Play of the Game – Battlebond MTG Card Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

The first thing I noticed when reading Play of the Game was that it’s kind of funny how the Assist keyword doesn’t specify that only a teammate can pay part of the cost for you – an opponent is allowed to if they want to. It’s hard to imagine they would in most situations, but I suppose you never know for sure. For this card specifically, it could certainly come up in Commander games where they want to get rid of a problematic permanent controlled by a third player. Whether you want to use it in such situations, and thus generate a lot of out-of-game talking, is up to you. In the context of Two-Headed Giant games like Battlebond limited, it’s obviously much stronger. Not only are you and your teammate much more likely to agree on when to cast it, you only have to control approximately half its mana cost each.

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 3/5
EDH/Commander: 3/5

A mechanic custom-made for Two-Headed Giant, but it seems to have legs in other formats, like Commander. Exiling all nonland permanents is powerful, though eight mana is a bit of an overpay on the effect…

…but if a friend helps out, this is more manageable. Each player chipping in four mana, or whatever they can afford, makes this a surprise play you can drop as early as turn 4, a good turnaround if your opponents have a formidable board already. It’s obviously not going to have legs outside of casual games, but it should do nicely there.

Constructed: 1.75
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 4
Commander: 3.75