You are: Home -> Articles -> Card Review |
Editor: Yaro Starak. Monday 19 August 2002.
|
 Card Review: Sutured Ghoul
Trample
*/*
Expansion: Judgment
I guess Sutured Ghoul fits right into someone's big black deck (not mine of
course)
Limited: I don't think so. Obviously if you draw him early he just sits
there looking at people walk past, glad that it's a nice day out. Late game
I guess he'll be a bit better...but keep in the mind that guys in black are
generally small, and so you'll need about five dead guys to make him
reasonable, say 8/9 or something. Or, alternatively, you could be playing
green and so only need a few guys to make him big...but then you might as
well just play a decent green guy! I'm incredibly wary of playing something
that requires you to wreck your graveyard WHILE ALSO playing black, given
that graveyard tricks is one of the things black has going for it. Come to
think of I tend not to play things that cost 3 black unless they start with
Cabal and end with Patriarch. But still, if you're absolutely desparate for
some random fattie then I guess this guy could be card number 23.
Constructed: Buried Alive Dreadnought Dreadnought this guy. Bring him back
somehow and you have a 24/24 trampler but...I don't know this seems like
very much a casual kind of thing. I find reviewing cards for casual
purposes very difficult; the rating factors are very skewed. And a lot more
subjective. So if your'e a casual gamer and this seems your kind of thing,
then you know it and should go for it. For serious play can this guy amount
to much? I'd have to say no. I've been toying with splashing green into the
mono black beatdown OBC deck for four living wishes and its going okay.
Currently I have room for one "random fattie" in the sideboard to wish for.
Let's just say its not going to be Sutured Ghoul for several reasons
including: other people can Haunting Echoes me, I'd like guys in my
graveyard for when I hit a Defiled Balthor.
Value: Er $3
Check it
djogs
Jason Street
When I saw Sutured Ghoul I thought it was a slightly more useful version of
Frankenstein's Monster (no, really, that is an actual card). The Monster
costs XBB for a 0/1 and lets you remove X creatures in your graveyard from
the game, adding either +2/+0, +1/+1 or +0/+2 for each creature removed.
Cool huh? Well no, wait, Sutured Ghoul is probably closer to Dracoplasm (UR,
with flying and firebreathing, 0/0, when it comes into play sacrifice any
number of creatures and give it total power and toughness equal to their
combined power and combined toughness).
Well actually it's a combination of both. Where Dracoplasm let you do the
nasty with Reins of Power (You and target opponent untap all creatures, they
gain haste and then swap until end of turn), Frankenstein's Monster let you
go grave-robbing to get some use out of the corpses of your minions, custom
building the right size creature for the job. Both of these cards were
situational, and Sutured Ghoul is no different - but the situation is.
To get some use out of the Ghoul you will need a load of creatures in the
graveyard, and the mana to cast him. You will not be running
Lhurgoyf/Revenant/Reanimation/Etcetera and the Sutured Ghoul is the only
graveyard effect that will rely on creatures, so really all it comes down to
is what else works with him? Extended players will get some good mileage out
of Hermit Druid and Mulch, building up your mana supply steadily and also
the graveyard for a big creature. For the first time I actually think there
might be some good use for Dwell on the Past over Gaea's Blessing too - this
is one deck where reshuffling your whole graveyard as a side-effect is not
good.
Unfortunately even in Extended or Type 1 this card requires a devoted deck
to use, so I can't see it being worth too much. $4 seems about right.
Oh, and please, don't anyone be so silly as to use it with Zombie Master. A
10/10 trampler does NOT need swampwalk.
Jason
Sutured Ghoul is the latest in a long line of black
nasties that are reliant upon freshly stocked
graveyards.
Limited - The ghoul won't suit every draft archetype
but will often have your opponent running for cover
unless they have bounce or creature enchantments. I
played the ghoul in a U/B deck (I found him good with
Compulsion and Looter/Broker as the graveyard fills up
quite rapidly) but you ultimately want bigger
creatures to maximise his effectiveness - i.e. B/G. It
is trample that seals the deal with the ghoul and will
often have a power and toughness higher than your
opponent's life total - which can't be a bad thing:)
Pick the ghoul highly as black is bad in Judgement but
watch out for U/W decks with Aether Bursts, Repels,
Kirtars Desire etc.
Constructed - Type 2 - I can't really see the ghoul
being played in this format but could see some action
in Extended as a reanimator tool (imagine if Shallow
Grave was still around!). Even then I think he is
relegated to fun decks and casual play.
OBC - Unfortunately the same goes for this format as
there are plenty of other black fatties available that
do the job such as Stalking Bloodsucker and Laquatus
Champion. Black in OBC does not pack many creatures,
so he would be a waste of space.
On the plus side the artwork is cool so should fetch
at least $6.
Until next time
Dan
|
Sutured Ghoul (Rare)
Danesh Jogia
Dan Turner