Pox/Stax is my favorite archtype and this is awesome. 2/1 for 2 that creates a 1/1 that ramps you when it dies. Perfect for Pox/Stax. Now I gotta figure out whether I'm gonna cut Nezumi Cutthroat, Oona's Prowler, or Dauthi Horror.
Ya Haruspex is definitely the cut for me but I'm struggling because it's such a roll filler (pox/stax, morph support) as opposed to Hypnotic Specter, Herald of Torment, or Mardu Strikeleader which are just good creatures for the most part (I guess Strikeleader helps with pox/stax/tokens).
Meh, so we get a Harrow effect for 4G on a colorless land. Pass. Having the Harrow cost 4G is already bad enough but to have to suffer through playing a colorless land to get the effect, not worth it imo.
Ya after you Harrow on turn 5 you will probably be able to fix your mana, but you've had to suffer through having a colorless land for turns X through 5. Any deck that needs to run Harrow for fixing is not going to like drawing a colorless land, especially early when you cant just draw it, play it, and use it.
I would cut Grim Haruspex but it just doesn't feel like it fills the same roll. Grim Haruspex is great in pox strategies and fuels symetrical disruption strategies like Blood Artist does. Drana is just an efficient creature that's good in tokens or aggro. I would probably either cut Herald of Torment or Mardu Strikeleader if I were cutting a similar card.
I cut Dismiss for Whirler Rogue so maybe I'll cut Pestermite for this card. It would be good to get another hard counter in the cube and with a 900 card cube, Pestermite doesn't come out that often to interact with Kiki-Jiki and by itself it's not great.
I mean it's a cool card. It really gives us a clear idea of what WoTC things the mana cost should be for that effect. It's just not cubeable at 7 since, despite it's versatility and usefulness, it's just waaaaay too high mana cost. You want to be dropping crazy nutso stuff for 7 mana, not exiling one permanent.
I might cut Blastoderm but idk. It's such a powerhouse if you can use it to build momentum but it also sucks when it fades away and you're left with an unfavorable board state to finish the game.
There's only so many giant colorless fatties you can have in a cube and even in my 900 card cube I don't really wanna cut anything for this. I have an artifact theme and I don't wanna cut Darksteel Colossus for this (yes I have Blightsteel too) cause I need good tinker and master transmuter targets. But that's what I probably would cut for this if it was good enough. And honestly I'm probably cutting Darksteel for the new Ulamog cause that thing reks and I don't wanna cut any of the original 3 main Eldrazi!
Yeah I mean it's a good ramp card for 6 mana but I just don't think I want to use all of my mana when I'm at 6 to keep ramping. I think at that point its about time to play real cards.
I feel like the phrase "good in larger cubes" gets thrown around too much. I have a 900 card cube and many sections are still pretty tight. There has been a lot of really good cards in the past few years that I've had this cube and it's still hard to find cuts sometimes. There isn't a similar 5 or 6 cost card to cut to put this in but if I wanted it bad enough I'd have to cut either a planeswalker like Nissa, Worldwaker or maybe Stunted Growth but both of those cards are waaaay better than this. Maybe 5 years ago I wouldn't have as much to work with and I might play this card. I'm going to amend the "maybe in larger cubes" to "maybe in larger cubes 5 years ago when there weren't 1,000,000 cubeable cards.
As for the card itself, it just doesn't feel like what a ramp deck wants to do at six mana. It's a big effect but so is Prime Time, Rampaging Baloths, Wurmcoil engine, etc.
I'll edit my previous sentiment: Moltensteel is better. I didn't think about the fact that if the creature doesn't survive to your next turn then it just reads: 2RR Discard your hand...which is bad. Not only does it fail the doom blade test but it also leaves you with an empty hand.
Ya after you Harrow on turn 5 you will probably be able to fix your mana, but you've had to suffer through having a colorless land for turns X through 5. Any deck that needs to run Harrow for fixing is not going to like drawing a colorless land, especially early when you cant just draw it, play it, and use it.
Vampire Nighthawk
Grim Haruspex
Hypnotic Specter
Fleshbag Marauder
Mardu Strikeleader
Herald of Torment
Geralf's Messenger
Master of the Feast
Flesh Carver
Dauthi Marauder
Ophiomancer
Liliana, Heretical Healer
Simulgar Assassin
I'm thinking maybe Herald of Torment
As for the card itself, it just doesn't feel like what a ramp deck wants to do at six mana. It's a big effect but so is Prime Time, Rampaging Baloths, Wurmcoil engine, etc.