Watching The Armies Rise - Immortal Servitude

Watching The Armies Rise - Immortal Servitude

by: 

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. 

     The Pre-release is almost upon us and the first waves might be playing the midnight rounds tonight and having a good time at it too. I wouldn't be much of a reanimator if i did not spotlight the sets most potent mass grave raising card. Enter Immortal Servitude , a card that the Orzhov syndicate has made through countless contracts that assures the binding of a multitude of souls in servitude to them.Its powerful yes , but there are things to consider when playing with this power.

     When playing with a spell like Immortal servitude you need to consider the mana cost of the creatures that you are putting into your deck to maximize its powerful effect. At a hybrid cost of 3 White or Black mana and X this "Mass Zombify" effect returns any number of creatures from your graveyard with the exact mana cost that you paid for in X. If you paid 2 mana which is ideal you could return a massive weenie army into play. Potentially that is the full effect that you want but this will never happen or has low probability in decks that has varying mana costs for creatures. So be wary of your mana curve but sometimes all it takes to win is 2 or 3 solid creatures so make sure that you have several sets in the decks you are playing. 

     This card is actually a perfect fit for black and white , A black or white weenie deck such as that of Knights can reap the benefits of this sorcery. It offers resiliency and recovery after a mass removal spell decimates the battlefield. It can also benefit decks like Infect since decks like these are almost always reliant on creatures. Without creatures then there is no threat of Infection. Always remember the mana cost of your cards. The most efficient creatures in Magic are always in the 2 or 3 mana costs. 

     Several comes into play effects can also be achieved with this Immortal servitude. Imagine casting it for X costing 3 and you return a set of Eternal Witness in play and return 4 spells in your graveyard to your hand. You could have anything you want back and it would be there to be used again. Imagine all the fatty creatures at the 3 mana slot that you want to play with. You are now getting the idea. 

     Of course this is all at a weenies level of casting but after Gatecrash has finally arrived Cards Like Crypt Ghast and Liliana of the Dark realms can actually allow you to have ridiculous amounts of mana in standard. Let us say you are able to cast this spell at X the cost of 7. Who do you think should we put back into play? well...it should be easily the crowd favorites. 5  Primordials that have the mana cost of 7. Not only will you be getting bodies for offense and defense. Their comes into play abilities will have the same effect as lighting up a barn full of fire works. Nothing short of fantastic.

     So with the right number of mana cost spells and mana producers Immortal servitude is sure to be a card to be included in a lot of control decks.Watch the armies rise but be careful because those armies might not be your own.