Source: https://www.pojo.com/magic/COTD/2004/March2004/5.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 03:53:43+00:00

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This guy is great if you have a fast deck, especially if you're going first. But beware of things like Pacifism, as it will likely be the death of you unless you find a way to off your own Anurid. Wretched Anurid is a double edged sword. If you know how to wield it, you can do some serious damage, often unto the death of your opponent. But in fumbling hands, this sword can turn on you and be your own death.
Trouble is, he doesn't have a place to fit in today's environment. It would be a nice suicide black card, but there isn't a current suicide build. He doesn't make it in casual, as casual is more about fat and tricks than quickness. His place to shine, or in some cases, hurt yourself, is limited. But again, beware the Pacifism.
Finally, to a stand alone Onslaught card. You get a 3/3 body for 2 mana, but you take damage whenever a creature comes into play. If you can get going quick enough, you can possibly steal the game before your opponent gets set up. Otherwise, he'll either be Wrathed away, or worse yet, your opponent will play a bunch of creatures (or cycle a huge Decree), killing you.
Limited is too creature reliant to even think about something like this.
I wouldn't run this in casual either. Although you could surprise someone with a quick deck, the hazard of someone having creatures increases almost exponentially with the number of players in the game.
I love this guy. Usually when you get an undercosted creature, they have a HUGE drawback. However, this guys drawback isn't so bad. You can even make use of him in a Zombie deck. You can play him in a beat deck and when he get out of hand, you can feel free to sacrifice him to Ravenous Baloth. It's unfortunate that his time in the standard environment is now limited, because this was a highly underused and underrated creature.
Casual players hate losing life. This statement is waaaaay true. They hate losing life even more so from their own cards. Lots of casual players hate pain lands. Lots of casual players hate City of Brass. They will definitely not like this guy. Besides, in casual games, four or five creatures may get cast before it's even your turn again.
In limited, this guy's play value is totally dependent on what you draft to go along with him.
hit in constructed. He appears occasionally in casual mono black decks.
I'm not gonna lie, 2 mana for a 3/3 is good times where I come from. This guy lays the beats and lays them quick. And he's a zombie, so he gets all the benefits of being a zombie: rotting flesh, eternal life, exciting nightlife. Oh, and he also can be pumped and affected by zombie based cards. While his loss of life "problem" can cause you some rough times, I think this guy is very playable and suggest it.
I personally have always like this beast. A low mana cost for a 3/3 that’s drawback is easy to deal with. Playing this guy on turn one or turn two can make put your opponent on a real clock. In a zombie deck I would just make sure to play him with creatures like greater harvester or Nantuko Husk so that you can get rid of him when his lose a life ability gets out of control.
3/3’s for two are supposed to make it into constructed decks in droves, especially ones with minimal drawbacks. This poor guy, however, just hasn’t been able to make the cut anywhere, mostly because the control decks have been so good for so long that we haven’t been able to see a real aggressive deck make a run. Maybe it’s possible that this guy will get in with the recent resurgence of aggro that has come about due to Skullclamp.
In limited, this guy went back and forth between, “Love him! BEATDOWN!” and, “I hate that guy, get him out of that pile you call a deck.” With the number of morphs available in the set, you were almost always guaranteed to take some quick pain from this guy if you dropped him on turn two. The damage he dealt generally made up for it in pretty short order. The availability of Nantuko Husk and Carrion Feeder in the same block kept him from being bad if you drew him in a tight spot.
In casual play, this guy is just begging to have random creature-generators played against him. For Mental Magic, while he’s not bad as beatdown, this casting cost generally almost always has so much it can do that you’ll probably never see him.
Meant for Suicide Black IMO. It isn t that bad, as people probably won t block this (so as to continue the loss of life) but the damage will add up. Combine with Loxodon Warhammer, and you could have a pretty quick damage dealer. I have a SB deck and it runs this, Grinning Demon, and Bane of the Living. With Greaves and Warhammer, it gets scary.
In Casual, I d rather slap down a fatty that doesn t have drawbacks. Casual isn t about speed. Plus I d rather have a Zombie based deck which this doesn t go in.
In Limited, you can t take advantage of the speed as much as you can in Constructed. Plus, in limited, you want to have a lot creatures. I d pass.

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