Just had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of turn 4 Doom Whisperer that surveiled 4 times to put Griselbrand (and a few other useful things) in the yard and proceeded to animate it. Swung for lethal next turn. Very much a top of the curve scenario (with nice mana as well), but the surveil ability seems like the real deal in reanimator.
As a player I really like Scroll Rack, but in my group the more skilled drafters had a tendency to pick it because they know control often will beat a less well-drafted deck. It increased game length and didn't add to the fun, so I took it out. Haven't looked back. Big Gris is a powerhouse.
It tells you just how unbelievably awful the flavour of Battlebond is that it irks so many of us. I don't think it is nearly good enough to get a spot, but even if it was I would never play this guy. It's like Barbie and MTG made a crossover franchise.
In my 450 list, the creature targets you want are Wurmcoil, Blighsteel, Inkwell and Battleball. That isn't that many, but these cards (except for ol' Wurmy) tends to get picked up by the drafter that already has Tinker, so there is a good chance it will work out. I still think Tinker is a powerhouse as it is unconditional search in a valuable space, and our group occasionally get reminded what a cheated-into-play Mindslaver can do to a man. It isn't leaving my cube anytime soon, as it works very well in artifact.dec and is a one-card combo in a reasonable amount of decks.
There was some grumbling when this came out and it never became the standard powerhouse some hyped it to be, but I put it in at release and have enjoyed since. It oozes flavour, it rewards you for doing what you should be doing anyway (throwing spells) and the flip mode can be a game ending play.
Nearly 5 years - what is the latest status? Did anyone bring it back? My limited experience with it is that it does damage when it hits. And usually delivers 4 mana over two turns, but then sets you back one 'drop for the rest of the game.
Despite the positive reviews upthread, I've noticed that most of you have removed it from your cubes. I also have, but I just passed it in my discarded box, and I thought about whether it should return. I don't think there is much debate whether mining a land turn two in an aggro deck is a good play, but rather if there is a reason we don't do it anymore. My reason to remove it was (probably) that I'd preferred another reanimation spell to it.
After reading your insightful comments, I think I will give it a go with Searing Blaze and just Incinerate and Lightning Strike. In this way I do get some of the redundancy, but also a bit more help to the heavier red decks.
Regarding Belzenlok, he might be better than he seems but I'll let others test him out before deciding. Finding one-two threats might be incredible late game.
What is the current status on this one? For reference I am at 480 cards, powered. I can't decide whether just to get rid of it. It feels like it is forcing people to make a deck that isn't really viable or optimal.
I'm kind of surprised I'm not seeing more talk about this card. This seems to me to be on the level of stuff like Ash Barrens or maybe even City of Brass. Am I crazy?
I don't personally think it is bad, but it is nowhere near City of Brass, or even comparable rather.
Regarding Belzenlok, he might be better than he seems but I'll let others test him out before deciding. Finding one-two threats might be incredible late game.
I don't personally think it is bad, but it is nowhere near City of Brass, or even comparable rather.