Pointed Discussion

i think this card is underrated, considering its potential for interaction with untap abilitys. good with merfolk as well.

Needs MOAR Horseshoe Crab.

I found an interesting combo involving this card in a grab bag draft.

This card works nicely with Pili-Pala and Bone Saw (or other zero cost artifacts) with a Glaze Fiend in play.

Unfortunately, I never got to use that, as FNM was over before I discovered it.

Pretty good without untap effects, amazing with them. This card is basically a (possibly repeating) 1 mana Boomerang with an additional cost of tapping a creature.

Silkbind faerie + banishing knack, one sided evacuation.

Since no one's pointed it out yet, I guess I shall...The part of this ability that's relevant most often outside of combos is the fact that the creature is the one bouncing the target. This is an easy way to dodge, for example, protection from blue.

Banishing Knack + Precursor Golem + Vault Skyward

Play with more golems than Precursor and its copies.

How's that for blue board clearing? At minimum, with one Precursor + copies, for the cost of 2 Blue you can bounce 6 non-lands.

Horseshoe Crab has already been mentioned, but there is also Soliton, or any creature equipped with Pemmin's Aura or Freed From the Real. Since blue is a little weak on artifact and enchantment removal, anything that can get them out of the game (even temporarily) is a very useful card.

Picture and flavor text remind me of Matrix.

The flavor text reminds me of the de***ion of magic from Patricia C Wrede's Searching for Dragons.

Also, combo-rific card.

Why is this rated so low? All I need is a creature and this is better (and potentially more game breaking) than Boomerang? Even if I can use it without untapping the creature whatsoever, it is still cheaper than Boomerang, and at worst is an Unsummon. I wasn't around when this was released, but seeing this with some of the merfolk that came out in this block and its sister block, I would have been all over this card.

Rating: 5/5 as far as bounce spells go.

For me, it's really between this, Into the Roil, and Boomerang.

Banishing Knack :
-Good:
--Cheapest of all bounces, letting you play another spell or two
--Unsuspecting if you're opponent doesn't play you for having a 1 mana blue spell
--Combos with untapping abilities
-Bad:
--Requires a creature (a control deck might not like this)
--That creature is susceptible to removal/burn/bounce, getting you 2-for-1'd, failing to bounce your intended target
--It can't go after lands (whether your opponents or one of your own if playing against LD)
--It can't go after Planeswalkers

Into the Roil :
-Good:
--Cheaper and easier to cast than Boomerang in a multi-colored deck
--Flexible
--Cantrips
--A good card in the early game and the mid-late game
-Bad:
--If it's kicked and your opponent manages to make the target illegal, you don't get to bounce the intended target, you don't draw a card, and you tapped out 4 mana for nothing
--It can't go after lands
--It can't go after Planeswalkers

Boomerang :
-Good:
-Goes after lands. If you play 2 in a row in the early game while hitting your land drops, your opp. might not be able to catch up before it's too late.
--Goes after Planeswalkers
-Bad:
--Not very splashable

@AMart83: All three of those can bounce planeswalkers, not sure where you're getting that they can't from.

As for the card itself, I used to run in it my old Experiment Kraj commander deck where there were plenty of untap effects. Nifty card for its combo potential.

@shadows_vengeance

Dont forget that you can bounce your own precursor golem and play it again for 2 more golems.

Oddly enough, this is getting a functional reprint in Retraction Helix.

@AMart83

are you under the impression that planeswalkers are land? Banishing Knack and Into the Roil are both capable of bouncing walkers.