Lelouch32
11-01-2010, 11:16 PM
Sorin Markov: Why Ain’t He Played
By: Corlando
Ladies and gentlemen; it is time for this week’s edition of Cards n’Flux. Corlando here, your hopefully funny and quirky guide through the world of Magic the Gathering, the card game that we all love so very much. Anyway, with the end of the Scars of Mirrodin Game Day, I feel I can finally step away from the new set, having given it quite a bit of attention over the past month. This then brings up the question of what will this week’s article be about. Today’s topic will be Sorin Markov, the vampiric Planeswalker of Zendikar and why he isn’t played in standard. Well with the topic outlined, let’s hop right in.
Sorin Markov, the only planeswalker who could make Edward Cullen ashamed of himself. Being alive for Bolas knows how long, Sorin has become a powerful sorcerer, relying mostly on a type of magic known as Sangromancy better known as blood magic. This powerful branch of magic gives him the ability to siphon life, cast curses on his enemies, or even dominate a victim’s mind. However, don’t just think this ashen skinned, white haired, man is just some overly powered mage. Sorin knows his way with a blade too and being alive as long as he has been, Sorin probably know moves that would even make shonen manga characters questioning how many laws of physics this vampire just broke.
In summary, Sorin Markov is a literal reservoir of ideas and power, ready for use to make a perfectly awesome and useable Planeswalker and wizards have done exactly that. However, no matter where you look in standard there is neither hide nor hair of this terrifying and awesome vampire. Why is that? Well to be honest you only have to look at the card to understand.
Look at Sorin Markov’s planeswalker card, at first glance we can see one of, if not the, main reasons why he isn’t played. Coming in at :mana3::manab::manab::manab:, Sorin is the second most expensive planeswalker to date. This makes him pretty unplayable. Why? The key to most magic is speed. How soon can you play this card? How quickly can your win plan begin? That’s why creatures with Haste are pretty darn useful. As soon as they hit the field they can begin to affect the flow of the game. Sorin’s cost is probably the biggest hindrance to his actually playability because by the time you finally get Sorin out, your opponent, no doubt, already has some big creature on the field or some other way of dealing with him. I mean look at Koth of the Hammer. Koth is a :mana2::manar::manar: planeswalker meaning that he fits in perfectly with the decks that are currently being played. He is fast to play, brings the heat, and knows exactly how bring the power of Red mana right into an opponent’s face. Red Deck Wins will never be the same again. Jace Beleren is another example of this as well. Being the cheapest Planeswalker as of yet, :mana1::manau::manau:, Jace Beleren is amazingly useful and actually affects both you and your opponent’s as early as turn three. This means you can start to get card advantage in the early game where it is always useful. As Sorin stands now, he will probably never be played outside of casual, which is okay, but I still think he deserves more.
Now a bad mana cost definitely hurts Sorin, but what else could play into the reason why so few players play him. Other than his mana cost, his starting loyalty is 4… though it could stand to be higher especially if he is such a late game card. However, one thing that I personally think hinders Sorin, again not as much as his cost, is the fact that he really does not affect the game that much. Let me show you what I mean. Look at Sorin’s first ability, “+2, Sorin Markov deals 2 damage to target creature or player and you gain two life.” Well this is nice ability, but it just doesn’t do that much. Granted this ability could be useful in getting rid of Myrs, Noble Hierarchs, or that pesky Runeclaw Bear, but gaining two life really is not all that awesome of a bonus. Sure it might help stave off death a little, but it’s just not enough. It’s like you’re trying to tie down a boat and you throw a line to your friend on the dock, but the line is too short. Someone feels useless while someone else is left drifting back out to sea against his or her will. If Wizards ever decides to remake Sorin, they will definitely have to pump this ability or completely change it.
Now what about Sorin’s other abilities, do they damage or reinforce the desire for people to play Sorin? In opinion I’d have to say they do both. Let me explain. Sorin’s second ability reads, “Target opponent’s life total becomes 10.” This ability is nice because during the early days of Zendikar there were a number of vampires that required an opponent’s life total to be 10 or less for their abilities to kick in. A few examples are Bloodghast who gains haste, Vampire Lacerator who stops hurting you, and even Ruthless Cullblade from Worldwake who gains +2/+1 becoming a 4/2. Now this seems like a pretty good ability, limiting, but also relatively reachable. Saying all that, again returning to how late game Sorin is, what opponent is going to have more than 10 life by turn 6. I’ll tell you what kind, an opponent that is pretty close to winning the game. With this in mind, activating Sorin’s second ability might actually gain your opponent life instead of actually helping you. Also, we have already seen a trend of vampires turning away from the 10 or lower life requirement so this ability is being forgotten. Out of the past 20 vampires released by Wizards, Ruthless Cullblade was the only one to use this ability. Going back into Zendikar, this adds another 9 vampires (not including Sorin) to the total and only 3 of those actually used the ability. This 10 life ability is dead in my book and we need something to replace it.
Now for all my railing against Sorin, I have to say there is one thing that I truly do like about Sorin as he current stands in Magic. Sorin’s final ability is like a thick New York steak, warm, juicy, and full of wonderful flavor. The ability reads, “-7, You control target player’s next turn.” This is an awesome ability that truly advertises Sorin’s power of Sangromancy, plus who doesn’t love the idea of controlling another player’s turn. “Oh look at the Lightning Bolt you just drew. That probably would have been a real bother to deal with, but instead I’ll have you lightning bolt yourself… or maybe your White Knight.” In a multiplayer match, this ability is truly awesome. “Let’s see, I’ll have you attack your best friend with your Baneslayer Angel, killing him. Then I’ll force you to sacrifice your angel to your Culling Dias. Isn’t life great?” This ability is so much fun and powerful. You could tap your opponent’s mana producing creatures for mana to power a Fireball to knock them down to kill range. There are so many applications for this ability and its one that I really, really like.
Alright, so now to the point of this otherwise purposeless discussion. I got the idea for this article from talking and chatting with you guys about your thoughts on a hopeful new Tezzert and the implications and powers of a new Garruk. As such, it’s now my time to step up to the plate and do my best to redo Sorin Markov, probably my favorite planeswalker.
As I said, in my opinion, Sorin’s first ability definitely needs to be tweaked. Now we cannot just turn the dial on Sorin’s damage dealing/life gaining potential up to 3, that just perpetuates the problem. Besides we already have Lightning Helix on a stick in the form of Ajani Vengant. Instead, why don’t we try to tie Sorin to the tribe he comes from, vampires? This would both limit and yet bolster Sorin’s affect on the game. Why not an ability that says, “+1, Sorin Markov deals X damage to target creature (or player) equal to the amount of vampires you control.” I think that works rather well because then the ability is not flimsy and useless like his old ability, but the ability isn’t all that breakable because of the destructive force of Day of Judgment, Consume the Meek, and All is Dust. I think that would be pretty fun.
Sorin’s second ability also needs some tweaking. Now I understand why Wizards decided to go this route with Sorin’s ability. They really wanted to outline what abilities were available to Sangromancers. They wanted people to see that Sorin could siphon life, call down curses, and dominate the weak. However, there are other ways to curse someone. If I were the one remaking Sorin, I would definitely give him an ability like this, “-X, Creatures target opponent controls get -X/-X till the end of the turn.” Again this ability is strong, but also limited by the number of counters on Sorin and the fact that it is to target opponent and not all. I was originally planning to limit it even more by having it be -0/-X meaning the creatures would be weaker, but still pack their punch. It’s an ability I’m happy with, but I still would like to fix it up a little more to make it work.
As for Sorin’s final ability, his ultimate, I would be quite happy keeping it where it is, “-7, You control target player’s next turn.” This ability works pretty nicely, though I might cut the loyalty to 6 instead of 7. However, there is another ability bouncing around in my head that I really like and I feel would also be useful in advertising the power of Sorin’s Sangromancy. “-6, Take control of three target creatures for the rest of the game. Untap these creatures. They are vampires including their other types.” This ability seems a little wonky, but let me explain. It’s one thing to be able to take over someone’s mind for a turn, but it takes real skill to take over three different minds, the minds of raging, confused monsters, and then turn them to your side forever. That is true power not to mention the fact that it then plays into Sorin’s first ability, allowing him to siphon even more life next turn. That would be really awesome and could be considered an improvement over the old Sorin.
So how do we make this guy truly effective? How do we show that Sorin is the true badass that he has been for centuries? Answer: give him a good starting loyalty and cost. Starting off at 3 like Jace, the Mind Sculptor sound be pretty good. As for his cost, I will freely admit that my ideas for Sorin put him in the danger zone. He has Vampire sensitive Corrupt, a board clearer, and three mind controls on his belt so dropping him to something like :mana2::manab::manab: just seems a little too much that early in the game. I think it might work, but it would also be pretty broken. Instead, dropping him to :mana3::manab::manab: seems more reasonable. Granted he still is a late joiner and still might not be played in standard, but at least now he would have a chance of seeing standard play.
So when we’re all said an done, this is my version of Sorin:
Sorin Markov the Vampire Lord :mana3::manab::manab: (mythic rare)
-1: Sorin Markov deals X damage to target creature or player equal to the amount of vampires you control
-X: Creatures target opponent controls get -X/-X till the end of the turn
-6: Take control of three target creatures for the rest of the game. Untap these creatures. They are vampires including their other types.
Loyalty: 3
I like it. Granted this is all speculation and probably won’t amount to anything, but it was still fun.
And now everyone’s favorite section, The Closing Questions Section:
1. Were you unhappy as I was when Rise of the Eldrazi came out and we didn’t get a brand new Sorin or Nissa?
2. What are your feelings on the current Sorin Markov?
3. How would you redo Sorin Markov?
Well everyone, thank you for reading this article. I look forward to writing another article next week. It will be a nice break from weeks of research and locking myself in my dorm room to keep myself focused on my work. And as always, “Etherium is limited. Innovation is not.” This is Corlando signing out.
By: Corlando
Ladies and gentlemen; it is time for this week’s edition of Cards n’Flux. Corlando here, your hopefully funny and quirky guide through the world of Magic the Gathering, the card game that we all love so very much. Anyway, with the end of the Scars of Mirrodin Game Day, I feel I can finally step away from the new set, having given it quite a bit of attention over the past month. This then brings up the question of what will this week’s article be about. Today’s topic will be Sorin Markov, the vampiric Planeswalker of Zendikar and why he isn’t played in standard. Well with the topic outlined, let’s hop right in.
Sorin Markov, the only planeswalker who could make Edward Cullen ashamed of himself. Being alive for Bolas knows how long, Sorin has become a powerful sorcerer, relying mostly on a type of magic known as Sangromancy better known as blood magic. This powerful branch of magic gives him the ability to siphon life, cast curses on his enemies, or even dominate a victim’s mind. However, don’t just think this ashen skinned, white haired, man is just some overly powered mage. Sorin knows his way with a blade too and being alive as long as he has been, Sorin probably know moves that would even make shonen manga characters questioning how many laws of physics this vampire just broke.
In summary, Sorin Markov is a literal reservoir of ideas and power, ready for use to make a perfectly awesome and useable Planeswalker and wizards have done exactly that. However, no matter where you look in standard there is neither hide nor hair of this terrifying and awesome vampire. Why is that? Well to be honest you only have to look at the card to understand.
Look at Sorin Markov’s planeswalker card, at first glance we can see one of, if not the, main reasons why he isn’t played. Coming in at :mana3::manab::manab::manab:, Sorin is the second most expensive planeswalker to date. This makes him pretty unplayable. Why? The key to most magic is speed. How soon can you play this card? How quickly can your win plan begin? That’s why creatures with Haste are pretty darn useful. As soon as they hit the field they can begin to affect the flow of the game. Sorin’s cost is probably the biggest hindrance to his actually playability because by the time you finally get Sorin out, your opponent, no doubt, already has some big creature on the field or some other way of dealing with him. I mean look at Koth of the Hammer. Koth is a :mana2::manar::manar: planeswalker meaning that he fits in perfectly with the decks that are currently being played. He is fast to play, brings the heat, and knows exactly how bring the power of Red mana right into an opponent’s face. Red Deck Wins will never be the same again. Jace Beleren is another example of this as well. Being the cheapest Planeswalker as of yet, :mana1::manau::manau:, Jace Beleren is amazingly useful and actually affects both you and your opponent’s as early as turn three. This means you can start to get card advantage in the early game where it is always useful. As Sorin stands now, he will probably never be played outside of casual, which is okay, but I still think he deserves more.
Now a bad mana cost definitely hurts Sorin, but what else could play into the reason why so few players play him. Other than his mana cost, his starting loyalty is 4… though it could stand to be higher especially if he is such a late game card. However, one thing that I personally think hinders Sorin, again not as much as his cost, is the fact that he really does not affect the game that much. Let me show you what I mean. Look at Sorin’s first ability, “+2, Sorin Markov deals 2 damage to target creature or player and you gain two life.” Well this is nice ability, but it just doesn’t do that much. Granted this ability could be useful in getting rid of Myrs, Noble Hierarchs, or that pesky Runeclaw Bear, but gaining two life really is not all that awesome of a bonus. Sure it might help stave off death a little, but it’s just not enough. It’s like you’re trying to tie down a boat and you throw a line to your friend on the dock, but the line is too short. Someone feels useless while someone else is left drifting back out to sea against his or her will. If Wizards ever decides to remake Sorin, they will definitely have to pump this ability or completely change it.
Now what about Sorin’s other abilities, do they damage or reinforce the desire for people to play Sorin? In opinion I’d have to say they do both. Let me explain. Sorin’s second ability reads, “Target opponent’s life total becomes 10.” This ability is nice because during the early days of Zendikar there were a number of vampires that required an opponent’s life total to be 10 or less for their abilities to kick in. A few examples are Bloodghast who gains haste, Vampire Lacerator who stops hurting you, and even Ruthless Cullblade from Worldwake who gains +2/+1 becoming a 4/2. Now this seems like a pretty good ability, limiting, but also relatively reachable. Saying all that, again returning to how late game Sorin is, what opponent is going to have more than 10 life by turn 6. I’ll tell you what kind, an opponent that is pretty close to winning the game. With this in mind, activating Sorin’s second ability might actually gain your opponent life instead of actually helping you. Also, we have already seen a trend of vampires turning away from the 10 or lower life requirement so this ability is being forgotten. Out of the past 20 vampires released by Wizards, Ruthless Cullblade was the only one to use this ability. Going back into Zendikar, this adds another 9 vampires (not including Sorin) to the total and only 3 of those actually used the ability. This 10 life ability is dead in my book and we need something to replace it.
Now for all my railing against Sorin, I have to say there is one thing that I truly do like about Sorin as he current stands in Magic. Sorin’s final ability is like a thick New York steak, warm, juicy, and full of wonderful flavor. The ability reads, “-7, You control target player’s next turn.” This is an awesome ability that truly advertises Sorin’s power of Sangromancy, plus who doesn’t love the idea of controlling another player’s turn. “Oh look at the Lightning Bolt you just drew. That probably would have been a real bother to deal with, but instead I’ll have you lightning bolt yourself… or maybe your White Knight.” In a multiplayer match, this ability is truly awesome. “Let’s see, I’ll have you attack your best friend with your Baneslayer Angel, killing him. Then I’ll force you to sacrifice your angel to your Culling Dias. Isn’t life great?” This ability is so much fun and powerful. You could tap your opponent’s mana producing creatures for mana to power a Fireball to knock them down to kill range. There are so many applications for this ability and its one that I really, really like.
Alright, so now to the point of this otherwise purposeless discussion. I got the idea for this article from talking and chatting with you guys about your thoughts on a hopeful new Tezzert and the implications and powers of a new Garruk. As such, it’s now my time to step up to the plate and do my best to redo Sorin Markov, probably my favorite planeswalker.
As I said, in my opinion, Sorin’s first ability definitely needs to be tweaked. Now we cannot just turn the dial on Sorin’s damage dealing/life gaining potential up to 3, that just perpetuates the problem. Besides we already have Lightning Helix on a stick in the form of Ajani Vengant. Instead, why don’t we try to tie Sorin to the tribe he comes from, vampires? This would both limit and yet bolster Sorin’s affect on the game. Why not an ability that says, “+1, Sorin Markov deals X damage to target creature (or player) equal to the amount of vampires you control.” I think that works rather well because then the ability is not flimsy and useless like his old ability, but the ability isn’t all that breakable because of the destructive force of Day of Judgment, Consume the Meek, and All is Dust. I think that would be pretty fun.
Sorin’s second ability also needs some tweaking. Now I understand why Wizards decided to go this route with Sorin’s ability. They really wanted to outline what abilities were available to Sangromancers. They wanted people to see that Sorin could siphon life, call down curses, and dominate the weak. However, there are other ways to curse someone. If I were the one remaking Sorin, I would definitely give him an ability like this, “-X, Creatures target opponent controls get -X/-X till the end of the turn.” Again this ability is strong, but also limited by the number of counters on Sorin and the fact that it is to target opponent and not all. I was originally planning to limit it even more by having it be -0/-X meaning the creatures would be weaker, but still pack their punch. It’s an ability I’m happy with, but I still would like to fix it up a little more to make it work.
As for Sorin’s final ability, his ultimate, I would be quite happy keeping it where it is, “-7, You control target player’s next turn.” This ability works pretty nicely, though I might cut the loyalty to 6 instead of 7. However, there is another ability bouncing around in my head that I really like and I feel would also be useful in advertising the power of Sorin’s Sangromancy. “-6, Take control of three target creatures for the rest of the game. Untap these creatures. They are vampires including their other types.” This ability seems a little wonky, but let me explain. It’s one thing to be able to take over someone’s mind for a turn, but it takes real skill to take over three different minds, the minds of raging, confused monsters, and then turn them to your side forever. That is true power not to mention the fact that it then plays into Sorin’s first ability, allowing him to siphon even more life next turn. That would be really awesome and could be considered an improvement over the old Sorin.
So how do we make this guy truly effective? How do we show that Sorin is the true badass that he has been for centuries? Answer: give him a good starting loyalty and cost. Starting off at 3 like Jace, the Mind Sculptor sound be pretty good. As for his cost, I will freely admit that my ideas for Sorin put him in the danger zone. He has Vampire sensitive Corrupt, a board clearer, and three mind controls on his belt so dropping him to something like :mana2::manab::manab: just seems a little too much that early in the game. I think it might work, but it would also be pretty broken. Instead, dropping him to :mana3::manab::manab: seems more reasonable. Granted he still is a late joiner and still might not be played in standard, but at least now he would have a chance of seeing standard play.
So when we’re all said an done, this is my version of Sorin:
Sorin Markov the Vampire Lord :mana3::manab::manab: (mythic rare)
-1: Sorin Markov deals X damage to target creature or player equal to the amount of vampires you control
-X: Creatures target opponent controls get -X/-X till the end of the turn
-6: Take control of three target creatures for the rest of the game. Untap these creatures. They are vampires including their other types.
Loyalty: 3
I like it. Granted this is all speculation and probably won’t amount to anything, but it was still fun.
And now everyone’s favorite section, The Closing Questions Section:
1. Were you unhappy as I was when Rise of the Eldrazi came out and we didn’t get a brand new Sorin or Nissa?
2. What are your feelings on the current Sorin Markov?
3. How would you redo Sorin Markov?
Well everyone, thank you for reading this article. I look forward to writing another article next week. It will be a nice break from weeks of research and locking myself in my dorm room to keep myself focused on my work. And as always, “Etherium is limited. Innovation is not.” This is Corlando signing out.