It can't kill artifacts. Not that there are that
many artifact creatures tearing up Standard
right now, but it's important to remember that
it can't, lest you find yourself needing to and
embarrassing yourself. It also costs four mana.
Ultimate Price, Devour Flesh, and its ilk seem
to think that's a bit much. Murder is also
cheaper, and CAN kill artifact creatures.
What is your extra mana getting you? A mill
effect added on. Mill is like lifegain, it's not
a goal unto itself and it's not worth
prioritizing over other cards unless you're
really dedicating yourself to it. Unless you're
a mill deck, or you want to put cards into your
opponent's graveyard for another reason
(Sepulchral Primordial perhaps, or Wight of
Precinct Six) you're better off with a cheaper
kill spell. You don't want to be stuck having to
leave four mana open, but two mana is much less
painful.
I'm not exactly sure why this card specifies "nonartifact"
creature. It didn't come in an artifact block,
so the great majority of the creatures were
always going to be nonartifact anyway. Well, I
suppose there are fewer black cards that can
kill absolutely any creature than you might
expect (although there are more than there used
to be), so another one is always welcome. The
additional mill effect is not relevant all the
time, but don't think of it as the main point of
the card - think of it as a bonus, like with
Broken Ambitions all the way back in Lorwyn.
Even if it only hits a scary Angel or Dragon one
time in ten, that makes a difference.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
strictly a limited card. In standard and other
competitive formats this card is entirely too
slow costing four mana and requiring double
black makes sure it wouldn’t see play in a
competitive setting. In casual and multiplayer
this could be an interesting kill spell in a
mill based deck but better and cheaper kill
spells are available making this somewhat of a
suboptimal choice. In limited all removal is
playable and this is a reasonable choice for
slower based decks that need to kill creatures
and is a perfect fit in a dimir deck looking to
mill opponents out and play a control game.
Overall I am not impressed with this cards
possibility in casual or tournament settings but
limited it’s a solid card.
Today's card of the day is Grisly Spectacle
which is a four mana Black instant that destroys
target nonartifact creature and has its
controller mill a number of cards equal to its
power. This is a little expensive for removal,
particularly with a limitation on targets, but
nonartifact isn't overly restrictive and adding
mill to removal is quite efficient for library
destruction builds. Outside of mill decks there
is little reason to use this over Murder and it
is unlikely to see play beyond that one theme.
In Limited this is a very strong removal
choice with an added bonus of milling that can
actually be a factor in the forty card deck
environment. Four mana is not an issue and the
double Black is manageable for non-splashed
decks like Orzhov or Dimir. The added value for
Dimir and the common level of this promotes
multiple copies and it is an automatic inclusion
for Sealed and can be drafted as early as second
in Booster depending on the pack.
