Pointed Discussion

what crap.. they give you such a horrible downside to counterbalance the extra +1/+1... looming shade burns this card. even frozen shade is better

Am I just not getting this card? Is it really good in a way I don't understand or something cause this looks pretty terrible to me. Especially cause it's bad for a common and it's a rare.

haha itd be an aight common... for 2

The only way this card wouldn't be a complete piece of garbage is if it was, like, a 5/5 or something like that... 2/2 is just insanely bad for a card that effectively sets your strategy back an entire turn and threatens to manascrew you in a second. Would be a forgettable common and makes a disgraceful rare.

I know how terrible is this card (and the Leech cycle)

But 4 months after the Prophecy mecanic "i want to tap all my land", i think Wizard was an idea with this concept...

For this reason (only for this reason), 1.5/5.

Painter's Servant + Donate + This vs anyone who doesn't have black mana in their deck = opponent can't cast spells.

The worst leech IMO...the only way to use him on the battlefield effectively is to have lots of black mana, and the only way to use black mana effectively is to play black spells, and the only way to play black spells effectively is to not run Andradite Leech.

Actually this card is a lot better than anyone has apparently realized. Consider this- on your 4th or 5th turn you have played a pretty solid wall or defensive creature to defend yourself effectively and have accumulated 4 or 5 swamps. You lay down Andradite Leech and your opponent laughs hysterically at how idiotic you are because of its obvious drawback. Next turn you power up the leech a bit (NOT TOO MUCH!) and attack. Suddenly the opponent has a major quandary on their hands: toast the leech with a spell or otherwise destroy it with a blocker, or let the 3/3 or 4/4 leech through. This seems like an easy decision until you realize that if they kill it, now you can play spells just as easily as normal, and possibly have cooked something up in the time since playing the leech, OR they let the leech through and take the damage in order to keep you at a disadvantage when playing spells. In the end they will probably let it through at least once or twice before they realize that you've duped them and they'll kill it. GENIUS? YES.

People focus on 'Black spells you play cost more' than 2/2 for 3 cmc with :+1/+1
Yeah . . this is not the best card . . certainly not worth a rare slot, but I think it deserves more than 1/5 rating.

If this guy was a 1/1 with evasion of some sort instead, I'd really like him. Beat opponent senseless until opponent kills him. Sounds good!
Unfortunately, he's not like that, and he's only a Frozen Shade plus a Battlegrowth

Three mana for a 2/2 :/ Three mana for a creature with a terrible drawback that only pumps itself up... I dont think so. Im glad this card was a rare, because out of the 40 invasion packs i got as a kid, i only got 1 of these

Try Nantuko Shade.

While I definitely wouldn't call it good, or even adequate, the idea is interesting. Unlike the other leeches it provides an alternate use for the black mana you aren't using to cast black spells, and black will probably have an easier time sacrificing it when it has worn out its welcome than most colours. If it was bigger to start with or gave a better payoff as a mana sink (perhaps gaining +1/+1 counters instead of just until EOT), it might be worth using.

Good for Necrotic Ooze. Use Putrid Imp for your discard outlet and just bin this guy to give your ooze flying and then use this ability to pump the ooze. Sure, there are others, but you want 8-12 of those in your deck since it's one of the most useful abilities to give to Necrotic Ooze.

This card has a very strange effect on your opponent. It seems to shut down their logic center and make them think that the drawback is worse than any damage this guy can deliver and refuse to block/remove him. And then they die, clinging to their untapped mana.

This has the potential for greatness. Just imagine if it got +2/+2 for each !
Or even had fear!!

Wizards having the gall to print these as RARES makes me shiver with rage to this day.

Ironically, this is better than most shade cards printed by today's standards.