Guul Draz Assassin MTG Card
2010-04-23 - Number 112
2010-04-23 - Number 112★
2002-06-24 - Number 36875
2020-09-26 - Number ROE-112
| Card sets | Released in 4 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 1 |
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Creature — Vampire Assassin |
| Abilities | Level Up |
| Power | 1 |
| Toughness | 1 |
Text of card
Level up (: Put a level counter on this. Level up only as a sorcery.) LEVEL 2-3 2/2 , : Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn. LEVEL 4+ 4/4 , : Target creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn.
Cards like Guul Draz Assassin
Guul Draz Assassin stands out as an intriguing creature card in Magic: The Gathering, offering both board control and a scaling threat. Its likeness can be drawn to Hex Parasite, as both cards require mana investment to activate key abilities. While Hex Parasite primarily functions to remove counters from permanents at a variable Phyrexian mana cost, Guul Draz Assassin uses level counters to incrementally increase its capabilities.
Evolving alongside Guul Draz Assassin is Vampire Hexmage, a creature known for its ability to strip all counters from a target permanent. This can be seen as a more immediate, albeit one-time use effect, compared to the gradual level-up mechanic of Guul Draz Assassin, which requires a longer-term approach for maximum value.
Ruthless Ripper is another creature that shares a thematic connection through its stealth and deceptiveness. While Ruthless Ripper offers an immediate impact with its morph ability and function as a removal tool, Guul Draz Assassin demands strategic level-up investments leading to a persistent board presence and potential game-ending threat.
Leveraging these comparisons, it’s evident that Guul Draz Assassin provides a unique role within creature cards in Magic: The Gathering, blending utility with the potential for substantial power growth.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Guul Draz Assassin’s level up ability allows you to improve its capabilities progressively, offering significant value over time. As you invest mana to level it up, it becomes a more potent tool, capable of eliminating key threats on the board and hence providing card advantage without additional card draw.
Resource Acceleration: This card, while not directly providing resource acceleration like mana ramp, enables strategic pacing that can effectively set your opponent behind. By removing their creatures, you can slow down their development and maintain a stable board state, keeping you ahead in the race to deploy threats.
Instant Speed: While Guul Draz Assassin itself is not an instant-speed spell, its activated abilities can be used at instant speed once it’s on the battlefield. This gives you the flexibility to take out creatures on your opponent’s turn, disrupting their plans and maintaining an advantage.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: Guul Draz Assassin’s level up mechanic necessitates additional mana investment to activate its potential. This can be restrictive when you’re juggling the need to progress your board state and maintaining mana for other spells.
Specific Mana Cost: With a casting cost that requires black mana, this card is specifically tailored for black or black-inclusive decks, potentially limiting its versatility in a diverse range of deck archetypes.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: To fully unlock Guul Draz Assassin’s killing potential, a significant mana investment is needed. By the time you’ve spent enough to level it up, you may find you’ve bypassed opportunities to use cheaper, more immediately impactful removal spells.
Reasons to Include in Your Collection
Versatility: Guul Draz Assassin offers a unique flexibility for black-centric or multicolored decks. Its level up ability means it can adapt to the state of the game, either as an early-game deterrent or a late-game threat remover.
Combo Potential: This assassin’s upgradeable skills to kill creatures play well with strategies that capitalize on death triggers or require a reliable removal option. As it grows, it can become a cornerstone of a synergy-focused deck.
Meta-Relevance: In environments dominated by creature-based strategies, Guul Draz Assassin’s ability to systematically eliminate key creatures can be a game-changer, making it a relevant choice for anyone looking to keep pace with the current competitive scene.
How to beat
Guul Draz Assassin rises in prominence within Magic: The Gathering due to its potential to disrupt opponent’s strategies by systematically removing their creatures. This versatile assassin starts weak but levels up to become a significant threat. To counter it, prioritize removal spells like Path to Exile or Fatal Push that can target the assassin before it grows out of control. Another tactic is to take advantage of its level up mechanic, which requires mana investment. Use this timing to your advantage by maintaining pressure with your own creatures or spells, assigning resources to develop your board state instead of reacting to the assassin’s presence.
This demanding mana investment for leveling up opens a window for enchantment-based removals such as Banishing Light or Oblivion Ring, which can bypass the problematic ability of the leveled-up assassin. Consider also countermagic like Negate or Essence Scatter when the opponent attempts to level up, to save your resources and keep the board in your favor. Ultimately, staying one step ahead of the Guul Draz Assassin’s abilities by applying consistent pressure and timely removal is key to dominating the game.
While the assassin is a powerful tool for controlling the battlefield, efficient removal and proactive strategies can effectively mitigate the threat it poses in your MTG matches.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Guul Draz Assassin MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and Rise of the Eldrazi, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Guul Draz Assassin and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
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- Card Market
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- MTG Mint Card
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Printings
The Guul Draz Assassin Magic the Gathering card was released in 4 different sets between 2010-04-23 and 2010-04-23. Illustrated by 2 different artists.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magic Online Promos | PRM | 36875 | 2003 | Leveler | Black | Jason A. Engle | ||
| 2 | 2010-04-23 | Rise of the Eldrazi | ROE | 112 | 2003 | Leveler | Black | James Ryman | |
| 3 | 2010-04-23 | Rise of the Eldrazi Promos | PROE | 112★ | 2003 | Leveler | Black | Jason A. Engle | |
| 4 | The List | PLST | ROE-112 | 2003 | Leveler | Black | James Ryman |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Guul Draz Assassin has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Guul Draz Assassin card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2010-06-15 | A creature’s level is based on how many level counters it has on it, not how many times its level up ability has been activated or has resolved. If a leveler gets level counters due to some other effect (such as Clockspinning) or loses level counters for some reason (such as Vampire Hexmage), its level is changed accordingly. |
| 2010-06-15 | Effects that modify a leveler’s power or toughness, such as the effects of Giant Growth or Glorious Anthem, will apply to it no matter when they started to take effect. The same is true for counters that change the creature’s power or toughness (such as +1/+1 counters) and effects that switch its power and toughness. |
| 2010-06-15 | Effects that set a leveler’s power or toughness to a specific value, including the effects from a level symbol’s ability, apply in timestamp order. The timestamp of each level symbol’s ability is the same as the timestamp of the leveler itself, regardless of when the most recent level counter was put on it. |
| 2010-06-15 | If another creature becomes a copy of a leveler, all of the leveler’s printed abilities — including those represented by level symbols — are copied. The current characteristics of the leveler, and the number of level counters on it, are not. The abilities, power, and toughness of the copy will be determined based on how many level counters are on the copy. |
| 2010-06-15 | The abilities a leveler grants to itself don’t overwrite any other abilities it may have. In particular, they don’t overwrite the creature’s level up ability; it always has that. |