Everyone's a Critic: Blood Baron of Vizkopa
General forum
Posted on April 16, 2013, 2:30 p.m. by Thedren_The_Inquisitor
A black and white vampire... I hope he doesn't sparkle.
here we go I will dissect the new Blood baron of Vizkopa line by line. and then decide my opinion of it and finally, ask you to insult me mercilessly or agree.
LET'S GO
3WB, starting off with the converted mana cost of 5.'sgood, appropriately costed for potential and the body that it comes on. above all it gets a C for not being to ground breaking, not overcosted but not pushed it's just average.
Vampire, my first reaction is What? Did you know there were Vampires in Orzhov? Me neither. I guess it makes sense, Extort embodies how Vampires behave in my mind, slowly chipping away at you and building oneself up. Even Thrull Parasite makes reference to this.
Lifelink, A solid ability on this card and always dangerous on big bodies because you can always net value even if it dies in combat. There is not may things are better than having a big blocker with lifelink, except big bodies with lifelink that go on the offensive, i.e. Baneslayer Angel .
Protection from Black, Am I the only one who is glad we don't have to hear "it dies to black kill spells"? Simple enough no Go for the Throat for you.
Protection from White, no Path to Exile Swords to Plowshares , No Oblivion Ring no Detention Sphere and my favorite no blocking with spirit tokens or Restoration Angel .
If you have 30 or more life and an opponent has less than 10 life, I get +6/+6 and flying. Somewhere, Divinity of Pride read this card's text to Serra Ascendant , and they are having a good laugh. This card is a mythic rare for god's sake and it is straight up out classed in this ability by rares. That is a shame. Now that being said I know there are those of you who will say "What about EDH?" well yeah he is good in EDH but so is Counterlash . This card's name should read Blood Baron of the Binder, because with the exception of EDH, that is sadly where it is going to be.
4/4, Very powerful as it survives attacks by 3/3's and cannot be killed by Searing Spear , it is in range of Mizzium Mortars but, I think that is the point of Mizzium Mortars so no flaw there.
Overall I give this card a C-,
It does something that has been done before, Divinity of Pride , Serra Ascendant and others. but sadly the previous attempts have all been on better more effcient bodies. The protections make this card a severe threat in any EDH game but the "Opponent with 10 or less life" will be the deathnail for this card in standard, it is to much of a win more card to ever be good in standard. Why? because in a 1v1 match, by the time you have 30 or more life and your opponent has 10 or less life, this card is irrelevent, you have already won unless you punt.
I digress, As someone who always wants to see the good in every card, I will say this. If this card was legendary, Holy crap he would make one hell of a commander on our hands. Even if it shared the love and granted your creatures +1/+1 flying and lifelink this card would have been stupidly good. but sadly wizards dropped the ball on this card and made a stinker of a mythic rare
"Shoutout to my vampire homies keeping it real on Zendikar!" says the Blood Baron of Vizkopa. I do love the fact that wizards brought back the "On the Ropes" ability from Zendikar, it is very Nosferatu. even if it torpedoes this card's playability see Vampire Lacerator and Guul Draz Vampire for examples
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #3
just gonna say, this is that one foil mythic you pull and you instantly rip and half and curse the gods of luck. (I am not this guy, but I know him. I graciously accept all mythics that come my way) or you give to the 12 year old kid who just started. And they treasure it forever as their first mythic (I am this guy, still got my Apocalypse Hydra all beat up and bent cornered on a shelf in my room in a hard shell and double sleeved).
April 16, 2013 2:46 p.m.
pookypuppy6 says... #4
In a multicolour environment with Centaur Healer s and the like, the protection from black and white becomes even more relevant and makes it hard to stop. That means it is more likely to take your total up and their total down to set its ability into motion. And +6/+6 with flying, lifelink and colour protection is damn powerful.
Divinity of Pride may be strong sure, but it's also harder to splash. And that CAN be stopped by Oblivion Ring and company. As for Serra Ascendant , that is strong but also doesn't reach 10/10 on its own, or particularly simply bar certain formats.
I'm not particularly attracted to this card, but for a mythic rare I appreciate its power and toughness being a bit below par to its CMC to compensate for its abilities. It's a nice mythic with strong keywords limited by its conditional second ability and the two-colour requirement.
April 16, 2013 2:46 p.m.
In an aggressive environment this card is easily better than Obzedat for a control deck, it'll likely take every red deck running Mizzium Mortars to keep this from seeing play in every deck that it can fit in.
April 16, 2013 3:40 p.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #6
Do not get me wrong, I like this card as a 4/4 with lifelink and two very real very powerful protections.If that was all the card said I would happily play that card all day. But that second paragraph makes me go "Aw F#%K this guy had such amazing potential! and wizards punted... Hard"
April 16, 2013 3:42 p.m.
theemptyquiver says... #7
Sorin is B/W...
Seems reasonable to think these are vamp colors.
April 16, 2013 5:30 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #8
I'm wondering...could RWB vampires be a thing?
Compare this to Malakir Bloodwitch , a card that saw play during Zendikar. Both 4/4s with protection from white. Add protection from Black, Lifelink AND that huge pump? I think this card will be played. It won't replace Obzedat, Ghost Council but it's pretty hard to remove in it's own right.
April 16, 2013 5:39 p.m.
Thedren_The_Inquisitor says... #9
Well it could but the only two cards that really care about the tribal ties is Stromkirk Captain and Cavern of Souls so you dont have to be tied to them necessarily
April 16, 2013 5:42 p.m.
I just picked up two of these for a little less than $8 a piece and I was thinking of getting two more. The card has a little play, but hardly any since it's release. The same was true for Olivia Voldaren and Falkenrath Aristocrat for a time. After Scars rotated they began to really shine. One became a staple in BR Aggro and the other in BRx Midrange.
I feel the same will be true of Obzedat, Ghost Council and Blood Baron of Vizkopa . Obzedat is good against control, while Blood Baron is good against creatures.
The card is obviously not crap if it is still $8, but is it better than that?
A foil is worth around $20, so don't tear it up. Give it to me.
August 5, 2013 7:51 a.m.
harrydemon117 says... #11
I think people severely underestimate cards for awhile until somebody shows how good it is in a TOP 8 at some major tournament.
Wizards won't make anything that is too "broken" anymore...they learned with things like Jace, the Mind Sculptor and the like.
I like Blood Baron of Vizkopa . He's got it all. Against aggro he has Lifelink. Against any creature deck he has protection from 2/5 of the field. Not to mention he can't be removed by any black or white targeted removal.
The last paragraph I think was designed for EDH decks as a fun add on. In 1 v 1 games it is really a "win more" ability, but it will come in handy at times. He gains evasion as soon as the LP conditions are met (and him swinging in 2-3 times SHOULD put you at your 30 life). This is just a way to ensure that he gains even MORE protection from creatures so he can close out the game.
I think he fits well in a Junk Midrange deck that gains life from things anyway like Thragtusk . His ability to close games out is better than people give him credit for.
I'm telling you, DON'T make the mistake of underestimating him. We are in a time in Standard that people are "clinging" to the old ways of tried and true decks but others will emerge as soon as Theros comes out
August 5, 2013 8:51 a.m.
fluffybunnypants says... #12
I think that Blood Baron has it's place as a situational card. It's easier to cast than Obzedat and therefore has found itself as a beater in decks like Castellon's four color chant deck from PTDM. Does it get outshined by other cards in Dragon's Maze like voice and 'ling? Sure. Is it a good card for the cost? Let's see, 4/4 lifelink, pro-white, pro-black. I would say it's absolutely a good creature for the cost. One less mana to cast and it's op, one more and it sucks.
August 5, 2013 9:01 a.m.
Everyone that hated his card should feel like an idiot now.
November 9, 2013 5:07 p.m.
Jagishamesh says... #14
So the best creature in standard is bad apparently
February 11, 2014 2:17 a.m.
@Jagishamesh and DrFunk27: This thread was from almost a year ago....you can't necro stuff and then act like a badass lol.
"rofl @ the peeps who sold their Black Lotus es for $2 back in Beta. Card is at least $2,000 now."
February 11, 2014 2:55 a.m.
Schuesseled says... #16
It's good as a win con... That's about it. I think people hated it because they wanted to use it in midrange, then realised that wasn't such a good idea.
Behgz says... #2
Blood baron of the binder, that was classic xD
April 16, 2013 2:41 p.m.