Cool Card Design of the Day5/11/2012 - As a combat trick, Doom Blow looks unusually strong. The combination of first strike and deathtouch has only appeared on three cards—Glissa, the Traitor, Nirkana Cutthroat & Pestilent Kathari—all either multicolor or requiring additional mana to turn the dial up to 11. Black isn't exactly known for combat tricks. Sure, instant-speed -1/-1 effects are sometimes used to change combat math, but there are few black tricks you want to cast on your own guy; Deadly Allure, Tainted Strike & Virulent Swipe comprise nearly the entire list in Modern.
The thing is, Doom Blow isn't so much a good combat trick as it is weak removal. It won't save your guy against a first striking enemy, and it won't let you punch through any extra damage to your opponent. Really, it just makes an opposing creature dead. Unlike Doom Blade and other targeted removal, you can kill any creature with it provided you can get one of your creatures into combat with your quarry.
The funny thing about this CCDD, is it's already card. They printed it in Avacyn Restored and named it Necrobite, trading first strike for regeneration—which is primary in black rather than tertiary. Necrobite is a better combat trick because it saves your creature from an opposing first strike creature, but a worse removal spell because the regeneration will remove your guy from combat before he can put his evil hands on that same first striking troublemaker.
Necrobite can, however, also save creatures outside of combat. Ultimately I like tricks to have some utility outside of creature combat, even if just the Lava Spike that Slaughter Cry can be. Otherwise it is just bad removal.
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteJust to clarify, I'm very much not claiming Doom Blow is better than Necrobite (except for the name), just savoring the similarity and enjoying the subtle differences.
Don't forget the grandfather of this pair of abilities: Venomous Cobra. Ah, gold cards from back in the day. It looks pretty bad by modern standards, but it can still deter any big trampling stompy guy who doesn't have first strike or evasion.
ReplyDelete(Vampire's Bite is another black trick intended for your own guys, albeit a forgettable one. I like the disclaimerish "*nearly* the whole list" :) )
Voracious Cobra has actually stood the test of time quite well, considering its nearest modern equivalents are Glissa, the Traitor (a Mythic Legend), Nirkana Cutthroat (which requires a total investment of 8BBBB), and Pestilent Kathari. Invasion block has a lot of really solid designs situated at an almost ideal power level.
DeleteHeh. I guess. I love Invasion block so much and feel very nostalgic for it because it was when I really got into the game. Hence I feel irrationally fond of a large number of cards from it, so I always try to adjust my subjective opinion down a bit when talking about cards from that block to other people :)
DeleteAmusing comparing Venomous Cobra with Horned Cheetah (a reprint of Zebra Unicorn). Now there's a card that's definitely been outclassed no matter how nostalgic I feel for it.