Pointed Discussion

Time was not been kind to Juzam Djinn, especially with the passing of Dark Ritual, but it's still one of the best midrange fatties available to black. I'd still play it... I just wouldn't rely on it.

Good old Juzam is just another victim of power creep. The non-splash that Plague Sliver made when it came out in Time Spiral just goes to show that cards in general are much more powerful now, and creatures like this don't quite cut it anymore, with so many more powerful creatures with negligible or no drawbacks available.

This used to be one of the iconic creatures of Magic...the art making it especially iconic, but this card was great simply because of Dark Ritual...

Still powerful if you ask me..

So because I'm a total geek I just looked through every black creature card with CMC of 4. 9 pages of creatures I only found 11 that met or beat Juzam. These are in alphabetical order not order of "goodness". These are straight hitting power creatures, I didn't bother to pick creatures that were good because of their gimmicky powers like Specters and what not. Apples and oranges in my opinion... Anyhoooooo

Desecration Elemental : 8/8, fear, squishes creatures all day. The only real con here is you can't really play it early or it'll just end up eating itself.
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade : Could be massive. Legendary though so you can only have one in play. Not that you really need more.
Grinning Demon : Basically a stronger version of Juzam. Pound for pound, you aren't doing much more damage compared to what you are taking.
Mortivore : Could be a huge creature. Again though, not something you are playing on turn one. I suppose you can pull some fancy crap and get it out early AND buff...
Mind Maggots : One of the best in the list. You could really ***-slap someone with this given the right draw.
Plague Sliver : Pretty much the same thing as Juzam, but it's a Sliver so there's really no telling what you could do to it. Of course that only increases the amount of damage you are going to take.
Soulless One : Could be massive. Pretty deck dependent though.
Razorjaw Oni : A bit weaker but the drawback is much easier to deal with.
Waning Wurm : 7/6 disappears after 2 turns. Hot.
Yukora, the Prisoner : Not a bad one. Nothing really happens unless it dies. Legendary though.
Zombie Mob : Could be gigantic. Nerfs your graveyard though.

So, in conclusion I'd say there are really 2 or 3 of these that I would take above Juzam. I've been out of the game quite a while though so feel free to flame the crap out of me and post a few cards I should have considered.

SirDoom, you're forgetting two very important words, and those two words are dark ritual. Juzam Djinn was a 5/5 that almost always hit the table on turn two.

And if you should happen to get two mox jets (also legal back then), a ritual and this horny devil in your opening hand, he's hitting the table on turn one.

Keep dark ritual in mind and go through that list again.

Posted By: SirDoom (8/4/2009 3:39:14 AM)
Thank you so much for your list. I was trying to think of cards I would prefer to Juzám Djinn when I read your comment. My first thought was "this is going to save me a lot of time". Anyway, we can now add on Abyssal Persecutor to that list. He is kind of what Juzám Djinn used to be when he first came out.

That being said, Juzám Djinn is still playable in my opinion. If you can get ahold of him that is. He is selling for almost $200 in my area.

@SirDoom: Tombstalker says sup.

@ Laguz: I think that SirDoom's list is just as good with Dark Ritual in mind. Turn two Grinning Demon, turn two Plague Sliver and so on. Does't matter that there was no Dark Ritual at the time the other cards were printed. Power Level is something that fluctuates with time. Juzam Djinn was good in his time and environment, just like other creatures on SirDoom's list.

Oh holy crap, I didn't see the . It's so dark against the black background.

The thought of a 5/5 for and the only drawback is one life per turn? My heart practically stopped.

I went so long thinking this card cost (you can barely tell). Then it was like "Wow this is broken." Now after realizing it is its still pretty good. That is hardly a noticeable drawback anyway. I imagine this guy was much better back in the day, but has suffered to the recent strengthening of creatures.

Indeed, time has not been kind to the Juzam. The Phyrexian Obliterator, though pure black, has a similar role as a 5/5 for four, and even with a frightening ability, many folks just say it dies to Dismember or whatever the kill spell of the week might be.

Still, even by today's standards, this guy is playable. Just these day's he'd be a $1 rare in a set, mostly forgotten, except when some folks pull him out for a fast black deck now and then. At least his artwork is great by any standard.

He was amazing in his time, with moxen and rituals running rampant. While not the monstrosity he once was, he's still perfectly playable today. If I had about $180 I'd get one for my casual mono-black. I suppose Plague Sliver will do for now...

If you say anything bad about this card I will personally snap your neck.

For the longest time I thought this card was BB for a 5/5 and therefore one of the most broken cards in the game. I VERY recently noticed that it was 2BB. I am very disappointed and my desire to get one has gone down to almost nothing. :(

This guy! He's so evil.

If they ever reprint this dude in a From The Vault set, they just have to keep Mark Tedin's original art!
Either that, or make a new one that's very similar to the original art.

I fail to understand why this guy is worth nearly $200, while Plague Sliver is typically under $1. In anything except a Sliver deck, Plague Sliver is strictly better (since he's usually the same, but also occasionally hoses an opponent's sliver deck). Which means the only reason to use this is nostalgia. I understand that nostalgia is cool, but $200 cool?

@Zetan, its iconic and rare (being from an older set). That should be enough to drive up demand and the price for it.

Arabian Nights got a much smaller print run than most later expansions; and this guy is an iconic rare from it that was never reprinted. $200 for it is not really that surprising -- there were fewer Juzam Djinns printed than Black Lotuses.

Sure, it's not as powerful today, but it's pretty historical. And it was overwhelming back in the day -- second-turn with Dark Ritual, and immune to pretty much all the common-used removal? If your opponent didn't have a Swords to Plowshares in their hand, they'd lose, period.