"Elusive Tormentor: A trick up his Sleeve"

"Elusive Tormentor: A trick up his Sleeve"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

I am not saying that Elusive Tormentor is a picky vampire but he is definitely the Window Shopper variety. I could just imagine him walking from Window to Window choosing the perfect meal of the night. He might say to himself ,"This guy looks too sweaty , this guy too slim , might not have enough juice. Ah but this guy reading in his study , he seems just right. Now how do I get in there? Oh I know just the trick."

People have been talking about the Elusive Tormentor online because he is the latest powerful vampire to come out of the woodwork. 4 mana for a 4/4 creature with a built in activated protection. He seems small next to some of the Eldrazi that are currently hitting standard and EDH battlefields right now but he will still be considered a giant and a harder to kill creature in any format because he is the only creature that flips into Insidious Mist for the mere price of 1 mana of any color and a pitched card from your hand.

In its mist form it has Hexproof and Indestructible. Short of forcing a player to sacrifice it you just cant kill it. There are some pros and cons in being in this form. The bad is that it just lets any of your opponents deal damage. What can mist do but let them pass right? Unless it is poisonous mist which is a whole deal of horror right there.

The best part is that it could also attack unmolested and if it is not(which it already stated earlier) you could pay 1 black mana and 2 mana of any color to have it become its 4/4 Vampire form again to deal that much damage. Shinobi of the Mist and it's ilk must be so proud to have a Ninja Vampire in their own ranks now.

Some players might be hesitant to play this creature in standard but if I see it in my PR card pool this April I would choose it in a heartbeat. So that you know , it could stop some other players heartbeat.