This is a great skill tester card - it's absolutely terrible (in competitive play, at least) but newbs think it's very overpowered. It can only be played in one deck thanks to its mana cost, and that deck is completely terrible. Even then, it doesn't ever do ANYTHING. Practically every good Standard deck is running Dismember somewhere in their 75, and besides that... against Valakut, they just ignore it and kill you with Valakut triggers. Against Spllinter Twin, they just ignore it and kill you with infinite combo. Against Caw-Blade, they deal with it with Into the Roil, counterspells, Dismember, Day of Judgment, Oblivion Ring, or Celestial Purge, almost all of which are in any given 75 with Caw-Blade. And so on. The only tier 1 deck it can do anything useful against is Mono-Red, and even then it's not the end all be all as many Mono-Red lists run Dismember or can manage to get you low enough by the time you play it to burn you out.
Posted By:
Henrietta
(9/1/2011 8:26:37 PM)
I feel like I wasted my money buying these for standard since Innistrad does not have a black instant that allows me to pull this from the graveyard during my opponent's attack and force him or her into losing permanents. Why is it that Wizards won't let us have fun with creatures?
Posted By:
Khias
(10/7/2011 5:04:57 PM)
If you stick a Lashwrithe on this in multiplayer, you usually die from every player turning against you
Posted By:
dontcrywhenicounter
(10/17/2013 9:32:57 AM)
Everything about it is awsome, from the art to the abilities. i find it funny that it obsoleted negator, like blightsteel did to darksteel, but this doesnt get hated on.
Posted By:
PhyrexianFailure
(4/28/2011 5:02:08 PM)
"Hell yes, I'll do mono-black just for this card."
Posted By:
PtolemisPlaneswalker
(5/7/2011 2:59:46 AM)
Hm. Heh. Ha, ha. HA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAAAAAHAHAHAHA!
Yes...
Posted By:
DeathDark
(5/10/2011 2:26:17 PM)
@ Toasticus -
Grappling hook grants double strike, which is normally sweet, but actually doesn't work very well with the Obliterator. The first strike inherent in double strike means he won't be taking combat damage very often, & therefore won't be destroying permanents very often.
Posted By:
EggShen
(5/15/2011 8:55:26 PM)
This card is very good, however it's very hindered from being great. The very unfortunate part is how much black has gained to be anti-red - between Phyrexian Crusader and this guy and, of course, the new addition of Sword of War and Peace. While I won't deny this card isn't good in general, the amount of harm is disproportionately given to red given it has no non-damaged based removal to deal with this guy. The other unfortunate thing for this card is that it's right in the range of dismember (whereas titans exceed it), and - at least in speaking of standard, a format used to dealing with protection-bearing, sword-wielding birds shouldn't have too much problem dealing with this guy. The other issue is, that, mono-black is a little bit weak now as it is, and while you can definitely stick him in a 2 color deck (with 12 dual lands per combination), he just feels like he's a conceptually good card that needs the format to change for him to be good - maybe in rotation.
Posted By:
Mavlis
(5/26/2011 6:21:24 AM)
I LoLed when I Lignified my friend's obliterator.
Posted By:
mikebeingmike
(6/3/2011 12:46:39 AM)
This card showcases the benefits of playing Mono-Black. Cards like Lashwrithe and Nightmare already push the theme, but an all-around powerhouse like this really give the "devote your whole being to black" theme. Personally, I love it. The card's got great flavor, amazing artwork, and is just powerful for a 4CMC.
And honestly it's not that broken. Magic knew what they were unleashing on the current standard, that's why the made cards like Dismember (which shuts this guy down completely) and Dispatch etc. This cards triggered ability only further lays down the Red hate (you do NOT want to burn this guy to death), but burn typically already has a problem with dealing with 5+ toughness creatures.
4.5/5 for trying to entice players to go Mono-Black. Or at least run Dark Rituals and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
Posted By:
SparkleTiger
(6/21/2011 12:48:27 PM)