A hybrid 2/2 one drop? Yes Please. who cares about blocking in any early game red deck.
.Blaze.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This will be a relevant card for a while. Just to hard to pass up a 2/2 for 1.
SyntheticDreamer
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(4 votes)
This will fight with Diregraf Ghoul for a slot in B/R or Jund Zombie decks, even though it's not a zombie.
Avensai
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Black can keep its Diregraf Ghoul. I want this for my mostly-red Unleash deck! This little twerp'll be just as nasty as his art suggests when he comes down the turn before Rakdos Shred-Freak and the two of them together go in for 4 on the second turn.
Lord_of_Gelectrodes
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Powercreep!
Trygon_Predator
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Blocking? Who needs to block when you're wailing on your opponent?
It is a shame that it is not a goblin, but pros like me know that is a good thing because this card would be way overpowered if it was a goblin.
1337vanguard
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(7 votes)
Seems like "win more" card to me.
Dabok
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Powercreep as has been mentioned, but somehow I feel it's okay, since it has a drawback (even though the hybrid thing is REALLY GOOD). I mean it's good, no one will argue against that, but it's not so strong that you'll whine about it all day (like with Goblin Guide for example).
Lord.Gold
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"The best defense is a good offense" is an adage that has been applied to many fields of endeavor, including games and military combat. Generally the idea is that offensive action preoccupies the opposition and ultimately its ability to directly harm.
rollinsclone
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I can't see this being used over Diregraf Ghoul in black, but in red I want 14.
It's a great card, and the hybrid cost is nice, but having diregraf ghoul at rating <4 and this almost at five is nonsense...
I'm not saying the ghoul is better, they have both their pros and cons, principally saying that the ghoul should be rated higher :P
Mode
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If this was a Goblin my first thought wouldn't even be putting him into a goblin deck - I'd have put him in a rogue deck with Oona's Blackguard and Auntie's Snitch.
...i'll still put him in a deck with Oona's Blackguard, though :D If this gets out on turn one and the blackguard on turn two, it's your opponent will likely have to decide between chump-blocking (if they have a creature in the first place) or taking two damage and discarding a card.
Eternal_Blue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm not sure whether to give this 5 stars because it's effectively a 2/2 with no drawbacks, since for RDW you weren't going to block anyhow. Or to give it zero stars since this isn't even a rare and yet it defines power creep. Still, with Goblin Guide existing, I suppose another 2/2 for R that doesn't even have haste isn't going to break the game (slippery slopes are fun).
Valtiaal
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Maybe RDW isn't dead after all in the new standard. This will be an auto-include without question.
Colossus_of_Darkstee
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
And MaRo said you wouldn't always unleash a creature when presented the option....
lagg
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Really good card in RDW. Who needs blocking in the early game? Also, please take note that this will become a sad panda quite easily when your opponents have a powerful creature attacking.
GruesomeGoo
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Look at his grin. This little guy knows he's about to ruin your life, and he loves it. Very strong card and a beautiful showcase of the Unleash mechanic.
Potsofloopy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why he no a goblin? Because he no a goblin guy! Novice like me know that is good thing because this card would be way fun guy if it a goblin. I play the removal spell, then he no guy no more.
Battleguild
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This thing is so cute it's lovable! Whenever I play it, I call it a "Fuzzy Bunny". I always get awkward looks from my opponents...
Oni_of_Darkness
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I personally love the idea of playing this turn 1 then slapping either a Predator's Gambit or Deviant Glee and just let his go to town!
Ange-Gardien
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
And I was just wondering what 1- or 2-drop creature I could put in my Devils & Demons deck. Perfect.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
My favorite Unleash card. And look, he's a 1-Drop that is almost as cool as Isamaru, Hound of Konda!
This and Goblin Guide are the only 2/2's for 1 mana in red that don't have a ridiculous drawback that will frequently cause you not to attack with them. Goblin Guide currently goes for like 5$ each and can give the opponent card advantage. There's also Jackal Pup, but that thing is seriously not aging well.
Kind of odd how the most aggressive color in the game also has the least amount of cheap, aggressive creatures. Another thing, i'm waiting for green to get a vanilla 2/2 for 1. If we can get a 3/3 with flash and regeneration for 3 in green i'd say it's perfectly fair to have a 2/2 for 1. Green has pretty much always been the worst color, anyways.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Forget blocking, I want a 2/2 turn one. Hell, I want 3 2/2s turn two. 5/5 for sure.
Laguz
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Dawwww! He's so cute! I just want to watch him bounce around the battlefield and slaughter my enemies, then destroy him with some kind of celestial purge or something when he's no longer useful.
He's better than diregraf ghoul. Blocking is the wrong choice the overwhelming majority of the time, especially in the early game, and especially when you're playing red.
NagrusD
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It seems every overzealous noob on here hasn't ever played a game of Magic before, saying that you'd never want to block etc. I mean, do these guys just constantly rig their deck or what? You play 4 of, you don't get one till turn 6, opponent has a non trample swinging for 16 next turn. Why would you prefer a diregraf ghoul that has no alternative options but to much up your hand with uselessness? how is this worse? why don't you care about never blocking? you have to be incredibly stupid to think you're only going to get these while they are still useful unleashed and early in the game. some people have no damn sense. I think this was in the rules somewhere " Noobs often overestimate their chances of drawing a specific card". Honestly a 1/1 with two color choices is fine, a 2/2 can't block for 1 mana of two color choices is fine too, but it's not 5 star amazing. low synergy, decent round 1 beater, turn 3 dud. If it had haste i could give it a 4-5.
I like this card...but I have no idea why ppl are saying that it can replace Diregraf Ghoul. Anyone with half a brain would realize that Gravecrawler (an essential aggro card) would be a total waste of time without a zombie like Diregraf to bring him back from the grave.
BTW: ANYBODY who wants to run a R/B aggro deck NEEDS the 3 essential aggro zombie cards (Messenger, Diregraf, Crawler) so to run a deck with some cacklers instead of Diregrafs would create a mediocre and most likely *** aggro deck.
To conclude, cackler is good BUT NOT THAT GOOD. It wont be able to completely change the current face of R/B aggro decks.
Ligerman30
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Andromeiylochk "Green has pretty much always been the worst color, anyways."
You're just wrong. Fastbond, Valikut, Molten Pinnacle+Scapeshift combo, Earthcraft +Squirrel Nest combo, Tooth and Nail, Dredge (Cards like Golgari Grave-Troll or Life From the Loam), Tarmogoyf, Exploration, Noble Heirarch. Heck even in standard the best creature is Tragtusk, not to mention that Rancor is in standard. Green has historically been a strong color and is still a very strong color in all formats (with maybe the exception of some block constructed formats).
@ DarthParallax Except it doesn't combo with goblin tribal cards and can't deal 2 damage before they make their first land drop. Still a very strong card though
1 mana 2/2 w/ drawback is generally going to be very playable unless you have to build around the drawback. It's not Kird Ape or Goblin Guide. Compare this to Isamaru, Hound of Konda, not those cards.
CronenMorley
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Andromeiylochk Check out Tattermunge Maniac. He's 2/1 instead of 2/2 but can be played for G or as another aggressive red one-drop.
Rakdos_Ryder
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
UNLEASH THE CACKLER (insert evil laugh)
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I fail to see how this is better than Diregraf Ghoul. Unless you have some way of giving him haste on turn one for no mana, what you end up with is two 2/2's for 1. One of which can't attack or block the turn it's summoned, and one of which can't attack the turn it's summoned and can't block EVER. ... Do people not read what Unleash does? Because I think people think it gives haste. Which it doesn't.
Moxxy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@DoragonShinzui
First off it's twice as easy to play, second it's in red, a color that benefits much more greatly from aggressive cheap creatures.
MagicBrad
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@DoragonShinzui - No, but wouldn't that be cool(and overpowered)? I personally will take Rakdos Cackler over Diregraf Ghoul any day of the week, for the following reasons:
1) I don't play black in any great capacity. Red, however, is the primary colour I play. 2) As already stated, if you do play red/black, this is twice as easy to get out because it's half as picky about casting mana. 3) If you choose not to unleash this little critter(not sure why you would, but some will have their reasons) he can chump-block on your opponent's turn if you need him to, whereas the ghoul is tapped, and cannot. I chalk this up for versatility on his part. 4) I'm a red aggro player. I rarely block, or otherwise concern myself with my life total. My goal is to bleed out my opponent by turn 4 or 5 at the latest. If I haven't done that, then I'm in trouble anyway. 5) I like the art for this little bugger so much better.
I don't mean to convince you that he's better than the ghoul, or anything like that. But there are some reasons I'll always play the devil over the zombie, if you actually care(or bother to read this at all).
MrFluffyThing
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's like R&D really wanted Goblin Guide back, but could't give it haste, so they made it multicolored with a drawback instead.
Saikuba
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It used to be that a 2/1 for R that couldn't block was so unreasonable that you would not get a job in R&D if you thought that it was a balanced card.
How times change.
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great in pretty random decks. Hard to block, trades favorably, puts a lot of pressure on the opponent. Goblin Guide is better for red, and Diregraf Ghoul is better for zombies, but not all decks are in those archtypes. in R/B this fills several nice niches and is still allowed to chump later in the game if need be.
It's also Proliferate-able in R/B with Volt Charge, Grim Affliction, and Tezzeret's Gambit; which is the focus of a R/B unleash/Bloodthirst deck I have. When you block him and get eaten by instant speed proliferate, the card advantage really stacks up, and so does the damage.
Unleash is powerful and unique.
Ratazana
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I run 4 of these beasts along with 4 Carnophages in my Suicide Black deck.
Speed is the name of the game while playing with this one!
RamenAwesome
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Unless you really like blocking this little guy is great. A 2/2 for only one mana, and its even easier since its a red or black mana. Unfortunately, its not perfect though, since if you unleashed him early game he tends to become useless as the game progresses, unable to even chump block, although you can fix that by slapping nasty cards like Madcap Skills on him.
Undying_Devil
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of my absolute favourite cards. I always unleash it, because who needs to block when you have loads of cheap creature removal?
AirborneLemming
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Your chances of drawing one of four of these in you're opening hand playing with a sixty card deck is like 33.4 %
Umbric
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@DoragonShinzui It can be played in either red or black decks, and has a hybrid mana cost, you also have the option NOT to put it as a 2/2 with unleash, so if you really need to hold out and chump block an extra turn you can. Also back to that hybrid mana cost...
...Devotion decks.
Is it strictly better? No of course not, Diregraf ghoul is a zombie which is a very relevant tribal, it enters the battlefield tapped but that's not really too much of a draw back until late game.
However, Rakdos cackler is a little bit better because of the options it provides and it's flexibility which is why cards like cryptic command, azorius charm, boros charm, and Far // Away are so good, because of how flexible they are.
TheVizier
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I'm thoroughly surprised by the lack of a TheWrathofShane anti-devil comment on this card.
Comments (50)
Blistercoil Weird
Dryad Militant
Judge's Familiar
Rakdos Cackler
Slitherhead
I mean it's good, no one will argue against that, but it's not so strong that you'll whine about it all day (like with Goblin Guide for example).
I'm not saying the ghoul is better, they have both their pros and cons, principally saying that the ghoul should be rated higher :P
I'd have put him in a rogue deck with Oona's Blackguard and Auntie's Snitch.
...i'll still put him in a deck with Oona's Blackguard, though :D
If this gets out on turn one and the blackguard on turn two, it's your opponent will likely have to decide between chump-blocking (if they have a creature in the first place) or taking two damage and discarding a card.
Also, please take note that this will become a sad panda quite easily when your opponents have a powerful creature attacking.
Kind of odd how the most aggressive color in the game also has the least amount of cheap, aggressive creatures. Another thing, i'm waiting for green to get a vanilla 2/2 for 1. If we can get a 3/3 with flash and regeneration for 3 in green i'd say it's perfectly fair to have a 2/2 for 1. Green has pretty much always been the worst color, anyways.
He's better than diregraf ghoul. Blocking is the wrong choice the overwhelming majority of the time, especially in the early game, and especially when you're playing red.
Oh, Black/Red Hybrid. You so crazy.
BTW: ANYBODY who wants to run a R/B aggro deck NEEDS the 3 essential aggro zombie cards (Messenger, Diregraf, Crawler) so to run a deck with some cacklers instead of Diregrafs would create a mediocre and most likely *** aggro deck.
To conclude, cackler is good BUT NOT THAT GOOD. It wont be able to completely change the current face of R/B aggro decks.
You're just wrong. Fastbond, Valikut, Molten Pinnacle+Scapeshift combo, Earthcraft +Squirrel Nest combo, Tooth and Nail, Dredge (Cards like Golgari Grave-Troll or Life From the Loam), Tarmogoyf, Exploration, Noble Heirarch. Heck even in standard the best creature is Tragtusk, not to mention that Rancor is in standard. Green has historically been a strong color and is still a very strong color in all formats (with maybe the exception of some block constructed formats).
@ DarthParallax Except it doesn't combo with goblin tribal cards and can't deal 2 damage before they make their first land drop. Still a very strong card though
1 mana 2/2 w/ drawback is generally going to be very playable unless you have to build around the drawback. It's not Kird Ape or Goblin Guide. Compare this to Isamaru, Hound of Konda, not those cards.
Check out Tattermunge Maniac. He's 2/1 instead of 2/2 but can be played for G or as another aggressive red one-drop.
...
Do people not read what Unleash does? Because I think people think it gives haste. Which it doesn't.
First off it's twice as easy to play, second it's in red, a color that benefits much more greatly from aggressive cheap creatures.
1) I don't play black in any great capacity. Red, however, is the primary colour I play.
2) As already stated, if you do play red/black, this is twice as easy to get out because it's half as picky about casting mana.
3) If you choose not to unleash this little critter(not sure why you would, but some will have their reasons) he can chump-block on your opponent's turn if you need him to, whereas the ghoul is tapped, and cannot. I chalk this up for versatility on his part.
4) I'm a red aggro player. I rarely block, or otherwise concern myself with my life total. My goal is to bleed out my opponent by turn 4 or 5 at the latest. If I haven't done that, then I'm in trouble anyway.
5) I like the art for this little bugger so much better.
I don't mean to convince you that he's better than the ghoul, or anything like that. But there are some reasons I'll always play the devil over the zombie, if you actually care(or bother to read this at all).
How times change.
It's also Proliferate-able in R/B with Volt Charge, Grim Affliction, and Tezzeret's Gambit; which is the focus of a R/B unleash/Bloodthirst deck I have. When you block him and get eaten by instant speed proliferate, the card advantage really stacks up, and so does the damage.
Unleash is powerful and unique.
Speed is the name of the game while playing with this one!
...Devotion decks.
Is it strictly better? No of course not, Diregraf ghoul is a zombie which is a very relevant tribal, it enters the battlefield tapped but that's not really too much of a draw back until late game.
However, Rakdos cackler is a little bit better because of the options it provides and it's flexibility which is why cards like cryptic command, azorius charm, boros charm, and Far // Away are so good, because of how flexible they are.