A black 5 that is for sure worth talking about! Off the top of my head, the positives:
- Zombie synergy
- Recursion (slow but its something)
- EtB ability that has great synergy with all of black's recursive critters
- EtB ability that could be a really strong token payoff
- Evasion
- 6 toughness is a TON and this guy lives through toughness based sweepers and wildfire
- SICK ART
Wish he had deathtouch so he couldn't be profitably blocked by 2 3/3's or 4/4's.
However, I like the payoff for token and recursive creatures, and his flood protection, even with just an ophiomancer in play a 5/6 menace that draws you a card when it ETB's is not bad. Unlike the boar, drawing him 3 turns later gets you immediate value cause you get to draw more cards. Black 5's are meh, so I think I'll test this if I get my hands on one.
I'm not sure. She's obviously strong, but I'm not sure if I can make room with Custodi Lich, Doom Whisperer, and Shriekmaw. Definitely worth considering, but I don't really want to cut any of those 3 yet.
Not the greatest card on curve (unless this is your Aristocrats top end), but this is super strong late game. Competes directly with Doom Whisperer. Not 360 material to me, but I might give it a test over Doom Whisperer or possibly beside it if I find the space.
My initial reaction is that it doesn’t seem especially difficult to draw most of your deck with it in cube, aristocrats or not. It might actually be at its best in a powered cube where you can go all-in on a storm kill.
Worth a test IMO.
Can't imagine it's anything but mid-late pick filler, but think it can easily compete in that range.
In a deck with a bunch of cheap creature fodder that has diminishing late game returns, this could be an impactful play for 5 mana.
Being able to sac un-needed lands for value is a great option for any sort of agro midrange deck.
Love this card. I'm trying to push Aristocrats and this is such a bonus there. And with all the recursive black creatures, I imagine it will be trivial to draw a few, at least.
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I'm trying to push aristocrats pretty heavily right now so this guy feels like a godsend (ba-doo-tshhhhh) but he's definitely not embarrassing in other strategies. I'm excited to see how Bont2 plays
I like the red one a bit more than this guy. Bontu's good in the aristocrats/braids/pox/sacrecursion shells, but I can't see it being played in many (any?) other archetypes.
I feel like last year before we got Doom Whisperer, this guy would have been much more attractive. Now, Black finally has a good density of powerful 5-drops, so this guy doesn't seem to be worth considering unless you're at 630 or more and are looking for a fourth.
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I think it may be easy to underestimate how good sacrificing any irrelevant permanent for gas could be in the average game. A mana rock, a Sarcomancy, a couple spare tokens, a 1 loyalty walker that is outclassed on the board, two lands, whatever. Bont2 is obviously at his best when you build around him and have death triggers or plentiful tokens, but even in a general midrange list or as a sole 5 drop in black aggro I think he could be really nice.
I think it may be easy to underestimate how good sacrificing any irrelevant permanent for gas could be in the average game. A mana rock, a Sarcomancy, a couple spare tokens, a 1 loyalty walker that is outclassed on the board, two lands, whatever.
I agree, although I may be overestimating this variable heh, but I agree that it's very easy to underestimate.
I think the difference between "sacrifice any permanent" and "sacrifice any creature" is the difference between a card worthy of a test and one that isn't. It's a big deal imo.
Very interesting card, I definitely think this is better than the Boar (considering the competition as well). Not the best on curve as has been mentioned, but you should be able to profitably draw 1-2 cards in most situations. Late game it's a godsend and probably wins you the game on the spot. Absolutely worth testing. I guess this is a cycle? Looking forward to the other ones.
I like that its a zombie... Good ol gravecrawler combo
But really tho, I like casting mulldrifter for 5, so I'm fine with a 5 drop monstrosity consuming a few things to draw cards at that cost. Also, if you have a sac outlet on board (which happens from time to time when playing black) you can sac Bontu in response to its own ETB and draw bontu off of its ability, which I think is super neat. Put things in the yard, draw some cards. Do it again a few turns later when you need more cards?
Side note- Id love to drop bontu out while I control the gitrog monster and just draw a million cards (hell, id tooth and nail for the both of them )
A black 5 that is for sure worth talking about! Off the top of my head, the positives:
- Zombie synergy
- Recursion (slow but its something)
- EtB ability that has great synergy with all of black's recursive critters
- EtB ability that could be a really strong token payoff
- Evasion
- 6 toughness is a TON and this guy lives through toughness based sweepers and wildfire
- SICK ART
Those are my thoughts. What do you guys think?
However, I like the payoff for token and recursive creatures, and his flood protection, even with just an ophiomancer in play a 5/6 menace that draws you a card when it ETB's is not bad. Unlike the boar, drawing him 3 turns later gets you immediate value cause you get to draw more cards. Black 5's are meh, so I think I'll test this if I get my hands on one.
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Can't imagine it's anything but mid-late pick filler, but think it can easily compete in that range.
In a deck with a bunch of cheap creature fodder that has diminishing late game returns, this could be an impactful play for 5 mana.
Being able to sac un-needed lands for value is a great option for any sort of agro midrange deck.
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I want cards I can cheat out turn 2-3 that present an immediate challenge to kill, and that quickly take over the game if unanswered.
Bhon2.0 looks like a card I want to play as late as possible to turn early game tokenmakers and Nekrataals into long term resource advantage.
Looks fine, but not sold.
Don't we all. Lol.
I'm trying to push aristocrats pretty heavily right now so this guy feels like a godsend (ba-doo-tshhhhh) but he's definitely not embarrassing in other strategies. I'm excited to see how Bont2 plays
Ehhh, 5 is low enough that it's fine for midrange value cards IMO.
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Seriously though, I think it's a very nice 5-drop and I think we have room to test it. Looks promising.
I agree, although I may be overestimating this variable heh, but I agree that it's very easy to underestimate.
I think the difference between "sacrifice any permanent" and "sacrifice any creature" is the difference between a card worthy of a test and one that isn't. It's a big deal imo.
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But really tho, I like casting mulldrifter for 5, so I'm fine with a 5 drop monstrosity consuming a few things to draw cards at that cost. Also, if you have a sac outlet on board (which happens from time to time when playing black) you can sac Bontu in response to its own ETB and draw bontu off of its ability, which I think is super neat. Put things in the yard, draw some cards. Do it again a few turns later when you need more cards?
Side note- Id love to drop bontu out while I control the gitrog monster and just draw a million cards (hell, id tooth and nail for the both of them )