Welcome all to the Daily Dose of Core 2019, where today I’ll be reviewing some of the new cards that from Core 2019.
I’ll be looking at another three cards in this article, all of which are the best card type in my opinion: creatures. Not all of them are creatures themselves, but each card has an ability that will either make you gain or lose creatures on the battlefield. When it comes to design space, creatures can be used in different ways. You can have a card that interacts with creatures in your hand like Silvergill Adept. There are some cards that require you to look for creatures on the top of your library like Duskwatch Recruiter. The cards I’ll be reviewing today each have a different way of interacting with creatures.
First off we have a Soldier that will allow you to search for a duplicate of itself, or any other creature with power two or less. Here is Militia Bugler:
Right off the bat, you get a 2/3 vigilance creature for three mana. That's already a respectable creature, especially in Limited. On top of that, if you've built your deck around Militia Bugler it will draw you a card in most circumstances as well. If that draw is another Militia Bugler, you can keep the grave train going and do it again next turn.
There are a ton of other sweet targets for it including the newly reprinted Mentor of the Meek. Some other eligible creatures include Angel of Invention, Ravenous Chupacabra, Champion of Wits, and Cloudblazer, plus hundreds of other options. To gain value with this card, you just need to build your deck to maximize the effect of this card.
Next up is one of the neatest designs on a Magic card that I’ve seen for awhile. Let's look at the artifact Desecrated Tomb:
I love this card. It's a build around card with so many possibilities, even in Standard. The key thing to remember here is that it doesn’t matter how the creature leaves your graveyard. It can be returned to your hand, placed directly onto the battlefield, or even exiled.
Imagine having a dozen creatures in your graveyard and than using Sentinel Totem or Scavenger Grounds to put twelve 1/1 flying Bat Tokens on the battlefield. A card like Fungal Plots will net you a 1/1 Saproling Token and a 1/1 Bat Token. If you return Scrapheap Scrounger from your graveyard that will give you two additional 1/1 Bat Tokens. There are plenty of possibilities with this card, and I’m sure someone will find a way to break it. I didn’t even mention having multiple Desecrated Tomb on the battlefield.
Finally, I want to talk about a Demon.
Over the years we have seen some 6/6 black Demons for four mana with different drawbacks and abilities. Desecration Demon could be tapped if your opponent sacrificed a creature at the beginning of combat. Abyssal Persecutor made it so you couldn’t win the game while it was on the battlefield. There is also Rakdos, Lord of Riots which can’t be cast unless an opponent lost life this turn. Core 2019 is bringing us another 6/6 Demon in the form of Demon of Catastrophes:
I played Desecration Demon a lot, but I’m not sure if this is a card I can see myself playing. The drawback could be severe depending on your board state, to the point where you might not even be able to cast it. But there are also scenarios to consider where you could cast Demon of Catastrophes on turn three, like if you have a Llanowar Elves on the battlefield.
I wouldn’t want to play four of this card in any deck, at most I would stick to a maximum of two. If you do play this card, get ready to see some two-for-ones if your opponent is playing Cast Down, Seal Away, or any other straight removal. But at least if you can bring Demon of Catastrophes back from your graveyard with a card like Liliana, Death’s Majesty, you won’t have to pay the cost of sacrificing a creature.
As you can see, with smart design, there are plenty of ways to take one card type and make three diverse Magic cards. Which one of these cards do you want to cast the most?
Thanks again for reading the Daily Dose of Core 2019. Join me again tomorrow as I investigate a few more cards from the new set.
