And to think, this would be so cool with Gravecrawler... If only...
Lazenca_Seifus
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
Legendary Zombies have the best titles. Mr. Lich Lord, Mr. the Defiled, Ms. the Traitor, Corpse-Born, Heir to Blackblade, Stromgald Scourge, Traitor King, Walking Grave, I'd like you to meet your new friend, the Murder King.
Have it your way, at Murder King, today!
Lord_of_Gelectrodes
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
This looks really underpowered as a commander, but looks are damn deceiving. A repeatable sac engine you don't need to draw into in Rakdos colors is REALLY good.
"Welcome to King Murder, where you have it your way- but don't get crazy."
...couldn't help myself.
Doaj
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
The 2-drop zombies have been waiting for. I'll be picking up a playset for my modern deck. I can't imagine this card won't be the bee's knees, even if I can't run the full playset in the deck. I can't decide if two copies or three copies will be better though. Oh well, playtesting will tell.
Lord_of_Tresserhorn
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
Tonight, we dine...
Well, actually not in hell anymore.
I shall call him Sir Sac-a-lot.
Also, kind of synergy/anti-synergy with Grave Pact. If you multi-shock your opponent to the face FTW, you will not care that their blockers are all gone too. On the other hand, if you have even one fatty left after Tymaret finishes his murder spree, that just might go for the kill.
Ladon---
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Ok, so am the only one that wants to make him and Dark Prophecy a thing?
Sacrifice a creature, throw 2 damage, draw a card. Repeat as needed or desired. Oh, he's in the graveyard? Still drawing cards, at instant speed. And he feeds off himself! One in play one in the yard is all you need to get your draw engine chugging along. I think Whip of Erebos plays very nicely with him too, so your legions of sac-able creatures have lifelink and you always have more fodder to attack with and fuel your engine. And since he's the one doing the damage, we now have: Sac a creature, draw a card, lose one life, throw two damage, gain two life.
LordOfTheFlies87
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(3 votes)
I thought abilities weren't usable from graveyards unless they said so. I don't understand how his second ability is technically even usable. If you don't need the text, why couldn't one use his first ability from the graveyard? Anyone?
Wizards wouldn't release a card with an error. If they did, I would be shocked. However, yes, this card's wording needs to be fixed, seeing as how there is no rule modifier to allow this creature's abilities to trigger from the grave.
If there is no modifier, then he cannot return himself. I don't understand how there is an error like that on a card like this, and there's not even oracle text saying what they mean! Argh, I get how it's supposed to work, but they HAVE to clarify this. There are already enough people who are going to ask enough silly questions about this block without obvious errors.
DavidBradbury
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
There is nothing wrong with the template of this card. See rule 112.6k from the comprehensive rules. Alternatively, look at Necrosavant.
Fenix.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Cool card, but some how I feel Rix Maadi Guildmage is a stronger early play for Black/Red.
leingodf8
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
As far as EDH goes.... Lyzolda says s'up.
Still a cool card though
pedrodyl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Question: Can you activate his second ability when he is on the battlefield?
GoDz_JtFr
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is easily the card I'm most excited about from Theros. As a big fan of zombies, it's nice to see a good 2 drop. The 2 damage to the face is brutal, especially with the combos that can be created that turn saccing the creature into a benefit. Then that artwork is just so perfect. I'm definitely finding a spot for this king in my Thraximundar EDH deck.
Kelptic183
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I hate to be the combo douche, but it has to be mentioned that he goes infinite with Gravecrawler, Mana Echoes, Gemstone Array, and a few other zombies. If you don't want infinite, then he wins with five sacrifices and Grafted Exoskeleton. He similarly works very well with Lifelink. He seems like a fun guy to build zombie tribal around in Commander.
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
1. I like his low cost for playing out of the Command Zone :) 2. I like his colors for, among other things, Torrent of Souls and Din of the Fireherd. 3. I like that he's NOT very tribal, meaning lots of Hell-themed stuff can go in his deck and not feel like they're losing out by not being 'creature- Zombie', but you can choose to put in some synergies if you so desire :) Yay Hellrider ^_^
But more than anything, I like that he is a hamburger factory and his name is MURDER KING XD
And....because I like naming all kinds of crap in decks for flavor purposes without much thought to strategies....I want to put this guy next to Anax in a Kaalia deck. :P I have always wanted to create legions and legions of Zombies and Spirits in a Kaalia deck and these two Legendary Kings seem like good Captains for her armies.
I am slowly coming around to adjusting my build to be MOSTLY armies-of-the-damned-and-resting, with Tutoring for a Small, Very small number of Giant Haymaker fliers, and a lot of cool non-creature spell interactions. :P But to be completely honest, I just don't want to be limited to 99 cards at all XD
Man, that guy to the left of him doesn't look happy to have him as king...
Maegnus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The second ability is worded a bit strange. It also says "return Tymaret" not "return Tymaret, the Murder King" which made me think it referenced another card named Tymaret.
Palantin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Yes he can be used to sac himself to return himself to your hand due to the rule:
112.6k An ability whose cost or effect specifies that it moves the object it's on out of a particular zone functions only in that zone, unless that ability's trigger condition, or a previous part of that ability's cost or effect, specifies that the object is put into that zone. Example: Reassembling Skeleton says "{1}{B}: Return Reassembling Skeleton from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped." A player may activate this ability only if Reassembling Skeleton is in his or her graveyard.
SO, it says UNLESS that ability's trigger condition OR A PREVIOUS PART OF THAT ABILITIES COST or effect specifies that the OBJECT IS PUT INTO THAT ZONE.
His cost for returning himself from the graveyard to your hand is the sacrificing of a creature (himself) which puts that creature(himself) into the zone PRIOR to the ability trigger.
Gigtata
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Blood Artist is perfect for this situation. Well, he's always perfect, but this is a happy home for him.
Madarakita
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So I'm thinking of giving this guy infect......
Exilyth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I don't know what everyone's got with the wording... still works fine with Necrotic Ooze
7he7rooper
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I kinda wish both of his abilities were either more flexible (creature OR player, return to battlefield) or cheaper (one black/one red) just so he could make some sweet RB suicide deck awesome in Standard.
SpaceMagic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Murder? He's CLEARLY just getting ready to play a game of sixteenth-century Dodgeball.
Rasta_Viking29
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Grim Lavamancer for Rakdos aggro.
JimmyNoobPlayer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The Wizards Theros FAQ says his second ability can only be activated if he's in the graveyard. http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg%2Ffaq%2Fths
But it seems strange to me. I wonder why they didn't explicitly say that on the card.
Now this is a difficult to deal with threat. Abuse with creatures that have dies/leaves the battlefield effects and cards like Gutter Grime and Blood Artist. Can bring himself back at little cost in a correctly constructed deck.
Youre
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I want this card just because I like the art and that name. I'm gonna change my first name to have ", the Murder King." at the end of it.
Arachnos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Lazenca_Seifus: a lot of those also make wicked death metal band names.
Thingummy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'll attack you with my Shambling Remains, and then sacrifice them. Then, next turn, I'll unearth them, hit you again, and then sacrifice them again!
Manite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Lyzolda, the Blood Witch just found her beau. Tymaret will be going in and out of the graveyard till the sun rises.
mitten82
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Dat zombie flavor! A little more expensive than just a Deadapult but I feel that R by itself would have not been the same. I think this card would have been able to keep its rare if both abilities only costed a single mana. Think of a Gravecrawler. This is a legendary after all. I could spend all day deckbuilding around him. I already have on my tumblr...near 50 notes in so little time. I am hoping the BR demigod from the next two sets in Theros block has some zombie interaction :D
One shudders to imagine what inhuman thoughts lie beneath that mask. What dreams of chronic and sustained cruelty.
Continue
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is the card that will make the Aristocrats a thing in Modern.
RustyKeyes
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Burger King here was my #1 man in Sealed, boy did he love eating those Whoppers! Absolutely awesome in his versatility, and one of my favorites from the set.
That aside, while it's obvious enough that the ability should work when he's in the graveyard because otherwise it'd be useless (which is still not totally a given, see below), since his return is not in the required cost it doesn't necessarily mean to players unfamiliar with the formatting that it can't still be used when he's on the field (for purposes such as dodging Anger of the Gods). It wasn't strictly necessary, but using "another creature" for his second would've shown admirable prudence, especially given he still would've stayed at seven lines. Bonus points for enhanced symmetry!
lorendorky
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is looking beyond PG-13 with the human dismemberment XD
Also, this card seems surprisingly good in a deck with Tibalt, the Fiend Blooded against control.
gannoncaleb
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I feel like he should have haste, but I still love him anyway. I opened two at the pre-release and two later in a fat pack. I wasn't too happy initially, because he was the one rare I wanted to avoid. But, having four of him, I accepted the challenge and made a deck around him. I call it my Treason and Murder deck, for obvious reasons. Act of Treason, Tymaret, and other creature stealing cards and sac engines makes for a helluva good time.
JPerson
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
By far my favorite card from Theros, and he lines up so well with others: Using Traitorous Blood, Portent of Betrayal, Act of Treason or Mark Mutiny gains control of an opponents card, as someone already pointed out. So you hit them with, let's say, their own 2/2. Then you sac. it for another 2 at their face, which now makes 4 damage.
If you had Guttersnipe out when you casted any of the above cards, you're now talking 6 damage. 6 damage and you're not even attacking with any of your own creatures yet. MK gets nasty really quick. 5/5
Drewskithelegend
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Most awesome card name in the set, but it is quite deceiving. There really isn't much he does in terms of murdering. He's ok, but would it have warped the game to allow him to deal damage to target creature or player(which would be a much more murderous ability)? That might actually make him worthwhile to play and revive from the grave. Might be OK as an EDH general for a deck that is focused on the heavily aggro philosophy/something that tries to swing for 21 general damage as quickly as possible and doesn't want to focus on evading removal. "Yeah, he's my general but he's not going to the command zone, I'll get him back for 2 and play him again next turn."
Would be better with haste, as a 3/2,3/3,4/1, with deathtouch, with a slightly better second ability that brought him back into play, or sac 1 and deal 2 damage to player or creature.
@thingummy it's exiled when it leaves the field after being unearthed.
JB_Xyooj
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As of current Standard RTR-Theros, this guy runs well with Tenacious Dead. Oh throw in Purphoros and we have an awesome coooommmbbbooooo.
Comments (44)
Have it your way, at Murder King, today!
"Welcome to King Murder, where you have it your way- but don't get crazy."
...couldn't help myself.
Well, actually not in hell anymore.
I shall call him Sir Sac-a-lot.
Also, kind of synergy/anti-synergy with Grave Pact. If you multi-shock your opponent to the face FTW, you will not care that their blockers are all gone too. On the other hand, if you have even one fatty left after Tymaret finishes his murder spree, that just might go for the kill.
Sacrifice a creature, throw 2 damage, draw a card. Repeat as needed or desired. Oh, he's in the graveyard? Still drawing cards, at instant speed. And he feeds off himself! One in play one in the yard is all you need to get your draw engine chugging along. I think Whip of Erebos plays very nicely with him too, so your legions of sac-able creatures have lifelink and you always have more fodder to attack with and fuel your engine. And since he's the one doing the damage, we now have: Sac a creature, draw a card, lose one life, throw two damage, gain two life.
If there is no modifier, then he cannot return himself. I don't understand how there is an error like that on a card like this, and there's not even oracle text saying what they mean! Argh, I get how it's supposed to work, but they HAVE to clarify this. There are already enough people who are going to ask enough silly questions about this block without obvious errors.
Still a cool card though
2. I like his colors for, among other things, Torrent of Souls and Din of the Fireherd.
3. I like that he's NOT very tribal, meaning lots of Hell-themed stuff can go in his deck and not feel like they're losing out by not being 'creature- Zombie', but you can choose to put in some synergies if you so desire :) Yay Hellrider ^_^
But more than anything, I like that he is a hamburger factory and his name is MURDER KING XD
And....because I like naming all kinds of crap in decks for flavor purposes without much thought to strategies....I want to put this guy next to Anax in a Kaalia deck. :P I have always wanted to create legions and legions of Zombies and Spirits in a Kaalia deck and these two Legendary Kings seem like good Captains for her armies.
I am slowly coming around to adjusting my build to be MOSTLY armies-of-the-damned-and-resting, with Tutoring for a Small, Very small number of Giant Haymaker fliers, and a lot of cool non-creature spell interactions. :P But to be completely honest, I just don't want to be limited to 99 cards at all XD
112.6k An ability whose cost or effect specifies that it moves the object it's on out of a particular zone functions only in that zone, unless that ability's trigger condition, or a previous part of that ability's cost or effect, specifies that the object is put into that zone.
Example: Reassembling Skeleton says "{1}{B}: Return Reassembling Skeleton from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped." A player may activate this ability only if Reassembling Skeleton is in his or her graveyard.
SO, it says UNLESS that ability's trigger condition OR A PREVIOUS PART OF THAT ABILITIES COST or effect specifies that the OBJECT IS PUT INTO THAT ZONE.
His cost for returning himself from the graveyard to your hand is the sacrificing of a creature (himself) which puts that creature(himself) into the zone PRIOR to the ability trigger.
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg%2Ffaq%2Fths
But it seems strange to me. I wonder why they didn't explicitly say that on the card.
For those that care, the deck is r/u/b with Lord of Tresserhorn general and a Rooftop Storm + Diregraf Captain + Gravecrawler + Grimgrin, Corpse-Born synergy going on.
That aside, while it's obvious enough that the ability should work when he's in the graveyard because otherwise it'd be useless (which is still not totally a given, see below), since his return is not in the required cost it doesn't necessarily mean to players unfamiliar with the formatting that it can't still be used when he's on the field (for purposes such as dodging Anger of the Gods). It wasn't strictly necessary, but using "another creature" for his second would've shown admirable prudence, especially given he still would've stayed at seven lines. Bonus points for enhanced symmetry!
Also, this card seems surprisingly good in a deck with Tibalt, the Fiend Blooded against control.
I opened two at the pre-release and two later in a fat pack. I wasn't too happy initially, because he was the one rare I wanted to avoid.
But, having four of him, I accepted the challenge and made a deck around him. I call it my Treason and Murder deck, for obvious reasons. Act of Treason, Tymaret, and other creature stealing cards and sac engines makes for a helluva good time.
Using Traitorous Blood, Portent of Betrayal, Act of Treason or Mark Mutiny gains control of an opponents card, as someone already pointed out. So you hit them with, let's say, their own 2/2. Then you sac. it for another 2 at their face, which now makes 4 damage.
If you had Guttersnipe out when you casted any of the above cards, you're now talking 6 damage. 6 damage and you're not even attacking with any of your own creatures yet. MK gets nasty really quick. 5/5
Would be better with haste, as a 3/2,3/3,4/1, with deathtouch, with a slightly better second ability that brought him back into play, or sac 1 and deal 2 damage to player or creature.
@thingummy it's exiled when it leaves the field after being unearthed.
Oh throw in Purphoros and we have an awesome coooommmbbbooooo.