Retro Magic: Jihad - Arabian Nights Rare Card Review

by Phoenix A. Desertsong, Staff Writer, Healer & Advocate

 Jihad is sort of an early version of Honor of the Pure and similar to Crusade printed in Alpha/Beta/Unlimited. This card can be a bit better than those two, though. When you play this card, choose a color. As long as your opponent has the chosen color of permanents in play, your White creatures get +2/+1.

Against mono-colored decks this can actually be a killer. White Weenie decks become a lot more powerful with this on the board. Jihad can swing a game in your favor late in the game when your board position is already set up. This will help you get that few extra power you need to deplete your opponent's life total. The drawback is that the boost is dependent on your opponent keeping a permanent of a certain color in play. So, it's not good against every deck.

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Despite its drawback, Jihad is a card that has found its way into more than a few mono-white EDH decks. It could still be quite relevant as a Legacy sideboard option today. The best White Weenie strategy in Legacy in today's Magic is Death and Taxes and I'm not sure this card fits. It's still a cool Enchantment in a White-heavy deck, though. Unfortunately, due to its Reserve List, this is a card that costs hundreds of dollars due to its rarity and we'll never see it printed again.

Have you ever played Jihad?

~ Phoenix <3