Today's card of the day is Brutal Expulsion
which is a four man Blue and Red to cast instant
with Devoid and you can return target spell or
creature to the owner's hand and/or deal damage
to target creature or planeswalker, exiling it
if it is put into graveyard that turn.
This is an interesting combination of control
with a temporary countermagic or creature bounce
combined with a low end removal effect. It
can potentially clear two creatures off the
field for four mana and offers Izzet builds an
efficient and versatile tool even if it is at a
slightly higher mana cost. Neither effect is
particularly strong though and it may not find
many homes in Constructed formats.
In a Limited setting Red and Blue can work well
together to control the battlefield and this
card offers quite a bit of value if it is in the
Sealed pool. Building around it can be
somewhat awkward, yet rewarding and the impact
it has when played should not be underestimated.
In Booster this is a very risky first pick as it
requires drafting into two disparate colors that
at least someone else is likely to be working
on.
The power may be worth it, but it may wind up
being splashed in instead of fully supported
depending on the table.
I have to say, it still feels a little odd to
see Eldrazi with colored mana in their mana
cost. While they have the devoid ability, they
still have to be played in a deck that can
generate mana of the relevant colors (and if we
were to get into their status under Commander's
rigid color identity rules . . . well, yeah). On
the other hand, a colorless version of Jilt
would be beyond brutal. Even this one is a tempo
blowout when used at the right time, and the
only glimmer of hope for opponents is that it's
four mana and, for Standard, that there aren't
any Signets around. But it's still going to
wreck a lot of attack steps in the future.
