Bloodline Culling – Midnight Hunt
Date Reviewed: November 10, 2021
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.08
Casual: 3.33
Limited: 3.67
Multiplayer: 3.83
Commander [EDH]: 3.17
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
David
Fanany
Player
since
1995
I like this card a lot (and not just because the rapidly-developing Jumpstart Cube philosophy holds that modal spells are key to designing one). -5/-5 for three mana is a pretty good rate – that’ll get rid of a lot of commonly-played creatures, in a way that bypasses popular countermeasures to boot. But sweeping creature tokens will simply blow out certain opponents, and will likely be either sickeningly or hilariously one-sided (depending on your perspective). That flexibility makes it maindeck worthy, which is an unusual feeling for a removal spell from the powerful-but-specific column; best take advantage of it!
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander: 3/5
A flexible bit of removal, Bloodline Culling offers either an acceptable kill spell that bypasses indestructibility or the ability to purge tokens; for three mana, that’s not bad, particularly in a format with a lot of X/2 tokens (especially the decayed Zombies of Midnight Hunt). It’s not showy or flashy, and it’s not great in a vacuum, but it serves a rather reasonable function and is rarely a dead card in and of itself. I’m not sure how well it’ll work in Crimson Vow‘s Standard, but it’s a toolbox card several decks might find efficacious.
Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 3
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander: 3.5
Bloodline Culling
Fantastic sideboard card in constructed for sure, it should be an auto include in any black heavy deck in standard and I’d even go as far as to say Modern and Pioneer too. Token heavy decks pop up every now and then and they can get really annoying really quick. The 1BB shouldn’t be an issue at instant speed, a similar cost to Dismember for an additional option choice where you could give all tokens -2/-2, with most tokens being either 1/1 or 2/2 this is great value. Again, I wouldn’t use a precious spot in the mainboard for this card, but definitely at least one of in the 15 card sideboard. In the current limited environment I’d definitely use this in the forty card deck, those 2/2 werewolves or 1/1 spirits will dominate the board very quickly if you don’t put them in check! Casual it’s a fine card, players would be able to stop most answers at -5/-5 which could turn the tide of the game, but I love this in multiplayer. Imagine this, your opponent is running elves and another is running some weird combo deck. You’re faced with an army of 1/1 elves that are only going to get bigger and you need that guy with the combo to use up their resources so you can stop the combo with a counter spell but they’re holding back because of these elves. Well Blood Culling will do the trick! I like it in commander too, being a one of it’s not that bad and if those tokens get out of control (let’s be honest, even if the deck your opponent is playing isn’t a token heavy deck token creatures still manage to come out somehow) and it could be a great board wipe that doesn’t hurt your creatures (assuming you aren’t running tokens too!)
Constructed 3/5
Casual 3/5
Limited 3/5
Multiplayer 4/5
Commander 3/5
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