Zendikar – Devout Lightcaster

A White Nekrataal? Meet Zendikar Rare, Devout Lightcaster!

Earlier we talked about Gatekeeper of Malakir, which for BBB is like a Scathe Zombies grafted onto a Cruel Edict (and for BB is versatile enough to be just a Scathe Zombies). This is the White version:

This card is kind of like an Eager Cadet stapled to a Celestial Purge (kind of).

Now obviously for WWW we have a very powerful and highly playable card that generates self-contained card advantage. It is the kind of effect that we simply don’t expect from White. I mean maybe we expect it now that a deck that can consistently produce WWW has everything from Unmake to Path to Exile to the aforementioned Celetial Purge… But we don’t necessarily expect it on a body… Certainly not at a reasonable mana cost; not in White.

But what might be even more unexpected is that this card might just manascrew you.

Manascrew you?

In White?

Yeppers!

Manascrew.

I have a theory that with all these Gatekeepers and other little—and clearly Constructed playable—Vampires, that our old buddy Vampire Nocturnus will be superb. Vampire Nocturnus rewards players for running a lot of Black cards, and I think that that might translate even to lands. The solution? I am guessing that we will see increased play for both Veinfire and Mistvein Borderpost. Why? With Black Borderposts taking up “land” slots, the Vampire Nocturnus has a slightly higher chance of setting up its global Vampire Unholy Strength. I could see a Black Vampire weenie mana base looking something like…

4 B/W sac dual
4 B/G sac dual
4 Veinfire Borderpost
4 Mistvein Borderpost
8-12 Swamp (12 would probably be a bit high, even in a Tendrils of Corruption deck).

The duals (whatever they are called) will allow the Vampire Nocturnus player to shuffle his deck, mid-combat if need be, to get a Black permanent on top of it. The deck would probably have problems hard-casting a Borderpost, but with essentially all basic lands (functionally so, anyway), running them out there one mana soft style should be a complete non-issue.

So… manascrew?

Devout Lightcaster dropping on top of one of those Borderposts on the third turn could be quite the pisser… Stone Rain, but with a Rakeclaw Bears attached.

Oh I guess it can kill some gigantic Black fatty and/or a one mana Quest enchantment that is right about to go off, too. Whatever those!

Snap Judgment: Staple (but sideboard)

LOVE
MIKE

Currently Reading: Invincible, Book 11: Happy Days