I love antithetic effects like that one that are both advantage and drawback at the same time. You get a growing 3/3 three-drop (in red, notably!) while effectively preventing you from drawing further land cards - unless you help out with something like Life from the Loam, of course.
Champion_Kitsune
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
awesome. and excellent in a super fast aggro-burn deck that doesn't need more than three lands to function.
Kills your lands and dies oh-so-easily to removal, destroying all that investment. Build around him, or pass him by.
Necrolysis
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
turn one- mountain, Lotus Petal, Scouting Trek Turn two-mountain, Rite of Flame, Countryside Crusher Turn three- Attack for 20 ish, watch it get terminated, realize you now have 2 lands for your entire game Turn four-Cry
1. Play this giant 2. Cast Selective Memory, removing all of your nonlands 3. Cast Wheel of Sun & Moon 4. At the beginning of your upkeep, Countryside Crusher checks the top card of your lib, and tries to put it into the graveyard; the enchantment returns it to the bottom of your lib (I think), so you can cycle through your entire library of lands infinitely!
The only part I'm not sure about is whether the Wheel's ability triggers every time you put a land into the graveyard, or only at the end. It works pretty well either way.
Ichorix
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(9 votes)
Yeah, I'm not sure why people are referring to his first ability as if its a drawback. As previously mentioned, in a low-curve aggro deck every land you draw after your first 3-4 is a bad draw, since you would much rather have a burn spell or a cheap creature. In the right deck this card ensures that you won't have a dead draw for the rest of the game. This isn't an ability you work around; it's an effect you build around.
Musume
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Mephastopheles: Wheel of Sun and Moon means that cards never hit the graveyard, so this creature wouldn't get any +1/+1 counters. However, it might be nice to use once you've gotten enough lands out into play and want to filter your deck.
MrPink343
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Yes, Scouting Trek obviously combos with this, but it gets truly evil and much less risky when you throw Planar Birth and landfall cards into the mix. +alot/+alot Crusher and 20+ landfall activation at once on turn four? Yup, that'll do it.
Sugga
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This is an amazing card for two reasons. Reason one: in mono-red aggro (why not r/g or r/b or something as well) this card grows very easily very enormous. Bolt or incinerate your obstacles out of the way and let it ring. Reason two: when do you need four mana when playing cards like Tattermunge Maniac, Jackal Pup, Lightning Bolt, Fireblast or the likes like Pyrokinesis? Yes. The king of giants lifts those unnecessary slow-downs out of your way and lets you lift the good stuff. The best 3cc for red burn period.
Tommy9898
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
I just use him because I hate topdecking lands late game.
Artscrafter
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@Mephastopheles: If I understand it correctly, you would not only not get any counters if you had Wheel of Sun and Moon out (as Musume said) but if you had used Selective Memory to ditch all your nonland cards you would end up in a forced infinite loop and draw the game.
If I'm reading the Crusher's effect correctly, all the repetitions are done as one action. However, the Wheel is a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. So you would reveal the top card, it's a land, and you put it on the bottom of your deck. Then you reveal the next top card, put it on the bottom of your deck, etc.
Zulp
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
YEEEEEEEEEEHAW
A0602
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I am building a warrior deck and I just realized the synergy between this card and Ruinous Minotaur. Very powerful, very risky. Would be a good idea to run with Crucible of Worlds or for pauper players: Grim Discovery.
nemokara
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
"I, Vigo, the Scourge of Carpathia, the Sorrow of Moldavia, command you."
"Ohhhh, command me lord!"
"On a mountain of skulls, in a castle of pain, I sat on a throne of blood. What was will be, what is will be no more. Now is the season of EVIL."
"Evil?"
"Find me some land, that I might live again."
"Yes, land. Some lands ... Land?"
*BZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT*
scumbling1
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Ross Perot smash!
Templar314
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
His name makes him sound like some sort of redneck wrestler. He looks more like the Heat Miser, though.
This guy's practically essential in burn decks, and not just because of his boost ability -- playing him ensures you'll never draw another land, which means you'll be drawing nothing but spells. It's perfect filtering for burn, which rarely runs anything with 4+ mana cost and therefore doesn't need any more land by the time it's topdecking. Crusher effectively turns your potential dead topdecks into +1/+1 counters.
Crusher also works well with the other burn staple creature, Grim Lavamancer, by ensuring you have a well-stocked graveyard to burn through.
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I wish Raymond Swanland drew this. Not only because his art is awesome, but because of the synergy this has with red cards drawn by him. For example, take Ruinous Minotaur and Goblin Razerunners.
He also drew Burning Vengeance, and there's a card that has synergy with both this card and Burning Vengeance: Flame Jab.
Psychrates
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! SUPER-TECH with Scouting Trek and throw in Crucible if you have to...
GrimjawxRULES
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I've seen decks running nothing but four copies of this and 56 lands. It might be a one-trick pony, but your opponent is going to be in big trouble if he/she doesn't have removal :P
WarioMan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
He has the same look and facial expression as Super Macho Man from the Punch-Out!! games.
Comments (30)
You get a growing 3/3 three-drop (in red, notably!) while effectively preventing you from drawing further land cards - unless you help out with something like Life from the Loam, of course.
Turn two-mountain, Rite of Flame, Countryside Crusher
Turn three- Attack for 20 ish, watch it get terminated, realize you now have 2 lands for your entire game
Turn four-Cry
1. Play this giant
2. Cast Selective Memory, removing all of your nonlands
3. Cast Wheel of Sun & Moon
4. At the beginning of your upkeep, Countryside Crusher checks the top card of your lib, and tries to put it into the graveyard; the enchantment returns it to the bottom of your lib (I think), so you can cycle through your entire library of lands infinitely!
The only part I'm not sure about is whether the Wheel's ability triggers every time you put a land into the graveyard, or only at the end. It works pretty well either way.
If I'm reading the Crusher's effect correctly, all the repetitions are done as one action. However, the Wheel is a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. So you would reveal the top card, it's a land, and you put it on the bottom of your deck. Then you reveal the next top card, put it on the bottom of your deck, etc.
"Ohhhh, command me lord!"
"On a mountain of skulls, in a castle of pain, I sat on a throne of blood. What was will be, what is will be no more. Now is the season of EVIL."
"Evil?"
"Find me some land, that I might live again."
"Yes, land. Some lands ... Land?"
*BZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT*
or Life from the Loam + Wild Mongrel
This guy's practically essential in burn decks, and not just because of his boost ability -- playing him ensures you'll never draw another land, which means you'll be drawing nothing but spells. It's perfect filtering for burn, which rarely runs anything with 4+ mana cost and therefore doesn't need any more land by the time it's topdecking. Crusher effectively turns your potential dead topdecks into +1/+1 counters.
Crusher also works well with the other burn staple creature, Grim Lavamancer, by ensuring you have a well-stocked graveyard to burn through.
He also drew Burning Vengeance, and there's a card that has synergy with both this card and Burning Vengeance: Flame Jab.
"CRY SOME MORE!"