Thornbite Staff – Morningtide / Mystery Booster 2
Date Reviewed: Sept. 12, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 2.38
Casual: 4.63
Limited: 3.38
Multiplayer: 3.50
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Thornbite Staff is from a unique period of Magic history. It had only been about four years since Prodigal Sorcerer was legal in Standard, and a few people were a lot less accepting of it being in red than you might guess. This meant that an equipment that turned anything into Prodigal Sorcerer provoked more thought than you might guess. But of course, it had also been only four years since Goblin Sharpshooter was legal in Standard, and that’s an even more apt comparison. It had only been four years since Visara the Dreadful and Kamahl, Pit Fighter were legal in Standard, and some people saw the interactions in that vein right away. It took a little longer for Thornbite Staff to catch on to the level that we’re used to now, though – the best wielders from its Standard rotation were more on the tier of Lightning Crafter, the total cost of equipping made it unwieldy to use with other good targets, and Commander’s frequent “go big or go bigger” mentality hadn’t yet taken off.
Now, of course, things are quite different. There are so many more cards now, and there are so many more ways to trigger the untap clause – note that the card only implies that it turns your creature into a Goblin Sharpshooter, and as written you can trigger the clause yourself. In fact, in some decks it’s going to be hard for the equipped creature to stay tapped. Thornbite Staff is a great choice for anyone who likes creature-based combos, though you should note that it can easily take over a casual table. It takes otherwise innocuous or even unimpressive cards and makes them go infinite, either figuratively or literally, and that’s one of the most complimentary things I can say about any card’s power level.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
The most important words on Thornbite Staff are the second clause: untap the equipped creature whenever another creature dies, agnostic towards how or where. There have been endless infinite combos and loops that allow this to spiral out of control, even though it takes a while to come online (six mana to turn it on, unless you have a suitable Shaman…though I will mention that most Shamans aren’t going to be the best fit for this). The ping is hardly the main attraction, but one damage in a pinch can thumb the scales.
Thornbite Staff is the kind of card that breaks in half without too much trouble, but the problem is that it’s a step too slow for most formats. This is hardly an issue in Commander, which allows for seemingly fragile combos to breathe.
Constructed: 2.75
Casual: 4.75
Limited: 3.25
Multiplayer: 3
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
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