Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Cleaving Reaper: Rewriting the Numbers in Creature Combat

Among the black-red tension of Kaldheim’s battlefield, Cleaving Reaper emerges as more than a stat line — it’s a study in tempo, value, and the subtle art of forcing a math rethink mid-game. This is a creature that costs {3}{B}{B} for a 5/3 with flying and trample, a profile that already pokes at the margins of early- to mid-game board states. But its true edge is not just the power and evasion; it’s the ability to recoup itself from the graveyard by paying life, under a very particular timing condition. The flavor text hints at a blade that values precision and consequence: "I won't pollute my blade with your blood, demon. You'll die by your own axe!" 🧙‍♂️🔥

In practical terms, Cleaving Reaper invites you to champion a shift in combat math. A 5/3 with flying and trample can threaten to bust through most ground failsafes, especially if your opponent can’t muster a single blockers or has to commit multiple blockers to absorb the damage. When you analyze a single combat, the numbers aren’t just about “can I deal damage” but “how much damage to the opponent’s face can I push beyond blockers, and can I sustain pressure by recurring the Reaper?” This is where the card’s recursion ability starts to tilt the balance. Paying 3 life to return this card from your graveyard to your hand—usable only if an Angel or Berserker entered the battlefield under your control that turn—adds a jerkily satisfying loop potential, provided you can meet the requirement. ⚔️

Let’s break down a few typical scenarios to illustrate the combat math at play:

• Ignoring the ground with impact: Attack with Cleaving Reaper into a single 2/2 with flying or a 3/3. If it’s blocked, you assign lethal damage to the blocker (2 or 3), then you can assign any remaining power to the defending player. In this case, 2 or 3 of the Reaper’s 5 power goes to the blocker, and the rest bleeds over as combat damage. The result is a clean exchange that leaves you with the Reaper in the opponent’s face—if you can survive the post-combat life total toll, the graveyard recursion becomes a tempo asset. 🧙‍♂️
• Blocking realities and trample leverage: If a single 4/4 blocks, Cleaving Reaper can push through 1 damage to the opponent due to trample, while the blocker eats 4. The math rewards finding ways to pressure a range of blockers or force bad trades, especially when you’ve got a second threat on board or a way to threaten Reaper’s recast. The flying keyword ensures air superiority against many ground-only boards, widening the window for optimal lines. 🔥
• Recasting as a tempo engine: The card’s cost and effect encourage a lifecycle pattern: you play Reaper, you push damage, it dies, you pay 3 life to return it to hand at the right moment (only if the specific ETB condition has occurred). If you can orchestrate an Angel or Berserker entering the battlefield that turn—perhaps through a token generator or a tribal payoff—Reaper can rebound and re-enter the battlefield’s arithmetic a turn or two later. This is where deck design becomes a puzzle: how can you reliably trigger that ETB condition while maintaining pressure? 🧙‍♂️💎
• Trade-offs in life total: The return-to-hand cost is not free. Paying 3 life on a board where you’re already forward in damage must be weighed against potential recurrences. In long games, that life toll is real, but the upside is a repeated threat that can force an opponent to overcommit blockers or waste removal. The decision hinges on your life-total safety net and how aggressively you want to push a single creature through multiple times. 🎲

Design-wise, Cleaving Reaper sits comfortably in mono-Black shells or Jund-like aristocrat arrays that want high-impact bodies with value. Its rarity as a rare in Kaldheim reflects the set’s tribal experimentation: a creature that trades raw, pants-on-fire aggression for a delayed, precise toolkit. The card’s art by Victor Adame Minguez captures a winter-dark, rune-charged aura that feels both merciless and magical, a perfect complement to the card’s dual nature. The modern battlefield loves when numbers bend to a clever plan, and this Reaper embodies that spirit with a whisper of necrotic elegance. 🎨

For players chasing a mix of midrange inevitability and graveyard resilience, Cleaving Reaper offers a meaningful axis to explore. It’s not just about a single swing; it’s about shaping the tempo of a game across multiple turns. If you lean into the "enter-the-battlefield this turn" trigger with other Angels or Berserkers—think of a turn that creates a new finisher on top of the Reaper’s own arrival—you unlock a layered, almost ritualistic combat math that can outsmart simple linear damage plans. It’s the kind of card that rewards careful sequencing, precise blocks, and a bit of appetite for risk. 🧙‍♂️🔥

In a crowded field of modern Black-based threats, Cleaving Reaper remains an elegant reminder: sometimes the air you swing through and the life you pay to fetch back a threat can be the exact edge you need to tilt the scale. And in a game where every decision compounds, counting every damaged line and every triggered ability matters as much as drawing that next land. The Reaper doesn’t erase other strategies; it redefines how you evaluate them on the battlefield. 💎⚔️

More from our network

• https://x-landing.zero-static.xyz/97442860.html
• https://articles.zero-static.xyz/blog/post/devil-may-cry-3s-impact-on-gaming-culture-and-boss-fights/
• https://blog.zero-static.xyz/blog/post/street-fighter-ii-redefined-the-fighting-game-genre-forever/
• https://rusty-articles.xyz/tmpbo05oy6z/0c56822a.html
• https://crypto-acolytes.xyz/blog/post/from-grids-to-grand-streets-minecraft-city-maps/