Engineered Explosives without the color restriction. While it's slower, abilities without mana cost and Proliferate both made this easier to use than its predecessor.
StoicChampion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Very versatile. Nice, I like it.
MrBarrelRoll
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
Why am I so tempted to stick this on a Prototype Portal? Because I am a bad person?
raptorjesus69
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Hands down one of the best cards in the set. I wouldn't say this is strictly better than Powder Keg, it depends on what you're using it for. In a deck heavy with enchantments you'd probably want to use the keg over Ratchet Bomb. Still, an extremely effective token killer or tactical board sweeper in any color. 5/5
jumpenrun
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Powder Keg is better than this one (for my opinion only). Ratchet Bomb destruction capabilities are fairly limited. MTG please reprint Oblivion Stone, i will pretty appreciate if you'll reprint it.LOL...That card is pretty much the atomic bomb of mirrodin.
ZuesAscendant
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(7 votes)
Tic tic tic tic tic tic...
crimson149
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
It's been said, but voltaic key plus this equals controllable nuke that is FAST. Played this and cracked it at 0. Good bye tokens, baby.
majinara
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Nice card, just one problem I see: If you have a nevinyrral's disk, you can have it sit around with one mana open, and pop it any time you want to.
With the ratchet bomb, you tap it to put a counter on it, your opponent plays a destruction spell on it, and you can't pop it in response because it's already tapped.
So nice card, but... I stick to the disk and oblivion stone.
4/5
BioPrince
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
this card alone saved me twice at the pre-release and got me to top 4 with the help of infect, proliferate, and Carnifex Demon (blight mambo is a beast in sealed)
nammertime
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(6 votes)
You can proliferate this thing too.
Dubbios
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Better than Explosive, worse Nevynirall's.
Gavrilo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This art reminds me of bloodbowl ball. And you can score some neat touchdowns with it.
apollogod
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(7 votes)
Ratchet Bomb is a better Powder Keg. There have been discussions about the speed of bomb vs. keg, and from what I can see, the speeds are fairly equal. The one advantage that bomb has over keg is that using Voltaic Key you can add an additional counter each turn, which should get you within planeswalker range quickly.
Overall, I think this card will become a staple of the standard environment, and it will surely see play in older formats. The only downside I can see is that it you cannot tutor for the bomb with Trinket Mage.
Edit: I see quite a few comments about how this isn't as effective as the disk, or wrath, etc. This card is not meant to be All is dust version 2. Ratchet bomb is a precision tool: Snipe what you want to get rid of (and yes, you will probably lose stuff, too). If you want unconditional mass-removal, then yes, there are better things out there. But again, the uses for this card should not be compared to other mass-removal spells.
alblast
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ratchet Bomb, the counter to most infect, weenie, token decks. I feel like it is a little overpowered.
Sigh... Its a sad day when trinket mage can't grab the artifact-based mass removal.
I miss engineered explosives.
JeffTBFW
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is actually quite over powered, its a 2 cost board wipe against anyone playing a token based deck. And on top of that it can pick and choose what it kills.
Aaron_Forsythe
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(27 votes)
Aaron’s Random Card Comment of the Day #71, 4/4/11
A very recent card, and a very good one at that. One thing it is not, however, is particularly original, although this new version of Powder Keg fits into its set much better than the original did.
With proliferate in the set, Mark Rosewater and his Scars of Mirrodin design team combed through old artifacts looking for cards with charge counters that they could update and Powder Keg was a perfect choice. It was a powerful card in its day with good gameplay--the fact that it only destroyed things with CMC equal to its counters made it a much more surgical tool than, say, the catch-all Nevinyrral's Disk or the X-or-less sledgehammer Pernicious Deed--but it had functionality that needed updating (it couldn’t hit planeswalkers), oddly-named counters that needed synched up with modern artifacts (“fuse counters”), and on top of all that, it was on the Reserved List.
Ratchet Bomb eschews the Keg’s upkeep trigger for a cleaner ability, and it also gains the ability to destroy enchantments (something we should let artifacts do more often in my opinion) as well as planeswalkers. The Bomb has downsides compared to the Keg as well, as it can’t destroy artifact lands or animated Mutavaults thanks to its “nonland” wording.
Being in an environment with proliferate gives Ratchet Bomb a whole slew of new interactions that Powder Keg didn’t have. Not only can your own proliferate crank the counters up faster than normal, but your opponent’s proliferate can add an unwanted counter to your Bomb, giving it too many to destroy anything useful.
Ratchet Bomb was the most-player artifact from Scars when the set first came out, and I anticipate it being relevant the whole time it is legal in Standard.
WizardsFamiliar
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(6 votes)
Mr. Forsythe said, "Ratchet Bomb... gains the ability to destroy enchantments (something we should let artifacts do more often in my opinion)..." Hopefully only in the context of the global reset button. We don't want to give black access to targeted enchantment destruction without splashing white or green, right?
DarkTowerEX
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I was playing B/U infect deck with proliferate. im already set a board of 2cc infect creatures when my opponent cast a Ratchet Bomb... he taps it for 1 charge counter then on my turn i played a Throne of Geth.. He taps it for the second charge counter then I tap my Throne of Geth and sac it to give 1 poison counter to my opponent and 1 charge counter on his Ratchet Bombputing it to 3 charge counter so he can't destroy my 2cc infect army :P...
Axelle
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
For when it has more charge counters than you need it to have, Hex Parasite!
willpell
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
"destroy enchantments (something we should let artifacts do more often in my opinion)"
YES!!! Thank you!
Rosuav
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(11 votes)
"... your opponent’s proliferate can add an unwanted counter to your Bomb, giving it too many to destroy anything useful."
I've done this several times. My opponent has a Ratchet Bomb, and I have a whole lot of (say) 2-cost permanents, one of which is a Contagion Clasp. He has 1 charge counter on the Bomb, and on my end step, taps the Bomb to put a second counter on it. In response, I tap the Clasp and put another counter on it. By the time he untaps and gets to use it (this is assuming he doesn't have a Voltaic Key to untap it with), it's up to 3 counters, and I'm safe.
Remind me again how it is that making a bomb bigger makes you safe? I think Mythbusters need to explore this. "Okay, we detonated 3 CMCs of C-4 and Buster died. Let's try 4 CMCs and see if he survives!" Which raises the related question: How much C-4 is there in one CMC's worth of ratchet bomb?
Am I overthinking this?
Lyoncet
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Colorless semi-targeted removal of absolutely whatever you need (other than lands)? Sign me up for a playset! Just make sure you run it with something to counter artifact destruction.
I don't know how well it does in this matchup, but I'd love to see a Ratchet Bomb take out four Squadron Hawks and a couple of Stoneforge Mystics. Assuming you can slip it under their Spell Pierces. : \
2pcsofcandy
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
One of the few cards I have a playset of and yet still want two or three more. Pretty much the only way some mono-coloured decks can interact with stupidly good hosers a la Leyline of Sanctity.
bfugitive
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
@Aaron: I'd like to see more artifacts remove enchantments.
Cheza
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(6 votes)
@ Aaron:
Don't overestimate this card. If a lack of something can be fixed with some patchwork stuff, doesn't make the latter good, it only proves that the first thing is bad.
I repeat it over and over again that EVERY color should be able to handle ANY type of permanent (ignore spells at this point). It would be an easy step to print a black Disenchant and a red Tranquility, but noone seems to have the guts to do it. Instead of that, R&D bends and leaps to print avoiding cards like this one or Lux Cannon.
So basically, the tap ability has replaced the upkeep cost for exactly what you've mentioned, not to really make it work with some sort of untap abilities. In my eyes, it's an "ok" card, but neither a mechanical nor flavor-wise overwhelming card.
ChaosK
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Theres a reason there are so few artifacts with enchantment removal - because it is part of the color pie that black and red arent supposed to deal with enchantments. It would be the same thing, like making a colorless doom blade thus giving white and green access to an ability they shouldnt have.
I think the color pie is an important part of the game and some mechanics should stay in their respective colors and each color should have drawbacks.
avatarjk137
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I'm pretty happy with the level of enchantment destruction in artifact represented by this card. As long as it's noticeably slower and clumsier than White and Green's enchantment kill, I don't think there's harm in it. Most R/B decks can't even play a slow enough game to make this or Lux Cannon useful, and it can be fun to have a fat, slow mono-black casual deck using this kind of stuff to cover its blind spots.
Adallace
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's already been said, but this is good versus tokens (break at zero counters).
lethalex
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
This is gonna be the new mass removal for transformations in Innistrad. :))
infernox10
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Basically going to keep the Transform mechanic in check. ... Not quite sure if I'm happy with that. D:
Vorpalwins
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This card is f***ing stupid in Innistrad versus xform cards. Ruling needs to be changed for it. Negates a large percentage of cards in the new set and the entire ideal behind their transformation abilities.
MrFluffyThing
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I love that this takes out tokens and the night side of Innistrad/Dark Ascension transform cards without any charge counters on it. I was playing a deck I built around Shrine of Burning Rage, and this is in my sideboard against a DKA token deck. after I got them down to 4 life I ran out of steam, they had played two Gather the Townsfolk and three Intangible Virtue.
Needless to say, I topdecked my Ratchet Bomb and destroyed all ten 4/4 tokens to swing for the win with just 2 life left...
ThePhoenixOfDoom
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Whats that? You transformed your Elbrus into Withengar Unbound? Hmmm... RATCHET BOMB
TheHoovedOne.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Tokens have no mana cost so just play for 2, tap then sack and see there hoard of spirits vanish
TastetheJace
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Expect to see more of this once Odric and army buddies hit the scene in M13. Remember, tokens cost 0 CMC. Anyone playing a token heavy deck will be at their wits end when they know you can tap 2 and clean their board on your turns.
GlassJoetheChamp
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Even without the first ability, it says "2: Destroy all tokens, flipped over cards, and zero cost artifacts" which is pretty awesome in and of itself.
Great card. 4.5/5
boneclub
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Have you guys failed to notice that this cannot hit manlands, while Powder Keg does?
Sootoo
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Awesome card against token players, or to destroy rather low-costed artifacts and enchantments. Great to destroy creatures too of course, but it´s pretty rare that I ever put more than 3 counters on it, before I blow it up. The more counters you have on it, the more permanents you´ll probably also have on the field, where the one or other perhaps will get destroyed too.
However, til now, I actually always managed it quite well to not destroy my own stuff with this, and sometimes, the bomb really can become a mass removal board wipe. I use this in an U/B deck, and it´s an awesome alternative to get rid of artifacts and enchantments, for me. U/B is usually pretty weak at getting rid of them, and I think, perhaps even every U/B player should put this in his deck... at least if it´s an edh deck.
Werewolf-
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Well, here's the way it works in Legacy, anyway: If your deck can access , you run Pernicious Deed. If your deck can't, you run Ratchet Bomb.
For the most part Powder Keg in legacy has been made obsolete by this card. The fact that you can choose to put a counter on it whenever it's untapped (instead of only at the beginning of your upkeep) is an important choice to have. Yes, Powder Keg hits manlands, but those don't see nearly as much play in Legacy as planeswalkers like Jace, the Mind Sculptor, which only Ratchet Bomb can touch.
Comments (48)
5/5
MTG please reprint Oblivion Stone, i will pretty appreciate if you'll reprint it.LOL...That card is pretty much the atomic bomb of mirrodin.
If you have a nevinyrral's disk, you can have it sit around with one mana open, and pop it any time you want to.
With the ratchet bomb, you tap it to put a counter on it, your opponent plays a destruction spell on it, and you can't pop it in response because it's already tapped.
So nice card, but... I stick to the disk and oblivion stone.
4/5
Overall, I think this card will become a staple of the standard environment, and it will surely see play in older formats. The only downside I can see is that it you cannot tutor for the bomb with Trinket Mage.
Edit: I see quite a few comments about how this isn't as effective as the disk, or wrath, etc. This card is not meant to be All is dust version 2. Ratchet bomb is a precision tool: Snipe what you want to get rid of (and yes, you will probably lose stuff, too). If you want unconditional mass-removal, then yes, there are better things out there. But again, the uses for this card should not be compared to other mass-removal spells.
Rated lower than Steel Hellkite from the same set right now. . . I wonder why. . .
I miss engineered explosives.
A very recent card, and a very good one at that. One thing it is not, however, is particularly original, although this new version of Powder Keg fits into its set much better than the original did.
With proliferate in the set, Mark Rosewater and his Scars of Mirrodin design team combed through old artifacts looking for cards with charge counters that they could update and Powder Keg was a perfect choice. It was a powerful card in its day with good gameplay--the fact that it only destroyed things with CMC equal to its counters made it a much more surgical tool than, say, the catch-all Nevinyrral's Disk or the X-or-less sledgehammer Pernicious Deed--but it had functionality that needed updating (it couldn’t hit planeswalkers), oddly-named counters that needed synched up with modern artifacts (“fuse counters”), and on top of all that, it was on the Reserved List.
Ratchet Bomb eschews the Keg’s upkeep trigger for a cleaner
Being in an environment with proliferate gives Ratchet Bomb a whole slew of new interactions that Powder Keg didn’t have. Not only can your own proliferate crank the counters up faster than normal, but your opponent’s proliferate can add an unwanted counter to your Bomb, giving it too many to destroy anything useful.
Ratchet Bomb was the most-player artifact from Scars when the set first came out, and I anticipate it being relevant the whole time it is legal in Standard.
Hopefully only in the context of the global reset button.
We don't want to give black access to targeted enchantment destruction without splashing white or green, right?
he taps it for 1 charge counter then on my turn i played a Throne of Geth..
He taps it for the second charge counter then I tap my Throne of Geth and sac it to give 1 poison counter to my opponent and 1 charge counter on his Ratchet Bombputing it to 3 charge counter so he can't destroy my 2cc infect army :P...
YES!!! Thank you!
I've done this several times. My opponent has a Ratchet Bomb, and I have a whole lot of (say) 2-cost permanents, one of which is a Contagion Clasp. He has 1 charge counter on the Bomb, and on my end step, taps the Bomb to put a second counter on it. In response, I tap the Clasp and put another counter on it. By the time he untaps and gets to use it (this is assuming he doesn't have a Voltaic Key to untap it with), it's up to 3 counters, and I'm safe.
Remind me again how it is that making a bomb bigger makes you safe? I think Mythbusters need to explore this. "Okay, we detonated 3 CMCs of C-4 and Buster died. Let's try 4 CMCs and see if he survives!" Which raises the related question: How much C-4 is there in one CMC's worth of ratchet bomb?
Am I overthinking this?
I don't know how well it does in this matchup, but I'd love to see a Ratchet Bomb take out four Squadron Hawks and a couple of Stoneforge Mystics. Assuming you can slip it under their Spell Pierces. : \
Don't overestimate this card. If a lack of something can be fixed with some patchwork stuff, doesn't make the latter good, it only proves that the first thing is bad.
I repeat it over and over again that EVERY color should be able to handle ANY type of permanent (ignore spells at this point). It would be an easy step to print a black Disenchant and a red Tranquility, but noone seems to have the guts to do it. Instead of that, R&D bends and leaps to print avoiding cards like this one or Lux Cannon.
So basically, the tap ability has replaced the upkeep cost for exactly what you've mentioned, not to really make it work with some sort of untap abilities. In my eyes, it's an "ok" card, but neither a mechanical nor flavor-wise overwhelming card.
I think the color pie is an important part of the game and some mechanics should stay in their respective colors and each color should have drawbacks.
...
Not quite sure if I'm happy with that. D:
Needless to say, I topdecked my Ratchet Bomb and destroyed all ten 4/4 tokens to swing for the win with just 2 life left...
RATCHET BOMB
Great card. 4.5/5
However, til now, I actually always managed it quite well to not destroy my own stuff with this, and sometimes, the bomb really can become a mass removal board wipe. I use this in an U/B deck, and it´s an awesome alternative to get rid of artifacts and enchantments, for me. U/B is usually pretty weak at getting rid of them, and I think, perhaps even every U/B player should put this in his deck... at least if it´s an edh deck.
If your deck can access
If your deck can't, you run Ratchet Bomb.
For the most part Powder Keg in legacy has been made obsolete by this card. The fact that you can choose to put a counter on it whenever it's untapped (instead of only at the beginning of your upkeep) is an important choice to have. Yes, Powder Keg hits manlands, but those don't see nearly as much play in Legacy as planeswalkers like Jace, the Mind Sculptor, which only Ratchet Bomb can touch.