I've noticed that the #1 slot in these
countdowns usually goes to a colorless card, as
that maximizes the kinds of decks a card can go
in I didn't take into consideration that
the Phyrexians don't need to be colorless to
cast colorlessly. An oversight on my part, as
Dismember has quickly become the go-to kill
spell of Standard, and will likely remain so as
long as it's legal in the format. Red decks use
it to get around pro-red. Green/blue decks use
it because they don't have good kill. Even black
decks use it, and pay the 4 life for it, because
it's one mana for instant-speed -5/-5. Only
Goblin Grenade offers such power in Standard,
and that requires you to sacrifice a Goblin. You
pretty much have to build your deck around
having extra Goblins to sacrifice. Pretty much
everybody can pay 4 life. Some decks can even
gain it back. And every deck needs to come to
the table expecting their opponent to play
creatures in need of killing. Further, -5/-5
kills all but the Titan cycle or Wurmcoil
Engine... and will kill those too if their
controller runs Heartless Summoning, as many do.
The thing from Monday that I wasn't planning to
mention until today was the fact that Innistrad
contributed four of our top five. The identity
of number one is probably no surprise to you, as
Phyrexian mana was the second most radical
change that 2011 introduced, topped only by
Innistrad's double-faced cards. Dismember may
not be the most powerful card released in 2011
(although it's definitely up there); but it's
the poster child for its mechanic, and it
changed the way Standard thinks about creature
destruction for two years and the way everyone
else does perhaps forever. For reinforcing the
Titans' position as the best creatures of their
rotation, for every mind that was blown when a
green deck murdered something out of nowhere,
and for every deck that gave in to Phyrexia's
siren song and became that much more
well-rounded, Dismember is deservedly our #1
card of 2011.
Today's card number one of 2011 is Dismember
which is a three mana Black or one mana and four
life spell that gives a target creature -5/-5
until the end of the turn. This is a bit of a
bigger removal than Grasping Darkness with a
higher cost for mono-Black, but available to any
color willing to pay the life points. The extra
cost is a tough call for Black itself as
Grasping Darkness will usually do the job, but
this can be a solid sidedeck choice should the
opponent be running a creature with five
toughness. In general this is one of the
strongest removal choices available, if a little
expensive, and is likely to see play both in and
outside of Black decks.
For Limited this should be the kind of card
picked as early as possible in Booster as a top
removal choice as it can handle nearly any
threat.
In Sealed it can be placed in almost any build
as even if the life points are paid in a
non-Black deck the price should be worth it
compared to letting the creature getting in an
attack or two.
Well here it is the most voted on top card of
2012. This card kills most commonly played
powerful creatures and when Splinter Twin was
running wild this creature help to keep it in
check. In standard outside of black decks this
is more of a sideboard card but still powerful
and capable of killing a lot of creatures. In
extended and modern the same concept applies but
it can still kill a Deceiver Exarch making it
extremely viable. In eternal formats in legacy
this is a cheap answer to a lot of problematic
creatures but the fact better removal spells
exist certainly cramps its style. In casual and
multiplayer there are much better removal spells
that can kill non-snow creatures or creatures
that aren’t spirits making it more powerful and
versatile removal compared to this. In limited
it’s a powerful removal spells draft early as it
is splashable with the cost of life. Overall a
card that saw tons of play due to Splinter Twin
whos uses dropped off yet it is still a removal
spell in any color at a cost filling a powerful
role.
