It is a truism in Magic that Green struggles to
kill creatures outside combat, Black and Red
have no weapons against enchantments, and Blue
is powerless to stop just about any permanent
that resolves. All is Dust laughs at that
truism. This card gives absolutely every color a
potent boardwipe that can eliminate not only
their problem permanent type, but also
everything else on the board sans lands. Oh, but
it's even better than that. Because All is Dust
is stacked to ignore colorless permanents, you
can cast several artifacts, Eldrazi, or
Ghostflame Sliver and keep them while All is
Dust disintegrates everything else on the
board... that is, all your opponent's
permanents. At least they get to keep their
lands, right?
All is Dust is quite possibly one of the most
powerful cards to come out of Rise of the
Eldrazi, because there's practically no deck
that it doesn't improve. No matter what color or
colors you're playing, All is Dust gives you a
functionality you didn't have before, and is
castable without any modifications to your mana
base.
How do you destroy artifacts or enchantments by
paying only black mana? How do you destroy
creatures by paying only blue mana? I'm not big
on Magic riddles, but I am big on All Is Dust
- it follows in a long tradition of colorless
spells with this type of strongly
color-implying effect, most of which have been
powerful and popular. It might also be the spell
in this tradition with the coolest-sounding name
(which is one of the reasons I nominated it for
the top ten!). Play it early, play it often.
Welcome back readers as we continuing counting
down the best new cards of 2010. Today's card is
All is Dust one of the most powerful and
efficient board sweepers in memory. In standard
this card is seeing play in a large variety of
decks, the colorless cost as well as being able
to force players to sacrifice all colored
permanents they control. Obviously this card
combos well with Eldrazi temple lowering its
cost and with artifacts to insure you can
maintain an edge. Standard decks from eldrazi
ramp to blue control decks are running this card
for good reasons its an answer to a lot of
things in the format and insures your wurmcoil
engine survives. In extended and eternal formats
it can be cast in black control decks by the use
of Cabal Coffers aside from that I feel it too
slow for the formats as a whole possibility in a
dedicated green ramp deck as well. In casual and
multiplayer this card is insane a global reset
card that if you play your cards right ( pun
intended) will leave you with powerful artifacts
or just need breathing room from hordes of
colorful creatures. In limited its expensive and
if your not drafting a lot of colorless it could
hurt you as much or more than opponents, its a
money card though so there is that. Overall an
incredibly powerful board sweeper that can fit
into a variety of decks.
Today's number seven card of 2010 is All is
Dust which causes all players to sacrifice any
colored permanents. This is a massive
Wrath of God styled effect that gets around
indestructible, protection, and can leave all of
your lands, artifacts, and Eldrazi untouched.
The sacrifice effect can be used in combination
with other cards, such as It That Betrays, but
can also be blocked entirely by Tajuru
Preserver. For true carnage play a
Painter's Servant first and destroy everything
in play.
For Limited this is likely to clear both sides
of the battlefield, but when played correctly
should grant a major advantage. A first
pick in Booster for both raw power and to
prevent another from getting it, but playing it
can be hit or miss as the biggest threats in the
format are primarily colorless. For Sealed
being colorless means it can be played in any
deck and the only direct drawback to running it
is having it in hand too early or when already
controlling the battlefield.
Today’s Card of the
Day in the Top 10 of 2010 is All Is Dust. It is
a seven generic sorcery that forces each player
to sacrifice all colored permanents they own.
This card is obviously great if running a colorless
Eldrazi deck, since that is what it was designed
for. Not so great outside of that. In the more
limited or standard formats, I have seen this
card used effectively, but it is usually the
“uh-oh” effect, such as something large and
shrouded hits the table, or an opponents forces
are just getting too much to handle. It does
sometimes get used as an effective pre-emptive
strike, leading off into an Emrakul, but the
latter happens less than the former. But for
such a massive removal spell in standard, it is
unarguably one of the best. Especially for the
versatility of being able to go in any colored
deck.
Perhaps the best ways I have seen this card exploited
are in Vintage and multiplayer formats. One card
makes this card devastating, and if combined
with another card, is downright ridiculous. The
first card which tips this bad boy over the top
is Painter’s Servant. Combining the two means
that EVERYTHING would be sacrificed, including
lands. This mass board wipe may not be advised,
but I know a few decks who prefer an open board.
And if running a fast paced deck, you could
recover nicely, while potentially putting the
nail in your opponent’s coffin. The risk is in
multiplayer that if you are trying for this
effect, there is a better than not chance
someone will try and counter. That is where the
next card comes in handy. Overmaster, a nice
little one red mana spell from Torment says that
the next instant or sorcery spell you play this
turn can’t be countered, and you draw a card.
Putting those two cards together costs only one
mana more and guarantees wiping something out.
