Linvala's effect isn't an activated ability, so this card would have zero effect of her.
MasterOfEtherium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
My Favorite Card In The Set. And The Art....10/10!
GruesomeGoo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So basically for 1 colorless mana we get a 2/1, considering the other 1 mana goes to the Pithing Needle.
Shadoflaam
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I played this dumba.ss at the prerelease, he knew I had a carnifex demon in my hand, he played it and named nothing (well, lagac lizard as a joke, but effectively the same)! I won that game but lost the match. Oh well.
mdakw576
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'd rather just use pithing needle unless mana dorks are bothering you, because you have to pay 1 more mana and this dies to creature removal.
Higginjoe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Excellent card for shutting down control strategies, planeswalkers (BIG JACE!!!) and Fauna Shaman. Easily removable, but for 2 mana, it's hard to complain.
@zenzei: Thanks a lot. Once you see it, it can't be unseen...
Name your own Knight of the Holy Nimbus. You know you want to.
Magnor_Criol
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Boxpopper, Relentless Rats has no activated abilities. Or even triggered abilities. This card has no impact on the Rats.
Studoku
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'd prefer pithing needle because it's one mana, harder to remove and can name fetchlands. Still, this is a pretty neat card. And, of course, it means twice as much pithing in my EDH deck.
Kamidii
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Did they just balance pithing needle?
tcollins
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
People saying Pithing Needle is better, all i have to say is: "I name Everflowing Chalice...", sure; the revoker is more susceptible to removal, but it's also able to shut down potential mana sources.
-_- Zenzei... now i can't take it seriously either!
GreenDzin
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Now you can bounce him with Venser and choose extra targets! Lol - "All your elves are can't mana produce"
i hate control so much my pithing needle grew legs so it can punch your jace in the face.
GracefulInferno
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is so incredibly versatile it's insane. So how exactly does it compare to its predecessor, Pithing Needle?
The Needle is our starting point, a lock on activated abilities of any card for a paltry one mana. Yes, it stops planeswalkers. Yes, it can shut down a good portion of combos when sided in. The Needle can even name land cards, a useful trait that prevents those stupid Creeping Tar Pits and Celestial Colonnades from pouncing on you. It does not, however, prevent mana abilities from being activated.
Now we come to the Revoker. Looking strictly at the abilities it provides, we see that the revoker can't name lands. So it loses out in that department. However, it does not have the "no mana abilites" restriction, which gives the Revoker a substantial edge when dealing with mana-producing combos. In standard, this includes, but is not limited to: Birds of Paradise, Overgrown Battlement, Elvish Archdruid, and all of the mana-producing Myr.
Additionally, the Revoker stands as a 2/1 body for two mana. If you consider the "revoking" ability on par with Pithing Needle's (costing 1 mana), then you effectively are paying 1 colorless for a 2/1. This makes it as cost-efficient as an Elite Vanguard body-wise, which is pretty good.
All in all, I'd say both are sideboard material. But given the pace of the standard metagame, the ability to shut down mana-producers is what makes Phyrexian Revoker as valuable as it is. If the Needle is reprinted for a run in M12, expect these two to get about a 50/50 split in sideboard play.
If your opponent were to activate a creature ability, and then your were to put the Revoker here onto the stack through some means (ie. Leylines or Shimmer Myr) how would have resolve?
what makes this card so good for standard on the sideboard is that he fits right into a slot where Spellskite also fits. So he can easily find a home there. And yes, he ruins caw blade, Koth, and Jace and anyone who ever thought they were going to run Myr Superion.
creepycrawler
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
It's an artifact and a creature, which means you can Disentomb it as well as other artifact recursion. And you can sacrifice it in more ways than just a regular artifact, and bring it back to null another card. "What flavor would you like? Well too bad, all you get is vanilla!"
CaptJaceWiggles
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If a friend of mine played Thrun, or atleast has it in his deck and i played the revoker before or after Thrun hits the board. Can Thrun still regenerate?
sonorhC
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The body isn't really much help, since you probably don't want to risk this guy in combat. And it opens up more ways for your opponent to kill it. So I'd say this is worse than the Needle, not better. It's still easily good enough to justify using it, though.
Adallace
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Obviously good sideboard in many situations. Could be used as counter-sideboard against an opponent's sided Hex Parasite
There are some major differences between this and Pithing Needle besides just being a creature and coming out later. Unlike the needle, this can hit mana dorks; however, it cannot hit fetchlands, which makes a major difference depending on the environment. I, personally, prefer this, because my playgroup doesn't use fetchlands, and this is a creature, but it all depends on the metagame
Barlavento
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Now, does this mean that whatever I banhammered with this card continues to be revoked even if the creature dies? What happens if I use a flicker effect on it like Cloudshift, will I be able to just keep revoking different activated abilities every time it enters the battlefield?
adrian.malacoda
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@barlavento: Unless stated otherwise, all effects on a permanent end when that permanent has left the battlefield. See relevant ruling for pithing needle.
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Sadly, squishier than Pithing Needle, but there is an amazing upside to this card: It isn't Pithing Needle, so run 4 of each!
Nothing in this game is more fun then your opponent playing Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and then you cast this the following turn on him...
SAUS3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Awesome aggro card that taxes your opponent. My friend played this against me naming necropotence (and I didn't think to get more cards before the trigger resolved). I got owned.
Jannissary
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Those spikes in the back look a lot like eyes.
I see the jaw, I see the clearly menacing legs, but I can't take it seriously when it looks like it has big googly eyes.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You can't Æther Vial a Pithing Needle. I put two of these guys in my Merfolk sideboard and they work wonders.
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
*really* good with Surgical Extraction. You use extraction T1 for free with a discard and not only nail their playset of that entire card, but you then see their library to let you know the best target of this. See a planeswalker? Nope. See a Batterskull and/or stoneforge? Uh uh. Jitte? Forget about it.
That makes this and that card brutal.
MerlinMonroe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Love this card, great control over activated abilities for a small cost, and a 2/1 for only 2 colorless aint bad if you've got no use for it. Run it with an Erratic Portal if you ever need to change your targets.
P.S. one of my favorite flavor texts of all time, totally changed my perspective on Phyrexia.
Comments (45)
Nice.
Therefore I'm incapabable of taking this card seriously, sorry revoker.
Excellent sideboard card for my token deck though... might even be main boarded eventually.
Standard- "I name Jace, the Mind sculptor"
Legacy/vintage- "I name Survival of the Fittest"
EDH- "I name Azami, lady of scrolls (or whatever general they have)"
The formats this guy can be used in are infinite. Pithing needle that attacks for two, I like thee
Nice in aggro Decks featuring Fauna Shaman.
Linvala's effect isn't an activated ability, so this card would have zero effect of her.
@zenzei:
Thanks a lot. Once you see it, it can't be unseen...
"I name Everflowing Chalice...", sure; the revoker is more susceptible to removal, but it's also able to shut down potential mana sources.
-_- Zenzei... now i can't take it seriously either!
The Needle is our starting point, a lock on activated abilities of any card for a paltry one mana. Yes, it stops planeswalkers. Yes, it can shut down a good portion of combos when sided in. The Needle can even name land cards, a useful trait that prevents those stupid Creeping Tar Pits and Celestial Colonnades from pouncing on you. It does not, however, prevent mana abilities from being activated.
Now we come to the Revoker. Looking strictly at the abilities it provides, we see that the revoker can't name lands. So it loses out in that department. However, it does not have the "no mana abilites" restriction, which gives the Revoker a substantial edge when dealing with mana-producing combos. In standard, this includes, but is not limited to: Birds of Paradise, Overgrown Battlement, Elvish Archdruid, and all of the mana-producing Myr.
Additionally, the Revoker stands as a 2/1 body for two mana. If you consider the "revoking" ability on par with Pithing Needle's (costing 1 mana), then you effectively are paying 1 colorless for a 2/1. This makes it as cost-efficient as an Elite Vanguard body-wise, which is pretty good.
All in all, I'd say both are sideboard material. But given the pace of the standard metagame, the ability to shut down mana-producers is what makes Phyrexian Revoker as valuable as it is. If the Needle is reprinted for a run in M12, expect these two to get about a 50/50 split in sideboard play.
"What flavor would you like? Well too bad, all you get is vanilla!"
Could be used as counter-sideboard against an opponent's sided Hex Parasite
And then get slapped by your friends.
Now mainboard material in legacy/vintage now that so many decks are running Deathrite Shaman, Grim Lavamancer, Stoneforge Mystic, etc.
I see the jaw, I see the clearly menacing legs, but I can't take it seriously when it looks like it has big googly eyes.
That makes this and that card brutal.
P.S. one of my favorite flavor texts of all time, totally changed my perspective on Phyrexia.