Excellent design. From the cruel fact that he can't kill on his own, to the challenges of him only being able to attack alone, to the damned if you do, damned if you don't blocking situation, he's the kind of fun card that makes you go "it does WHAT!?!" which I feel is always a good sign in a card.
Attack with this, if he is unblocked, ninjutsu him out and gee gee.
pandawolf56
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Master of Cruelties is a good card for standard. First strike and deathtouch will for sure kill a nonflying creatures which makes him excellent offense and defense. Even better offense is he ability to lower an opponent's life to 1. Only draw back is that he can't kill a player alone, he can't deal with flyers defensively, and he can only attack alone. Overall he is a solid 5 drop with multiple options of both offense and defense. 4/5.
Totema
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
My favorite mythic of the set. This guy seems like so much fun to play. And with red and black in your deck, how hard can it be to get that last point of damage?
Lifegainwithbite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think you should have been able to choose whether he dealt damage or not. Now he doesn't work well with cipher cards and he can't finish an opponent off which limits how useful he is.
.Blaze.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Not quite a touch of death but close enough. Should be a fun card in Commander. Just so strange that Rakdos has such a defensive card.
Leuitikos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think this is good enough for Grixis standard... lets let time decide
MasterOfCruelties
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Lyzolda, the Blood Witch is one of my favorite cards from the Ravnica block. When I saw this card, I was overjoyed. The synergy with Lyzolda is great. So what Master of Cruelties is attacking alone? You can sacrifice the rest of your creatures to make way for him. What do you do when he has gotten through and your opponent is at 1? Sacrifice him to Lyzolda's effect and win.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
The Blood Baron of Vizkopa feigns interest in his cruelty, but this is Rakdos at its best; forcing opponents to make hasty decisions that will cost them, like Vexing Devil. Btw, Azorius Charm DOES stop his last ability from resolving, as it isn't in play atm.
SnickaPlease
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This guy is dumb. So unfun.
James_Kernaghan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Silly Mythic is silly.
blurrymadness
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(4 votes)
I love that the can never actually kill a player (minus power of fire or something.)
Pontiac
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
He's got the "Bad" touch.
Ragebarbarian
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Let me start off with flavor here. I think that this card should have been legendary, because I cannot imagine 70 of these creatures floating around, at most, 2 or 3. But I love how this guy works. His ability, in my mind, works like this:
"Lord Rakdos, let me take care of the planeswalker. Do not trouble yourself." He looks calmly at the planeswalker and feels a slight twinge of excitement. After demolishing him/her in seconds, he says,"I thought you were strong, and that I would finally feel emotion. I guess I was wrong about you. You can't amuse me." He walks away, and the planeswalker sighs with relief. As Master of Cruelties walks away, he says, "I will not kill you; you are not worth killing by my hand." He continues and says only more sentence, "Kill him."
Now for usage. I do not think that he will see Standard tournament play. Why? Because, in a true Rakdos/aggro deck, your opponent should be at 7 or less life by turn 5-6. He is also 5 mana, heavy in a aggro deck. I would imagine him in a black/red control deck, where you can kill all of your opponents creatures, and take your time. Madcap skills makes this card so much deadlier. If you do play him and get your opponent down to one, I would have the rakdos Guildmage or a burn spell in your hand. In casual, I can imagine that someone flashes in a Near-Death Experience. Also, pacifism or Agoraphobia works well.
But enough ranting about how bad it is. First Strike and Deathtouch is always welcome. Maybe some Pit Fights in your deck will help.
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
ninjitsu ftw
rollinsclone
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Truly a demonic presence on the battlefield. No one is ever going to want to see this across from them.
night8883
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A single strike from his blade will cut you hundreds of times, so that the only thing left tethering you to this realm is pain.
This is one of the standout mythics for me. I like the art but I'm not in love with it. I think the coolest thing about the card is how it plays- all the other creatures stand back as this demon walks across the battlefield, killing any creature that gets in his way- leaving your opponent on the brink of death so that they can suffer. Red and Black have more than enough ways of finishing off players. It does not matter how much life your opponents have.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Use this with any burn spell. Very interesting card, can take out 1 creature a turn or win the game.
JaxsonBateman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
What's awesome about this guy is that you don't *need* to do anything particularly special to get him to attack and go unblocked; you can pretty much just play black and red to a tee - that is, pack a fair amount of removal, and kill any potential blockers before turning him sideways. And fortunately, he also is in the color of burn, so that last point of damage - well that can come from Lightning Bolt, Shock, Searing Spear, Blightning, whatever tickles your fancy.
However, all 3 abilities spell legitimate bomb for limited. Deathtouch and first strike means that he is going to make blocking him difficult, and probably gain incremental card advantage. And on defense you're going to have the control, so he's a star. Madcap Skills is on color and turns him from pretty good into devastation on offense. If you somehow get him through unblocked - give him evasion, kill your opponent's creatures, whatever - setting your opponent down to 1 from whatever position they were in is just deadly, and puts many a board position into a potential alpha strike position.
The worst part about the card is that he can't contribute to the alpha strike. I had a situation in casual where I had my opponent on 1 thanks to his triggered ability, my opponent had 2 creatures to block with, and I had 4 that I could attack with... except 2 of them were Masters of Cruelties. So despite my dominant board state (though I was also on 1 life), I had to draw into either enough creatures to get one more than him so I could alpha, or a burn spell. Fortunately, I drew a creature before he drew anything useful, and my first MoC match was successful. :-)
Ryjhan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(9 votes)
this guy is absolutely ridiculous with Ninjas. if they choose not to block the master, then their life goes to one, at which point you can ninjutsu in a creature before combat damage is assigned, letting the final point be dealt by the already unblocked ninja.
Nucleon
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
By far the funniest thing to happen to me at the prerelease was getting one of these off a Breaking // Entering.
SirLibraryEater
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
WOAH, BROKEN WOAH HOLY POOP BROKEN that was my reaction and then i played against it and it was so easy to beat. But then, i was playing boros, so it kinda didn't ever not get blocked.
@ChidyDog: Actually, this won't work with Kaalia, at least not right away. Master's ability triggers when he attacks, not when he's attacking. Kaalia puts him onto the battlefield already attacking, without him ever actually having to attack.
Of course, you could still kill on the next turn, but that applies no matter how you get him onto the field.
If you can make him reliable unblockable, he might be annoying in any game, in which opponents start with more than 20 life. Like Commander, or two headed giant.
DarthParallax
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
He's like a really, stupidly, outstanding, overpowered Goblin Piker. o.O
Because they both have spears! :O
greggbot
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
@sonorhC Actually, it will. "An ability that triggers when something "attacks and isn't blocked" triggers in the declare blockers step after blockers are declared if (1) that creature is attacking and (2) no creatures are declared to block it. It will trigger even if that creature was put onto the battlefield attacking rather than having been declared as an attacker in the declare attackers step." The important part there is "It will trigger even if that creature was put onto the battlefield attacking rather than having been declared as an attacker in the declare attackers step." Kaalia will get around the restriction, as you never actually have to attack with him, but the ability will STILL TRIGGER, resulting in a kill if neither of them are blocked.
ChidyDog
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Found a turn 1 win with this guy for any format that would support it: Turn 1: Swamp, Dark Ritual, cast Entomb to put Master of Cruelties into your graveyard, cast Shallow Grave returning Master of Cruelties to play with haste. Attack with it, it's ability triggers (most likely) setting them to 1 life, pay 2 life to cast Gut Shot for the win.
That_Frozen_Dude
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I was so happy to get one of these as a prize at a tournament last night and can't wait to use him!
Estlor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Armed // Dangerous in your hand. Any two random 1/1 creatures plus this guy on the battlefield. Dangerous one of the 1/1 creatures. Attack with all three. . . . GG next.
Habreno
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
At Estlor: That won't work because Master of Cruelties can only attack alone.
SyntheticDreamer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Master of Cruelties, secret ninja master. Seriously, this + ninjutsu = game.
Effectively shortened the game with one blow. Those damn night birds had me in their clutches.
MDG117
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love this card, in fact it's my favorite card it just kicks so much ass
Arachnos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My face when I realize that blocking it is a death sentence for most creatures (first strike deathtouch), but NOT blocking it is a death sentence for the PLAYER.
SAUS3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Very well designed mythic. Super scary, but not broken in any way. The art is also very intimidating. 5/5
Jedydier99
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
First strike and death touch make the fact he can only attack alone only a niggling factor. I play him in a R,B,W exalted deck.
I like how all the ignorant people on facebook were complaining about how overpowered this was going to be. Instead it turned into a really balanced, really flavor-full, appropriately scary 5 drop.
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Let's not be forgetting that red is the colour of "can't block this turn" as well.
Manapanda
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm not a huge fan of this card. Master of Cruelties is only 1/4 (yes, I know he has First Strike + Deathtouch = killer combination of abilities) but he is ONLY 1/4. That means he can only assign one damage to each blocker-- i.e. when he is blocked, he can only First Strike Deathtouch one blocker. And the official MTG basic rulebook (https://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Article.aspx?x=magic/rules) says players can assign multiple blockers to a single creature. Thus, having a toughness of 4, only a few weak creatures are needed to block him and kill him-- while he only can take down one of those weaklings! Perhaps I am seeing this in the wrong light, but I don't consider him very worthy... still, other than his power and toughness, he is a very strong baddie with intimidating artwork. 3.5/5
It's always fun to pull such things. But I am tired of Entomb being used in so many combos. It's a somewhat pricey card to get ones hands on. So I'll try and make a budget combo with this one.
Turn 2: Hopefully no blocker, otherwise put in a Mountain and Mugging to take care of the blocker. Swing with the Master and Ninjutsu in Skullsnatcher .
Swinging with the Master, unblocked, means that BEFORE damage is dealt, the opponents life total will become 1. Ninjutsu in the Skullsnatcher and watch your opponent die, as the Ninja deals combat damage.
Now, this is, of course, some tough combo to make. But I like the fact that it doesn't involve hard to get, expencive cards.
Enjoy.
CoilingOracle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@sonorhC
I believe it does work Kaalia following this threads argumentation : http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10050497
Quote: "An ability that triggers when a creature “attacks and isn’t blocked” triggers when the creature becomes an unblocked attacking creature. See rule 509.1h."
TastetheJace
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the mythics done right.
TheMurderousKitten
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Lets see... He's a 5-drop, so what do I drop the turn before? Maybe a bit of Bedlam to clear the way? Because why even give your opponent the option of blocking?
RamenAwesome
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Master of Cruelties certainly has an awkward synergy with most Rakdos decks since most Rakdos decks are very aggro and his "must attack alone" clause doesn't work well with that. That said, I'd still argue that can he fit just as well in aggro as he can in control, but it really depends on how you want to use him, seeing as he can be used as either a finishing move, a defender, or creature removal.
Hitting your opponent with him is easy enough, Rogue's Passage or Glaring Spotlight are capable of doing the trick without even leaving standard.
Or you could back him up with some exalted cards and aggro enchantment. If you give him trample with something like Deviant Glee, then even if your opponent blocks the deathtouch/trample combo will cause the creature to take one damage and the rest to go over, resulting in removal and damage every swing.
Or you could give him some more defensive buffs, like regeneration or hexproof and just let him block your opponents creatures all day.
All in all, I think that's what really makes this a great card is how many different strategies a player can invent for him and have said strategies be effective in their own way, if for different reasons.
A_Real_Travesty
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Someone, somewhere, has made an extremely awkward deck involving this, Soul Conduit, and Near-Death Experience just to see the look on the opponent's face when it finally works.
EDIT: What does Aqueous Form do for this? Will it make something ridiculous like I'm hoping? *crosses fingers*
John_Kasta
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is my favorite card in recent memory, I hope it sees more play...http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/events.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/theros13ptq/0810burlington
Afroofthenight
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I will murder whoever thinks it's a good idea to use this in commander.
Hands-down my favorite card in Standard, and even in Modern. It doesn't really fit Rakdos but it sure as hell loves Grixis control or Grixis burn. He's the all-star of my penta Gates deck, where Rogue's Passage gets him through, Hold the Gates keeps him alive and vigilant, and Crackling Perimeter sweeps up afterwards
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Incredibly impractical but flavorfully perfect to be equipped with Quietus Spike.
SeriouslyFacetious
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Effect really reminds me of the Nu from Chrono Trigger...
MattLynn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
The weakest demon of all...yet still able to cause the most loss of life in one swing.
The spiritual successor to Lim-Dul's Paladin, one of my favorite cards from a time long gone. Reminisce.
surfstefan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card seems way to powerful to be able to bring life total down to 1 if unblocked. What kind of cards can stop it? What kind of comparable cards exist in other planes?
Ataraxiom
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The Master of Cruel Ties, because Rakdos forgot all his Casual Ties in the marsh.
deworde2510
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@surfstefan It can be killed by 3 pikers, at the loss of a piker. It takes a lot of blocking, but critically once it's gone, you're not going to be board wiped. And if you can just roll out a chumper every turn, it's just not that scary.
For standard right now, this is the ideal turn order for a Grixis strategy I'm working on -
T1 - Mountain. Cast Barrage of Expendables T2 - Mountain/Swamp/Island. Cast anything I guess (see below for ideas) T3 - Mountain/Swamp/Island. Cast Rakdos/Izzet/Dimir Keyrune (whichever you feel is more useful to run in your deck) T4 - Mountain/Swamp/Island. Tap the lands and the Keyrune to put Master on the field. T5 - Land. Cast Aqueous Form on Master, swing with the Master. Cast Mizzium Skin or Negate if the opponent tries to stop you. After the combat step, sacrifice the Master with Barrage of Expendables and deal the last 1 damage to the opponent.
Still working on this deck, so far it needs more work though. If anyone can think of a faster way to win (in standard) with this, please let me know =)
Comments (77)
Gonna be a baller card to use and build around. 4/5
I think I died.
*Checks pulse*
Yup. Definitely dead.
*Drops onto floor*
"Lord Rakdos, let me take care of the planeswalker. Do not trouble yourself." He looks calmly at the planeswalker and feels a slight twinge of excitement. After demolishing him/her in seconds, he says,"I thought you were strong, and that I would finally feel emotion. I guess I was wrong about you. You can't amuse me." He walks away, and the planeswalker sighs with relief. As Master of Cruelties walks away, he says, "I will not kill you; you are not worth killing by my hand." He continues and says only more sentence, "Kill him."
Now for usage. I do not think that he will see Standard tournament play. Why? Because, in a true Rakdos/aggro deck, your opponent should be at 7 or less life by turn 5-6. He is also 5 mana, heavy in a aggro deck. I would imagine him in a black/red control deck, where you can kill all of your opponents creatures, and take your time. Madcap skills makes this card so much deadlier. If you do play him and get your opponent down to one, I would have the rakdos Guildmage or a burn spell in your hand. In casual, I can imagine that someone flashes in a Near-Death Experience. Also, pacifism or Agoraphobia works well.
But enough ranting about how bad it is. First Strike and Deathtouch is always welcome. Maybe some Pit Fights in your deck will help.
This is one of the standout mythics for me. I like the art but I'm not in love with it. I think the coolest thing about the card is how it plays- all the other creatures stand back as this demon walks across the battlefield, killing any creature that gets in his way- leaving your opponent on the brink of death so that they can suffer. Red and Black have more than enough ways of finishing off players. It does not matter how much life your opponents have.
Very interesting card, can take out 1 creature a turn or win the game.
However, all 3 abilities spell legitimate bomb for limited. Deathtouch and first strike means that he is going to make blocking him difficult, and probably gain incremental card advantage. And on defense you're going to have the control, so he's a star. Madcap Skills is on color and turns him from pretty good into devastation on offense. If you somehow get him through unblocked - give him evasion, kill your opponent's creatures, whatever - setting your opponent down to 1 from whatever position they were in is just deadly, and puts many a board position into a potential alpha strike position.
The worst part about the card is that he can't contribute to the alpha strike. I had a situation in casual where I had my opponent on 1 thanks to his triggered ability, my opponent had 2 creatures to block with, and I had 4 that I could attack with... except 2 of them were Masters of Cruelties. So despite my dominant board state (though I was also on 1 life), I had to draw into either enough creatures to get one more than him so I could alpha, or a burn spell. Fortunately, I drew a creature before he drew anything useful, and my first MoC match was successful. :-)
WOAH
HOLY POOP
BROKEN
that was my reaction
and then i played against it
and it was so easy to beat.
But then, i was playing boros, so it kinda didn't ever not get blocked.
Of course, you could still kill on the next turn, but that applies no matter how you get him onto the field.
Oh forget it... Just Gut Shot.
Because they both have spears! :O
"An ability that triggers when something "attacks and isn't blocked" triggers in the declare blockers step after blockers are declared if (1) that creature is attacking and (2) no creatures are declared to block it. It will trigger even if that creature was put onto the battlefield attacking rather than having been declared as an attacker in the declare attackers step."
The important part there is "It will trigger even if that creature was put onto the battlefield attacking rather than having been declared as an attacker in the declare attackers step."
Kaalia will get around the restriction, as you never actually have to attack with him, but the ability will STILL TRIGGER, resulting in a kill if neither of them are blocked.
Turn 1: Swamp, Dark Ritual, cast Entomb to put Master of Cruelties into your graveyard, cast Shallow Grave returning Master of Cruelties to play with haste. Attack with it, it's ability triggers (most likely) setting them to 1 life, pay 2 life to cast Gut Shot for the win.
Any two random 1/1 creatures plus this guy on the battlefield.
Dangerous one of the 1/1 creatures.
Attack with all three.
.
.
.
GG next.
It would be so, but he can only attack alone.
Anyone else think that was a flamingo in the lower left at first glance?
I play him in a R,B,W exalted deck.
That being said, this can be stopped easily of you have two blockers with total power of 4+.
Near-Death Experience.
Someone should make this happen. I'd pay to see it.
If my life is zero would it turn to one instead?
It's always fun to pull such things. But I am tired of Entomb being used in so many combos. It's a somewhat pricey card to get ones hands on. So I'll try and make a budget combo with this one.
Turn 1: Swamp, Dark Ritual , Priest of Gix , Burnt Offering , This card.
Turn 2: Hopefully no blocker, otherwise put in a Mountain and Mugging to take care of the blocker. Swing with the Master and Ninjutsu in Skullsnatcher .
Swinging with the Master, unblocked, means that BEFORE damage is dealt, the opponents life total will become 1. Ninjutsu in the Skullsnatcher and watch your opponent die, as the Ninja deals combat damage.
Now, this is, of course, some tough combo to make. But I like the fact that it doesn't involve hard to get, expencive cards.
Enjoy.
I believe it does work Kaalia following this threads argumentation :
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10050497
Quote: "An ability that triggers when a creature “attacks and isn’t blocked” triggers when the creature becomes an unblocked attacking creature. See rule 509.1h."
Hitting your opponent with him is easy enough, Rogue's Passage or Glaring Spotlight are capable of doing the trick without even leaving standard.
Or you could back him up with some exalted cards and aggro enchantment. If you give him trample with something like Deviant Glee, then even if your opponent blocks the deathtouch/trample combo will cause the creature to take one damage and the rest to go over, resulting in removal and damage every swing.
Or you could give him some more defensive buffs, like regeneration or hexproof and just let him block your opponents creatures all day.
All in all, I think that's what really makes this a great card is how many different strategies a player can invent for him and have said strategies be effective in their own way, if for different reasons.
EDIT: What does Aqueous Form do for this? Will it make something ridiculous like I'm hoping? *crosses fingers*
Rakdos, Lord of Riots ability will allow you to hit with the Master of Cruelties (cause mass loss of life) and cast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Blightsteel Colossus, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, Platinum Emperion, Platinum Angel, Bosh, Iron Golem or whatever else you wanted...
Reduce the cost of Emrakul by 15?! Sweet.
Kaalia of the Vast EDH! Demons, angels and dragons, oh my!
The spiritual successor to Lim-Dul's Paladin, one of my favorite cards from a time long gone. Reminisce.
It's powerful, but controllable.
T1 - Mountain. Cast Barrage of Expendables
T2 - Mountain/Swamp/Island. Cast anything I guess (see below for ideas)
T3 - Mountain/Swamp/Island. Cast Rakdos/Izzet/Dimir Keyrune (whichever you feel is more useful to run in your deck)
T4 - Mountain/Swamp/Island. Tap the lands and the Keyrune to put Master on the field.
T5 - Land. Cast Aqueous Form on Master, swing with the Master. Cast Mizzium Skin or Negate if the opponent tries to stop you. After the combat step, sacrifice the Master with Barrage of Expendables and deal the last 1 damage to the opponent.
Options for turn 2 -
Dreadbore/Doomblade/Dark Betrayal/Electrickery (to get rid of early threats)
Burning-Tree Emissary/Rakdos Shred-Freak/Rakdos Cackler (creatures)
Goblin Electromancer (to reduce instant/sorcery costs)
Chemister's Trick/Frostbound Weird (stalling/blocking)
Izzet Charm/Negate (stalling/countering)
Wild Guess /Inaction Injunction /Cremate/Quicken (card draw, in addition to the izzet charm)
Still working on this deck, so far it needs more work though. If anyone can think of a faster way to win (in standard) with this, please let me know =)