Pointed Discussion

Sadly, the worst of the Alara charms. Thats not to say that this particular terrible, but it could have been slightly better. The bounce ability is average and the -4/-4 can be useful, but instead of a really good last ability theres a useless one. Sure the last ability would work excellently in a creature deck, but those color decks tend to be white and green; opposite Grixis colors. In fact, most Grixis decks will probably never use the last ability. Control Grixis decks won't have all that many creatures for it to be effective, and aggro Grixis decks will probably play mostly unearth cards which already require heavy mana investment. The last ability (which is supposed to be modeled after a red based effect) should have been something that could have dealt damage in a certain way, or a Threaten effect.

i think the Crosis's Charm is better.
of coure -4/-4 kills every creature (exept Phyrexian Dreadnought and maybe Tarmogoyf) but the last ability of the crosis charm is much better than this one here

yes, punk, this card kills Doran, the Siege Tower. Kills him dead.

For me this is a good card if you know how to use it... Works well with my grixis/unearth deck. Promising support spell.

I think this one gets underated a lot. In an agro-discard style deck this is a valuable spell alongside Alara-block cards like singe-mind orgre, blightning, sedraxis specter. It's great spot-removal on it's own (-4/-4) or as a boomerang in the afore mentioned deck. Plus, it's final ability has no problem pushing through 4 or 6 extra damage (often enough to win the game) once something dangerous like great sable stag manages to stick.

Sure, there are other, often better, versions of all this spell's abilities, but its versatility makes it worth playing.

This card is being way under rated.. re-read that bounce ability.. target permanent. Thats a boomerang, not an unsummon, and has many multiple uses such as returning planeswalkers to players hand who have enough counters for their ultimate next turn. Enchanted lands, annoying creatures, getting rid of a blocker, an active ascension enchantment, and a counter building artifact are all examples of other things you can bounce. The -4/4 will indeed also kill the majority of creatures your opponent can throw at you, and because this is an instant, you can use it when the creature you want to get rid of blocks. Your 1/1 can kill a 5/5 when that goes active. Granted the +2 all creatures is limited, but if you have a bunch of tokens, or want to clear the way for a final attack, that doesn't hurt either, or when blocking again, for that matter.

I run a 5 color Alara charm deck and this one is omitted for how it pales compared to the others. the -4/-4 is sorta decent, but that's about it. The Unsummon ability is horrible compared with Bant Charm's put to the bottom of library, as well as it's Cancel ability. Naya's amazing because you can tutor for anything in your graveyard, (like another Bant Charm) or give -3 to a creature. Jund sweeps the board of pesky chumps, Esper kills Journey enchants. I don't run this for fear of not drawing the other charms.

Those who say this is a bad card just don't know how to build nonemainstream decks.
an army of Zektar Shrine Expedition, hellspark elementals, Goblin Guide, some black removal and possibly and vampire or two. Add Jace for hand refilling, sleeps for some unblocked fun, even a Sedraxis Specter for some hand distruction. Add the charm for luck, and that's a fun day.

Well i don't care what anyone says this is going in my rogue deck cause that last ability the very same one every one else says is shit is actually lethal in some scenarios like when all your creatures are evasive. Its a good card and should be judged in its own right not dismissed just because the other charms seem more flashy and have more tinsel on them. Remember its what causes you to win the game the fastest that's good and not flashy abilities wrapped in tinsel.

Also, as has been said the versatility is great. Why have a spell for this and another spell for that; diluting the potency of your deck, when you can have many spells condensed into one card keeping it tight and letting you choose the right spell as play dictates?

In my opinion its more important to find the cards that fit your decks purpose than to merely build a deck by including the most popular/flashy/latest fashion; all too often hyped, cards.

P.S five colour decks are super lame :P

Perhaps the first ability could have been "target player puts the top 5 cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard."

worse than Crosis's Charm:

removal: destroy nonblack vs. -4/-4 - about even
bounce: identical
Trumpet Blast vs. Shatter: The trumpet blast effect lends itself better to certain styles of play, but the shatter effect is far more versatile.

1st ability it cool, 2nd ability is a killer, and 3rd ability is just...horrible in a grixis deck; u dont have that much creatures out anyways

Really quite good, about equal with Bant Charm. Unless you're winning anyway, there isn't really any point in the game where you won't have some use for the first two abilities. The third is unnecessary and stupid. 4.5/5 for tragic versatility

how does this kill the siege tower? his toughness is 5... last i checked 5-4=1 which means he's still alive. I like Crosis's charm more, but that's just because it does a little more for control while this does more for aggro. I do like that they kept the boomerang for the blue part of both charms.

People who down rate this has not thought of a grixis artifact deck.

cheap swarm of artifact creatures and with Steel Overseer to boot.

Amazing one-of with Mystical Teachings!

5/5 for flavor text matching the card text.

I just love that it is a cool looking fish.

I think nobody is seriously complaining about the Blue and Black aspects of the card. Those are clearly useful and well-costed, comparable to other good cards in these colors.

Black, which is Grixis' center, historically has trouble with artifacts and Red can very nicely Shatter on Crosis' Charm. But we'd like a new spell, frankly, so that's not the answer.

I think that I would have liked to see a Lava Axe stuck on this. That would have been quite nice, and more reliable than the creature boost. Unfortunately, they choose to make Grixis very zombies focused, when nobody will really seriously consider Red or Blue zombies...
If you want zombies, either go mono Black, or Golgari Dredge. I hear winning a Vintage Championship qualifies you as a 'good deck'. But I think we can blame unearth for the +2/+0 here..

I run these in a Grixis Galvanoth deck. They're sooooooo versatile. Creature removal means I can toss my burn spells at my opponent's dome. Bounce opens up a path for Galvy to swing. Path of Anger's Flame gives me that extra oomph to end the game with Goblin tokens (courtesy of Dragon Fodder).

4.5/5

Regress, Grasp of Shadows, or Path of Anger's Flame.

I have no complaints about any of these effects. Two handy removals and a brutal combat trick. Very handy card, all of the charms of Alara were tons of fun.

Creature removal, perm bounce, or finisher.
Note you can also bounce there land to get ahead of them in the early game.