Deathrite Shaman is one of the latest "Magic: The Gathering" cards spoiled from Wizards of the Coast's upcoming expert expansion set "Return to Ravnica."
Deathrite Shaman - [B/G]
Creature - Elf Shaman (Rare)
Tap: Exile target land card from a graveyard. Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
B, Tap: Exile target instant or sorcery card from a graveyard. Each opponent loses 2 life.
G, Tap: Exile target creature card from a graveyard. You gain 2 life.
1/2
Revealed today in an article by Gavin Verhey on DailyMTG.com, Deathrite Shaman is a versatile creature for both green an black decks to abuse. Each of Deathrite Shaman's three abilities are relevant, which is what makes it such a good card.
In formats with fetchlands such as Modern or Legacy Deathrite Shaman can help accelerate your mana production.
Because Deathrite Shaman can exile an instant or sorcery it can help you deal with decks packing Archaeomancer or Snapcaster Mage while also bringing your opponent two points closer to death. It's also effective against other flashback spells such as Think Twice, Silent Departure, and Faithless looting.
Deathrite Shaman's final ability helps deal with annoying creatures like Gravecrawler and undying threats such as Strangleroot Geist and Geralf's Messenger. It can also stop an opponent's scavenge creatures like Dreg Mangler.
Taking advantage of Deathrite Shaman means not having to rely on an opponent to make its abilities useful. While Deathrite Shaman will naturally come online as you play out your game, by running cards like Lotleth Troll that allow you to discard you'll be able to ensure that your graveyard always has a land, instant, sorcery, or creature in it.
While Deathrite Shaman can't target creatures like Grim Lavamancer, it'll help you win over the long haul through incremental card advantage. In red decks it'll give you a reason to play with Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded and Vexing Devil.
How will you use Deathrite Shaman?
Related: "Return to Ravnica" cards spoiled so far
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