If Bone Shards has taught me anything, it's that it's a supplemental discard outlet since it requires your opponent to have a creature and that those are not substitutes for dedicated discard outlets. I'd much rather have Collective Brutality in any reanimator / Recurring Nightmare shell since I can always target my opponent on turn 2, is modal, and clears the way for removal / counters. As far as like for like swaps goes, I'd much rather swap a dedicated removal for this than a dedicated discard outlet.
Aaaannd now I'm second guessing myself. There's going to be a cut somewhere, it's just a matter of what
Krenko 2.0. Unlike Krenko, you can't make more tokens by simply attaching equipment. But in return, Anim Pakal can trigger the turn she comes down, and more importantly, her tokens come in tapped and attacking. Rabblemasters are still as effective as ever at beating down, and Anim Pakal is the most dangerous one to date. has so many good options nowadays, but I will still gladly make room for a pure aggro card in these colors.
Infernal Grasp+ would have been great already, but throw in the option to discard and Bitter Triumph becomes a windmill slam. I'm thrilled that I can swap this in for Collective Brutality without fretting over losing discard outlets.
I'm perturbed that basically got a powercrept Hissing Quagmire as their manland. It's undoubtedly one of the stronger manlands despite being overshadowed by Creeping Tar Pit, so the only question is whether you're willing to run multiple manlands of the same color.
The body of a Cemetery Prowler with a more splashable mana cost is a promising place to start. The Map tokens are almost certainly not as good as Prowler's graveyard hate and cost reduction, but in Green alone they're quite powerful with the likes of Courser of Kruphix and its ilk. I feel like there are mostly middling options for Green at 3 MV, and I think Sentinel of the Nameless City will ultimately be another member of that lot. But it has enough interesting synergies (like being a Warrior!) that I'm willing to include it over its competition.
A 1 mana discard outlet is intriguing, but requiring a creature to equip to kills the card on that front. And if we set the discard applications aside, all you're doing is turning cards in your hand into free Unholy Strengths, which doesn't feel very impactful. Having the option to pay mana to equip is a huge step up from its predecessor, but that cost is way too steep for cube.
Oof, another 2-power manland for . Still, the extra toughness, menace, and the sweet rummage ability put it head and shoulders above Lavaclaw Reaches. Maybe now I'll finally stop receiving manlands P15 .
I had to write this post twice, since in the middle of typing my original one, it came to my attention that Map tokens can only be activated at sorcery speed. This means Restless Anchorage will always be swinging in as a 2/3 on its first activation. I had been under the impression that this card ran circles around Colonnade, but now the competition between the two is MUCH closer. I do still prefer Anchorage because its lower activation cost makes it relevant in many more games, but as far as control decks go, Colonnade is still the big kahuna. I could definitely see breaking land cycle symmetry to squeeze in both Colonnade and this.
This card looks like it's trying to do a lot of things, but I don't think it does any of them well. It's not good as a Containment Construct, since you don't have control over the card that gets exiled. It's not good as a discard outlet, since it requires attacking. It's not good as a Luminarch Aspirant, as it cannibalizes your hand and again, requires attacking. And it's not good for improving your hand, because you're getting an impulse draw instead of a real one and once again, requires attacking. For me, the card that this is actually most reminiscent of is Laelia, the Blade Reforged, just EXTREMELY toned down. It's still serviceable as an aggro beater, but that niche can be filled by plenty of other creatures. I think it's a pretty safe pass for me.
It's weird that the attack trigger untaps the creature you're targeting; I would think that giving trample would be more appropriate. On average, Restless Ridgeline is probably giving a similar amount of stats as Restless Prairie, but I think Raging Ravine can sleep pretty soundly knowing it's still the top dog among RG manlands.
Ok, let me get this straight. Mana abilities do not use the stack, so you cannot use this card to stifle a mana rock or dork and render it inert. That's a lot of potential utility which this card misses out on. Creatures with activated or triggered abilities are basically ubiquitous at this point, but the problem is you're just trading your card's triggered ability for theirs, and the 3/2 body you are left with probably isn't much better than the one your opponent is left with. So, the only exchanges in which you're really coming out ahead is when you're stifling either a fetchland, a planeswalker, or a non-mana producing artifact. That's not a particularly deep lineup, so this will be a safe pass for me.
I'm a fan of Supreme Will, but I don't think three extra cards in the graveyard are enough to sway me to run it at this point. Will definitely keep it in mind if I start wanting to support Delve.
In addition to planeswalkers, board wipes are also disadvantageous against Monarch/Initiative. The quality of the threats at 3-4 MV are so high now that it's difficult to justify drafting a sweeper, which has an ACS of putting you at parity with your opponent, over something like a Laelia, the Blade Reforged or a Seasoned Dungeoneer, which can put you massively ahead. I actually believe that Sunfall has set the new standard for board wipes going forward--a board wipe that puts you ahead on board.
As for your question about go-wide strategies, my main problem with them has generally been the lack of quality enablers, rather than their ineffectiveness against sweepers. But for sure, an environment scarce in sweepers would be a huge boon for them.
Aaaannd now I'm second guessing myself. There's going to be a cut somewhere, it's just a matter of what
Krenko 2.0. Unlike Krenko, you can't make more tokens by simply attaching equipment. But in return, Anim Pakal can trigger the turn she comes down, and more importantly, her tokens come in tapped and attacking. Rabblemasters are still as effective as ever at beating down, and Anim Pakal is the most dangerous one to date.
That part swayed me less than the cards in the 'yard. But it is pretty relevant in a powered environment.
As for your question about go-wide strategies, my main problem with them has generally been the lack of quality enablers, rather than their ineffectiveness against sweepers. But for sure, an environment scarce in sweepers would be a huge boon for them.