I'm going to guess that the "hexproof" keywording was settled on long before "dies" was, and Commander was typeset in the middle.
lorendorky
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Vampires are pretty lame compared to Zombies, but this card is a boss.
ClockworkSwordfish
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
VAMPIRE VS. ZOMBIE FLAME WAR! Zombies suck in EDH. I said it.
Boakes2047
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
@greg2367 "Dies" is a new keyword that replaced the phrase "When this creature is put into the graveyard from the battlefield". effects will remain the same for all cards that have abilities that trigger with this phrase and stuff like that. Wizards just thought it would be easier. Tokens still trigger these effects also like Butcher's.
Kryptnyt
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
@greg2367 Vampires are undead, they can't truly die. Hmm...
beefrocks
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@greg2367 1) "Dies" is a rather violent term; it indicates a presence of life that is no longer there. Magic didn't really want to be one of "those" games. It's just a game, so your cards can't actually "die." 2) "Dies" was actually adopted by Magic, after this card was printed. If can find one old card--just one--that uses "dies," "kills," or "killed" to refer to a creature going to the graveyard from battle or sending a creature to the graveyard from battle, you will have earned my lifelong respect. 3) Death is known as being a permanent state, whereas being "in a graveyard" is something that changes rapidly (It's my job to change it! Here I Rule). As the hag from Prince Caspian said, "Have you ever heard of a witch who truly died? There's always some way to bring them back...." 4) Creatures are "summoned," and then they have "summoning sickness." Then, eventually, they are "sacrificed" or "destroyed." After that, they are either "regenerated" or "put into the graveyard." None of these terms--I repeat, none--are used to refer to the basic human life cycle. When you start to use anthropomorphic terms, you start to bond with those creatures. However, you are a planeswalker. You don't bond with them. You use them in whatever way you see fit. 5) The way this card is printed has been commonly accepted MTG vernacular for many years. (Starts fake "crotchety old man" voice) You punk whippersnappers coming in with yer fancy new words, tryin' to change the way we done it since before yer gran'pappy was in diapers, why, I just got one thing to say to that: "YOU ROTTEN KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!"(Stops fake "crotchety old man" voice)
@lorendorky The problem, really, is that vampires are black's way of trying to imitate blue. Instead of trying to imitate other colors, they should be trying to create some more originals. Like zombies. However, I, being predisposed to blue anyway, do tend to enjoy a vampire or two every now and then.
Alpha Sengir Vampire... but then again, vampires are pretty violent themselves I guess
DacenOctavio
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Ironic, this is easier to cast than Grave Pact. I run 4 in Dragon Appeasement, and everyone in my,group loves playing the Eldrazi Spawn-laden gimmick deck.
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@Squirepath: You win. Have a cookie. @Greg: I take it you don't have anything better to do than posting exactly that same crap in every Commander card it applies to. @ClockSwordfish: True, zombies as a tribe suck in EDH when you try to build a tribal deck on them. Their main problem is that they lack efficiently-costed fatties, IMO. You could, however, build a deck with zombies instead. Zombies have excellent token production (Army of the Damned, Endless Ranks of the Dead), recursion (Unholy Grotto, Lord of the Undead) and bombs (Mikaeus the Unhallowed, Grimgrin, Corpse-Born). Just add try to use them instead of building around them.
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to talk about the Buthcer here. He's a beast, what else to say? Not quite Grave Pact, but of easier recursion and your opponent can't remove it without saccing something. Not to mention I've never seen Pact holding equipment or swinging for 7 with Lord of Linneage. And, regarding the vampires vs. zombies debate, vampires can be quite badass when you think of think of them as the immortal nocturnal predators Bram Stoker wrote about, rather than as the sparkly teenage idols from that-which-shall-not-be-named and its ilk or the mindless junkies from 30 Days of Night.
Comments (12)
Zombies suck in EDH. I said it.
Vampires are undead, they can't truly die. Hmm...
2) "Dies" was actually adopted by Magic, after this card was printed. If can find one old card--just one--that uses "dies," "kills," or "killed" to refer to a creature going to the graveyard from battle or sending a creature to the graveyard from battle, you will have earned my lifelong respect.
3) Death is known as being a permanent state, whereas being "in a graveyard" is something that changes rapidly (It's my job to change it! Here I Rule). As the hag from Prince Caspian said, "Have you ever heard of a witch who truly died? There's always some way to bring them back...."
4) Creatures are "summoned," and then they have "summoning sickness." Then, eventually, they are "sacrificed" or "destroyed." After that, they are either "regenerated" or "put into the graveyard." None of these terms--I repeat, none--are used to refer to the basic human life cycle. When you start to use anthropomorphic terms, you start to bond with those creatures. However, you are a planeswalker. You don't bond with them. You use them in whatever way you see fit.
5) The way this card is printed has been commonly accepted MTG vernacular for many years. (Starts fake "crotchety old man" voice) You punk whippersnappers coming in with yer fancy new words, tryin' to change the way we done it since before yer gran'pappy was in diapers, why, I just got one thing to say to that: "YOU ROTTEN KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!"(Stops fake "crotchety old man" voice)
@lorendorky The problem, really, is that vampires are black's way of trying to imitate blue. Instead of trying to imitate other colors, they should be trying to create some more originals. Like zombies. However, I, being predisposed to blue anyway, do tend to enjoy a vampire or two every now and then.
Alpha Sengir Vampire... but then again, vampires are pretty violent themselves I guess
@Greg: I take it you don't have anything better to do than posting exactly that same crap in every Commander card it applies to.
@ClockSwordfish: True, zombies as a tribe suck in EDH when you try to build a tribal deck on them. Their main problem is that they lack efficiently-costed fatties, IMO.
You could, however, build a deck with zombies instead. Zombies have excellent token production (Army of the Damned, Endless Ranks of the Dead), recursion (Unholy Grotto, Lord of the Undead) and bombs (Mikaeus the Unhallowed, Grimgrin, Corpse-Born). Just add try to use them instead of building around them.
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to talk about the Buthcer here. He's a beast, what else to say? Not quite Grave Pact, but of easier recursion and your opponent can't remove it without saccing something. Not to mention I've never seen Pact holding equipment or swinging for 7 with Lord of Linneage.
And, regarding the vampires vs. zombies debate, vampires can be quite badass when you think of think of them as the immortal nocturnal predators Bram Stoker wrote about, rather than as the sparkly teenage idols from that-which-shall-not-be-named and its ilk or the mindless junkies from 30 Days of Night.