“Deathrite Shaman” is yet another outstanding Black/Green
creature from Return to Ravnica, and this time, one with multi-format appeal!
As a 1/2 for one, his body is certainly reasonable, but it’s his incredibly
flexible glut of abilities that really define him. This creature does it all,
and while messing with any graveyard shenanigans your opponent may have going
on. Deathrite has three abilities, each one revolving around removing a card in
a graveyard from the game (it is important to note that it is any graveyard – yours or your
opponent’s).
He can dig a land out of the graveyard to produce a mana of
the color of your choice. In standard, this doesn’t do much of anything, unless
you run Ghost Quarter [Innistrad] (which may not be a bad idea, considering how
many fantastic nonbasic lands are running around the format), but in old
formats, this is incredible. A first turn fetchland [Onslaught, Zendikar] into
Deathrite is a frightening set-up in either modern or legacy – especially
legacy, where Wasteland [Tempest] is very much a thing.
Deathrite can also dig up creatures or instant/sorceries, at
a boon of +2 life/creature or -2 life/spell. This is quite relevant in both
standard and older formats. He’s hell on wheels against a reanimator deck as
Deathrite can pop off the ideal reanimation target before the resurrection
spell is cast. And in any given game of Magic, instants and sorceries will fly
around, letting Deathrite turn into a repeatable source of burn, which can
finish out some games that stall. These abilities do require a specific green
or black mana, meaning he’s only at his best in a deck using (or splashing)
both.
Good:
-One mana cost, in either of two
colors, allowing for consistent easy casting
- 2 OUTSTANDING abilities, if you
have access to the colors
- 1 very relevant Legacy
acceleration ability
- Messes with graveyard strategies
- Uses either graveyard, so should
have no shortage of ammo
Bad:
- Small
body
- Specific
color requirements for abilities, so only thrives in black/green
- Mana
ability isn’t relevant at all in standard
- He’s an
elf. No one likes elves. :p
Scully Rating: 8.8
out of 10
Projected Settled Value: $6-8