The classic, the powerful, Baleful Strix never feels bad to play. It can be a removal spell, an evasive creature, and an artifact. It replaces itself immediately, so the advantage of this card can only go up!
JSSarfin
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
@ChttrBox88
As the advantage goes up, I sure hope the price goes down. It's not that much cheaper buying singles of this than it will be to buy four of the whole 100-card deck it's in.
RJDroid
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
What a lovely reprint. I loved it in the Ninja Planechase deck, and I'm sure I'll love it in Commander.
troll_berserker
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
This is a ridiculously powerful card. It's basically a 2-for-1 at just .
lorendorky
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
I think it's super cool how a card like this can be printed in 2012 (Planeschase) and become an instant "classic" Magic card. Sometimes they just freakin' nail a card on every level.
skullpizza
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Best card art ever.
Continue
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Welcome back, dear friend. I look forward to not being able to afford you again.
Umbric
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Why not make this foil? It would be absolutely beautiful
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
If they make a Foil of this guy, the non-Foils will probably sink some and the Foil will be worth at least $27 :)
LordOfTheFlies87
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Yesssssssss.
MostlyLost
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Awesome card.....hopefully the price goes down? I'm not too hopeful though.
Also, as of right now this card has a rating of 4.909. Probably deserves it too.
Kirbster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Please please please become cheaper.
darylDunthinkable
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this card is so beautiful.. that i wanna own a real owl..
MaedreTheFlame
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If only it had Flash, 5.0! :D
FustyDavorite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm just mad because Eternal Bargain came with Tidehollow Strix instead of this hot mess.
Ferlord
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
The question is: When is Vampire Nighthawk more efficient than this? Some can make comparisons between these two: They're inexpensive, they're flyers, they have deathtouch, and they have an additional ability.
And my answer is: sometimes more than you think, and here's why:
--> Nighthawk is mono-coloured. You aren't forced to play Dimir or Esper or whatever when you want to play it. --> a 2/3 can provide more permanent blocking protection than a 1/1. The 1/1 will usually survive one round of combat, where a 2/3 may be able to survive more than that. --> Lifelink can sometimes make or break a game more than one card drawn. With this, you can stop a blocker AND gain some for your troubles. Strix just stops the blocker. --> Nighthawk only has to worry about Creature removal. Strix can be removed by Artifact removal. --> Vampires are a much better established tribe in EDH than Bird's. There are the odd Bird legendaries like Kangee, but most of them aren't worth your time.
My conclusion is that Nighthawk is a better EDH card than Strix. That being said, Strix is beyond good in competitive formats. A question I've pondered is why they're printing it in formats that see the full potential of Strix as much as it has. But then I figured that Strix would then have to be in Standard and Modern, two formats Wizards wants to differentiate from Legacy.
GrimjawxRULES
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
At least it doesn't say, "when you cast Baleful Strix, draw a card"
Babyjenks
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Would this card really be that bad in modern? If Wizards had a way to put cards into modern without them going through standard, I think this would be a prime candidate.
Aremath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hard to vote this card down. Most of the time, if it resolves, it is a living 2-for-1 that gets some damage in. If it gets countered, most of the point of counterspells is wasted (mana efficiency). It helps that most of the time your opponent won't be ready to counter it anyway (Spell Pierce doesn't get it, and Force of Will gets saved for JTMS). It flies, so can block almost anything and damage planeswalkers reliably, and it is an artifact, so it has strong typing support. Also the art is amazing. What more do you actually want out of a 2-drop. If it didn't have the color restrictions it does. almost every deck in magic would want it.
@Ferlord: Your analysis is fine, but is essentially missing the fact that strix draws you a card when it comes in. It getting killed by a wrath or whatever is still completely fine because as soon as you cast it you're already card-neutral. Nighthawk is certainly better relative to this than it is in other formats, but overall I still give the advantage to strix simply because you don't have to kill an attacker to feel okay about playing it. That and while it being an artifact makes it vulnerable to artifact removal, you can exploit the artifact type to your advantage as well. And don't even get me started on bouncing this and replaying it with something like Cavern Harpy or Sunken Hope.
Because of dual-lands, it is often easier to hit UB than BB in a two- or three-color deck anyways, and the majority of EDH decks are multi-colored.
Lazrbeams
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm gonna get a tattoo sleeve someday, you can be sure as shit this art will find it's way on there
Comments (21)
As the advantage goes up, I sure hope the price goes down. It's not that much cheaper buying singles of this than it will be to buy four of the whole 100-card deck it's in.
Also, as of right now this card has a rating of 4.909. Probably deserves it too.
And my answer is: sometimes more than you think, and here's why:
--> Nighthawk is mono-coloured. You aren't forced to play Dimir or Esper or whatever when you want to play it.
--> a 2/3 can provide more permanent blocking protection than a 1/1. The 1/1 will usually survive one round of combat, where a 2/3 may be able to survive more than that.
--> Lifelink can sometimes make or break a game more than one card drawn. With this, you can stop a blocker AND gain some for your troubles. Strix just stops the blocker.
--> Nighthawk only has to worry about Creature removal. Strix can be removed by Artifact removal.
--> Vampires are a much better established tribe in EDH than Bird's. There are the odd Bird legendaries like Kangee, but most of them aren't worth your time.
My conclusion is that Nighthawk is a better EDH card than Strix. That being said, Strix is beyond good in competitive formats. A question I've pondered is why they're printing it in formats that see the full potential of Strix as much as it has. But then I figured that Strix would then have to be in Standard and Modern, two formats Wizards wants to differentiate from Legacy.
@Ferlord:
Your analysis is fine, but is essentially missing the fact that strix draws you a card when it comes in. It getting killed by a wrath or whatever is still completely fine because as soon as you cast it you're already card-neutral. Nighthawk is certainly better relative to this than it is in other formats, but overall I still give the advantage to strix simply because you don't have to kill an attacker to feel okay about playing it. That and while it being an artifact makes it vulnerable to artifact removal, you can exploit the artifact type to your advantage as well. And don't even get me started on bouncing this and replaying it with something like Cavern Harpy or Sunken Hope.
Because of dual-lands, it is often easier to hit UB than BB in a two- or three-color deck anyways, and the majority of EDH decks are multi-colored.
someday, you can be sure as shit this art will find it's way on there