"Garruk, Veiled Butcher: Free From the Curse, Trapped in a Bad Card"

 

"Garruk, Veiled Butcher: Free From the Curse, Trapped in a Bad Card"

by:

Virgilio F. De Leon Jr., MD

Garruk, Veiled Butcher will appear in Reality Fracture, and this seems to be the version of Garruk still suffering under the curse of the Chain Veil.

There is a lot going on with his abilities, and at first glance, he looks like he could find a home in quite a few decks. Mostly, though, those decks will probably be the ones that enjoy death, sacrifice, and making people discard cards.

So, you know.

Very Garruk.

Very... Black.

At five mana, Garruk, Veiled Butcher has a static ability that, at the very least, makes him feel like a more expensive Grave Pact or perhaps a better version of Dictate of Erebos. The difference is that his ability cares about your opponents' creatures dying, rather than just your own creatures being sacrificed.

And when those creatures die?

They get exiled.

Goodbye, combo piece.

Goodbye, important creature.

Goodbye, whatever annoying thing your opponent was planning to bring back from the graveyard.

Exiled for good. At least until the next game.

That part, I actually like.

Garruk's +2 ability also reflects the corruption that has affected him. It weakens creatures, and can eventually kill those with only one toughness. A mana dork, perhaps? A small token innocently standing around and minding its own business?

Garruk does not care.

It dies.

It gets exiled.

Simple.

His -2 ability is where things start becoming less impressive. Each player sacrifices a creature of their choice. If you sacrifice a creature this way, you create a 4/4 green Beast creature token with trample.

This feels like a weaker Innocent Blood to me because you're giving your opponents the choice of what they sacrifice. Naturally, they are going to wave goodbye to Mr. 1/1 Token rather than sacrifice their commander or best creature.

Meanwhile, the bonus 4/4 Beast on your side is dependent on you sacrificing a creature as well.

All this talk of sacrifice.

So much negativity.

So Black.

And then we get to his final ability: -3.

See?

More negativity.

Apparently, Liliana's influence on Garruk has become so strong that he can now force all your opponents to discard two cards. Maybe he intimidates them out of their minds. Maybe he smells terrible and simply makes everyone angry. Who knows?

But wait, there's more.

For each opponent who doesn't discard two nonland cards, you draw a card. So, potentially, you could draw up to three cards in a four-player Commander game.

The problem is that it all depends on what your opponents choose to discard.

And that seems to be the issue I have with Garruk, Veiled Butcher.

There are just too many loopholes and too many conditions before you really get to enjoy what he is supposed to do. He feels like a watered-down version of a card concept Wizards may have been working toward for some time, but somehow ended up with a planeswalker that asks you to jump through several hoops before rewarding you with anything worthwhile.

For five mana, I would honestly rather cast the original Liliana Vess.

Sorry, Garruk.

I'm glad you eventually escaped that curse.

Because this version of you?

This version sucks.