Lotta nice flavor here. Egyptian-style cards are fun. I'd prefer if it cost 3BB, but ah well.
A0602
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(4 votes)
I have a grave feeder deck using Mesmeric Orb. It struggles sometimes with defense. This guy fixes that problem and since the crux of the deck is Mesmeric Orb, I never actually draw him. He is ALWAYS in my graveyard.
MasterOfEtherium
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(5 votes)
Back From Da Tomb B I T C H!
alucard311
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This is cool. This is cool with dredge/careful study type effects. This is cool because it comes out before titans. This is cool because it can stop an existing titan. This is a Great Card.
I hope Innistrad has a "Search your library for a creature card. Put that card into your graveyard." effect to abuse the hell out of this guy.
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(4 votes)
think about it: how could there be egyptians in the mtg universe? :P I like the card,including the flavor but you have to admit, there can't be pharaohs
joking aside, interesting card. Graveyard mechanics are always fun, probably because they're so rare due to the possibility of brokenage. This one seems fun, although I'm not sure if it'll be standard worthy.
don_miguel
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(4 votes)
notice you don't even need to have any swamps like in snuff out or spliced horobi's whisper, so you can run it in mono blue or mono green with discarding effects like fauna shaman, wild mongrel, merfolk looter etc
Serecin
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
@Arach Of all the cards in magic this doesn't stand out any more thenAli from Cairo or the hundreds of other cards from folklore and mythology. have you noticed a bunch of humans showing up in a few sets? :D
Goatllama
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
RAAAAAAAMSES (the man in gauze, the man in gauze)
pt_z
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Combos with Dredge cards like Darkblast or Life from the Loam.
majinara
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(3 votes)
He's very flavorful and powerwise ok. I play mostly commander though, and there I thinkt hat Dread and No Mercy are far superior. 3.5/5
They should do an Egyptian themed set. Or would that be too close to Yu-gi-oh?
blindthrall
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Finally a playable mummy.
bijart_dauth
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
It would be really mean in some sort of self milling deck, especially if you go for a bunch of cards at a time and they don't know you have it in your grave (they were to lazy to check)
LTJZamboni
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I was a lot more enthusiastic about this card when I thought it was a No Mercy card advantage machine. Still, as long as this and Fauna Shaman are in standard I will be trying to make it work. 4.5/5
Donovan_Fabian
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(2 votes)
I give it a 2/5, at first I was like wow this card seems awesome it kills creatures just like Dread from lorwyn! Then I re-read it and then caught the obvious problem.
It is NOT a may ability. This has two major problems. For starters, your opponent can put it on top of your library by attacking with a 1/1. Second issue here, is that it screws your draw step whenever it happens. Then the only way to get it back there in the graveyard is to replay it so it can get killed somehow or have a way to discard it (surprisingly only so many cards let you do this from your hand in standard). Plus, we are just coming off new phyrexia, which has surgical extraction. It also doesn't interact with any creature who has hexproof, which is a major theme in m12, because it targets.
Having made note of all that, I'm sure somewhere there must be a nice combo with it.
Alsebra
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
@Deco_y - You mean, like Entomb? Gamble and Urza's Hot Tub can also work, but are either much more random or more costly...
Radagast
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Interesting card - not a bad combat creature, and it can return later for more combat while destroying something in the process. If not used in Standard (maybe in Mono-black control), this fella probalby has a home in Commander where creatures that can comeback AND have a trigger when doing so are always welcome.
What may stand out the most is that this guy's Eygptian theme... very strange... I don't think we've seen anything like that since Arabian Nights. Maybe a hint at what is to come?
ObsceneMartyr
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This has got to be one of the coolest zombies as of yet. He just keeps on coming back, just like Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees. Not a bad casting cost either.
Firevamps
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(10 votes)
Retuuuurrnnn the Sllaaaab, or suffer my cuuuurrse.
This guy's "in the graveyard" ability works a lot differently than it at-first seems. When I first read it, I thought it was like he gives you and your plainswalkers a deathtouch-like ability; anything that gets through dies. However, there are some important differences. First, he doesn't care which creature dealt the damage. If you block a 6/6 and let a 1/1 through, you can use his ability to kill the 6/6.
Second, his ability will typically only trigger once per combat. 510.2 states that all damage is dealt simultaneously. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only time his ability would trigger more than once per combat is if (a) both first strike and non-first-strike damage is being dealt and/or (b) damage is being dealt to more than one planeswalker/player. So you're not killing a creature for every creature that gets through, you're (usually) killing one attacking creature as long as at least one gets through.
Still a great card, but definitely confusing. Should probably get a ruling posted.
One off in my dredge deck, without damaging your overall strategy it can disuade early game attacks while you're combo-ing out, or you're taking a while to get going, it'll prevent late game bombs from smashing you.
Justice1337
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Just the thing a lot of dredge decks need to not lose, and super re-usable there because of how the dredge mechanic works. Also, a lot of decks will want this guy because of how powerful he can play out alongside "sacrifice a creature" costs and "whenever a non-token creature dies" triggers.
We haven't seen a lot of graveyard themed black decks in Standard for a long, long time, with Solar Flare arguably being the last. Hopefully, this is an indication that Wizards finally has a handle on what kinds of cards are needed to make decks like Vintage dredge combo, and we'll start to see more Standard speed decks with this kind of mechanics. Very well designed, filling a niche in a lot of different formats. 5/5
CookCrodile
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Q>if my vengeful pharaoh dies in blocking will the ability trigger for other attacking creatures?
EternalPhi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@CookCrodile No sadly not, since all combat damage is done at the same time and the creature wont go to the graveyard until after the damage is done.
LordTaco
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Just remember the heart of the cards is with you all......And now i officially love how so many reference to yugioh's egyptian theme can be made soo many times with this :). Maybe that's Dan Green in disguise with "Godly voice!" Over all I love this card, planning to get 2 of them in my Empire's/illusion deck. I needs cards that can whack people with a stick and those people die! XD
Leafhopper
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I need this damn card.
DacenOctavio
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
In the right deck, this kills the color pie more than Dismember.
JahnuB
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
You definitely get a lot out of this card. Not only is it a hefty 5/4 deathtoucher, but you can use ... say ... Merfolk Looter and continuously discard it and wipe your opponent's creatures (or just have them not attack, or whatever). Obviously something like Jund Charm or Bojuka Bog kind of hurts this card.
CJM2
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
It looks like this will work nicely along side the new Liliana of the Veil. Perfect card to dump to her discard ability.
StagemasterK
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you have two in you're graveyard, and you're opponent attacks you with two creatures, and you block one with wall of omens can you still kill them both? since the one that got through will trigger them both and they are both attacking?
This is one of those really strange situations where you sort of wish his toughness were lower than it is (Seriously... he would have probably been MORE useful as a 5/1, or 1/1 creature). He's at his best when he's just sitting in your graveyard - waiting to ambush your opponent's attackers. Even stranger is that his recurability is his biggest drawback. You WANT this guy to die and go to the graveyard just so that you can keep him there to protect yourself.
Very interesting and flavorful card design right here my friends. Loving these epic, build around core set zombies. I hope we continue to see more!
Was reading this on tcgplayer. Apparently this guy having deathtouch was a typo. Check it out. http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/magic_single_card.asp?cn=Vengeful%20Pharaoh&sn=Magic%202012%20(M12)
CuriousThing
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
With Mindshrieker out and Vengeful Pharaoh on top of your library or in your graveyard, you can lock some decks out of the game. On their turn, let one of their 1/x's or 2/x's through and then destroy one of their larger creatures (or deter your opponent from swinging with those creatures in the first place. On your turn, pay and swing with a 6/6 flier. This may be a few good cards away from being a standard archetype.
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card was just made for Blue/Black self-milling zombies. I only have one, but it turns up often enough anyway, and more would start getting restrictive on my card draws/impeding mill.
i wanna use this guy with alluring siren and any way to keep putting him in the graveyard like merfolk looter zombie infestation
Zerof89
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If I have this creature in my graveyard while Mindshrieker is in the field, is it possible to destroy multiple attacking creatures by activating the Mindshrieker's ability right after the Vengeful Pharaoh returns to the top of my library?
Abelelite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Question? gave this to a friend and during a battle i attacked with a hexproof creature and he attempted to use this cards Graveyard ability (died last turn) in order to destroy hexproof monster. I am unsure as to how this resovles as the hexproof should be able to prevent as I feel it is in HIS graveyard. Any help would be great
Hanksingle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
re: mindshrieker - y'all gonna need to skip your draw step for this to work at all. Pharaoh just gets plopped back on top for you to draw it - maybe if you had two? Which is a lot of work for a 6/6, once?
caralhodepica
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
now... who is against me... KKKKKK!!!
edster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anything dredge works nicely to keep him off the top of your library. If you happen to have blue, you might be able to sneak him out at instant speed with a Forbidden Alchemy
ayefightbears
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Splinterfright.
nunzioni
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is a terrific removal card for any black deck, but especially Zombies. Cemetery reapers can boost him up and make him a little harder to kill, and he can just keep getting rid of your opponent's creatures, first on the battlefield and then in the graveyard.
lyysander
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy is such a boss.
Pinto331
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy can drive your opponents insane. Also an example of good card design, there is a fine line between a card like this being good and being broken, and that's the choice of "on top of your library" instead of "into your hand". You're getting consistent removal, but at the cost of a card draw. Pretty fair trade to be honest.
captain_cornpops
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I play this guy in every graveyard-based EDH deck I make, even though he almost never hits the battlefield.
The best use for him is to keep him in your hand and wait for your opponent to attack with an unprotected General or other fatty, then discard the Pharaoh with a discard outlet like Wild Mongrel or Putrid Imp for some surprise destruction.
OR you can discard him into your graveyard early in the game as a deterrence against early attackers. Although that leaves him open to being Nihl'd or Bajuka'd.
umumwhatshisname
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
cheese card. broken as hell saw some one put it in grave with cellar door.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I find it hard to not say 'I summon the Dark Magician!' when I play this guy. Comes complete with his own 'Trap Card' to activate too! xD
Anyone else thinks he looks like Pegasus?
I was thinking about throwing this into a Kaalia EDH deck. I know it's not strictly on-theme or anything- it's actually not really on any theme in particular, but just seems like a neat useful effect.
For another Zombie that seems PERFECT for Kaalia, see Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Now thinking about this guy with UNDYING...seems....good :o :)
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
DarthParallax, if you're going to use zombies with Kaalia, please use only Bladewing. If you're going to use creatures that don't match types with Kalia, I suggest you use something that protects her instead of yourself.
rawsugar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
no1 seems to mention the lack of a "may" clause on this card. vs maybe 1/10+ decks this guy can lock you down each turn only destroying gravecrawler or a token and never drawing any cards 3,5/5 from me. 4,5/5 as a sideboard option though.
OmegaReborn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Well, I have tried him out in my Mikaeus EDH deck. It's semi-reanimator, so I have a lot of dumps. Vengeful Pharaoh is a little off. Five mana for a 5/4 Deathtouch is pretty cool, undoubtedly. Unfortunately, the effect never served me that well. In EDH, everything seems to have some form of omni-present blockage from it. Either they seem to have Shroud/Hexproof, are indestructible, have Undying/Persist or they are a creature that you really can't afford to get hit by (like most Commanders).
Then, there are a load of cards that fill in the 5cmc slots in EDH, and more than that, there are a load of staples that would go in.
So yeah, pretty horrid in EDH.
Looking at Modern, however, it still has that problem of being outclassed. If you can somehow fit it in to Dredge over all of the other marvelous choices, you're probably not thinking about the construction properly.
There may be a spot for it in Standard, but then, is using it's effect to kill an Insectile Aberration really what you think a card like this should be used for?
In the end, I'll give it a 2.5 out of 5. It's not designed bad or anything, it's just so sadly out of place with the entire game, it seems.
Barjin-N-Blastum
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Remember Spellshapers?
mana, tap, discard something to do whatever? This guy might actually give Squee a run for his money.
If you can consistently mill him off the top of your library he's gold. Even one pharaoh is enough to deter some (assuming they're paying attention to your graveyard). More often than not, opponents unwittingly run right into him .
Haplo81
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy's pretty good removal. Maybe outclassed in a lot of formats, but in EDH he's a beast. If you really need to draw, you can always not play him.
Salient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sure you could keep him in the 'yard forever, but consider: a 5/4 for CMC 5 is not bad. A recurring 5/4 is awesome.
Rancid_Raptor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ EternalPhi
psst, your wrong. First strike damage and normal combat damage are two different steps. So you can get hit with a 5/5 Double strike and Kill it before it gets its second strike, or hit with a 1/1 First strike, and kill the 8/8 that doesn't have first strike thats still on its way at you.
FlingIt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anyone notice his hat is Nicol Bolas's? Sweeeeet. He's homies with the most badass being in the multiverse.
4.5/5 just for this little tidbit.
TheWallinator74
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So if someone loses the game because of this card, are they banished to The Shadow Realm?
Comments (72)
joking aside, interesting card. Graveyard mechanics are always fun, probably because they're so rare due to the possibility of brokenage. This one seems fun, although I'm not sure if it'll be standard worthy.
I play mostly commander though, and there I thinkt hat Dread and No Mercy are far superior.
3.5/5
It is NOT a may ability. This has two major problems. For starters, your opponent can put it on top of your library by attacking with a 1/1. Second issue here, is that it screws your draw step whenever it happens. Then the only way to get it back there in the graveyard is to replay it so it can get killed somehow or have a way to discard it (surprisingly only so many cards let you do this from your hand in standard). Plus, we are just coming off new phyrexia, which has surgical extraction. It also doesn't interact with any creature who has hexproof, which is a major theme in m12, because it targets.
Having made note of all that, I'm sure somewhere there must be a nice combo with it.
What may stand out the most is that this guy's Eygptian theme... very strange... I don't think we've seen anything like that since Arabian Nights. Maybe a hint at what is to come?
Second, his ability will typically only trigger once per combat. 510.2 states that all damage is dealt simultaneously. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only time his ability would trigger more than once per combat is if (a) both first strike and non-first-strike damage is being dealt and/or (b) damage is being dealt to more than one planeswalker/player. So you're not killing a creature for every creature that gets through, you're (usually) killing one attacking creature as long as at least one gets through.
Still a great card, but definitely confusing. Should probably get a ruling posted.
We haven't seen a lot of graveyard themed black decks in Standard for a long, long time, with Solar Flare arguably being the last. Hopefully, this is an indication that Wizards finally has a handle on what kinds of cards are needed to make decks like Vintage dredge combo, and we'll start to see more Standard speed decks with this kind of mechanics. Very well designed, filling a niche in a lot of different formats. 5/5
No sadly not, since all combat damage is done at the same time and the creature wont go to the graveyard until after the damage is done.
This is one of those really strange situations where you sort of wish his toughness were lower than it is (Seriously... he would have probably been MORE useful as a 5/1, or 1/1 creature). He's at his best when he's just sitting in your graveyard - waiting to ambush your opponent's attackers. Even stranger is that his recurability is his biggest drawback. You WANT this guy to die and go to the graveyard just so that you can keep him there to protect yourself.
Very interesting and flavorful card design right here my friends. Loving these epic, build around core set zombies. I hope we continue to see more!
Fetch a Grave Titan.
Raise your arms.
"Come at me bro."
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/magic_single_card.asp?cn=Vengeful%20Pharaoh&sn=Magic%202012%20(M12)
The best use for him is to keep him in your hand and wait for your opponent to attack with an unprotected General or other fatty, then discard the Pharaoh with a discard outlet like Wild Mongrel or Putrid Imp for some surprise destruction.
OR you can discard him into your graveyard early in the game as a deterrence against early attackers. Although that leaves him open to being Nihl'd or Bajuka'd.
Anyone else thinks he looks like Pegasus?
I was thinking about throwing this into a Kaalia EDH deck. I know it's not strictly on-theme or anything- it's actually not really on any theme in particular, but just seems like a neat useful effect.
For another Zombie that seems PERFECT for Kaalia, see Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Now thinking about this guy with UNDYING...seems....good :o :)
Then, there are a load of cards that fill in the 5cmc slots in EDH, and more than that, there are a load of staples that would go in.
So yeah, pretty horrid in EDH.
Looking at Modern, however, it still has that problem of being outclassed. If you can somehow fit it in to Dredge over all of the other marvelous choices, you're probably not thinking about the construction properly.
There may be a spot for it in Standard, but then, is using it's effect to kill an Insectile Aberration really what you think a card like this should be used for?
In the end, I'll give it a 2.5 out of 5. It's not designed bad or anything, it's just so sadly out of place with the entire game, it seems.
mana, tap, discard something to do whatever? This guy might actually give Squee a run for his money.
psst, your wrong. First strike damage and normal combat damage are two different steps. So you can get hit with a 5/5 Double strike and Kill it before it gets its second strike, or hit with a 1/1 First strike, and kill the 8/8 that doesn't have first strike thats still on its way at you.
Sweeeeet. He's homies with the most badass being in the multiverse.
4.5/5 just for this little tidbit.