I guess none of you guys realized that Evil Presence has been reprinted. Yeah, I'd run a standard deck with four Evil Presence and about two of her. Plus, she's Day of Judgement's best friend.
.Blaze.
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Wish this stole from any grave, but even as this is a great card.
KikiJikiTiki
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(27 votes)
So, once upon a time, there was Reya Dawnbringer, and she was good, and all the players rejoiced. Then Sheoldred made her kill herself.
Shadow1798
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
At least she didn't get Deathtouch.
raadface
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
w8 swampwalk? waatlol? na awesome card, lovin tha praetor cycle
Swampwalk is underappreciated. In a proper deck, Swampwalk = unblockable, regardless of what the opponent is doing, black has the most ways to turn a land into a swamp, from the lowest Evil Presence up to the epic Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (with a delicious phyrexian theme).
Chris_Smetanko
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Going in my Teneb EDH deck right next to Reya Dawnbringer. I think they will be friends.
This card is 100% evil and has a cheap cmc considering it's abilities. Scary enough that I'll be keeping a Go For The Throat or similar in my hand whenever I'm playing against a deck with her in.
ToidiDiPuts
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
You say your name is Sheoldred? That's too hard to remember, I'll just call you Reya Duskbringer.
Names_Suck
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
She's the prerelease foil, so she's probably going to be seen quite a bit in casual and EDH shortly thereafter.
Rikiaz
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
Sheoldred I love you, you are perfect for my reanimator deck, and is it just me or is sheoldred really sexy? You know aside from her lower body being a mouth... >_>
LiXinjian
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's greatest strength is probably that unless it's removed on the spot, you get value out of it almost immediately. If the sac happened during your upkeep (like the recursion does), the likelihood of your seven mana investment getting destroyed before it could actually do at least one thing would have been far greater. As it is, at worst it's a very expensive flagbearer with a diabolic edict thrown in.
blindthrall
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(15 votes)
She looks like what happened to your girlfriend in Prey.
Baby's got huge, chitinous back.
DeathDark
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(28 votes)
She'll find a nice spot in my Women EDH alongside Phage, Ashling, Nirkana Revenant, Mirri, Liliana, and Platinum Angel.
DON'T JUDGE ME!
Donovan_Fabian
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I think she will be great for casual. Maybe not so much for tournament, since she has to stick around on the board to keep using her ability, and her cmc of 7. I could definitely see myself running her in a black blue deck where I just want to keep board control. Other than that.. I can just imagine her against a tournament deck and it's like.. I play sheoldred, and make you sac.. 1 squadron hawk.. and then jace just bounces her.
Also, I think in the planeswalkers guide it says that sheoldred isn't actually the bottom part.. she's has like a snakey tail thing that is locked into the bottom half, of which she is riding. Pretty sure anyways. It was on the "about the praetors" article. I guess she has swamp walk because she can use those spidery legs to jump across bogs. Mind you I think swamp walk is a perfectly good ability, makes her great against vampires.
brunsbr103
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
combos with Dementia Bat for a fantastic lockdown that will successfully bother anyone ever if you get it to work
nemokara
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
I just realized each of the Praetors seems to have a "signature spell", a la the M11 planeswalkers.
Elesh Norn - Norn's Annex Jin-Gitaxias - Gitaxian Probe Sheoldred - Reaper of Sheoldred Urabrask - Priest of Urabrask Vorinclex - this is the iffy one. Unlike the other four, nothing else in the block has his name in it ... but guess which green sorcery showed up in Mirrodin Beseiged that actually shows Vorinclex in its art?
That's right. Praetors' Counsel.
SeiberTross
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So in two headed giant, BOTH players must sac a creature at upkeep...awesome.
Studoku
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like this cycle. It's what mythics should be (expensive, epic, legendary creatures rather than constructed staples).
I also like the good effect for you and opposite effect for opponents theme of these guys.
Drafted her in my blue-black control. Also got 5 Geth's Verdict and 3 Psychic Barrier. I just lock them down until I play her, then I win.
TheSwarm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
SHe is incredible. The card advantage you get from this chick is monstrous. Lock down the early turns with inquisition, apply pressure/removal midgame via nighthawks and dismembers and whatnot, and then clinch the late game with MAssacre Wurm and Sheoldred. Awesome.
afellowgatherer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I used Liliana Vess to pull Sheoldred to the top of my deck. Then I used her to pull Sangromancer. After a turn or two, I could ignore my brother's Norn's Annex and attack freely.
this card is sick, i haven't lost if i played it and even if it only lives one round, you get your moneys worth. really nice card!
Paleopaladin
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
@DeathDark: That actually sounds like an awesome deck! Isn't that the point of EDH? To be colorful, entertaining, and memorable rather than the "You're dead on turn three to my Immolating Souleater / Fling combo" type of mindset that haunts normal constructed?
Revelation666
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Remember that Scion of Darkness I cycled awhile back? Well here he is, and now he's gonna jack your creatures :)
if an opponent of mine has hexproof on a creature, can that creature still be sacrificed from sheoldred's ability? I'm not targeting the creature, so it can be, right?
thewalkingdead
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
so i totally am drooling a little bit. reanimator...... ahh...... yes. you and reya dawnbringer. yup. yeah and this goes great with it that betrays. i mean, they have to sac stuff, and then you take it. hahaha!!! i know i just hated on elsh, but this isn't quite so horrible, not like elsh. at least this lets creatures die one at a time.
TherealphatMatt
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I feel like you should start singing the trolol song if you use this to bring Phyrexian Obliterator back.
Raszero
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
An absolute horrible commander to face D:
ScepterofEternities
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Am I the only one who thinks that mythic rares like this should not exist? I'm okay with power creep, though I suppose I'm quite wistful about the old mirrodin and ravnica, but I find that cards like this are so ridiculously, stupidly cheap. It's a lack of originality on the part of the card designers, people who I'd normally praise as being wonderful, fantastci and creative people. I am disappointed. Better doesn't have to be 'Okay, let's get as many powerful abilities as we can into a creature and call it Mythic in the hopes that people won't object.'
Drayconis
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
best thing I've found in a booster pack so far.
ForsakenFear
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(2 votes)
i love this card, when ever i get it out i hardly ever loose, xD i run 2 of them and if you get 2 out your opponents feild is like 0 in 2-3 turns. its great. on top of that comboing it with Skinrender or fume spitter is great not to mention if your runing Blade of the blood cheif its just destructive. or if you put a whisper silk cloak on her its just inevitable victory.
itsverystrange
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
How is this rated lower than Reya Dawnbringer? Maybe because it's black or people think it's too powerful?
all i have to say: First Turn Sexy: turn 1: Swamp, Dark Ritual, 2 life and B for Cathedral Membrane (BB left), B and sac Membrane for Culling the Weak (BBBBB left), B for Dark Ritual (BBBBBBB now in mana pool), Sheoldred, Whispering One
First Turn Sexy
Superllama12
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Everyone is complaining that there is so much powercreep on this, and yet it STILL sees less play than a lowly common
OmegaSerris
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(10 votes)
Am I the only one that sees a deformed Memnarch (of for that matter, Memnites)? Like Phyrexians found his body and put it to use with Sheoldred attached? I don't know, just the first thing I thought of when I saw it.
Some people hate the Praetor cycle but personally, I don't see the difference to the Bringers of old Mirrodin. At the time, removal was not as rampant as it is in modern sets. alone has what? 3-4 versions of Terror in standard right now? All roughly , instant speed, and each better than the original in some respect. So the praetors had to get an increase in power over the Bringers (who's ability didn't trigger until next upkeep) just to make paying the mana offer some return.
Vorinclex? You can double mana as soon as he hits the field. If you're tapped out, when your opponent kills him, at least that mana won't untap. Sheoldred? Hits your opponent's field on their turn, so only instant speed can stop her. I can go on...
You have to remember, this IS a game. And it's not fun waiting seven turns, holding this in your hand, finally playing it and then getting nothing. You can say "Well then don't play it, dumb noob!" but haven't you ever felt the thrill of dropping a huge spell/creature? It's part of the fun. Go play your competitive cards in your tournaments. But MtG isn't JUST a competitive sport (*snicker*), it's also a kitchen table game that both kids and adults like to play with their friends.
@Superllama12 You're argument makes no sense. This isn't OP because a common is OP? Oranges don't taste good because I like apples? What?
zenitramleirdag
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
ultimate weapon, final fantasy..anyone?..
Andromeiylochk
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(3 votes)
@ScepterofEternities
I had a dream once. In the dream, the research and design decided to go back to the old days, and lower the power level massively. They started printing cards like Wood Elemental, Aysen Highway, and Elder Druid again.
In my dream, removal of any kind was not allowed, as it helped contribute to the power level. It had become a circle jerk to see who could get their crappy creatures out first and win with them. In my dream, everybody quit playing magic, even the people that said the cards they were printing were too powerful.
This is a prime reanimator target... like all of the praetors, in my opinion.
Dexal
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(3 votes)
I really love Sheoldred, but couldn't Wizard's have given her a better passive? I know there's debate as to whether or not she's OP already but look at it this way:
Elesh: Vigilance, wildly useful in all sorts of combat scenarios and fits White perfectly.
Vorinclex: Trample, never a better ability for a big 'ole Green beater.
Jin-Gitaxis: Flash, I've always though of Flash as more Red, but it's still useful on this guy if you have the mana, especially if you don't want to draw seven right away.
Urabrask: Not explicitly a passive, but Haste. Red creatures can always use moar Haste. MOAR MOAR MOAR HASTE. Plus it works very well with his "anti-haste" ability for your opponents. (Yes, I realize the abilities are designed to go together, I'm just pointing out that he's a good creature :P )
Sheoldred: Swampwalk... seriously? All of the 'walks tend to be useful as sideboard material at best, or just a LAME tack-on to an already good card (Like Sheoldred here). Y'know what Sheoldred really needs? (people are gonna shoot me for this) INFECT. I would say Hexproof but that'd be too OP. But seriously, in all flavorful-ness, WHY does SHEOLDRED, THE WHISPERING ONE not have infect? It just doesn't make sense to me...
Lueseto
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Reanimator? Yes please
LightoRaito
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(9 votes)
I don't care if Swampwalk is the worst of the "stick-em-on-the-praetors" abilities. Sheoldred is the best Praetor, bar none. She gives almost as much advantage as Jin-Gitaxias without having to worry about killing yourself in the process.
SarpNasty
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
If she weren't the embodiment of Phyrexian evil, she'd be my soulmate.
I want to play this U/B lockdown with Zombie Infestation and Quicksilver Amulet. Load my deck with removal, draw spells, and counters. Use mana for control and playing my creatures for free (and get a 2/2 zombie).
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Instant counter: Empty your opponent's graveyard, then somehow get another copy of Sheoldred from their library in there. Revival effect isn't mandatory, so it gets legend rule'd.
001010011100101110
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The top of the curve for Pod and Heartless decks are generally Elesh Norn or this. Personally, I prefer this. Elesh Norn? Black's already been there done that with Massacre Wurm. If you untap with Sheoldred, you almost always gain +2 card advantage. Not so with Elesh Norn unless you're against tokens or illusions or RDW.
argonignus45
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I recently got my own Sheoldred. Having only an old Vampire deck for blacks, I put her in. Combining her with my Sorin and Massacre Wurm, my friends started to refuse to play me. I understand she's powerful but I don't get why people whine about her being OP, I mean does the card Brittle Effigy mean anything to you?
ProbablyThatGuy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It is certainly a very cool card. Strong but with a fair cost, but... damn. I can't ever play her in my multiplayer playgroup without her either dying before she even gets around once, or all other opponents deciding to go after me first. I want to play her, I really do, but she is just too much of a group aggro for my tastes, without improving my board position fast enough.
Fantastic. I could gush about her endlessly. Sure, she doesn't rule the board from the second she's dropped like Elesh Norn does, but I still hear plenty of groans from the other side of the table when I play her. Her and Jin Gitaxis are my one-two punch for reanimator. Discard a handfull of creatures with Jin, while reanimating them with Sheoldred, and making sure I have complete board control over my opponent. Sure, swampwalk is absolutely useless, but does it really matter? It's like deathtouch on Grave Titan. It seems tacked on at the last minute, but the card would be fine without it. She doesn't wipe the board like Mrs. Norn, but she will always be my favorite praetor.
5/5
Sheoldreds_Chosen
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Guide me, master! GUIDE ME!
Pinto331
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Reanimator? I hardly knew her!
Now that that's out of my system, what is there to say about this card that isn't obvious? If she isn't wiped off the field quickly you're probably going to win. A sure fire way to paint a target on your face in EDH. Sure swampwalk isn't as impressive as the other praetor's keyworded abilities, but people aren't playing Elesh Norn because she has vigilance you know.
Silence9
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Lol. Sangromancer and her are tight.. >=
TheWallinator74
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It's a shame you don't have a humanoid lower half, my dear. A damn shame.
That said, ALL GLORY TO NEW PHYREXIA!!!
TheLoudestSound
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My all time favorite card ever. Although there are some things I'm confused about. I just want two things.
1: Angel of Jubilation prevents players from sacrificing creatures to activate abilities. Does that mean that if my opponent as her out, then Sheoldred can't make them sacrifice the creatures?
2: For cards that say "Prevents all activated abilities of creatures" does that mean that Sheoldred's abilities won't work? Or do those stay no matter what?
UncreativeNameMaker
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@TheLoudestSound: Sheoldred's abilities aren't activated abilities. Activated abilities are written in the format "cost: effect". Angel of Jubilation won't do anything against Sheoldred. If you want protection from being forced to sacrifice, you'll need Sigarda, Host of Herons or Tajuru Preserver.
@Everyone complaining about swampwalk: Yeah I agree, swampwalk is definitely useless on this creature. It's not like they printed a cheap black common in this very same set that can turn any land into a swamp. Not at all. And if they did, they would definitely done something like, oh, mention this creature in that card's flavor text or something, to make the synergy extremely obvious.
Because that is what flavor text is for, to point out which cards work well together.
phillip_jace
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I really like sheoldred, have two in my yet casual reanimator but instead of swampwalk it would be something better such as deathtouch, intimidade or infect does anyone realize that in the promo art there are a inkmoth nexus behind sheoldred? so by the art and the theme of new phyrexia it should have infect...
Does this horrific lower torso make my butt look big?
HellkatOverlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sheoldred is always saying stuff about perfection, for example Tainted Strike ,Phyrexian Obliterator, andPhyresis. Why?
Pipikako
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Picture...Omega weapon from final fantasy ?
RecurringMemories
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So a 6/6 Swampwalk, free re-animator that makes my opponents sack there creatures?!?!! Especially fun if you re-animate Jin-Gitaxias. They cast some weak creature just so they don't discard and then you bring out Sheoldred with a big smile, maybe a wink. Muahahaha.
Thraximundar, Kresh, the Bloodbraided, Sangromancer, Phyrexian Obliterator, Massacre Worm, Adarkar Valkyrie, Scythe of the Wretched, Toshiro Umezawa, Blade of the Bloodchief, Quest for the Gravelord, Lim-Dul, the Necromancer, Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet, Cemetery Puca, Deathbringer Thoctar (kinda like Sadistic Glee), Harvester of Souls, Salvaging Station, Burning Sands, Endless Whispers, Pawn of Ulamog, etc.
azure_drake222222
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sheoldred is "she old red".
donjohnson
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Combo with Sepulchral Primordial and Doomgape for lasting fun. Sheol sacs their creatures, you sac the Primordial with Doomgape (and gaining 4 life in the process) then bring it back every upkeep with Sheol to reanimate the creatures your opponent just sacked last upkeep. Once the opponent is out of creatures you can sac their biggest creatures with Doomgape for more life.
Smoke_Stack
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Swampwalk is definitely the least useful part of her abilities but in my group, almost everyone uses black so its pretty powerful. Still, she's not meant to attack. I like Jin-Gitaxis more but then again, for the cost she's better.
Moxxy
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Looks like Metroid Prime.
tcollins
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Obligatory comment... make sure you have more than Phage in your graveyard if you control this one. Good card though that generates card advantage if left unchecked...that can be said of any mythic rare costing more than {6} ...
JaxsonBateman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Donjohnson - unless you have two Primordials, this will only work every second turn. Both triggers occur in the upkeep, so you have to choose Sheoldred's target at that point - and at that time, Sepulchral will still be on the battlefield (that is, not a legal target). So on one turn you'd have to sac it to Doomgape to get it in the graveyard, then on the next you'd be able to get it back with Sheoldred. And if you're doing well enough to have 3 7 mana creatures out and have a Sheoldred that's being left unchecked, you probably don't need that little synergy. :-P
In any case, Sheoldred is solid as heck. For the effect - which basically nets +2 card advantage every turn cycle, and a very solid type of advantage at that - the cost is very, very reasonable.
Heathspook
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@DeathDark
What thorjy said.
Xineombine
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Her name is probably derived from "Sheol" which in jewish faith is the equivalent of hell, but it is a cold, dank and cave like.
Arachnos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
For sure Swampwalk kinda sucks, but the ability makes up for it. Remember how good the Edicts are? Remember Reya Dawnbringer? Sheoldred Reya with an Edict every single turn.
SAUS3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@EvilDarkVoid Why did they print a card that completely outclasses an older card? Ratings should not always be based on how strong the card is. I'm sure if they printed a 1 mana artifact creature that was a 10/10 with trample and haste, they would get a ton of crap for being stupid. This is just a less extreme example of that (although I do like this card, so I still rated it 5/5).
The power of this card is that it affects your opponent the moment their turn starts. Even if they kill it on their turn (assuming you played it when they were tapped out), they still have to sacrifice a creature.
BobbySinclair
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
One of my favourite black cards. A total beast on the battlefield. The fact your opponents continually sh*t themselves when she comes out and tremble to get their bounce spells out fast enough just goes to show how amazing she is.
All this thing needs is a Swiftfoot Boots or some other hexproof giving artifact or enchantment to be truly broken - nothing like an evil card that you can't get rid of.
While this is good (5/5) there is no point in playing such a "kill-me-first" type card without proper protection for it. It will get targeted very quickly and very ruthlessly. (I still want one though ....)
Mode
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Players of The Binding of Isaac might have noticed the "Sheol" part in her name, which is the Hebrew word for "Underworld". So her name might translate into "Dread from the Underworld". Well, she does look like it.
Mirrordin_Pure
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Could pass for one of Quelaag's sisters.
"In Lordran, the flow of time is distorted..."
Kariuko
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I don't think swampwalk is the worse of the extra abilities by comparison with the other Praetors. Why shouldn't Sheoldred feel better at Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth?
EvilDarkVoid
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why is she rated around .4 stars lower than Reya Dawnbringer? Not only is Reya much more difficult to hard cast, Sheoldred would be better even ignoring cmcs imo! Yes, flying is way better than Swampwalk, but 6/6 to 4/6 helps to make up for this and Sheoldred's third ability is incredibly useful.
@SAUS3: I disagree that ratings shouldn't be based on how strong the card is. If you have some people rating based on balance and some on power, you get ratings somewhere in between which will often not represent either properly. Since most people rate cards based on how good they are, rating them on how unhealthy they may be for the game or rating them poorly because you lost to it just skews the ratings and causes new players to draw false conclusions. Its bad enough that people are rating cards differently for different formats (see: the many cards which are good in EDH but lackluster in other formats).
Pongdok
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great card, but not much fun. Like most of the praetors, she tends to play the game for you if she isn't immediately removed. For a graveyard deck, I think I will stick with Reya Dawnbringer if I want the free recursion. The forced sacrifice every turn is just mean-spirited, and being black makes her just that much more tricky to get rid of. If she is strictly late-game, as was obviously intended, then you can probably use her without coming off as a giant douchebag. 4/5 feels about right. Neat art.
Kadaver666
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Played her turn 3 from the graveyard with exhume....was fun times lol.
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It disappoints me that "she old red" is a {B} card
r2d2go
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"It's below curve on power/toughness! 1/5!"
...just kidding. Honestly, this could be 0/6 and still be awesome. Immune to Doomblade and the like, a decent body, and a ridiculous amount of card advantage makes this patently absurd. Best praetor, IMHO.
Comments (102)
na awesome card, lovin tha praetor cycle
In a proper deck, Swampwalk = unblockable, regardless of what the opponent is doing, black has the most ways to turn a land into a swamp, from the lowest Evil Presence up to the epic Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (with a delicious phyrexian theme).
That's too hard to remember, I'll just call you Reya Duskbringer.
Baby's got huge, chitinous back.
DON'T JUDGE ME!
Also, I think in the planeswalkers guide it says that sheoldred isn't actually the bottom part.. she's has like a snakey tail thing that is locked into the bottom half, of which she is riding. Pretty sure anyways. It was on the "about the praetors" article. I guess she has swamp walk because she can use those spidery legs to jump across bogs. Mind you I think swamp walk is a perfectly good ability, makes her great against vampires.
Elesh Norn - Norn's Annex
Jin-Gitaxias - Gitaxian Probe
Sheoldred - Reaper of Sheoldred
Urabrask - Priest of Urabrask
Vorinclex - this is the iffy one. Unlike the other four, nothing else in the block has his name in it ... but guess which green sorcery showed up in Mirrodin Beseiged that actually shows Vorinclex in its art?
That's right. Praetors' Counsel.
I also like the good effect for you and opposite effect for opponents theme of these guys.
I am judging you, DeathDark...You are a role model DeathDark.
turn 1: Swamp, Dark Ritual, 2 life and B for Cathedral Membrane (BB left), B and sac Membrane for Culling the Weak (BBBBB left), B for Dark Ritual (BBBBBBB now in mana pool), Sheoldred, Whispering One
First Turn Sexy
Some people hate the Praetor cycle but personally, I don't see the difference to the Bringers of old Mirrodin. At the time, removal was not as rampant as it is in modern sets.
Vorinclex? You can double mana as soon as he hits the field. If you're tapped out, when your opponent kills him, at least that mana won't untap. Sheoldred? Hits your opponent's field on their turn, so only instant speed can stop her. I can go on...
You have to remember, this IS a game. And it's not fun waiting seven turns, holding this in your hand, finally playing it and then getting nothing. You can say "Well then don't play it, dumb noob!" but haven't you ever felt the thrill of dropping a huge spell/creature? It's part of the fun. Go play your competitive cards in your tournaments. But MtG isn't JUST a competitive sport (*snicker*), it's also a kitchen table game that both kids and adults like to play with their friends.
@Superllama12
You're argument makes no sense. This isn't OP because a common is OP? Oranges don't taste good because I like apples? What?
I had a dream once. In the dream, the research and design decided to go back to the old days, and lower the power level massively. They started printing cards like Wood Elemental, Aysen Highway, and Elder Druid again.
In my dream, removal of any kind was not allowed, as it helped contribute to the power level. It had become a circle jerk to see who could get their crappy creatures out first and win with them. In my dream, everybody quit playing magic, even the people that said the cards they were printing were too powerful.
This is a prime reanimator target... like all of the praetors, in my opinion.
Elesh: Vigilance, wildly useful in all sorts of combat scenarios and fits White perfectly.
Vorinclex: Trample, never a better ability for a big 'ole Green beater.
Jin-Gitaxis: Flash, I've always though of Flash as more Red, but it's still useful on this guy if you have the mana, especially if you don't want to draw seven right away.
Urabrask: Not explicitly a passive, but Haste. Red creatures can always use moar Haste. MOAR MOAR MOAR HASTE. Plus it works very well with his "anti-haste" ability for your opponents. (Yes, I realize the abilities are designed to go together, I'm just pointing out that he's a good creature :P )
Sheoldred: Swampwalk... seriously? All of the 'walks tend to be useful as sideboard material at best, or just a LAME tack-on to an already good card (Like Sheoldred here). Y'know what Sheoldred really needs? (people are gonna shoot me for this) INFECT. I would say Hexproof but that'd be too OP. But seriously, in all flavorful-ness, WHY does SHEOLDRED, THE WHISPERING ONE not have infect? It just doesn't make sense to me...
I want to play this U/B lockdown with Zombie Infestation and Quicksilver Amulet. Load my deck with removal, draw spells, and counters. Use mana for control and playing my creatures for free (and get a 2/2 zombie).
Mono-black Praetor tribal deck, here I come!
I could gush about her endlessly. Sure, she doesn't rule the board from the second she's dropped like Elesh Norn does, but I still hear plenty of groans from the other side of the table when I play her. Her and Jin Gitaxis are my one-two punch for reanimator. Discard a handfull of creatures with Jin, while reanimating them with Sheoldred, and making sure I have complete board control over my opponent. Sure, swampwalk is absolutely useless, but does it really matter? It's like deathtouch on Grave Titan. It seems tacked on at the last minute, but the card would be fine without it. She doesn't wipe the board like Mrs. Norn, but she will always be my favorite praetor.
5/5
Now that that's out of my system, what is there to say about this card that isn't obvious? If she isn't wiped off the field quickly you're probably going to win. A sure fire way to paint a target on your face in EDH. Sure swampwalk isn't as impressive as the other praetor's keyworded abilities, but people aren't playing Elesh Norn because she has vigilance you know.
That said, ALL GLORY TO NEW PHYREXIA!!!
1: Angel of Jubilation prevents players from sacrificing creatures to activate abilities. Does that mean that if my opponent as her out, then Sheoldred can't make them sacrifice the creatures?
2: For cards that say "Prevents all activated abilities of creatures" does that mean that Sheoldred's abilities won't work? Or do those stay no matter what?
Because that is what flavor text is for, to point out which cards work well together.
but instead of swampwalk it would be something better
such as deathtouch, intimidade or infect
does anyone realize that in the promo art there are a inkmoth nexus behind sheoldred?
so by the art and the theme of new phyrexia it should have infect...
Powercreeped... but thats not really a bad thing.
Sheol sacs their creatures, you sac the Primordial with Doomgape (and gaining 4 life in the process) then bring it back every upkeep with Sheol to reanimate the creatures your opponent just sacked last upkeep. Once the opponent is out of creatures you can sac their biggest creatures with Doomgape for more life.
In any case, Sheoldred is solid as heck. For the effect - which basically nets +2 card advantage every turn cycle, and a very solid type of advantage at that - the cost is very, very reasonable.
What thorjy said.
Why did they print a card that completely outclasses an older card? Ratings should not always be based on how strong the card is. I'm sure if they printed a 1 mana artifact creature that was a 10/10 with trample and haste, they would get a ton of crap for being stupid. This is just a less extreme example of that (although I do like this card, so I still rated it 5/5).
The power of this card is that it affects your opponent the moment their turn starts. Even if they kill it on their turn (assuming you played it when they were tapped out), they still have to sacrifice a creature.
All this thing needs is a Swiftfoot Boots or some other hexproof giving artifact or enchantment to be truly broken - nothing like an evil card that you can't get rid of.
While this is good (5/5) there is no point in playing such a "kill-me-first" type card without proper protection for it. It will get targeted very quickly and very ruthlessly.
(I still want one though ....)
"In Lordran, the flow of time is distorted..."
@SAUS3: I disagree that ratings shouldn't be based on how strong the card is. If you have some people rating based on balance and some on power, you get ratings somewhere in between which will often not represent either properly. Since most people rate cards based on how good they are, rating them on how unhealthy they may be for the game or rating them poorly because you lost to it just skews the ratings and causes new players to draw false conclusions. Its bad enough that people are rating cards differently for different formats (see: the many cards which are good in EDH but lackluster in other formats).
...just kidding. Honestly, this could be 0/6 and still be awesome. Immune to Doomblade and the like, a decent body, and a ridiculous amount of card advantage makes this patently absurd. Best praetor, IMHO.