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Editor: Audrey Chin Quan. Friday 5 July 2002.
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Judgment Limited Review - Black/Gold/Lands
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Card Name: Balthor the Defiled
He's back from the dead and this time around wants to bring his friends back too. Don't plan on keeping him on the table for that long though, as there are not many minions in the set worth playing to warrant the +1/+1 bonus. Once you have enough efficient red/black creatures in the graveyard send him back to where he belongs and maul your opponent with an undead army. Balthor is a high pick if you are playing red but watch out for other red/black players on the table and the quality of their creatures. If you are not playing red think twice before you take him.
Card Name: Cabal Therapy
This card is next to useless in limited, as most decks do not play more than one copy of the same card. The only combo I can remotely see this with is Peek and/or Mesmeric Fiend but even then it is still pretty bad. If they have a bomb you can't deal with play it otherwise leave it in the board. At this stage I have to say that Cabal Therapy is relegated to the scrap division for draft.
Card Name: Cabal Trainee
The Cabal Trainee is not that bad for a 1-drop and will often save one of your stronger creatures from a spot in the graveyard later on in the game. These will come around late in the draft and only take them if there is nothing else of use in the booster.
Card Name: Death Wish
Can you think of a card that is worth half of your life total that you are not already playing? Me neither. Part of the scraps.
Card Name: Earsplitting Rats
Four mana is a lot for a 2/1 regenerator irrespective of the discard ability. However Judgement has not been kind to black and you must play with what you can get. If you are going to play the rats make sure you cast them in the mid game when you opponent still has combat tricks/removal in hand and keep back a land for your discard. Regenerators are still quite good in this format and the Earsplitting Rats suit a deck that has little ground defence (such as U/B) and work well as a madness engine. In any case a mid to late range pick.
Card Name: Filth
Filth arrived a set too late in my opinion but is still to be feared by anyone that dares to play black. The basic premise to this card is if you are playing black draft it, as you do not want to come up against it. As with all of the incarnations it is deadlier in the graveyard and will often spell doom for your opponent. A high pick for black players.
Card Name: Grave Consequences
If this card did not have a cantrip effect I am sure it would not see the light of day. It is good in the early game to cycle and it is always good for a few life in the late game if your opponent is precious about his graveyard. Still this card is a double-edged sword as it affects both players and is not worthy of a high pick. A mid range draft at best.
Card Name: Guiltfeeder
The Guiltfeeder is good because of the lack of black players at the draft table and will often attack unopposed. A lot of decks rely on threshold so I wouldn't be surprised if this guy comes over for seven or eight life a turn - remember it is loss of life so Embolden or Prismatic Strands won't help your opponent. The double black in it's casting cost means you won't be splashing this in a hurry but it is still a high pick and gets my vote as best black rare in Judgement.
Card Name: Masked Gorgon
Five mana for a 5/5 black creature is some good, but protection from the two strongest colours in the set is bad. If you can hit threshold then the gorgon is great but until then it is going to be sitting back a lot. Give it flying and you should be able to see off the green fatties but you will still have white flyers to contend with. Suited to a U/B deck the gorgon is an early pick due to the lack of options in Judgement for black. Draft cantrip spells with this guy (Mental Note, Careful Study) and maybe a Ghostly Wings or two.
Card Name: Morality Shift
Morality Shift looks like it could see some use in constructed but won't cut the mustard in limited. Then again I guess it gives you threshold pretty quickly....
Card Name: Rats' Feast
I see this card becoming an excellent foil for all of the graveyard reliant spells in the block. The feast can single-handedly deal with incarnations, flashback cards and nullify threshold temporarily making it quite efficient. This may look like a sideboard card but after drafting with Judgement it has potential maindecked. Draft one of these if you can and is worthy of a mid range pick (think 5th to 8th).
Card Name: Stitch Together
This is a Morgue Theft and Zombify made into one - but cheaper. Graveyard recursion is part of what black does best and there is nothing more satisfying than returning your best creature to your hand (or to play) when your opponent has just wasted several spells to put it in the graveyard. It goes without saying this is good with come into play effect creatures such as Pardic Arsonist, Teroh's Faithful etc. Stitch Together is a high pick if you are playing black and one of the better uncommons in Judgement.
Card Name: Sutured Ghoul
Any creature that has */* and trample is always going to be a problem for your opponent. Add in the fact it is a black creature that can potentially have a power and toughness greater than your opponent's life total and you have a monster on your hands. So what is bad about the ghoul?? Nothing really, although it does cost seven mana and relies on having big creatures in the graveyard (making it ideally suited to a B/G deck that has mana acceleration). If you pick this guy early and you are going B/G, grab some Harvester Druids so you can actually cast the blasted thing. A high pick for black, but I still think the Guiltfeeder is the more versatile creature.
Card Name: Toxic Stench
Welcome to the only black removal in the set and what a powerhouse it is!! Toxic Stench is good for picking off annoying 1/1's in the early game and later on it becomes a dark banishing. The fact you can't target black creatures shouldn't be a problem and is best suited to a deck that has other removal options, (i.e. B/R), as you will need other forms of spot removal. The stench is an early pick (4th to 6th), and try not to draft more than two of these as you will need to make room for other removal.
Card Name: Treacherous Vampire
Although I said Guiltfeeder was the best black rare in Judgement, Treacherous Vampire is the card of the set for black. A 4/4 flyer for 5 mana that becomes 6/6 at threshold is ridiculously good despite it's small drawbacks. The fact it can be splashed for one black mana makes it more attractive for decks that lack airborne superiority. The vampire suits any style of deck but if you can get threshold (and maintain it) quickly then this guy will be the final nail in the coffin for your opponent. A first pick every time there is no reason why you should not play this card.
Card Name: Treacherous Werewolf
I always thought vampires were better than werewolves... Treacherous Werewolf is a grey ogre - plain and simple with the added bonus of becoming bigger at threshold. The vampire is good because it has flying unlike the werewolf who will often hang around like a stunned muppet because it can't attack. If you have lots of removal (or are desperate for creatures) he may be worth playing otherwise he is really average. A mid to late range pick. GOLD & LANDS It is good to see gold cards back in the mix again and this time around they are all G/W. Three of the four gold cards are very good in limited with Hunting Grounds being the odd one out. The lands in Judgement are nothing to get excited about with only Nantuko Monastery looking remotely interesting for limited play.
Card Name: Anurid Brushhopper
At three mana the Brushhopper is great and tough enough to block any of the early drops in the format on the ground. It's "phasing" ability makes it extremely hard to kill and works well with both madness and threshold. If you are playing green the Brushhopper is worth splashing if you have enough Harvest Druids, Rites of Spring etc. A first pick without a doubt and he is second only to the G/W Phantom Nishoba in terms of limited brokenness.
Card Name: Hunting Grounds
Hunting Ground joins Swirling Sandstorm as the only cards that do nothing whatsoever when you don't have threshold. The question is - are these cards worth playing at all? I think the sandstorm will see some play as it is mass removal but Hunting Grounds is a different story. It looks very enticing and could even give you card advantage if your opponent played spells before blockers in combat (like that happens!) but it is too situational. I think I would rather have a creature over this every time but feel free to prove me wrong. A late pick.
Card Name: Mirari's Wake
I can say from personal experience that this card is good - very, very good. Try this with Squirrel Nest and/or Battle Screech and you will see what I'm talking about. The mana acceleration is a good thing and enables cards like Crush of Wurms and Stone Stoned Basilisk to be played with ease. Watch out for mana burn when tapping your lands and if possible have a mana sink (Luminous Guardian, Anurid Swarmsnapper etc). This card is good enough to be splashed as long as you are already playing green. Try to pick up some mana fixers and a couple of sac lands (you should always draft these if there is nothing in the pack) if you are drafting green in Odyssey just so you have a shot at these cards in Judgement.
Card Name: Phantom Nishoba
The Nishoba is the best gold card in Judgement and rightly so - it is a beating machine, which can only be stopped by remove from game effects and/or creature enchantments (Kirtar's Desire, Lost In Thought, etc). Floating Shield and Shelter are good answers to this sort of stuff but I'm sure there are a few more. Again if you are already going green or white then it is worth splashing another colour for this guy (but steer clear of a base G/W deck if possible) so draft those mana fixers and sac lands early. The key to getting these cards in Judgement is to anticipate them so think ahead! A first pick.
Card Name: Krosan Verge
I'm sorry but Krosan Verge is not that exciting. If you are playing G/W (which you probably shouldn't) this is good and it may be useful as a way of splashing those colours, otherwise leave it well alone.
Card Name: Nantuko Monastery
The monastery is interesting because it requires GW to activate it - two colours which shouldn't be drafted together for a number of reasons. There is no way this is a card to be splashed for but if you already have a bomb in either of these colours it won't hurt to play this. The monastery is all about the late game and 4/4 first strikers that are immune to creature enchantments can be tricky to stop (especially if you have a Brawn or Wonder in your graveyard). A late pick as this card will often come to you.
Card Name: Riftstone Portal
This is the weakest of the lands as it needs to be in the graveyard before you can reap any benefits - and believe me you would want a basic land over this every time. Pure junk. [ Email the Author | Discuss this Article ]
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