It made me a little sad when I saw this card,
because it occurred to me that they could've
just reprinted Last Gasp from Ravnica block.
People loved Last Gasp. Some people probably
still have copies of it they'd've liked to dig
out and put back into their Standard decks. When
the Core Set model changed with M10, the powers
that be told us that the expansion sets were
going to have more reprints to compensate for
there being fewer reprints in the core set. Why
not reprint Last Gasp? Does it look too weak
next to Lightning Bolt? Somehow I doubt it in an
environment of indestructible creatures.
But that's off topic. A kill spell that gives
-4/-4 for two black mana. I admit, it's more
color intensive than Doom Blade, and it can't
hit 5-toughness creatures like Doom Blade can.
But the Blade can't go anywhere near black
creatures. Grasp can, and if they have 5 or
greater toughness, it can still be used as a
combat trick to kill alongside blockers. And in
a pinch, it can be used to lower a creature's
power, in case you need to save a creature from
combat (hopefully killing the opponent's in the
process) or just prevent 4 points of damage. Of
course, unless you're targeting a black
creature, Doom Blade in the same scenario would
be more useful by outright killing the creature.
Even in a multiverse as wide and wonderful as
ours, not everything is spectacular and
wondrous. Every block has a Doom Blade variant,
and it happens that Scars of Mirrodin's is one
that makes you wonder why you should bother
playing with cards like Darksteel Sentinel.
Jokes aside, some cards are just efficient, good
at what they do, and Grasp of Darkness is one of
those. Whether you play it because it trumps
River Boa or because you like the art, you won't
be sorry.
Today's card of the day is Grasp of Darkness a
two mana -4/-4 instant which is one of
mono-Black's best removal options available
currently.
Soundly replacing Urge to Feed or Nameless
Inversion on the strictly destructive end by
sacrificing the somewhat lesser used option of
enhancing your own creatures. This effect gets
around Indestructible or Regeneration, has a low
cost, is not a sorcery, and aside from the
double Black has no real drawback. A great card
for the vampire crowd, but being decidedly in
the Black may limit it slightly for Blue/Black
control or other builds.
For Limited the double Black cost is a
concern, but this is a fantastic removal card
and a common that should not be skipped just
because of that issue. If running an Infect or
primarily Black deck and can get two or more
Grasp of Darkness in your pool the deck should
be in very solid shape. This can be a second or
third pick in Booster and Black drafted as
heavily as possible with an eye on what is
coming around the table. For Sealed if the packs
support favoring the color to the point where
casting this reliably by the fourth turn is not
an issue it may be the way to go. Normally a
casting cost like this would be a bigger
hindrance in the format, but being able to
handle almost every creature in the set for two
mana is well worth the delay in casting it when
those creatures can cost twice as much to cast.
