Pointed Discussion

This is a great card, hands down.
Sure, it's a little high cost for just 2/1,
It redeems itself a tad for being flying,
But itd ability says EACH opponent.
Having Liliana's Caress on turn two and this guy turn three is great in multiplayer,
And in 1v1, it's fairly decent.

I'd much rather cast this than Ravenous Rats. Evasion and and 2 power could really help a black discard deck to drag that total down much faster, especially when it follows after Liliana's Caress on the mana curve. Hypnotic Specter might have a better (and reusable) discard effect, but how often to people let that thing hit them? This thing will nab a card right away and swing for evasive damage if left unchecked. Too bad the two black mana makes it a slightly difficult fit in a Blightning deck.

Turn 1 duress turn 2 liliana's caress turn 3 liliana's specter turn 4 diabolic tutor turn 5 liliana vess

Finally, a usable Cackling Fiend. Power creep isn't so bad sometimes.

I agree with the favorable comparison to hypnotic specter. And once it's on the table, it's done it's dirty work and it becomes a lower removal priority. 2/1 fliers aren't anything to ignore, though.

Great in multiplayer, and at common, why not get 4? Play a Liliana's Caress the turn before and you've hit your opponents pretty hard on turn 3.

Jumpenrun: How is Ravenous Rats better? Sure, the Spectre costs 1 more black mana to cast, but it's a 2/1 with Flying that hits everyone; the Rats cost 1 less but they're a 1/1 with no evasion and only hit target player. For Flying an extra point of power, and a global effect instead of a target one (especially with the white Layline) I'd pay the extra B.

those that think this is better than hypnotic specter never tasted the power of disrupting scepter

Less. Than. Three.

All the Ravenous Rats variants that ever existed wish they could be as awesome as Liliana's Specter. Shrieking Grotesque was good. Liliana's Specter is a Shrieking Grotesque that's mono-black, hits ALL opponents, and triggers even if you don't cast it. And a 2-power flying body for 3 mana, while not particularly impressive in constructed, is a beating in limited.

Oh and it's a common. Amazing limited card and still perfectly solid in constructed.

PhrexianLobbiest: Ravenous Rats is better in heads up game. Yup Lilian's Specter is great because its has a global effect. But one on one, 2nd turn early to cast discard a card spell is better than this one. Objective of a discarder is to limit opponents hand as soon as possible. Com'on 3rd turn you can cast Stupor, Mind Rot, and even Hymn and even Blightning...far better than this specter's ability. I think you're pointing out that this is great in standard? And by the way I don't use Ravenous Rat in my MBC.lol

I hope this has permanently replaced Kelinore Bat as black's three-drop common flier in the core sets. I'm pretty happy with M11 in general - they seem to have taken out a lot of the crap filler commons. There are still a few like Armored Cancrix, but fortunately they are a minority.

Ring that temple bell.

Really fun multiplayer card. In 2HG, someone playing blue/black control with four of these and a person playing Astral Slide is nearly untouchable.

5 stars. Great work R&D. Can even bypass Leyline of Sanctity.

On constructed: Hmm. All on its lonesome, this card is attractive. Sure it's no Blightning, but it has the attractive mono-black option. Unfortunately for the Specter, it's in a format with Obstinate Baloth and Vengevine. So no, I don't think this'll see play. Extra fun in multiplayer, though.
On limited: Obstinate Baloth is a very unlikely opponent, so run rampant over your opponents with this specter's awesome card advantage. Flying is always good; pair it with discard and you've got yourself one heck of a deal. If you know you're going black, this is a pretty high pick. Aside: This + Gravedigger FTW!
Miscellaneous: This should not be compared to Ravenous Rats head-to-head. Ravenous Rats has: 2-dropness, which is more important than people give it credit for; one black mana symbol in its casting cost; uses with devour and other sac effects; and an occasionally useful creature type. This has: 3-dropness, which isn't AS good; two black mana symbols, which limits the decks that can use it; but also an extra point of power and evasion, which give it uses all on its lonesome, unlike the rats. Other than the fact that they're both black creatures with EtB discard effects, they're completely different. Both have their uses and should be given appropriate due.

This card is good in any discard deck. Also the ability doesn't target ur opponent. So it gets around Leyline of Sanctity :) haha

wish they'd take out the mounts from specter art- they'd look so much cooler without them, oh yeah sweet card mono black discard, it can win games

This is great for multi-player, which is awesome because that's what I like playing but not awesome because that's not how FNMs work. :\ I tried this guy out in monoblack and he just doesn't cut it next to Guul Draz Specter as a discard engine which is sad because Guul Draz himself is no Hypnotic Specter. And in terms of 3 drops, Vampire Nighthawk has this guy beat on all sides even if you're running a non-vampire deck. He's a vast improvement on what most core sets get in the way of commons, but as a common he isn't really the basis of any decks... On the otherhand, he synergizes well with Liliana's Caress which I suppose is the main point.

vary good i gos well with lilianas crest

It's fun to combine it with Mimic Vat.

The art for this card is so kickass.

Also, a really boss card in draft. Fairly early discard like this is just plain demoralizing.

Erik's Random card 6/12/2011

The Magic 2011 design team made two cycles of cards that related to the cycle of Mythic Planeswalkers. This is the common for Black.
At first they had a 2/1 for 2 mana, a sort of souped up Ravenous Rat. Then this became a 3B 2/2 flier, still with the discard ability.

Drafting is more fun when some cards are a little better than others. This can be taken too far, when most games are decided by who draws a "bomb". However sets can also be too flat, when you look at your first pack and nothing really stands out. So we make some commons a little better, and some a little worse.

This card was made 1BB 2/1 instead of 3B 2/2 for a couple reasons. First it is a reward for playing a heavier black deck. When you draft a deck, there are 10 two color pairs you might play. We try and give each a different identity. But even better, if you think of your colors as "primary" and "secondary", then you have 20 ordered color pairs you could play. That gives you more distinct options.

The second reason we picked this card is that this cycle was supposed to deliberately tie into the Planeswalker cycle, and tell you something about the color. Making the common a good (but not too good) card, means people play it more. Players who have seen a Planeswalker, but not Liliana, understand she exists. There are plenty of ways for people to find out what her card does; this is more to get players (who haven't seen her card) curious.

Solid. Let's say you run it with Viscera Seer and Nim Deathmantle; now you've got instant speed discard, creature recursion (Deathmantle's triggered ability, which also untaps), scry 1, and a size boost + additional evasion all in a nice little 3-card/4 mana bundle!

Living proof that Mistifying Maze doesn't handle everything in Limited.

The only common Spectar...

An easy 4 of in casual! I think this is better than old Hypie against aggro.

This is a staple in Pauper. 2/1 evasion + Disruption + two black Symbols for Gray Merchant of Asphodel.