Pointed Discussion

Wow, this is the first Alfred Hitch*** inspired card I have seen. Awesome!

Even Germ token generated from Living Weapon would work with these solo-creature requirement.

That is one...expensive...enchantment. I'm giving it a 1.5, i honestly can't see the point in playing this.

Even though this doesn't have the card disadvantage of an aura, two mana gets you something that's about as good as this, without having some silly restriction.

People keep dogging cards like this people need to remember cards like Cloudshift, Ghostly Flicker, and Archwing Dragon which could easily leave you with only one creature on the field at any given time without actually meaning you only have easy access to one creature. Heck, if you could someone combo this with a recursive version of Lure and blink your Lured creature away and swing through with some medium-sized vanilla (or better) you can begin shifting games real quick and save your creatures.

This card is better than initial face value.

I want to build around this like CRAZY. Throw in Divine Reckoning and watch the fun happen.

I had a blast with this at the prerelease. I didn't expect it to be any good, but then my life total started creeping into the 40s in several games as blocker after blocker disappeared... Especially hilarious with Evernight Shade.

it's the lifelink that makes it.... i had this and Lone Revenant out with only 1 life left.... came back for the win when the life totals shifted for 7 each swing.

had fun at the pre release with this and Marrow Bats!

man was that a fun combo, just cause

Combos with Security Detail.

Unlce Istvan should have been reprinted with this. the flavor would have been Awesome

@Ascherit- you are a creative genius :)

Also, awesome art is awesome.

Good with Homicidal Brute :)

Combine with Security Detail! You're welcome, not really XP

The art aptly depicts what this card is in limited: house. Most underrated card of the set.

Great in certain limited decks. Even if they kill your guy, the next one will be huge. But the lifelink is the key here. I would really like a rare version of this!
(Predator Dragon after this would kind of combo, don't you think?)

If they wanted to push the "one creature" mechanic, they should have put it on better cards. The Revenant was pretty good, though.

Dark Favor? Really? That's what you choose to compare this with? Why, because they're both black enchantments? That's like trying to compare Michael Jordan to Denzel Washington when the topic is Basketball. You don't get it? It's not the +3/+1 that sets this off, it's the perfect bonus mixed with the perfect ability for the perfect situation.. Come on now think about it.. When (most likely) will you have 1 creature? The early game, yes but a 5 cmc card is not relevant that early (usually). It's late in the game and your backs up against the wall, you have 6 life and your opp has 12, you both have creatures, his/hers are better. You: idk.. Let's say 2, 2/2 zombies. Opp: a 1/1, a 2/2 and a 5/5. They swing, you let the 5/5 through blocking and killing the 2/2 and 1/1 taking 5, down to 1 HP. You now have a 5/3 life linking, @$$ saving Zombie to attack with, gain 5 life, kill his/her 5/5 AND your Zombie but who cares? After the attack, you bust out any decent mid-large sized demon or w/e and you're sitting pretty and your opp who was a turn away from the win now has 0 creatures of his/her own and a big mean nasty 7/5 (or better) flyer with lifelink and Avacyn only knows what else ready to tear them a new A-hole!! Plus, this isn't exactly the kind of card that'll have your opp screaming out: OH S**T! Time to play every last removal spell in the book!, to get rid of it.. You play it and pass the turn, they look at you and say "nice play dude" while on the inside, think to themselves: Ok, Pfffft! Nice play my hairy @$$! And then forget its even there until it bites a new hole in that hairy @$$. It's a game changing insurance program that's also arguably the most underrated card in AVR, poss even block. Still don't believe it's raw? K w/e, but do me a favor and take it out for a test drive next time before hating on it. Dark favor.. Hahaha imagine THAT.

I could definitely see this in a reanimator deck, or splashed into a white/black or blue control deck that's based around having one awesome creature out at any given moment.
Unburial Rites into Griselbrand is cool, but Unburial Rites into a 10/8 *DOUBLE LIFELINK* Griselbrand is just friggin' absurd. Add that to the multiple, multiple other ways to get a single creature into the board (self-sac creatures like Alchemist's Apprentice, living weapons, Divine Reckoning, et cetera) this card is a Control players win-more card. If nothing else, it makes your Snapcaster Mage a terrifying 5/2 lifelinking menace that your opponent wants to kill even more than they do now.

This card is perfect for Solar Flare, as it's existing finishers (Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, consecrated Sphinx, Frost Titan, and so on) are now augmented into an even more horrible fashion, and no longer have to rely on Wurmcoil engine to come online to beat aggro. Hell, that Inkmoth nexus with this can win games in 3 turns by itself while ignoring any and all sorcery-speed removal.

Haha, "Hitch***" is censored... you know, by not checking for context, censoring actually draws attention to words being censored. Without it, no one would give a second thought to Alfred's last name.

As for the card, I really like it and I don't know why it's rated so poorly. Seems like a lot of fun with Nether Spirit, for example.

I must say this is good card as I saw it in action yesterday in a draft. I drafted it and the only time I saw it was when my opponent used Stolen Goods. Bummer.

@alphagprime

Cloudshift and Ghostly Flicker blink in the creature the moment after the spell resolves. They don't work to activate this card.

Was slowly starting to lose the game. My opponent was dropping more and more creatures. I kept having to block his double-striking undying hound. All I had left to play was Howlgeist. I drew a land, played him, and passed my turn. He swung conservatively, and I let the damage through. I was about to die anyways.

Holy moly.

I draw Homicidal Seclusion.

I came back and won the game because of that combo alone. Dear God, what a game.

Maybe it's my lack of experience, but I have an impression one could build a fun deck around it and Birthing Pod.

I agree with everybody's positive comments about this card. I absolutely love it. Ya just don't know how good it is until you've played it. And yes, that lifelink is the winner. On Demonlord of Ashmouth, Fettergeist or Demonic Taskmaster, it's awesome. And throw on a predator's gambit and it gets ridiculous. My deck centered around this was play tested against monoblack zombies (a copy of the 10th pl anaheim grand prix deck) and now beats it consistently even when there are a ton of opposing creatures coming at you. Again, that lifelink is where it's at.

This man knows the horror that is Storm Crow.

Slap down your Swiftfoot Boots early on and watch your opponent turn into a nervous wreck as he anticipates a lifelink/haste/hexproof creature at any given moment...

And then cast Essence Harvest on your second main phase... boom...

The best limited card in the set.

This card has a perfect theme... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4-ZQouTwu8

@DeckMechanic: Murder of Crows

One of best cards you can draft in AVR. Seriously, this in combination with Demonic Taskmaster or Fettergeist can give you REALLY big advantage on drafts. Ofc, nobody plays this in constructed, but still...

alfred hitch c o c k??

helps Cartel Aristocrat finish out the game with style.

Combine with Uncle Istvan for massive flavor overload.

I used this with Xathrid Demon, Predator's Gambit, and Demonic Rising. Each turn i would attack with the demon then at end of turn I would get a 5/5 demon token to use as a blocker, if needed, until my next turn. Then sacrifice the demon which made both my opponents lose five life and just hit them with Xathrid again for some good life gain and some amazing damage to my opponents. I got this combo out on the field by T7 and won by T10 and I gotta say it was an awesome game. My openers were pretty annoyed though, now I'm not really allowed to use this deck anymore unless I'm on a losing streak.

Use this with Shauku, Endbringer for xenophobic goodness.

Use this with Pestilence Demon for some fun.

With Aetherling attacking with a 12 power effectively vigilant lifelinker not fun for any opponent.

It should work decently in a deck with Fallen Angel, Bloodthrone Vampire, Nantuko Husk, or whatever sacrifice-creatures-to-pump-me card you feel like using. Just swing with everything, and if one of the pump creatures isn't blocked, you can finish the game, or do a ton of damage and gain a similar amount of life.
It's a very flavorful card, but a big investment at 5 mana. 3.5/5.

Markov Patrician's favor