Removing a counter from a permanent at the cost
of 2 life is a corner-case utility you may never
actually use even if you run four of this guy
maindeck and drop him turn one in every game.
You still should run four of him maindeck and
drop him as soon as you can every game, if
you're running an extort deck. The value of
having a permanent with extort that you can drop
first turn is everything in an extort deck and
this is the only one I know of that lets you do
it. Later in the game, the Parasite is still
good in an extort deck because it's another
source of extort, and because it's a cheap spell
that lets you tack on plenty of extra extort
activations.
You might find a use for the counter-removing
ability, and if you do, the extort should cover
the life loss. But mostly you run it because
you're an extortionist. ;)
At first glance, this card looks rather inferior
to its famous ancestor and namesake from New
Phyrexia. Of course, Hex Parasite was designed
to fight the most overpowered planeswalker in
history, and there's not much need for something
of its power level in many settings. Thrull
Parasite also attacks planeswalker loyalty at
about the same rate they usually accumulate it
on average, meaning that it might be more
effective at messing with other types of cards.
I'd try it on vanishing cards, personally: you
can make your opponent's tick down faster, or
game the system with your own (if a vanishing
card's last counter is removed outside of the
trigger, it won't die, and never will in the
future).
Today's card of the day is Thrull Parasite
which is a one mana Black 1/1 with Extort that
can tap for a cost of two life to remove a
counter from target nonland permanent. A
one mana 1/1 with Extort is very playable in
mono-Black and can have a role in several
Black/White builds. The second effect has
some use against Planeswalkers, but can also
support or respond to several effects that
require a counter such as Unleash, Persist, or
Undying when necessary. Overall this is a
very useful addition to Black and the easy
access to Extort can and will benefit many decks
in current formats.
In Limited this is a one mana 1/1 with Extort,
which is easily one of the most efficient and
effective keywords in the block. That
alone is enough to be a definite inclusion in
any Black deck in Sealed and an early Booster
pick, while the effect is mainly useful against
Simic.
