Pointed Discussion

He's a demon who feeds on the worship of his disciples. Who would have thought Exalted would work in ?

So... Much... Flavor....

I'll be using this dude in one or decks. Excellent for post Mutilate.

true, if you can wipe the board then this guy is awesome but otherwise it just seems like he doesn't do much.

but hey, with the titans rotating out, who knows...

THE NEFAROX STANDS ALONE!

Last time I checked, exalted was NOT a black mechanic.
Whatever. He's still a decent card. He probably won't see much play, but he's a blast and a half, flavorwise.

Would have been interesting at 5 mana. Even in EDH this guy is obsoleted by Thraximundar and the piles of awesome monoblack generals.

Last *I* checked God_of_the_Smurfs, NICOL BOLAS was Overlord Of Grixis, the real God of the Smurfs, and Supreme Ultra King of Everything...but Nefarox totally flavorfully deserves exalted. ;)

I really like this card.
My only disappointment is that he wasn't with the rest of the legendary cards in the 4 CMC slot.
Given he'd have lesser stats, but still.

Great card. I continue to facepalm whenever players try and say that exalted in Black doesn't make sense. It's so obvious that it does; Black just had the "loner" mechanic in Avacyn Restored, after all. Note that Nefarox works a little differently than, say, Rafiq of the Many. Rafiq's second ability works the same as exalted: "whenever a creature you control attacks alone, it gains double strike until end of turn." Nafarox's second ability is more selfish. That's the difference between Bant's exalted and Black's exalted; it fits in those colors (although is more White and even Green than Blue), but it can be designed differently. Beautiful work by WotC.

Oddly, combos extremely well with Angelic Benediction...

When attacking alone he would destroy a creature, tap another one, and gain +2/+2.

Give him Angelic Armaments for another +2/+2 and turn him into a black Demon Angel =3. For even more contradictory fun give him give him Bladed Bracers for an additional +1/+1 and Vigilance (thanks to being turned into an angel by the Armaments.)

And while we are at it and on the topic of things in W/B that work well with Exalted in the new Standard, Builder's Blessing gives him an additional +0/+2 because Vigilant causes him to no longer tap and buffs whatever army you have to support your Exalted Angel Demon @.@

For those of you mathing at home that's a total score of 10/12 Flying Vigilant Exalted Demon Angel that destroys a creature and taps another when he attacks. XD But that's only if you're into that whole irony thing.

I LOATH how Exalted is a black ability now. It's just so wrong flavorfully. Even though mechanically this card is cool, I will still refuse to use it.

This thing is beastly.

@Sarroth: And it drives me crazy to no end when players say that Avacyn Restored's "Loner" makes Exalted work just fine. The whole idea of Exalted is "Scores of supportive troops (sources of Exalted) exalting their champion into single combat". "Loner" says "If the dude you have out isn't alone, make him kill the other dudes". Not really meshing ideas. Sure, there are sources of Exalted like Angelic Benediction (TOTALLY demonic!) and Cathedral of War, but the best and most frequent sources are creatures, which WRECKS the "loner" style. And while its arguable that Black's Exalted isn't "Scores of Supportive troops etc", Its still Exalted, referring to a card from Alara, which is like a Mirran Infector or blue Zombie with Fateful Hour. There's no information or reason for why a dude from Grixis has hijacked his in-flavor opposite's mechanic and combat style, so we're just going WTF MAN, WTF.

I really like this card. I'm not a big fan of black exalted, but i feel like it works in this card both flavorwise and powerwise. In terms of flavor, it boosts itself so it doesn't really need everyone to work with him to work. Plus, the creature sacrificing is black and the bonus only happens when he attacks, so he isn't helping anyone else. Anyway, I think this card is black enough, and its also a great card; powerful but balanced. Sure its not Sublime Archangel, but this is only a rare, and it can really turn the tide late in the game, draining your opponent of creatures by forcing him to chump block (unless he wants to take 6 plus any other exalted you have) and sacrificing a creature. It will be a king in limited and great in casual, plus i think it may even see some standard play considering how slow M13 is.

The only black exalted card that got me a little excited.

I can understand black being exalted flavorfully (a champion of Dark, as aopposed to Light) but black exalted just mixes so poorly with the existing WUG cards.

Last set they brought black Bloodthirst and added it to black in addition to the Grull RG where it originally was. It made sense flavorfully, but it also fitted deck build nicely because there was alot of new mono-green and red bloodthirst cards already, they made a fair amount of new black ones, new green and red ones and they also made new cards compatible with the strategy. In addition, you could make a BRG deck with a bloodthirst theme.

With exalted the flavor is acceptable. But most existing exalted cards where multicolor from bant. Exalted decks also normally did use all three colors, the best existing exalted cards were all three colors. Making a WUBG exalted deck is possible but would be hard. In addition, the black exalted cards really don't add anything for the most part. Bant already had exated fliers, double-strikers, tramplers, creature, enchantment and artifact removal, lifelink cards, control cards, and so on. In addition, it's unlikely that we'll see more exalted black cards in the future, at least if wizards follows the same plan as they did with bloodthirst where it was revived for a core set and then 'filed away'. So the 5 black exalted cards are most likely just going to remian an odd collection of cards with that effect that are unescessary additions to the existing exalted cards. On the other hand the white exalted cards released in this set can mesh very easily with what exists and are more likely to see play in constructed exalted decks.

Three of my absolute favorite color combinations:

1. White/Red
2. Red/Blue
3. White/Black

The current format of Standard (until Return to Ravnica is released) favors White/Red with their Artifact support and/or Battle Cry armies, Red/Blue with their Instant/Sorcery spamming and/or their counters and proliferation (see Building on a Budget for "Stalking Stalkers" to understand what I mean), and now, White/Black (which has ALWAYS been one of my favorite combinations, due to "kill that thing" from Black, then "resurrect it again" from White...) through a few Innistrad block cards (Unburial Rites or Lingering Souls, for example.... Black or White cards with a Flashback in the OTHER of the two colors), and in M13, Exalted (which happens to have ALWAYS been one of my more favorite mechanics.... I have an army of creatures for blocking your onslaught, while you MUST block this ONE guy or you WILL feel it in a few more turns). I don't know about anyone else, but I am personally ADORING the idea of bringing back Exalted as an ability. It was an awesome idea back in Alara, and it's just as awesome now. Note - Angelic Benediction helps a LOT in ANY Exalted deck, and they brought IT back, too. ;P

Nefarox Is Cool Because He's From Grixis, Which Is Obviously The Home Of The Most Badass Guys Around. Maybe He'll Be Standard Playable.

I like the fact that though he's from Grixis, he has a Bant ability. It's part of why I loved seeing Alara Reborn, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Alara after adjusting to the Conflux.

I like this card. I never played when Rafiq was big, and I don't play EDH, so wouldn't try to mesh. I hate the idea that having an ability automatically means it needs to mesh with all other cards with that ability. I may only play standard, but a B/W exalted deck does work, especially with enough control. Kill cards and O-rings boost this deck into tournament proportions. So don't diss a card simply cause of Rafiq's clash with him. As a creature, he is pretty powerful. A solid 4/5, imo

@ alphagprime:
I'll do you one better. If he dies cast Rise from the Grave on him and reattach all that equipment. He's now a black/white Demon Angel Zombie. Or if you're not doing standard you could always attach a Nim Deathmantle to him. That makes him all of the above with intimidate and you can pay 4 to bring him back if he dies. For the hell of it, have him put on a pretty Whispersilk Cloak when you're done throwing all that crap on him...

Nefarox do you know Karrthus?

8 ball corner pocket!

3.7 rating ? Are u kids for real?

Actually, this flying abyss isn't bad at all in my opinion. Might see real play when Return to Ravnica rolls in and we face the brave new world of titanless standard.

4/5

Insane in limited. My girlfriend pulled one at the release and every time it came out she won. If you're running B/W exalted definitely consider putting a couple of him in there.

Dammit I need a black white exalted deck now

When Nefarox, overlord of grixis attacks in two headed giants with another creature from your partner's creatures that are on play. Does his last ability sill work or not?

This guy is awesome! A total bomb in standard and limited.

So now Exalted is in Black, White, Blue and Green so therefore the best card for any exalted deck must be Mogg Flunkies

I don't like that his ability doesn't trigger from another creature attacking alone like every other exalted card with some extra "attack alone" ability.

Nefarox, I'd like you and the rest of your Exalted deck to meet Fog Bank. Fog Bank, I'd like you to meet...

It seems so strange that Nefarox is the only Legendary creature from M13 that isn't 4 CC, when comparing him to Krenko, Mob Boss, Odric, Master Tactician, Talrand, Sky Summoner, and Yeva, Nature's Herald he seems a bit out of place. But when evaluating his abilities flying, edict, exalted, and a sizable 5/5 body I understand why he couldn't be costed at anything less than 6 or else be a mythic.

I'm surprised at how many times I have been passed Nefarox in M13 drafts. He really is a quality creature that actually does something the turn he comes into play. I guess Monoblack will have to prove itself before people give him the credit he deserves.

I wonder if he ever fought Laharl for the title of Overlord...

EIGHT.

EIGHT DEMONS I HAVE FOUND THAT KILL THE BANESLAYER.

Although this one is pushing it a little compared to the others...

I understand that dark supplication of a dark champion is how exalted works with black, but as a runner of Bant colors it just feels really insulting to face down your deck's antithesis only to be smashed by the mechanic you hold so dear to your heart.

So basically, yes exalted works very well with black, it just feels wrong in some ways.

Exalted isn't a "black ability now" just because it's on a couple of cards. Exalted doesn't have to be an entire themed deck whenever you see it on a card. It may be slightly more efficient that way; but this guy as the only exalted in a deck is fine. You hold the ground for awhile and then pull him as a finisher.

A 6/6 flyer who kills your dudes each turn quickly ends games; and him saying "Yo, I'm the Lord so piss off!" with the exalted mechanics is awesome.

If you attack with someone else; just assume they have this guy's favor (to do his bidding) but not his ability in combat (I.E. they don't insta-gib an opponent on their way in, they have to fight.)

*Boom*
Flavor and rules in perfect harmony.


Still, a 3.5 card IMO. He's decent, even above-the-curve in many ways; but he lacks the "thud" a lot of 4+ finishers have. The titans, praetors, and similar raised the bar a bit. Him being an "Overlord" demon but smaller than most other demons (6/6 is usually as small as they get) and costing as much or more mana to boot makes me less enthusiastic as well.

Real Pit Lords are 7/7s, we have two 9/9 frample demons now, we have 3 6/6s (at least) for {2}{B}{B}, and most of them have trample. This guy is stopped by two flying spirits per turn.

Again, decent, but IMO; not up to Demon-Timmy standards.

He's casual, but he locks people down. Don't underestimate saccing. Awesome card even if not playing exalted.

Is there any card similar to this one for Standard? I am making a mono-black deck and I really enjoy playing this card.

*One-Winged Angel starts playing*

(Chorus)
Estuans interius ira vehementi.
Estuans interius ira vehementi.
NEFAROX!
NEFAROX!

(Repeat chorus)

Sors immanis. Et inanis.
Sors immanis. Et inanis.

(Repeat chorus)

Veni, veni, venias. Ne me mori facias.
Veni, veni, venias. Ne me mori facias.

(Repeat)

Veni, veni, venias. Ne me mori facias. (Gloriosa. Generosa.)
Veni, veni, venias. Ne me mori facias. (Gloriosa. Generosa.)

(Repeat)

NEFAROX!
NEFAROX!

NEFAROX!

They did the m13 legendary creatures right for the most part. 4 of the creatures are highly playable and 2 are actually solid in serious constructed. I feel like Nefarox was OK but trying to be a big scary demon only works if
A. There aren't bigger scarier demons about.
B. Said big scary demon has an ability that actually works well for said big scary demon.
C. Big scary demon accepts currency other than mana to summon it.

Unfortunately, at this time, there were lots of big scary demons thanks to Innistrad block so that's one. Exalted does make sense flavorfully but fails in practicality since the best way to win via exalted is low drops that build on each other. AlsoSublime Archangel was a thing. C. Comes down to more or less an issue of how fast the format is in this case. M13 had a lot of support for white weenies and generally low drop high p/t creatures. The fact that games could be over before you even summon this guy is disappointing. They could have made him a 3/3 for 4 that has exalted and "your opponent may sacrifice a creature, if they do, nefarox deals 3 damage to you, if not they take 2 damage"