I like this little guy, if only because he has the best name ever, but I would like to point out that if your first spell this turn, which does count your opponents turn, is Force of will this thing becomes a mighty respectable clock.

He does not really offer any disruption on his own, but he makes some pitch spells absolute game winners. Soul Spike does 11 damage and gains 4 with this out.

For Vintage, I will take Guttersnipe every single time over this.

For EDH, this may fill a glaring void in the R/B general market, especially if you pair it with a blue general using the "partner" mechanic".

I swear I read that as 'vial smasher face' He's cute and the 3 toughness is nice against certain decks. But I wouldn't see him as more than a s/b option in grixis decks if even that.

I'm thinking Tasigur, Gurmag Angler, Murderous Cut, Snuff Out, Pulverize, Fireblast, Blazing Shoal.

He doesn't play well with Bob though.

@benjamin_berry Bob has not really been much of a thing the past few years almost. The only time he seems to be relevant is when people look at costly cards and say "hey this does not work with bob even though this is not a bob deck."

I don't specifically think this is going to be a thing, I just happened to think it's a really cool card with the best name ever that has potential. There are a few decks that could already use him though to good extent, its just a matter if it is better than other cards they already use, and the answer is likely yes.

This is Very good with Gush, Force of Will, and the Delve spells. One blue mana to deal eight damage and draw three cards or zero mana to deal five damage and draw two cards or counter a spell seems unbelievably good. I would be surprised if this didn't see play upon release. There are a fair number of situations where this is an even faster clock than Monastery Mentor.

I can't play this card just because the name is atrocious. I saw this thread and I assumed it had something dumb to do with Aether Vial, but NOPE! It's a badly named Magic card.

As a card itself, the mechanic is fine. Burning off stuff you do is nice. It kind of wants to be played in a deck that is slow rolling, willing to play a card each turn to keep the damage up. What kind of deck wants burn to the face but also wants to take the slow route that way?

If we assume that combat damage is often hard in a world with tokens and lots of creatures, winning through direct damage seems feasible. Not to speak that you can kill planeswalkers with this ability. It vaguely looks like guttersnipe, but in this case you want less probes and preordains and more cards with alternative costs.

It is worth noting that moxen don't play well with this card, but probably you'll need some to play it ASAP. Also it works every turn, so it's well possible to trigger it in your own turn and the opponent's.

Not sure how many times it would come up but "an opponent chosen at random" is not targeted either. Doubt there is any deck which would use this as an alternative win con with ley-line if sanctity in play. Would be quite amusing with Emrakul...

So murderous cut and snuff out seem really sexy with Mofo. I'll take 1 McDack with a side of Lightning Bolt and Frosty Force of Will with Lava Cake Axe tyvm.

I also hate to point things out that hurt my pet decks but this guy makes useless Force of Wills into a Cavern of Souls waaaayyyyy less useless. Ugh

Takes a bit of the sting out of paying extra for spheres too.

Is there a Jund deck here? Some discard, burn, abrupt decay. Liliana and a free bolt sounds nice.

@benjamin_berry said:

Takes a bit of the sting out of paying extra for spheres too.

Is there a Jund deck here? Some discard, burn, abrupt decay. Liliana and a free bolt sounds nice.

I don't think spheres affect this.

@Brass-Man said:

Crap. Now you got me thinking this is relevant in legacy burn. Probabaly too cute.

As mentioned, the barometer for this guy is going to be guttersnipe. If your playing a deck that wants a snipe effect, but plays less cards over more turns at a higher CMC this guy may be better overall for that list.

@Protoaddct It's a two card combo for ten damage that costs 1BR and two mountains. Compared to a Bolt, you're paying 1B for three damage, situationally.

Ingot Chewer does 5. Rift bolt does 6. If this sticks they die fast.

This card falls in the same class as mentor, kill on sight or die a few turns later. You will need to build more around it, it's not as universally good as the white OP monk, on the other hand it skips the combat step.
I foresee alot of burned faces when people dont't respect the threat he presents.

Although this card is fast, I believe its not as broken as people think. It does nothing the turn it enters the battlefield and only triggers once a turn. I think its completely fair.

@coldcrow Geez, that's a bold statement. I don't think this is anywhere as potent as Mentor. Doesn't dodge removal using horizontal growth, doesn't win the game without help and pseudo-combos, requires you to play suboptimal cards and sequence them in suboptimal ways to get advantage out of it... etc. Seems more like Sin Prodder.