There was one reason and one reason alone that this was in the Vess Deck: Rancor. Black has ZERO Enchantment hate unless you go the destroy/sac target permanent route, which is pretty rare out of multicolor. Even then, it still would come back for anything short of a counterspell (would Dash Hopes have been too OP for her deck? I know Death Grip is out of the question, but not Hopes?). So the only way Vess' deck can handle it is with 1) Discard or 2) Instant-speed GY hate. It doesn't get more instant than this unless you added splitsecond because of the lack of mana cost.
I guess she could also hit Beast Attack, but I never saw that card as much of a threat. Other than those two cards, Garruk's deck doesn't card about graveyards. She can also hit your own graveyard before setting off Vess' final with Phyrexian Rager and Howling Banshee (if you're low on life) ... (see all)
Posted By:
OmegaSerris
(9/10/2011 8:44:34 AM)
"This appears to be the only card with a "Discard this" activated ability not labeled Cycling, Transmute, Reinforce, or Channel."
@HuntingDrake It's rare, but there's a card with an even rarer variant - Circling Vultures has a static ability that allows it to discard itself!
Also is it just me, or does this printing feel like the original card came from Urza Block?
There is a similarly dark atmosphere of various black phyrexian cards with purplish background.
I know it's originally from Lorwyn, i guess it's just the slight change in brightness compared to the original print that somehow made it seem like rk post's artwork was older and originally from a card that uses the old frame.
Posted By:
Mode
(9/28/2012 3:52:20 PM)
Tech against Reanimator :)
Posted By:
Frost_Pheonix
(6/21/2010 9:38:35 PM)
Nice. Free graveyard removal. And a 2/2 flyer for 3 in black is good, too.
Posted By:
A3Kitsune
(3/12/2010 1:35:40 AM)
Yep, Reanimator is toast against this. You never saw it coming.
Posted By:
Trubuliva
(3/29/2011 9:18:24 PM)
I wonder what the heck it's doing in this deck, though. There doesn't seem to be any reason for Liliana to exile from graveyards, basically making it a 2/2 flying for 3. Which isn't horrible, at least.
Posted By:
Tanaka348
(7/21/2011 12:40:15 PM)
you're right frost_phoenix and trubuliva, and this card proved it in tournaments..ever heard of the deck "gate"..
this can stop dredge and reanimator completely in its tracks..
At worst, he's a 2/2 flyer for three mana. Highly abusable and underused.
Posted By:
zenitramleirdag
(5/1/2012 1:33:20 AM)
Massive thicket of pubic hair.
Posted By:
Kryptnyt
(3/28/2011 3:50:50 PM)
This appears to be the only card with a "Discard this" activated ability not labeled Cycling, Transmute, Reinforce, or Channel.
Posted By:
HuntingDrake
(10/2/2011 2:24:06 PM)
Also... this works with Ichorid and friends. If you see a problem card in their graveyard you can kill it while feeding yours. If the go to Extirpate or similar you can lose just the cards in the grave and not everywhere else. Interesting and worth trying
Also, low enough mana cost to be a non-dead card.
Posted By:
blurrymadness
(2/23/2013 12:59:09 PM)