Wow, no comments? This is a very interesting card. On the one hand, you get 3 creatures for the price of one, and you get the potential to make more every turn, and regenerate the big guy. On the other hand, you pay THROUGH THE NOSE in mana for this privilege. Consider the activation cost on goblin warrens. 5 mana for a 1/1 flyer is pretty pricey. And with a 3/3 on the main guy, you'll need to be regenerating him quite often. I suppose this is a balanced card, but it should be uncommon. At rare, i'd like to see him 4/4, and the bat maker cost 3B. That wouldn't be too overpowered considering that if your little bat friends die, you can't just make another. Once you run out, you've got a crappier phantom monster.
AbyssalManZero
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
I think six mana for THREE creatures is a bargan deal!
And I don't think a 3/3 with two 1/1s I don't think is bad for a rare.
But yeah, it'd be nice if the bat token production were/was cheaper! Specially since he IS rare.
Vik.
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(6 votes)
Two Words: Doubling Season
Behalter
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(5 votes)
This guy was rare because he was from rav, which had more bats, he ran mmuch better in an orzhov deck, or something similar by sacing things with haunt, worked quite well. Now not really rareish, but still good, basically 5 mana for an equivilant of a 5/5 regenerater thats harder to block, and can keep getting stronger.
Ventrisor
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I think hes a decent card if you have mana floating around that you cant spend like when your waiting for a type of card to come.
froggytherock
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
works good with thraximundar
Sironos
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Play him, attack with both bats and the vamp, and the opponent will have a hard time blocking it all... The other abilities are too expensive.
NeoSin
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
He is vengeance, he is the night, he is....BATMAN!
vadaaaa
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
skeletal vampire with flying so ridicilous
Diachronos
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
If the cost to make more Bats was cheaper (I'd say 3B or 2BB would be good, but 2B or 1BB would be better) this guy could make a decent contributor in a Black-(color) Devour deck.
At the very least, you should be able to put more Bats in without having to sac one in the first place.
Zaneshift
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Cabal Coffers laughs at his ability. He makes a decent late game play in a skeleton deck, if you're weird enough to make one. With some Death Barons and some Bad Moons, or a Coat of Arms... at that point, his 3/3 status becomes a moot point. He's a flying skeleton that at least can, even if it takes a Cabal Coffers or a hell of a lot of mana flood to do so regularly. I run one, but more for flavor than anything else. An interesting card, and a bit underrated, but I can certainly agree that it's expensive by every sense of the word. It does suck that he's easily Lightning Bolted without boosts, but he's pretty fearsome in a tribal setting at least.
EvilCleavage
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card would be awesome in black blue vampires with training grounds and Nirkana Cutthroat. Nirkana Cutthroat is extremely good. I play casual so it might be better for me in that format but I like it, and with training grounds out it's even cheaper to level up. drop in a few Vampire Nighthawks, Gatekeeper of Malakirs, and maybe 2 Captivating Vampires and you got yourself a deck. I think Vampires are great for beginners and are great for more advanced players looking to master a newer, evolving tribal type.
Spartan-039
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I really like this card, with the Scars block, combine leaden myr (at least two) and myr galvanizer (again, the two galvies minimum) for infinite black mana to pay for infinite bats.
Also, combine that with Teysa, Orzhav Scion and you have a way to make even MORE creatures to block with, or exile what ever you want. Pretty evil if you think about it.
Tetsu_tora
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
disregarded females don't know 'bout my heartstones
thaviel
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I run him in my edh deck to lock some dragons :(
interesting interaction I got the blade of the bloodcheif on him well gravepact was in play and I wrecked house.
The best thing to play after your Death Pit Offering resolves. 11 damage in the air...that's called FACERAPE.
Salient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy would be amazing and hilarious if Relentless Rats were Relentless Bats. As it is, he's the original Titan, almost -- all he needed was for someone to sneak the two little words "or attacks" into his second line of text.
He will have to settle for being Batman.
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It's quite underpowered. Five mana for generating a token is outrageous, even for a versatile one like this. Although I guess that, back then while combat damage used the stack, you could do some cool combat tricks with it and Vampire Bats.
And make sure to use Rise from the grave on him, so he becomes a Vampire Skeleton Zombie.
luca_barelli
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
people who are complaining about this card have obviously never played it. A nice inclusion to any black control deck.
scumbling1
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
"people who are complaining about this card have obviously never played it. A nice inclusion to any black control deck."
I have played with this card, and the Melvin side of me wanted to like it. It's just too weak for the mana when compared with other cards. There are many better finishers in black for the same mana cost -- Kokusho, the Evening Star, Grave Titan, Dread, Oona, Queen of the Fae -- all of which are also nice inclusions to a black control deck.
Luke_BPC
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The sac cost is expensive because when it first came around, you could sacrifice a bat with damage on stack, trading with a creature while you got another one for your trouble. He's aged a bit, yes, but is still a fun card, expensive but versatile.
djflo
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
He doesn't look like a lot (to me at least) but he plays a lot better than you'd think. When you play him, you can basically block two non-tramplers each turn until something happens (block with him and a bat, sac the blocking bat to make two, sac one to regen him).
In combo (with Blade of the Bloodchief for instance) or when you are on the offensive, he's still pretty good, bringing 5 evasive, hard to remove power to the table. He's getting a bit less powerful these days, but still good and I think an excellently designed card.
Verdande
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Slow and expensive. For 6 CMC, you could be playing something that wins you the me.
Comments (24)
And I don't think a 3/3 with two 1/1s I don't think is bad for a rare.
But yeah, it'd be nice if the bat token production were/was cheaper! Specially since he IS rare.
At the very least, you should be able to put more Bats in without having to sac one in the first place.
Also, combine that with Teysa, Orzhav Scion and you have a way to make even MORE creatures to block with, or exile what ever you want. Pretty evil if you think about it.
interesting interaction I got the blade of the bloodcheif on him well gravepact was in play and I wrecked house.
He will have to settle for being Batman.
And make sure to use Rise from the grave on him, so he becomes a Vampire Skeleton Zombie.
I have played with this card, and the Melvin side of me wanted to like it. It's just too weak for the mana when compared with other cards. There are many better finishers in black for the same mana cost -- Kokusho, the Evening Star, Grave Titan, Dread, Oona, Queen of the Fae -- all of which are also nice inclusions to a black control deck.
In combo (with Blade of the Bloodchief for instance) or when you are on the offensive, he's still pretty good, bringing 5 evasive, hard to remove power to the table. He's getting a bit less powerful these days, but still good and I think an excellently designed card.