Lazotep Sliver - Extended Art (CMM)

Lazotep Sliver
Casting Cost: {3}{B}
Card Type: Creature - Zombie Sliver
Power/Toughness: 4/4

Card Text:

• Sliver creatures you control have afflict 2. (Whenever a creature with afflict 2 becomes blocked, defending player loses 2 life.)
• Whenever a nontoken Sliver you control dies, amass Slivers 2. (Put two +1/+1 counters on an Army you control. It's also a Sliver. If you don't control an Army, create a 0/0 black Sliver Army creature token first.)

Artist: Maxime Minard

Lazotep Sliver introduces an intriguing twist to Sliver synergies, with the "afflict" ability making your Slivers punishing to block and the "amass Slivers" ability providing resilience and growth to your Sliver army.

The afflict mechanic adds a layer of strategy to combat, forcing opponents to weigh the risks of blocking. Meanwhile, the amass Slivers ability provides synergy with other Sliver strategies while introducing a novel intersection between the Sliver tribe and the Army token concept, perhaps symbolizing an unnatural or necrotic binding of the Sliver hive.

Maxime Minard's artwork likely depicts this undead Sliver, showcasing the dark and twisted Lazotep magic that binds it. The blue Lazotep material used by the Eternal army of Nicol Bolas might feature prominently in the design.

This card opens up new design space for Sliver decks and could serve as a key piece in a strategy focused on attrition and incremental advantage.