Zendikar – Gatekeeper of Malakir

A quick review of Zendikar uncommon, Gatekeeper of Malakir. Is it unreal good?

Gatekeepr of Malakir is a very interesting modern application of the Kicker mechanic.

To me this card is highly reminiscent of Kavu Titan… After all, Gatekeeper of Malakir is a fine 2/2 for two… Just like most of the two mana creatures we play across the formats and colors. What is interesting is that Gatekeeper of Malakir is also a kind of cheaper Nekrataal.

For BB you get a Black Grizzly Bears… Nothing you would want to pay for under normal circumstances, but very reasonable given the option on Kicker…

For BBB you get what amounts to a Chainer’s Edict with a 2/2 along for the ride.

If you figure that a regular Chainer’s Edict or Diabolic Edict costs 1B, you basically get the value of a 2/2 body for only one additional mana… Kind of like a Carnophage with no down side.

Black has always had some kind of creature kill capabilities… But this particular stripe could not have come at a more opportune time. You see, Great Sable Stag threatens to hassle the little Black creatures… But if you can isolate him from his friends, Gatekeeper of Malakir can kick him down the staircase.

All in all, Gatekeeper of Malakir is a very clearly playable Constructed card.

But where would you play him?

There are actually a fair number of places where this card might make sense. You can run it alongside Vampire Nocturnus (and other tiny Vampires) productively. It can also be run in any deck that can make BBB in the main deck as just a card that you might want to play… Very much like the Chainer’s Edict we touched on, above.

Gatekeepr of Malakir can also be a very solid sideboard card for a controlling Black deck. It can change the tempo of the game by giving Black a clock when there isn’t a lot of time on the clock in a three-game match (you know, because your main deck was so slow), or it can give a deck some faster removal. Look at the Black deck I posted a few days ago… Gatekeepr of Malakir can speed up the defense of a deck that first starts reacting with a four mana Tendrils of Corruption, a stand-in for Shriekmaw.

So how does it compare to Shriekmaw or Nekrataal?

Generally speaking I would put it on better than Nekrataal and worse than Shriekmaw (due to the latter’s versatility, evasion, ease of cost, and synergy with Makeshift Mannequin). However Gatekeeper of Malakir will shine against other Black decks, and kind of wrinkle its nose against Green decks that make a lot of tokens.

That said, the card should be Staple.

LOVE
MIKE