MTG COTD: Mortify

[klducks]

[IMG200]http://www.wizards.com/global/images/magic/guildpact/mortify.jpg[/IMG200]
Mortify - Guildpact. Uncommon
1WB: Instant
Destroy target creature or enchantment.
The eyes let flow with tears, then blood, then the very soul - the whole wrung inside out, dripping down into the blacked puddle of the past.



I honestly think this'll be a staple for removal in Orzhov decks. It serves double time, by destroying either a creature or enchantment. Of course, it doesn't have the "can't be regenerated" addition like Dark Banishing or Terror, but it can destroy black creatures as well. Way better then Banish/Terror with an added Disenchant. Tis great.

The Duck's Rating: 3.5/5

 

[Shadow Trainer]

A great removal card, useful for getting rid of any troublesome creatures or enchantments in play. 4/5

 

[Broodstar]

Good thing it can effect black and...its good? 3.5/5

 

[~RaikouRider243~]

3/5

Not nearly as good as Putrefy for GB, but still very nice.

 

[Shadow the Hedgehog]

3/5 Can be very useful. I just don't like running black/white...

 

[klducks]

3/5 Can be very useful. I just don't like running black/white...

agreed, orzhov is the worst guild to run IMO (in limited)

 

[chaoslord]

agreed, orzhov is the worst guild to run IMO (in limited)

Disagree. I saw some great Orzhov builds played at the pre-release. NO ONE was drafting B/W, it was crazy.

A guy mulliganed down to 4 and won with it. I couldnt believe that.

I think Orzhov is one of the most powerful guilds, you just have to THINK to play it. It's more control based than most, if not all, of the others out there. But it still kicks ***, so I think. We'll have to wait to see it in the upper levels to see if my assessment is right though.

As for this card: Yall have said about everything that can be said. 3.5/5
It's not necissarily better than the putrefy, but its also not really worse.

 

[Mr_Mime06]

What kind of cards are these?

 

[klducks]

Disagree. I saw some great Orzhov builds played at the pre-release. NO ONE was drafting B/W, it was crazy.

A guy mulliganed down to 4 and won with it. I couldnt believe that.

I think Orzhov is one of the most powerful guilds, you just have to THINK to play it. It's more control based than most, if not all, of the others out there. But it still kicks ***, so I think. We'll have to wait to see it in the upper levels to see if my assessment is right though.

well, being last in the guild's list isn't making it necessarily bad since all the other guilds are pretty good.

I've just been having bad instances with Orzhov in drafts and noone has been 3-0 with an orzhov deck in 2 stores that hosts drafts that i go to.

 

[chaoslord]

It's all area-related metagame, but I do see your point. I just can't believe how little people wanted to jump on it here. I figure anyone going in without even looking at the packs, having decided they were goin B/W woulda done pretty good. And I don't remeber if anyone 3-0'd drafts here, but I know there were a decent amount of few 2-0 Draw-in-last-round-because-they-dont-want-to-fight-over-one-pack.

 

[Kaizer]

It's all area-related metagame, but I do see your point. I just can't believe how little people wanted to jump on it here. I figure anyone going in without even looking at the packs, having decided they were goin B/W woulda done pretty good. And I don't remeber if anyone 3-0'd drafts here, but I know there were a decent amount of few 2-0 Draw-in-last-round-because-they-dont-want-to-fight-over-one-pack.

I know a guy who went 3-0. Actually don't know him, but I played against him. He of course had the godliest Orzhov deck anyone's ever seen in draft. I swear we must've been playing MODO.

 

[chaoslord]

Was that the guy in the draft that we thought Alan's Izzet was going to own in, and then somehow he couldnt topdeck to save his life?

EDIT: And yeah. Definately MODO. God, I need MODO. I also need to catch up on that good ol' MODO screen thread, but I'll do that later.

 

[klducks]

I know a guy who went 3-0. Actually don't know him, but I played against him. He of course had the godliest Orzhov deck anyone's ever seen in draft. I swear we must've been playing MODO.

well, thats the thing about Orzhov.

You need the biggest bombs in orzhov to manage. Otherwise, you wont go very far unless you have luck and your opponents screws.

I mean, the other guilds can manage without any many bombs or the like, but it seems orzhov cant.

 

[Kaizer]

What do you mean "needs bombs?" Orzhov doesn't have many real bombs and they certainly aren't needed to win. This guy simply had five of the Bat, A guildmage, a few Souls of the faultless, three Pillory of the Sleepless, and a mortify along with a couple of castigate. Believe he had Mourning Thrulls and Shadow Lances too. Last time I checked none of those were true "bombs." I don't think his Angel of Despair ever even made a difference, the deck was that damn good.

Can't forget Ryan's Orzhov decks either where he may not have went 3-0 (why bother?), but he didn't ever need a bomb to win a single game.

 

[chaoslord]

What do you mean "needs bombs?" Orzhov doesn't have many real bombs and they certainly aren't needed to win. This guy simply had five of the Bat, A guildmage, a few Souls of the faultless, three Pillory of the Sleepless, and a mortify along with a couple of castigate. Believe he had Mourning Thrulls and Shadow Lances too. Last time I checked none of those were true "bombs." I don't think his Angel of Despair ever even made a difference, the deck was that damn good.

Can't forget Ryan's Orzhov decks either where he may not have went 3-0 (why bother?), but he didn't ever need a bomb to win a single game.

Ryan also mulligained down to 4 and won with the thrull + lance. (AoD isnt that great, BTW). But, while we're on the talk of guilds...nah, that'll wait for a later post.

 

[skiboydoggy]

That card pretty much owns, but honestly, Orzhov seems like an iffy deck to play. Not that I actually encountered one before, but B/W with the name Code in it does not make it seem much better.

 

[Felix Feral Fezirix]

Depending on what the hell your deck is doing, this can vary. If you play a Pestilence deck with some Disenchant, you can tear this up and chuck it in some bin. Or anything of the like. (Mass damage while packing a few enchantment destruction cards) On any other deck though, it's a pretty good thing for wiping off stuff. The only thing that stinks is that it doesn't wipe artifacts. 4/5.

 

[klducks]

What do you mean "needs bombs?" Orzhov doesn't have many real bombs and they certainly aren't needed to win. This guy simply had five of the Bat, A guildmage, a few Souls of the faultless, three Pillory of the Sleepless, and a mortify along with a couple of castigate. Believe he had Mourning Thrulls and Shadow Lances too. Last time I checked none of those were true "bombs." I don't think his Angel of Despair ever even made a difference, the deck was that damn good.

Im guessing noone else at the table drafted orzhov, looking at that deck. Jesus christ.

 

[Kaizer]

Im guessing noone else at the table drafted orzhov, looking at that deck. Jesus christ.

Actually... that's wrong. There were two other people drafting it. One got a ghost council, a couple of guildmages themselves and the rest crap. The other guy's deck held up to that deck I mentioned in the above post until game three.

 

[The_Darkness_Incarnate]

Meh. Kinda an iffy card if you ask me.

I mean, it's good since it gives you a choice of Creature or Enchantment removal, but it lacks regenerate. As far as I know, enchantments arent too big of a things in the current meta, and the ones you would use, you wouldnt care too much if they died. When you target a creature, most of the time it's not going to regenerate, so the cannot be regenerated effect isnt needed, but it's nice to have a bit of reassurance.

And if I get BW on turn three or so, I would be playing an Orhov Pontiff, or something like that. And it late game, not sure about this though, since I haven't really given the new cardlists a good lookover, I'll have some other and better form of enchantment removal. Assuming I'm actually playing Orhov, and I have nothing better to do with my mana, like activate Ghost Council or get some more haunt cards.

Overall, it's a solid card, but it doesnt really seem to shine to me like putrefy did. Other people will probably say otherwise, but I don't think this is that much of a standout card.

2.5-3/5