Razum-Dar – Uses and Synergies
A Look at The Elder Scrolls Lore
Razum-Dar is a Khajiit spy who was active during the Interregnum in the Second Era. He worked as a member of the Eyes of the Queen, a secret intelligence network that served Queen Ayrenn of the First Aldmeri Dominion. Raz built quite a reputation for himself as a wandering mercenary before he got in touch with Naryu Virian, a famous Morag Tong Assassin, and Queen Ayrenn. As an agent of the secret intelligence network, Razum-Dar got involved in several plots, the ascension of the Lunar Champion to the Mane in Reaper’s March and an investigation of a murder at the Gold Coast. He also uncovered a daedric plot on Summerset Isle.
Razum-Dar in The Elder Scrolls Legends
In Legends, Razum-Dar is a 7-cost 4/3 Khajiit with charge and a powerful ability. Raz draws you a copy of the first card your opponent draws each turn. This can be a card from a rune break on your turn, your opponent’s upkeep draw on their turn, or simply the first card they draw on any turn, such as by way of your Shadowmarking. This is a great unique ability, because you not only get resource extension, but also information on your opponent’s hand.
If they pulled an Ice Storm, you can be confident that you should play around it. If they pulled an Odahviing, you should definitely hold onto your Miraak. Rhazum-Dar‘s special ability gives you information few other cards can. But before we look at additional synergies, let’s evaluate the Khajiit using quadrant theory.
Razum-Dar during Opening
During the first few turns, his high magicka cost is prohibitive. You definitely don’t want to see him in your mulligan. At a cost of 7 magicka, you can use him as a late game card in an aggro deck, in a midrange deck or even in a control deck.
Razum-Dar during Opening in an Aggro Deck
By turn 7 in aggro you want to be closing out the game. Thus you might find him an odd inclusion. But thanks to his charge ability, he can be a fourth Cliff Racer for you. If you get to break your opponent’s rune (which should be relatively easy), you get at least one of their cards, probably even two. While this might not be as interesting in an aggro mirror, it can provide you with a big upside against greedier midrange and control decks. Here, you can pull cards way above your curve that can provide a great amount of utility – just imagine pulling Ancano, Queen’s Captain, Euraxia Tharn, Clivia Tharn, Reanimate, Alfiq Conjurer, etc. Yes, you will have to get lucky, but the longer Razum-Dar is in play, the better your chances. Your opponent will have to deal with him immediately.
Razum-Dar opening in Midrange
When you are running a midrange deck, the chances are much higher that the game will still be in the opening phase by turn 7, where both players are competing to control the board. In midrange, Raz can be used to break the first rune and get access to your opponent’s card pool. You will benefit from this if your opponent is running higher value cards in a greedier midrange or control deck. During this critical phase of the game, where you’re looking to break all your opponent’s runes during the next 1-2 turns, getting additional info about the cards in your opponent’s hand can be really valuable. Razum-Dar makes a lot of sense in midrange decks.
Razum-Dar during Opening in Control
With a control deck, by turn 7 against aggro you’ll have stabilized or lost. While you continue to draw your removal spells and high-value creatures, Razum-Dar can give you access to the aggressive options of your opponent. Ideally, you will be able to leverage the card advantage in a way that forces your opponent to make sub-optimal plays if they cannot remove the Khajiit.
The same threat persists in a midrange or control matchup. Your opponent needs to deal with the Khajiit quickly to avoid you getting card advantage. It should be pretty easy for these decks to remove the Khajiit as so many removal and silencing options will tame him.
Razum-Dar at Parity
At parity, when both players rely on their top-deck, Razum-Dar is a great draw. You can immediately play him, break your opponent’s rune and get card advantage. If your opponent draws a guard, a shackle, a creature without charge or an item, you will be able to keep Raz on board to continue drawing. Only if your opponent draws removal will they be able to remove him. However, you now have a copy of their removal spell in hand and can use it on their next threat.
Razum-Dar when Winning
As you get your opponent onto a two-turn clock, Razum-Dar adds 4 points of damage to your staccato when going face. Since he also provides resource extension, he should be your first play. It will be important to decide on your attack sequence, as Raz will draw a card off the rune break. There are many important decisions you will need to take.
- How many runes will you break?
- Did your opponent draw a removal spell?
- In this case, you might want to go face with full force.If they didn’t and also cannot deal with Raz, will you keep attacking to give them an additional card or will you wait until your next turn to get a copy of their next draw as well?
- How likely is it your opponent draws a removal spell as their top deck?
- Would it be a problem if they removed Raz instead some of your other creatures?
You can see where this is going. Razum-Dar opens some really interesting decision trees that skilled players can use to their advantage.
Razum-Dar as a Turnaround
When you are in need of a turnaround, Raz’s charge ability is most likely needed to remove a threat like Belligerent Giant, Alfiq Conjurer or similar.
His ability to have a direct impact on the board state might be much more valuable during this phase of the game. After all, what good are cards in your hand that you cannot play because your opponent ends the game beforehand? Chances are already low that you will draw a card off your opponent’s rune break that will help you to deal with their board state. And even if you do, you may not have enough magicka remaining to play it this turn.
In fact, unless you have a lot of magicka, chances are low that you will draw another card off your opponent’s rune break that will help you to deal with their board state.
Maybe, just maybe, you can use it in a control matchup as a last resort. But aggro decks will usually not run many lane removal or shackle tools. Your best chance might be to pull a guard.
Card Evaluation Summary
To summarize, Razum-Dar has good use during almost all phases of the game and in all deck archetypes. Only in aggro mirrors is the Khajiit not as strong. Here is our attempt at an overall rating.
| Quadrant | Opening | At Parity | Winning | Losing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
Rating Scale: 1 – Very Weak. 2- Weak. 3- OK. 4- Strong. 5- Very Strong.
Synergies
For a unique legendary with a very unique effect, it is sometimes not as easy to find synergies. For the fun of it, let’s start with some anti-synergy. How about playing Thieves Guild Shadowfoot and then break a rune Raz? Well, that would be a legends highlight to have on video, I guess. But seriously, now: the synergies…
Blinking and Copying
With an additional creature on board that can deal 3 additional damage you can use Razum-Dar to break a rune, play Dark Rebirth to summon a copy of him and go face with the remaining creatures to break the second rune to get two of your opponent’s cards. It’s also a potential way to revitalize Raz when your opponent silences him.
By using Galyn or Doppelganger you can get a second copy of Raz into play allowing you to double draw the cards of your opponent. They will be a little harder to remove with single target removal, but still both die to Ice Storm, unfortunately…
Luzrah gro-Shar
Luzrah gro-Shar is a popular inclusion in midrange and proactive control decks as it buffs your creatures that cost 6 or more by +2/ +2, while getting a +2/+2 buff herself as well. Unfortunately (or luckily, actually), these are both unique legendaries, so getting both of them in hand is not particularly easy. But with Odirniran Necromancer you can bring back Luzrah from your discard pile. Also, with Luzrah in play, you can use Necromancer to pull back Razum-Dar from your discard pile. A fun new combo for Telvanni decks that are already pretty good at making use of Altar of Despair to tutor cards from their deck.
Destroying your Opponent’s Top Deck
Here is a devious idea for slower decks. If your opponent has no cards in hand, your Razum-Dar can draw a copy of their only card. At the same time, you get to know what that card is. With Hallowed Deathpriest (who can be tutored with Wake the Dead), you can turn it into a mummy if it is a creature. If it is an action, you can play Grummite Magus to see it discarded. Best of all, with Gentleman Jim Stacey you can even steal it, and if you don’t want to use Dark Rebirth on Raz you can still use it on the Redguard…
Honorable mention goes to Caius Cosades who is a little easier to trigger with better information about your opponent’s hand. However, the likelihood of your opponent holding no cards while you have a lot of cards in hand is rather unlikely. And even then, Caius Cosades is still not a great play, unless you happen to have Odirniran Necromancer in hand.
Summary
Razum-Dar is a card with good uses in all phases of the game, particularly at parity. It provides reach and can provide card advantage. Most typically, it will draw you two cards, which can also be achieved by including Spoils of War or Cornerclub Gambler in your deck. And while the drawing capability can be replaced (and you will usually prefer to draw cards from your own deck), the intelligence you gain about your opponent’s hand can be really valuable. Of course, he does not always guarantee a great set of draws, but you get to mirror at least part of your opponent’s hand. Raz will need to get removed sooner rather than later and can also bait out a silence or removal, in case you have an 8-cost creature in hand you want to see survive.
Razum-Dar has definitely proven to be one of the legendaries from Moons of Elsweyr that does see competitive play and it is used on ladder quite frequently. While it’s not the top card from MoE, and you don’t need to prioritize crafting it, Razum-Dar is still one that is worth owning for the fun factor and the uniqueness of the effect.
Did we miss any synergies? Do you have a favorite deck for Razum-Dar? Did you try the Razum-Stacey trick? Please let us know in the comments…
