Creatures with "+X/+X" have always been valued
for their potentially unbounded growth.
Bonehoard technically is bounded, by the total
number of creature cards in each player's deck,
but that's still a pretty high limit. For a mere
four mana of any color, you can have a creature
that scales with the stage of the game and makes
a perfect rebound after a board wipe.
But Bonehoard is more than a creature, it's an
Equipment. Which means that, after the Germ dies
to a kill spell or combat damage, or whenever
you have 2 mana to spend on it, you can put that
+X/+X on whatever creature you want. You can put
it on Spikeshot Elder. You can put it on Neurok
Invisimancer! You can put it on any creature
you want.
And every time the creature wielding the
Bonehoard dies, you can just put it on another
creature. And since Bonehoard's bonus counts
creature cards in graveyards, every creature who
picks up the Bonehoard will get a progressively
bigger bonus than the creature who came before.
More so if your opponent has to chump block it
at all. Or if any creature goes to any
graveyard, for any reason whatsoever.
If equipment is usually assessed by how much it
improves the equipped creature and how much it
impacts the game, Bonehoard looks like a card
with potential. Unlike some other equipment
cards, it's not likely to have much of an impact
early in the game, and it may sometimes be
awkward to have to hold it until a time when it
will be more spectacular. Still, recent sets
have some of the most powerful "kill target
creature" variants I've seen since Swords to
Plowshares, and the one thing you can count on
in Standard is that things will die. I also like
the fact that it brings along a creature it can
equip even if you just got hit by Day of
Judgment. It's a little early to go crazy over
this card, but don't forget it exists either.
Today's card of the day is Bonehoard which is a
four mana equipment with the new Living Weapon
mechanic that brings a 0/0 Black token into play
with the equipment attached to it. This
removes one of the biggest risks associated with
equipments and the equip cost of two is
reasonable for the potential gain. To help
ensure full graveyards a deck designed to fill
both sides may be best and the card giving a
weak Black token supports the Black sacrifice
theme nicely. In that style of deck this
may become an alternative to some of the older
finishers when they rotate out of standard and
it should be popular in Multiplayer as it counts
every graveyard.
For Limited this is a very solid card in such a
creature dominated format. For just four
mana you are very likely to get at least a 3/3
or better and the equipment will generally be
available in later turns. As a colorless
card it is also a safe first pick in Booster and
worth playing in any Sealed build.
