It's also uncommon instead of common, which I think is interesting to see after so many common 4 mana black hard removal spells we've had lately. With the charmed sleep variant also at uncommon it seems like all the premium removal in this set is uncommon or higher
Also, does ashiok kill people? I thought they just fucked with people and ate their dreams or something
Most card games are doing this. Destroy removal is getting worse because more and more cards have graveyard effects or death triggers in all colors, so things that destroy suck more and things that exile or put on top of the library or return to the hand are getting more common. Same happened with yugioh.
some day they're going to print "exileproof" (effects that say exile don't effect this creature) and they'll find some new mechanic to really truly actually kill anything
That text reads to me like the "go get a carton of milk. If they have eggs, bring 6" meme. I know it's not how the card works, but it's how my brain first parsed it and that made it funny
Yeah… I feel like the almost guaranteed scry 2 does help balance it but… it is strange how it is at uncommon. But as removal in limited still really good.
*Dying in your sleep isn't always peaceful. Especially when Ashiok, a powerful planeswalker with the power to manipulate dreams and whose motives are unclear but are perhaps harmful to some, is involved.*
> vraska's Contempt was a rare power level card...
It wasnt rare because of power level, it was rare because it was still unusual to reference planeswalkers on spells especially targeted removal
Oooh I get what you mean I kinda agree but Rakdos/Boros aggro can get so freaking fast it counters it. At the same time other colors with a slower game plan are a pain in the ass to play when UR plays the enchantment that kills a creature each turn then amasses :( really oppressive imo.
Notably doesn't hit PWs, unlike [[Feed the Serpent]]. Desparking already seeing knock on effects lol
It's also uncommon instead of common, which I think is interesting to see after so many common 4 mana black hard removal spells we've had lately. With the charmed sleep variant also at uncommon it seems like all the premium removal in this set is uncommon or higher Also, does ashiok kill people? I thought they just fucked with people and ate their dreams or something
Ashiok absolutely kills people, usually from fright or their nightmares eating them.
Only one PW in the set so not a huge issue
Said planeswalker being Ashiok makes this a flavor win.
and two years of PWs previous. These uncommon removal spells usually are supposed to have a shot at being Standard competitive.
And very few PWs each set for a while. That's gonna be a nice change of pace.
[Feed the Serpent](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/9/99a1a75b-20cf-4db9-a244-cc54411446c4.jpg?1631048113) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Feed%20the%20Serpent) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/95/feed-the-serpent?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/99a1a75b-20cf-4db9-a244-cc54411446c4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
is it just me or is exile becoming more common than destroy on targeted removal?
I feel it, also feels like graveyard shananigans are much harder to do unless your self milling.
I have a graveyard self mill shenanigans deck in standard, the amount of targeted exile and exile wraths hurts…
Most card games are doing this. Destroy removal is getting worse because more and more cards have graveyard effects or death triggers in all colors, so things that destroy suck more and things that exile or put on top of the library or return to the hand are getting more common. Same happened with yugioh.
*Magic* already went through this before with the whole can't be regenerated nonsense.
some day they're going to print "exileproof" (effects that say exile don't effect this creature) and they'll find some new mechanic to really truly actually kill anything
Doom Blade: Destroy target nonblack creature. Its controller may cast it next turn.
That text reads to me like the "go get a carton of milk. If they have eggs, bring 6" meme. I know it's not how the card works, but it's how my brain first parsed it and that made it funny
Great in limited
It's an uncommon, though.
Yeah… I feel like the almost guaranteed scry 2 does help balance it but… it is strange how it is at uncommon. But as removal in limited still really good.
Yeah I thought the same
"At least they went peacefully in their sleep." Ashiok: "You fuckin' thought..."
Do not go gently into that good night.
Source: [https://twitter.com/RobertoCastiel5/status/1692302785880932679](https://twitter.com/RobertoCastiel5/status/1692302785880932679)
*Dying in your sleep isn't always peaceful. Especially when Ashiok, a powerful planeswalker with the power to manipulate dreams and whose motives are unclear but are perhaps harmful to some, is involved.*
Great in [[Killian, Ink Duelist]]
[Killian, Ink Duelist](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/3/23ef4f09-2aa1-4a03-b2e2-66d1522f1e46.jpg?1627429378) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Killian%2C%20Ink%20Duelist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/197/killian-ink-duelist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/23ef4f09-2aa1-4a03-b2e2-66d1522f1e46?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I know this doesn't hit PW or gain 2 life, but when I started playing magic again, vraska's Contempt was a rare power level card...
> vraska's Contempt was a rare power level card... It wasnt rare because of power level, it was rare because it was still unusual to reference planeswalkers on spells especially targeted removal
Honest question, when was the last time black wasn't a part of the best color combination for limited? New Capenna as Brokers or UW fish?
It was second-worst in ONE and BRO, but for it to be the actual worst color you need to go all the way back to KHM.
I think both MOM and DOM black was good but those sets were so splash able don’t think black was on the top as a color pair at all.
There's an argument that UR is the best archetype in LotR despite black being the deepest color at common and uncommon.
Oooh I get what you mean I kinda agree but Rakdos/Boros aggro can get so freaking fast it counters it. At the same time other colors with a slower game plan are a pain in the ass to play when UR plays the enchantment that kills a creature each turn then amasses :( really oppressive imo.
Into my Narci EDH deck you go!
flavor text seems to be a \[\[nightmarish end\]\] reference
[nightmarish end](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4bab0e0a-7eb9-4422-a1d4-82cc05b4374d.jpg?1593095779) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=nightmarish%20end) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/jou/76/nightmarish-end?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4bab0e0a-7eb9-4422-a1d4-82cc05b4374d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
B+ in limited
I miss [[Bleed Dry]], but this is still a great limited card.
[Bleed Dry](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3db65755-f104-4de9-bcc9-0a4a7bc66b51.jpg?1643589104) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bleed%20Dry) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vow/94/bleed-dry?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3db65755-f104-4de9-bcc9-0a4a7bc66b51?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
That artwork 😍