least with most other pw, you know what your getting with their third ability!
I think i would rather all my cards to be indestructible thank you very much,
or to gain all creatures in the graveyard,
or a heap of dragons,
or deal 10 damage to my opponent and all their creatures
but he is very flavourful and i wouldnt say he is bad (except for his cost)
2.5/5
The most important thing to consider in the case of Zendikar vampires is environment. Zendikar is an extremely hostile place that does not allow strong civilization and culture to prosper. And, despite the fact that they don't age, vampires on Zendikar probably don't live as long as those on other planes because of the dangers inherent to Zendikar. All in all, I'd say Zendikar inherently encourages its citizens, including vampires, to be more primal than their counterparts on other planes.
Another note for this case is Sorin. Forget a broad worldview, as a planeswalker he has a broad worldsview. His backstory on this site tells us that he hasn't been in Zendikar for a LONG time and that he is the oldest planeswalker not counting Nichol Bolas. It makes sense that he would fit more into the achetype of the wise, cultured, and well-traveled vampire, whereas the non-planeswalking vampires of Zendikar have a very different situation.
Once again, not ranting. I'm just a supernatural mythos nerd and a grade "A" Vorthos.
There is hope for you yet Gezus82, I hear that vampires are replacing zombies as the standard black creature, so we may visit a more cultured plane with a good lot of vampires soon. I'd love to go back to Ravnica after the Guildpact has broken and gang wars and organized crime have thrived. The vampire underworld of Ravnica in such an environment would be sickly awesome.
So, as for the card itself...
First pack of my first Zendikar draft I pulled this guy. He won me multiple games. His first ability can seriously turn the tide of a close game. His second has excellent vampire synergy, and once again, can really turn the tide.
Based on some comments I've seen, I think his final ability is a little underrated. Yes, its usefulness varies depending on what your opponent is playing, but I don't think that matters as much as people think it does.
In the very worst case (example: your opponent is playing a creature-based deck with nothing that can actually be used against him) you can at least waste your opponent's spells and abilities (cast his ceature pump spells at the end of his turn so that they can effectively be thrown away and tap out all of his mana), eat up an entire turn that he won't get any new mana abilities played, and have a Master Warcraft for the turn, and that's strait up GOOD.
In the best case you can violently turn your opponent's deck against him (examples: if he's playing direct damage or has a sacrifice mechanic for his creatures) and that is EXCELLENT.
Either way his final ability can REALLY change the landscape in the game and is never really wasted IMO.
I can see why some would say that he's not that great in standard because of his cost, but in a deck with mana acceleration it's no problem. Even without acceleration he can really seal the deal late game. The key phrase with this guy in my experience is "tide-turner." Unlike Nichol Bolas, you don't build a deck around him and you don't play him to dominate the game. You play him to turn a game going downhill toward your favor. You play him to end a standstill. You play him to put the final nails in the coffin.
Sorin is one of my new favorite cards ever. He and the Zendikar vampires inspired me to make a mono-black deck, which is something I never thought I'd do as black has been my least favorite color for a long time.
Also i haven't seen anyone mention this, but he, like Bolas, picks up really quickly. Meaning, he can use his big ability and recover from it pretty easily. Liliana Vess and Chandra Nalaar are both also amazing but they go up by +1 loyalty, whereas Sorin, Bolas, and Jace all can build up a decent cushion before using their largest abilities so you can cast them within two turns of each other, that would take quite a while on Nalaar and Vess. Granted, Liliana's would be for the most part useless within two turns of itself, but Nalaar's would basically be an instant win, unless you're playing a serious life gain deck. I really want Sorin to become a character in the Web Comics because he's completely awesome. A duel deck with him would be awesome except whoever you put up against Sorin Markov would be dead shortly.
SORIN=ZENDIKAR TEN LIFE OR OR BUST POLICY.
"I sacrifice everything to your Arcbound Ravager, then sacrifice Arcbound Ravager to itself, and tap all of the lands that I couldn't sacrifice. MY TURN! I WIN!"
Quite fun.
I was a little ***ed when I saw the vampire creatures from this set as they were so barbaric.
vampires are supposed to be elegant, cultured, and refined. and so far very few meet that requirement.
so thank you for at least making the planeswalker fit that image. one more to add to the list:
baron sengir, Szadek, and now Sorin
thank you Phoenix, I tend to think of vampires as they are portrayed by Lord Byron and Bram Stoker as nobles, and forget about the old eastern european where as you said vampires are wild and barbaric.
yet those also are different than how they are portrayed here in zendikar. they are not nobles so differ from the western european stories, yet the are civilized and have their own city, so they are not wild animals like in the eastern european stories.
It's really more of a middle-ground that is developed here where the vampires have their own civilization and culture which is completely separated from the other race. This is not so common and truly quite innovative flavor-wise. Props to Phoenix for pulling me out of my bubble and allowing me to see this.
Though I still prefer the noble vampires and find the more engaging, and I hope we go back to a ravnicaish plane where they play a prominent role.
Sorin's most at home in a control deck, IMHO. I run him in a U/B Bloodchief Ascension/Control deck with Hideous End, Countersquall and despite what i said above; Vampire Nighthawk. And, if i do say so myself, the deck is pretty awesome.
If you're playing a control deck, his mana cost isn't really a problem at all; colour fixing is effortless these days and i drag games far beyond turn 6, which he then wins most of for me.
His first ability is incredibly useful; you're either eating low-toughness creatures (which are always annoying to control players, regardless of power) or leeching life off of your opponent at a very efficient rate for a +2 ability.
His second i don't find so useful myself, but i can see that it has a very high potential.
As for his final ability, anyone who disses it is either very ignorant or just plain thick. At the very, very, very, VERY worst it's a Time Warp (which i also run in my control deck), and at best it's a game-winner. You can completly destroy some decks with it, if you're clever.
Flavour-wise, Sorin is my favourite planeswalker and i'm extreamly pleased i own a copy.
5/5 all the way.
Phage the Untouchable (3)BBBB
Comes with 5
+1 Pay 2 life, This life loss cannot be reduced or redirected
-2 Remove target creature from the game
-8 Target opponet Looses the game
4.0
I think what this ability was actually meant for was to allow certain combos to happen when your opponent's life is at ten. (A lot of new vampires seem to have some effect pertaining to that) The only downside with this is that you can't spam this minus ability like you can with Jace, Garruk, Nico Boles, or a few others. So there isn't much of an extra function to explore with this move. This makes him slightly rigged.
In my opinion the best part about this plainswalker is his plus ability and his highish loyalty. His plus ability allows for healing, kill-power, slow damage, and the list goes on. His high loyalty combined with this makes him tough to get rid of and puts is ultimate ability within reach on turn number two after you summon him, though rather or not you use it is completely up to you.
Control your opponents turn? Possibly mean, but without manna burn it will be much harder to make them self destruct... Perhaps you could attack with their delicate wizards that aren't meant for combat, assuming your opponent has any. Overall, it's just not as game ending as some ultimate abilities are...
Base rating: ***
high loyalty: +*
Nasty plus move: +**
Rigged minus ability: -*
less than game ending final: -*
Final: ****
1. waste their spells
2. send their creatures to pointless deaths (especially those pesky low toughness creatures they keep for abilities but never attack/block with)
3. tap all lands and leave the player defenseless-
You've essentially taken control of the entire game and left this player bound and gagged, potentially setting them back by several turns, or at the least leaving them nearly defenseless and taking advantage of any opportunities this leaves you during your turn. Sorin's last ability is brilliant, and anyone who claims otherwise has simply never seen it in action. Once you're on the receiving end of Sorin's mindslaver ability you'll understand its power.
His first ability is not a "mini" Lightning Helix. It's Vicious Hunger.
His second ability is useful in that it can target any player, including yourself; bouncing yourself back up to 10 life at the brink of death is very very handy in a mono black deck. Especially considering he gets the loyalty back fairly quickly.
His last ability is nuts. It's a shame Mana Burn no longer exists though.
-PhyrexianLobbiest
It might just be that my eyes are poor, but I beleive his second ability says, "-3: Target opponent's life total becomes 10."
You might be thinking of Magister Sphinx.
Guul Draz Vampire - Fear + increase power
Bloodghast - Haste and recursion
+ all of the other Vampires in the crew that are deadly without the Life total issue.
His main ability is an awesome combo with Sanguine Bond, and is fairly devastating on its own.
His ultimate leaves a little to be desired, but should be enough to put someone away if you've got enough guys on the board.
5/5
Vicious Hunger doesn't target both players and creatures. Not saying I like the mini lightning helix de***or better, but it might actually be more accurate than calling it a vicious hunger.
Additionally, you are not considered an "opponent" of yourself. So you can not use the second ability to bounce your life total back to 10.
Still a rad card, though.
Even if Mana burn still existed, you wouldn't have been able to use Sorin's Mindslaver ability to burn your oppenent because Wizards would have printed the same clause on Sorin that they did on the actual Mindslaver (the original print, not the reprint in Scars) that your opponent can't take mana burn while you control their turn.
In fact, when mana burn was still around, it that was in the official rules about taking over a player's turn.
So either way, you wouldn't have been able to use Sorin to make your opponent burn himself.
His +2 ability is formidable. It is one of the better first abilities that most planeswalkers have. (I'm looking at you, Jace Beleren) The fact that you both gain life and make another target lose life is useful, especially against an annoying chump blocker or Ondu Cleric.
His -3 ability can be useful, but it can also be a lot better. It really is only worth the -3 loyalty when vs. a white lifegain deck. Considering his other abilities, you think this would be better.
Finally. This last ability is extremely powerful. As many others have said, yes it is Mindslaver, and yes we know everything you can do on an opponent's turn. I won't repeat everyone else, but I will remind people that you can tap lands even if you are not going to use the mana that they produce. So during your opponent's turn, you can still tap all their lands and attack with creatures you know will get killed. It is also fun to use spells meant to target your creatures. (Pacifism)
All in all, he is one of the better planeswalkers, though certainly not the best. Undoubtedly playable.
Final Rating:
4.5/5
I play him in a UB removal control deck with lots of bounces, counterspells and destroy effects. So pretty much by turn six, my opponent has very little in play anyhow. I drop Sorin and I win. Happens every time.
5000/5
Yes. That's right. 5000/5
I don't think Sorin Markov can be rated in stars. He is comparable only to Hennessy.
- Eternal life, eternal love, or a single glass of Hennessy?
Tough choice, but I'll take the Hennessy thanks -
hey i just bot this and put it in a mono black vampire deck its swet deck
—Sorin Markov
The quote from Feast of Blood, which proves those vampires are aggro type where as sorin takes his time and savor the kill (control).
Very mean to use in EDH. D;
(Yeah, yeah, unlikely, but I think it would sell like hot cakes)
Plus vs blue decks whats not better then countering thier own spells with thier own counter spells :)
Course i can Sorin will not see the light of day in a counterspell deck
~someone who has had to exit casual EDH games too often because of this
Now, speaking seriosly: He is awesome, aside with Liliana, he is my fav plaineswalker.
I find the last ability so much fun, is a test for your capacity to screw yourself, but using he opponent deck as a guinea pig xD
The only reason he isn't my favorite planeswalker for charater is that I'm a sucker for brash, female powerhouses, and Chandra is the definition of that. But Sorin has, objectivly the best aesthetic design.
+1 make a vamp token with lifelink
-2 make an anthem emblem
-6 destroy 3 other planeswalkers and steal them
Makes tokens with lifelink. Interesting. Strong, but overpowered? unlikely.
*** out emblems. Now that's new. but doesn't increase toughness, so Red can still use any number of sweepers without worry.
Ultimate: oh. oh gods. this is horribly broken. No, literally, this guy will get banned everywhere Doubling Season is legal. Why?
Experiment Kraj, plus Doubling Season, plus Sorin Lord of Innistrad.
Sorin enters the battlefield with 6 due to Doubling Season. Experiment Kraj can use Sorin's Ultimate and target Sorin. Sorin comes back with 6, you steal 2 other Walkers. repeat ad infinitum to steal all creatures and Planeswalkers on the battlefield. Commander just died.
EDIT: yes, I know Kraj's abilities works on creatures. I also know people have already cracked Kraj + Planeswalkers. I forget the cards to do it, but look up Kraj's comments. It all works out.
@Darthparralax: Do you really think that Sorin, Lord of Innistrad + Doubling Season will be broken enough to be banned everywhere? I kind of highly doubt it.
And if someone manages to assemble Sorin + Doubling Season + Experiment kraj + Mycosynth Lattice + March of the Machines / Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas combo (4 colors, 5 cards, CMCs 4-6), that person deserves to win anyway.
Markov's mana cost is worth it; having four loyalty when he enters and having a +2 ability as opposed to Lord's +1. In my opinion, Markov's first ability can really change a lot of things, and is just as good for black/white as Lord. His -3 ability is a game changer, especially in a Two-Headed giant match. The only downside is that you may have used the first ability enough to make it irrelevant, and it can't target yourself. Lord's -2 really doesn't do that much, but it can end up being good. I think Markov's 2nd is better overall. Lord of Innistrad's last ability is not good. It takes him at least three turns to get up to it, and it's not that great. It destroys three creatures or planeswalkers, which many people like because "omigarsh it can kill other planeswalkersssss!!!1!!1!one!" I think that planeswalkers are not so commonly used that if your point is to use the last ability on a planeswalker, you will just hoard it for a while. Besides,
Nuff said.
The one thing I'm curious about is what exactly you can do when you "control your player's next turn". Can you make them attack themselves? Can you Blasphemous Act them? Say your opponent has a Jace, The Mind Sculptor, can you have Jace exile their library instead? That's what I want to know.
5/5 Stars
Edit, Probably my second favorite Planeswalker behind Jace, at least Vorthos wise