Nemesis, Part Three

Gary Wise

The following is a preliminary analysis of the Black cards in Nemesis for the purpose of limited play. They are listed alphabetically.

Ascendant Evincar - A powerhouse against non-black decks, this card is dominant, killing Gliders, Bouncer, Kris Mage etc. Unfortunately, against other black decks, it equates to a 2/2 creature for six mana, but there should be two other black decks at the table at most. 9/10

Battlefield Percher - While this creature doesn't do too much in the early game, the longer the game goes the more dominant it becomes. Unlike most pumpable black creatures, the Percher isn't susceptible to Kris Mage or Stinging Barrier, allowing you time to develop your mana base in order to dominate through the air. Like the Rishadan Zeppelin, it lacks in versatility, but it'll finish an opponent off. 8/10

Belbe's Percher - Who cares if a 2/2 flier for 3 can't block? That's not what this card was made for. In a deck with an aggressive mentality, this is a strong, hard to kill, beatdown creature who should prove to be a problem for a lot of decks. Consider it to be a solid 3rd-4th pick. 8/10

Carrion Wall - So much for the concept off 'attacking'. Very strong if you have fliers. 6.5/10

Dark Triumph - It will be interesting to see how much play this potentially explosive card will see. Allowing the caster to trade mediocre Mercenaries for larger blockers or sacrifice the blocked creature, assuming you're using your mana for different reasons. You'd have to presume the card's synergy with the Mercenary deck would be excellent. 7.5/10

Death Pit of Offering - There aren't many times that you'll want to sacrifice all of your creatures, if you can kill opposing creatures with Vendettas, Vicious Hungers and Maggot Therapies en route to casting it turn 4, it could be devastating. 4/10

Divining Witch - A desperation card, there will not be many situations in limited where this ability will be applicable. 3.5/10

Massacre - Another spell that would be nuts regardless of the alternate casting cost's existence, against white it's just ridiculous, clearing their table as you cast more creatures. The only conceivable problem is that most or your creatures as a black player will have a toughness of less than 3, and will die with the casting of Massacre. 9.5/10

Mind Slash - an interesting sideboard card against defensively minded decks. 4/10

Mind Swords - Your three cards for his two in an environment devoid of Necropotence...2/10

Murderous Betrayal - In a deck without life gain, you can kill a maximum of 4 creatures with this card. The first fatality will cost you a card and up to ten life. That said, there is a major capacity for card advantage here, and if you have life gain then you can use the ability more than 4 times, A very interesting card in heavy black. 7.5/10

Parallax Dementia - Deal a bunch of damage and lose 2 cards or take a lot of damage and trade one for 1. Neither sounds like a great deal, but this is a decent way to kill Walls and the like, making it quite playable. 7/10

Parallax Nexus - Not in this format, sorry. 2/10

Phyrexian Driver - A similar card to Strongarm Thug, this card, which isn't quite as good, improves with each Mercenary in one's deck, especially with a number of larger searcher types, who can bring this card out as a fast effect. 4/10

Phyrexian Prowler - A Spike Soldier without longevity or versatility, this card is none the less a beating, dealing 9 points of damage or taking something large with it. Unfortunately, it's a little slow, only coming out when one's opponent has had an opportunity to build up their defense. 6.5/10

Plague Witch - Better than Kris Mage because of its ability to deal with Deepwood Ghoul and other 1/1 regenerators, the Witch is a very solid control card that can also be helpful when protecting beatdown creatures. 8/10

Rathi Assassin - Absolutely nuts for a number of reasons. The best black card in the set. 10/10.

Rathi Fiend - A very strong card, its ability should be helpful more often than not, as it should work well with the Mercenary swarm. With 2/2 obviously being weaker than 4/2, this guy just doesn't compare to Cateran Kidnappers. 8/10

Rathi Intimidator - While the double black casting cost is annoying, the Intimidator is definitely better than the comparable Cateran Brute. Where the Brute is nothing more than a luke-warm body when it's finished cleansing your deck of mediocre Mercenaries, the Intimidator becomes a major threat that some deck will have major problems dealing with. 7.5/10

Seal of Doom - It's pretty obvious that this is a very strong card, but the lack of a surprise factor definitely hurts it when compared to Dark Banishing, and therefore Banish-type cards like Snuff Out. That said, it's often nice to be able to cast your spell at a time of convenience, and it stops all manner of tricks from opponents. 8.5/10

Spineless Thug - Lacking in versatility, this beatdown creature replaces the Persuader in your Nemesis pack. Like the Persuader, it's value increases for each searcher you have. 6.5/10

Spiteful Bully - Seems basically unplayable, but you'll see people trying it out. 2.5/10

Stronghold Discipline - An interesting finisher, the Discipline will see play in aggressive decks, and seems to be a decent sideboard card against defensive ones. An interesting way to get around Story Circle. 4.5/10

Vicious Hunger - A very solid kill spell, the Hunger's casting cost is somewhat restrictive, but it's a very solid kill spell that can target black creatures. The card's life gain aspect will be helpful in the life race. Better than Plague Witch 8/10

Volrath the Fallen - This guy needs a special ability. At 7 mana, that this guy can be safely blocked by a regenerator is pretty weak, and that he can't attack into two regenerators really sucks. That said, Volrath is pretty massive, and if you have a lot of efficient kill in your deck, it won't take long for him to finish an opponent off. 8/10