COK hand destruction

[Machinus]

Struggle for Sanity, Uncommon

2BB, Sorcery
 
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. That player sets aside a card from it, then you set aside a card from it. Repeat this process until all cards in that hand have been set aside. That player returns the cards he or she set aside to his or her hand and puts the rest into his or her graveyard.


Considering people don't even run four duress in tog decks, this isn't going to be played. But it is a sweet card, as you could grab up to three cards in the early game with the help of rituals. Any thoughts?

[Matt]

I would guess the card to compare it to would be Persecute, which is a lot worse in T1 due to all the artifacts.

[Jacob Orlove]

Is this really better than Hymn? I doubt it.

They can also force you to pick high cost artifacts that they'd rather see in the graveyard anyway.

A cycle of cards like this could be interesting, though, because more decisions is good news for good players.

[jpmeyer]

I have no idea how good this is, but I do like how it is a skill-testing card, and when I say "skill-testing" I don't mean in the 15th pick sense.

[dandan]

Look at the possibilities
Opponent has:

7 cards - you get 3 cards 2nd, 4th and 6th best (assuming you correctly guess the relevant value to the opponent and they correctly guess the value of their cards (as they doný know what is in your hand). We can probably cancel out the 2 skill factors and work with averages. This makes the card slightly worse than Mind Twist as you will never get the 'bomb' but this is still very good.
6 cards - you get 3 cards but the quality of those cards is less than Mind Twist averages (4th vs. 3.5th). Still good.
5 cards - you get 2 cards the 2nd and 4th best. Slightly worse than Hymn to Tourach as you miss the 'bomb'. 4CC Hymns are not good but it isn't terrible.
4 cards - you get 2 cards but at a lower average quality than Hymn. Not good but not terrible. Worse than Fill with Fright
3 cards - you get 1 card and miss the 'bomb'. Worse than Coercion, worse than Blackmail
2 cards - you get 1 card and opponent chooses which one, congratulations your Funeral Charm just cost you 4 mana and isn't even an Instant.
1 card - Less effective than a Mind Bomb or even Skullscorch (they might choose to take damage!)

Note I haven't taken into account the fact that many decks would like some of their cards in the graveyard and can often choose to let you choose such cards and that Mana Drain is a pain. In its defence it is immune to Misdirection and you'll rarely see a CotV for 4 (also immune to Trinisphere).

So this is only better than Hymn if the opponent has 6 or 7 cards and is still worse than Mind Twist at that slot (and indeed at all other possible opponent's hand size). Seeing as Black discard decks often had no room for Mind Twist after filling up with Hymn's I can't see how this could make any deck at all (I doubt I would run it in my Type II highlander monoblack deck for example). Only good in mainly Black decks that expect an opponent to have lots of cards and no counterspells.

[theorigamist]

would guess the card to compare it to would be Persecute

I think it is more comparable to [card]Blackmail[/card].  It seems like discard, but the opponent basically chooses which cards you can get rid of.

[dandan]

Except it costs 2BB not B and is even less effective than Blackmail if the opponent has 1-3 cards.

I think it is more comparable to a chocolate teapot. It looks OK at first glance but is unsuitable for its intended use and might as well be eaten.