This guy is awesome! Not only is he a 6/5 beast stick for 5 mana but his ability kills your opponent while giving you extra cards. If you're running him in a mono-black deck along with Life Gain Removal cards like Consume Spirit and Tendrils of Corruption, then he won't be a hassle at all. On the other hand if you have an Underworld Dreams or two in play, he's going to tear your opponent to pieces.
All things considered, he's pretty damn good in a Mono Black deck...
Maraxas-of-Keld
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(6 votes)
This guy used to be a favorite of mine, until I discovered the concept of card advantage. I called him Seizan, Pervert of truth.
Shiizu
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(15 votes)
Yes, this guy suffers from the same problem as howling mine: your opponents will draw first.
That asides, he's huge for his mana cost. A 6/5 for 5 in black is way above the curve. On top of that, he's doing 2 damage per turn to your opponents. He's also quite resilient to removal: 1) He's black. Most black removal will not work on him. 2) He has 5 toughness. He's out of the regular burn range.
This leaves the more expensive red removal(fireball and its ilk) and white removal.
Without a doubt he's amazing in a deck that just wants to kill its opponent. Drawing 3 cards per turn will usually give you enough threats to play. On its own he can stop lots of creatures, and with some support(like Dauthi Embrace) he can quickly kill players.
He's also a demon, and demons require some kind of sacrifice. His price is heavy, giving your opponent a 2 for 1 situation. Still, it's worth it.
nathaze
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(8 votes)
O Seizan, you're such a pervert
Cyberium
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
In black, you have plenty of ways to keep your opponent's hand low even if they draw that many cards. Especially if you make a deck with blue as well.
SPhoenix
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(11 votes)
Sure, your opponent draws first... thats why you could have Underworld Dreams in play
channelblaze
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(6 votes)
Would be pretty fun with psychic possession.
You'd be losing 2 life and drawing 5 cards every time you and your opponent each took a turn, and they'd be losing 2 life and drawing 3.
And did I mention you just got a mono-black 6/5 for 5?
AXER
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(5 votes)
The art is gnarly.
VoidedNote
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I was looking at this for my G/B Spirit deck, but my deck is slow, so I'd be forced to discard. It's also slow so any damage is to be avoided if possible :/
Anyways, its a great card. Everyone gets a sign in blood and its just a pain in the ass to kill.
Shinigami2099
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I wanna get my hands on him and run it in a underworld dreams deck... they'll be much more to it than that one combo my main issue though is killing myself over it... like someone knowing they just have to beat me within 2 points of death than 0
Leshrac_Nightwalker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's an interesting card to play with or to play against. On one hand, if my opponent draws it, I am usually pretty psyched to draw two extra cards. If I have some removal for him, that's just icing on the cake.
However, this is an IDEAL situation; the more common gamestate is that I am hoping that I'll draw something to help me kill this thing. Seizan puts everyone on a rather definite clock, and it does so for no extra mana. If you have used aggressive black weenies to whittle down your opponent's life total, then dropping this guy offers the possibility of finishing him/her off without ever having to attack again, for no additional mana investment.
Mimic vat ing this into play at your opponents end step will ensure that you only get the card draw. Then you get to swing with a 6/5 before he dies at your endstep.
3 mana and 2 life for card advantage and a free swing of 6/5? Seems reasonable.
Hayw00d0909
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
A very interesting demon. I'm a collector, and hopefully I'll get him someday to main deck with Underworld Dreams and a set of Sign in Blood.
Strangework
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
LOVELY card! Wish I started playing Magic earlier so I could have been there to enjoy such a colorful set! This card would fit perfectly in my discard/burn deck. Since with such focused discard, I find that my opponents already have the juice beaten out of them before I run out of steam! This card would be TOO GOOD! Good mana cost for such an effect and a beefy 6/5 body. The artwork is superb, and the name complements that image!
5/5! :D
MasterOfEtherium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
WOW! POTENT ass DOPE
Demonic_Math_Tutor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This is black card draw at its second best. Phyrexian arena is better.
mini even Necropotence in a Kaalia of the Vast deck?
As soon as I find a fast way to trigger Kaalia multiple times in a turn, YES! until then, I don't really want my opponents drawing. But it won't matter if I'm dropping Angels and Demons at the rate some decks drop Soldiers and Goblins. I think Kaalia really wants to play Archenemy...Death by Dragons followed by free Karrthus, anyone?
sincleanser
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
What's so cool about this is that it can kill without attacking by doing 2 at the opponents turn. Think of it as a very overcosted blaze in black...
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is the predecessor of Bloodgift Demon, and both are very similar.
This gets an additional +1/+1 but suffers without flying. Bloodgift only allows one draw per round of turns, but you choose who gets the card and the target loses 1 life.
Yeah, screw you EDH. Whatever, Whatever, I'll do what i want!
Trygon_Predator
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Black Group Hug deck? The draws given to your opponent are supposedly balanced by Seizan's low casting cost, but you're still giving them cards... An interesting, political creature that could convince opponents to keep you alive to keep up the card draw - quite a rare thing in .
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The trick would be putting him onto the battlefield after your opponent's upkeep then saccing it at the end of your turn. Only way I can think of right now is with Chainer, Dementia Master.
@Boakes: you'd have to do that at the begining of your turn. Not sure if possible.
Comments (30)
All things considered, he's pretty damn good in a Mono Black deck...
That asides, he's huge for his mana cost. A 6/5 for 5 in black is way above the curve. On top of that, he's doing 2 damage per turn to your opponents. He's also quite resilient to removal:
1) He's black. Most black removal will not work on him.
2) He has 5 toughness. He's out of the regular burn range.
This leaves the more expensive red removal(fireball and its ilk) and white removal.
Without a doubt he's amazing in a deck that just wants to kill its opponent. Drawing 3 cards per turn will usually give you enough threats to play. On its own he can stop lots of creatures, and with some support(like Dauthi Embrace) he can quickly kill players.
He's also a demon, and demons require some kind of sacrifice. His price is heavy, giving your opponent a 2 for 1 situation. Still, it's worth it.
You'd be losing 2 life and drawing 5 cards every time you and your opponent each took a turn, and they'd be losing 2 life and drawing 3.
And did I mention you just got a mono-black 6/5 for 5?
Anyways, its a great card. Everyone gets a sign in blood and its just a pain in the ass to kill.
they'll be much more to it than that one combo my main issue though is killing myself over it...
like someone knowing they just have to beat me within 2 points of death than 0
However, this is an IDEAL situation; the more common gamestate is that I am hoping that I'll draw something to help me kill this thing. Seizan puts everyone on a rather definite clock, and it does so for no extra mana. If you have used aggressive black weenies to whittle down your opponent's life total, then dropping this guy offers the possibility of finishing him/her off without ever having to attack again, for no additional mana investment.
3 mana and 2 life for card advantage and a free swing of 6/5? Seems reasonable.
5/5! :D
As soon as I find a fast way to trigger Kaalia multiple times in a turn, YES! until then, I don't really want my opponents drawing. But it won't matter if I'm dropping Angels and Demons at the rate some decks drop Soldiers and Goblins. I think Kaalia really wants to play Archenemy...Death by Dragons followed by free Karrthus, anyone?
This gets an additional +1/+1 but suffers without flying. Bloodgift only allows one draw per round of turns, but you choose who gets the card and the target loses 1 life.
Personally, I'd say "F**k it" and include both in a deck along side Font of Mythos, Graveborn Muse, Howling Mine, Underworld Dreams and obviously, Phyrexian Arena... and Yawgmoth's Bargain, if you're feeling particularly evil and don't give a s**t about rules.
Yeah, screw you EDH. Whatever, Whatever, I'll do what i want!
The draws given to your opponent are supposedly balanced by Seizan's low casting cost, but you're still giving them cards... An interesting, political creature that could convince opponents to keep you alive to keep up the card draw - quite a rare thing in
@Boakes: you'd have to do that at the begining of your turn. Not sure if possible.
T2 Tibalt, 1 damage
T3 Underworld Dreams, 2 damage
T4 Spiteful Visions, 4 damage, -4 tibalt for ~4-7 damage
T5 Seizan, 9 damage
That's 20-23 in a perfect curve in a fun little deck.