Bestow is still in Standard, folks, and this is
a pretty good answer to it. It also answers
Equipment decks nicely. Global
creature-destruction cards are pretty much
always good enough to see play, and at five mana
this one seems pretty solid as well. Even if you
don't see a lot of Bestow cards in your local
FNM scene, this is still a good enough card that
a white control deck should want it. Which means
that if you wanted to play Bestow creatures,
this is gonna hose you whether your opponent
expects Bestow creatures or not. I'm honestly
worried that whatever Standard viability Bestow
had has now been washed away. Which is sad,
because it was a fun mechanic.
Today's card of the day is End Hostilities
which is a five mana White sorcery that destroys
all creatures and permanents attached to them.
This is very solid with recent sets focusing on
equipment and auras or enchantment creatures, so
it is likely to see play in more current
metagames. Outside of that it is more of a
sidedeck choice as other global removal exists
for less mana or with a more broad secondary
effect.
With Limited this is absolutely a top pick in
Booster even if you are not playing White. Never
let this card get passed to the next player and
if it is early the option of switching colors
should be seriously considered. For Sealed
it would take a very weak White pool or
incredibly strong set of other colors to leave
this out of a deck. The double White out of the
five mana cost is a minor hindrance in a three
color deck, but the ability to clear most of the
board in such a creature dominated format is
nearly impossible to top.
Little did anyone know the legacy of board wipes
that was started with the original - Wrath of
God. Since then, countless variations on a theme
have been tried. Some of them destroyed more
than just creatures and cost a little more. Some
of them were conditional, or didn't necessarily
kill everything.
End Hostilities is the latest in this proud
tradition. Most recently, we played with Supreme
Verdict, which was very popular. How does End
Hostilities, with the extra mana added to its
cost, compare? 5 mana begins to cross the line
into a later game spell, and the damage an
aggressive deck can do in that extra turn while
you're looking for your 5th mana can be
significant. On the plus side, this card can
deal with a problem that Supreme Verdict
couldn't - things attached to the creatures it
kills. This could be auras (including bestowed
creatures) and equipment. Regular auras weren't
a problem, of course, since they went away when
the creature they enchanted did, but the
bestowed creatures that stuck around after a
Verdict, along with the equipment that remained
to enhance them were a real obstacle. End
Hostilities takes care of those problems.
So, where does this leave us? I still think 4
mana board wipes are better, as the lower cost
makes a big difference, but End Hostilities has
its place - especially if bestow and equipment
becomes more popular.
In limited, this is a complete bomb. Pick it if
you can at all afford 2 white. Multiplayer games
are also more apt to go longer and have more
crazy attachments, so it is great in that
setting as well.
