School is already out here in Georgia, so I plan to write reviews and tournament reports more frequently. This week our Card of the Day theme is Very Rares from the latest expansion set. We start off with...

Tank Mutant

Type: Creature
Civilization: Darkness
Race: Hedrian
Mana Cost: Nine
Rules Text:

Instead of having this creature attack, you may tap it to use its ability.
Your opponent chooses one of his creatures in the battle zone and destroys it.
Flavor Text:

"Fire the Shocktacular Zaptronic Megaparticle Lasoblaster Disruptulating Cannon! No, the other one."

Power: 6000

Rarity: Very Rare    

Set: Stompatrons of Invincible Wrath

Power/Cost: Nine mana is a significant cost to pay. Luckily there are cards that can help ease the burden. Ever heard of Bronze-Arm Tribe, Faerie Life, Fighter Dual Fang, or Bliss Totem? High costs are still not a good thing despite strong mana acceleration. Tank Mutant has an attack power of only 6k. He can destroy small Evolutions, most normal creatures, and bypass most power-restrictive kill spells. I would have thought they might give such an expensive card a higher power though.

Civilization/Race: The Hedrian race currently consists of seven creatures, most notably Locomotiver and Mongrel Man. They have no evolutions or support whatsoever. Tank Mutant also hails from the Darkness civilization. This means he works well with the other control cards Black has to offer.

Effects: You first have to wait until summoning sickness goes away in order to use Tank Mutant’s ability. Your opponent will try to bounce, destroy, or otherwise incapacitate Tank Mutant in the meantime. Assuming he survives, Tank Mutant forces your opponent to smash one of his own creatures every time you tap him. Who does NOT want a free Proclamation of Death each turn? You can also decide not to use the effect and attack with Tank Mutant instead.

Limited: 3/5

He actually has potential when drafting Stompatrons. Bliss Totem and Faerie Life can help get Tank Mutant out quickly. You could conceivably be destroying one creature a turn as soon as turn seven. Due to kill spells being few and far between in draft, he will probably live a while too. Not bad, but not unstoppable by any means.

Constructed: 3/5

Tank Mutant is nothing fancy. He would probably work best with other destruction cards and some mana acceleration to make up for the high cost. Most Darkness and Nature decks will reach eight mana for Vampire Silphy, so why not go one more mana for this guy? Maybe throw one copy in if you need an extra punch.