"Sorin, Solemn Visitor:Demanding Tribute"

"Sorin, Solemn Visitor:Demanding Tribute"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

I have always wondered if they would print enough versions of Sorin that I could write a story involving at least 3 different versions of him.I had no idea when Wizards of the coast would actually do it so when they rolled out Sorin,Solemn Visitor I was happy. Now I have an extra story back log.Thanks Wizards of the coast!

Now on to the card , Sorin, Solemn Visitor has the same cost as Sorin,Lord of Innistrad.4 mana.2 colorless, Black and White.With a starting Planeswalker loyalty counter of 4.

From the get go Sorin, Solemn Visitor feels like a support card rather than a planeswalker who will be kicking ass in Tarkir. of course he has the +1/0 and Lifelink to all creatures you control until end of turn.A stat pump! Possibly winning you the game or delaying the game enough so you could pull off a win because you have gained enough life to survive your opponents next round of attack.It sounds pretty good in a Orzhov EDH deck that features a lot of spirit tokens and such.

Sorin, Solemn Visitor has in my opinion a very iffy 2nd ability. A minus 2 that lets you have a 2/2 Black flying vampire creature token.I don't think that most players would even play this ability unless they really need to. I mean you weaken Sorin enough by bringing out a vampire that he is just a Lightning strike away from going to your graveyard.The cost is simply too high for a creature.Then again if a creature is what you need at least Sorin, Solemn Visitor is giving you that option.

I guess what players really want to take advantage of is Sorin, Solemn Visitors emblem which makes your opponent sacrifice a creature on his upkeep. It would really work to your advantage if you had a Mimic vat , It that Betrays or Grave Betrayal already in play because you end up with those Sacrificed creatures.

Normally it would take up to 3 turns to get the emblem. With a Chain Veil in play that is significantly lowered to 2 turns.Yeah. I am excited to add this guy to my existing Teysa deck. Might be fun.

"Bend the knee , your Lord Returns…"

"Bend the knee , your Lord Returns…"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

Sorin Markov is back. Back to his home plane of Innistrad and he isn’t too happy about what has been going in his absence. The humans are being overrun by monsters on all sides and the sentinel which he has put in place as the protector of his realm has gone missing. I’m excited to speculate what Avacyn would be like when she finally gets her own card in Avacyn restored, the last angel that was also created by a magic character was Akroma, Angel of Wrath and she turned out pretty good. I wonder what she would be like but Avacyn aside Sorin Markov will be coming in to the second expansion as a leaner, easier to cast planeswalker, if you are playing dual colors of black and white. There will be a lot of control decks that will be bringing in the Lord of Innistrad himself into play , vampire decks might get a boon from him , his first planeswalker ability is to create a 1/1 vampire with lifelink. It could be a blocker early if you don’t have a creature in play to make sure good ol Markov will survive the next few turns. Or if you already have several creatures on the battle field you can already use his second ability. It gives you an unremovable emblem that says all your creatures get +1/0. A very great offensive boost if you are out to finish your opponent early or if the opportunity has presented itself for a beat down. Sorin Markov is versatile in this regard if you have a pretty offensive mindset when you play him otherwise his advantage is lost. Another thing is that his final ability, the flavorful “create more minions” skill, allows you to destroy up to 3 target creatures or planeswalkers and put them on your side of the battle field. Imagine having Liliana and Karn on your side as the game progresses or even wiping out 3 of the biggest creatures on the table and having them for yourself to finish off your opponent in the next turn. The control part of Sorins ability is good for the end game and before he actually gets to it, it would mean that you have at least 3 vampires already on the field. Yup, I never did like vampires before but I would sure as hell won’t pass up to play Sorin when I can.