Primeval Titan and it's ilk hate. Go ahead. Pull all that land out of your library.
marwinshieldscale
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I'm sorry this card is Awsome it should be a rare, don't get me wrong I'm not complaining I'm just saying
Hayw00d0909
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
Behold thy mill sword!
busdude
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(8 votes)
4.5? Fail card evaluation.
This card is terrible, 5 mana for what could easily turn out to be just a meager +1/+0 bonus, and will average to be about +3/+0. Oh and mill some flashback cards into their graveyard while you're at it.
I believe this is the first equipment in Magic that might deserve the nickname 'Vorpal Sword'.
Going 'snicker snack' is now a new game term. 'Snicker Snaking' refers to both 'ping milling', as seen here and many other places in Innistrad. (It's a big ping, but it's not a combos-with-self, so it's still ping)
Snicker Snaking could also refer to using Ashnod's Coupon on a Snickers McFlurry.
Gavrilo
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Busdude is right. Power boosting on this blade is unreliable, and mill is double edged sword in innistrad limited. Oh, and it doesn't work on defense. So both Butcher's cleaver and Silver-inlaid dagger are better picks in draft. And SoM block swords are vastly superior to it in constructed.
Don't get me wrong, blade is fun card, just not high pick in draft.
Alsebra
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
It's not as bad as it seems...it guarantees your opponent's next draw is a land, which could be completely useless mid-game (instead of being a game-changer). Yes, it's unreliable, but it still has its uses.
NicodemusCromwell
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh my , oh my , 'strad reall< loves my casual Kor deck ^^
GrimjawxRULES
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
This card is not bad. Of course, you might get unlucky and hit a land instantly, but you can also get lucky and mill six or more cards and swing for massive damage. I've milled people for upwards of 27 cards with Mind Funeral - that amounts to an average of ~7 cards per land. If nothing else, I value the "critical strike"-feeling of this card. Randomness and variation always make for fun games.
roguepariah
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
The real gem here is attaching this to a Zombie with an Undead Alchemist on the board. Attack > mill a creature or two and a land > put zombies into play > if the zombie connects, mill some more cards for more zombies. Once you have enough zombies. Unsummon the Alchemist.
@ Alsebra: Note: the land that gets revealed gets put into the graveyard as well.
@ Faralay: That's his point. Trepanation blade fills your opponents graveyard with useful stuff. ((defending player))
nemokara
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
It's not bad but it's not as good as I initially thought either after some sealed deck practice. It's good in the role of "bonus damage on your evasive guys", usually from +1/+0 to +4/+0 per turn. But it's inconsistent when you really need those 2-3+ extra points of damage, so you can't always count on it.
That being said, I did have one game where it randomly gave +9/+0 and led to a victory out of nowhere. So if you're facing someone with this (in Limited/casual) it's probably best not to take that chance - block the creature if possible.
Nucleon
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(6 votes)
For those unaware, trepanation is an ancient surgical technique that bored a hole in someone's skull. The early idea was that it would let evil spirits out of the head. Then it was to "let pressure off the brain", or various other justifications for the archaic "medical" technique.
Fossilized skulls have been found with signs of healing around the area, so not only did people survive, this procedure has been around for a LONG time.
And is anyone else thinking that this card's art wouldn't be out of place in Esper as some sort of Etherium Sword?
Sure, if you base it on just the average power bonus, it's not that great. However, the biggest bonus that the card provides is making it that much harder for your opponent to hit their land drops. If you can just get a one or two land advantage over them, it can make a big difference. This equipped to Doomed Travelerwas my prerelease MVP. A great Limited bomb.
daemonkiwi
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(5 votes)
Saw this at the prerelease. Guy managed to turn a 1/1 into 19/1.
dudecow
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(7 votes)
My favorite thing is that it griefs land drops.
JFM2796
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Hmm... Sideboard vs manaless dredge?
DragonicSphinx
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I hate this card. :P does not combo with their kessig cagebreakers AT ALL
Fun equipment, but when it backfires it really backfires
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh look, sword of Shadow and Shadow.
Andromeiylochk
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Vroom VROOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
...
Hail to the king, baby.
BrightOrangePants
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is an absolute miracle in limited.
Oh yeah I'm gonna do damage, and I'm going to mill your already small library. Oh and do more damage.
I've seen this win games almost single-handedly; either through damage, or by decking the opponent. It's just the best of both worlds.
Mcflamehead
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really enjoy this card, and can't believe it's printed at uncommon. The effect seems rare to me. I went to the Innistrad pre-release and pulled it and a Mindshrieker . Turn two plopped down the flyer and by turn 4 had the blade on it. Next turn I used the Mindshrieker's ability, which flipped over an Army of the Damned , then I attacked and the trepanation blade milled 5 cards before hitting a land, allowing me to swing for 15 5th turn unanswered. Believe me after that my opponent boarded out all their high mana cards and boarded in 5 lands xD
Vandarringa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One guy used this on me at the prerelease, and each time it just put a land in my graveyard. What's more, those extra lands in my graveyard fueled some key Harvest Pyres that let me go on to win. It's a fun card, but not anything to count on.
Pimpgenitus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
when I saw the art of this before release I thought it was going to be a specter/wraith blade like the reaver in the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver game series...that would be cool, perhaps producing 1/1 flying spirit tokens instead of damage.
The.Laughing.Man
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love this card, I have this, Sheoldred, Geth, Chancellor of the Spires and Mirror Mad Phantasm in a deck and the amount of shenanigans I pull off becomes unreal as the game goes on. People I know are actually starting to over size their decks to outlast my shinanigans and in the case of green decks holding back on those Primeval Titan plays.
Toquinha1977
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(8 votes)
According to the design article, it was originally a chainsaw, but for me, this is a lot more frightening, as far as horror tropes and themes are concerned. With a chainsaw, it's supposed to be destructive (tearing flesh instead of clean cutting like a scalpel), not very subtle, and you can't sneak up on someone with this. Trepanation Blade is a medical tool. Not only are old-age medical practices are barbaric and creepy as hell ("Anesthetic? What's that? Strap 'im down while I bonesaw his arm, boys!"), medical tools are held by people that you're supposed to trust, namely doctors. You don't trust people holding chainsaws.
As far as the card is concerned, I get a similar reaction to seeing it in my opponent's control.
elixirsipper
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
this plusInquisitors Flail and an unblockable. ouch
Shadoflaam
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
At the release, some annoying little bastard was walking around bragging about his cards and insulting everyone. He couldn't play well. Couldn't even shuffle well. So some guy was at 4 life against him with just a Selfless Cathar and this. Swings; hits for 13. 13 damage. 12 cards revealed. Kid went home after 3rd round, best game ever.
DritzD27
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
While this card doesn't pull through 100% of the time it is always fun to watch your opponent's most cherished and annoying cards go right on into their graveyard, plus one land of course.
Dragonmaster3.0
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ Nucleon
It would completely fit into an Esper sword, except for the skulls on the floor!
Kryptnyt
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
Sword of the Hedron Crab
TehRaven
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card would be pretty ridiculous if it left the land on top of the deck. Still a neat card, though. As GrimjawxRULES said, the "critical hit" feel of the card is pretty cool.
NeoKoda
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This thing slapped my friend in the face for fourteen. He had three mana available at the time, so I would have won anyway, lol.
thaviel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this card is somewhat broken. I'm not saying it's super powerful, just the act of milling till you hit a land each turn can reallly screw people out of getting land.
This card would be much better - but less flavorful - in any other set (this set has lots of self-mill)
Melanchior
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(7 votes)
@Hayw00d0909:
Actually, it is The Mill Drill.
The_Stray
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
To the tune of "Alouette:"
Trepanation! It's the new sensation! Trepanation! This is how you play!
Drill into opponent's head, mill his deck until he's dead Drill his head! (drill his head) 'Till he's dead! (till he's dead)
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Trepanation! It's the new sensation! Trepanation! It's the one for me!
Hylebos
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Go Trepanation Blade! Yours is the drill that will pierce the Heavens!
hello4am
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Scalpelexis meet your new friend Trepanation Blade.
Totema
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I love this. It's like a mini-Mind Funeral every time you attack, and it even boosts your attacker. I'd play it even if it didn't have that part.
Narim
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Ok, for milling purposes, Sword of Body and Mind do the trick better, but it doesn't mean blade is bad thing to have. Sword is better on it's own, Blade provide us some really nice synergies... some of them have been named... Mindcrank Mind Funeral Oust/Excommunicate What I like about using Blade combined with Mind Funerals is that it continuously increase the pressure on your opponent, and it's even faster when your opponent is searching his library for lands a lot. It's so flavorful :)
dontmess17
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
if youre gonna use this thing then 4 Ghost Quarter is a must in my opinion
RedJaron
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Most people automatically think of Invisible Stalker with this, and rightly so. But has no one tried adding Undead Alchemist to the mix as well?
So... Broken. I think the attack bonus shouldn't count the land. Every time I've played against this, I've been creamed. That said, I got incredibly lucky one time with this. And by lucky I mean I was on the receiving end. I would draw a spell, then the next time my opponent's creature attacked this card would hit land, then I drew another spell. This happened about 3 times in a row.
GrandAdmiralThrawn89
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
QUESTION: I recently used this in my Mill Deck. The last three cards in my opponents deck were Guiles. Since they're always returning to the opponents deck every time they get milled, does my creature get infinite attack power?
pedrodyl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
**mill chainsaw, actually
severancehope
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
For muliples do i repeat the process for each card or does it all share the revealed cards since attackers are announced at the same time
OneFishTwoFish
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@GrandAdmiralThrawn89: Unfortunately no, because they're not put into the graveyard until the effect finishes resolving. Until they're put in the graveyard they are still in the library, only they're revealed. The equipped creature gets pumped, and then everything is put into the graveyard. Furthermore, Guile's ability is a triggered ability, so it doesn't even go onto the stack until Trepanation Blade's ability finishes.
If Trepanation Blade read: "Whenever equipped creature attacks, defending player puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard until he or she puts a land card into the graveyard this way. Equipped creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each card put into the graveyard this way." it would be a lot more interesting with cards like Progenitus and Darksteel Colossus/Blightsteel Colossus, since they would be shuffled back into the deck as a replacement effect. If your opponent had one of those and no lands, it would get into a non-optional infinite loop: the ability would never be able to finish resolving. Same with Wheel of Sun and Moon. Furthermore, even if the ability did somehow finish resolving, the equipped creature would only get pumped up for the cards that actually do go into the graveyard, so the infinite loop would not result in infinite power.
P.S. @Trepanation Blade: You're awesome. At some point I will equip Awesome Bird with you, and I will win by default via Rule 104.2e: "A player who at any time is at least three times as awesome as any other player in the same game wins by default, and in addition will be awarded at least two internets." Or I could give you to a Mirran Crusader, who will naturally be holding Equipment Nobody Expects in his other hand.
realitant
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
die affinity!
thebeardedshuffler
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great for first striking critters, critters who can't block and evasion. Yes, you can run into a deck that wants to self mill and that sucks. But in those situations you just have to sideboard them out, or sideboard something in that lets you exile the things you need to worry about, there's plenty of that about. In limited it's absolutely destroying to see this hit the table, especially on the Invisible Stalker.
Atali
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Just the ting for Szadek to carry into battle.
ApotheosisCM
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love this card in limited. It has mill potential, and a decent power on top of it. I really like it when my victory is all based on whether or not the next card is a land.
The way I'm reading the card, I don't see why the effect wouldn't activate for each blade with multiples on the field. Each activates and goes on the stack and then resolve one at a time. Unless there is a ruling about simultaneous effects I don't know about, one reveal should not work for all the blades.
Looking at Argentum Armor (which also says "whenever equipped creature attacks") if you have two equipped to one creature (or multiples on multiple creatures) when you declare attackers, they should all activate and each destroy a permanent, not all activate and destroy one permanent. This is because the equipment doesn't give the ability to the creature, but activates when the creature(s) attack, therefore putting an effect on the stack for each Armor and destroying a permanent each time.
When talking about Trepanation Blade, this means each blade could mill a different amount and each buff could be different, but you would mill more. That's how I see it if there isn't some weird official ruling debunking it.
tl;dr: If there are multiple Trepanation Blades on the field (equipped to one creature or multiple) they should each activate and resolve separately (supported by looking at something with a similar activation like Argentum Armor), therefore milling and applying the buff individually for each blade.
Zoah
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Ironically it works somewhat well with Markov Blademaster. (Check out her sword)
Midnite_Of_The_Rose
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this with a Blighted Agent= quick kill...wow itll give a standard deck two kill conditions too!
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I've seen it give +9/+0 before. That was not a good day for the guy on the recieving end.
humor_love
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Edit: I think NelNinja is right. That is, the milling and the bonus occur separately for each attacking creature equipped with Trep Blade. I guess each Blade would work separately in the event that a single attacker is equipped with multiple Trep Blades.
As Blade is printed, multiple Blades on creatures (or a single creature) attacking at the same time don't cause extra revealing into the graveyard. Cards are revealed into a land only one time, but each Blade is getting that bonus.
I don't really understand how this works, unless it's just a "magical" device. Shouldn't the whole revealing/damaging/throwing into graveyard thing happen when the device is screwed into the victim's head and brain? Shouldn't that all happen only after the attacker has successfully connected with the defending player, unblocked? How does this thing extract brain tissue (or whatever it's doing) just from its wielder attacking?!
ziggefranz
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I just wrecked my friend with this card. game goes as follows: t1: Island, Hedron Crab t2: Hedron Crab, Dimir Aqueduct t3: Island, Mind Funeral t4: Swamp, Trepanation Blade t5: Tap out, equip Blade to Crab, Mind Funeral, Aqueduct, swing with crab. t6: Island, Confiscate opponent's Sphinx of Magosi, swing with crab. t7: Jace's Erasure, activate Sphinx's draw ability, swing with crab. opponent DECKED. pass turn.
I lost 15 cards to this. In one turn. And because i couldnt block the flying critter, i took 18 damage and lost the game. On turn 4.
Jinkbot
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I hate this card and I hate whoever made it. Thanks for sucking more fun out of MTG. Not only is it incredibly destructive and cheap, it breaks your opponents deck and reveals their entire strategy... dishonorable and embarrassing. You'll love it if you're an A$$hole.
tpkatsa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A solid, powerful card, although not necessarily reliable above +1/0.
This is a really interesting thing to use in the current meta.
On the one hand, you might mill off some cards with flashback and give the other guy some card advantage, especially if it is a low cost flashback like Think Twice.
On the other hand, with all the mana fetch some decks are able to pull out, you can consistently get big numbers from this because so many lands get pulled from the enemy deck.
Against decks that don't mana fetch, this can create a serious mana screw, because once you start getting this across the other guy will only get mana when he has two lands next to eachother.
In a knight deck (no doubt with double strike and indestructibility as any self respecting knight deck would) this card will have your opponent's crapping their pants trying to run away.
Double strike and protection from colors (whichever ones depends on your knight) makes a broken combo. (by the way, double strike makes it mill twice, and the tempy counters stack.)
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
for those unaware, trepanation is the process of boring a hole in the skull
raptorman333
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
11/21/2011 10:24:50 AM i bought 4 of these prior to the draft and they sit nicely in my unblockable deck.
I drafted one of these and an Inquisitor's Flail. Had the luck of dropping both of these on a Stitched Drake and went to town... got 8 damage off in the first shot... he then naturalized my flail... lol poor choice, apparently-- thy mighty mill sword swung for 21 damage + the drakes power. edit: @Vastator double strike does NOT make it mill twice, you declare your attacker once--that is when the trepanation blade triggers. the damage boost will stick though cause the damage to hit twice, granted, if you're attacker is still there.
questionflanger
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Nasty with Vulturous Zombie! Let's say they mill 5 cards when your flying zombie attacks. He would get 5 +1/+1 counters AND +5/+0 for the turn, attacking for 13. Rinse, repeat.
SirLibraryEater
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great sideboard material against Goblin Charbelcher decks.
In all seriousness, though, the Mill Drill is a really versatile card. For a while, I didn't care that it milled the cards you reveal, I just liked that you got +2, +3, or sometimes even +4/+0 whenever you attack. That alone is really powerful in an aggressive deck. It had a spot for quite a while in my Rakdos, Lord of Riots EDH deck. But my favorite thing is how versatile it is. It can supply an alternate damage strategy to a mill deck, or an alternate milling strategy to an aggressive deck. I've seen both done, and they're funny. This is one of the only cards that has let me win against an infinite lifegain combo.
Drewskithelegend
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Random mill+ utility is not bad in formats with a lot of scry, especially later game where scry is usually putting all the lands on the bottom. I think my biggest problem with it is the fact that the play cost is higher than the equip cost. Should be {2} equip {3} or, hell, {2} equip {2}. The latter would make it better against Legacy decks like dredge and belcher. That being said, it might not be too bad in vintage, since there is so much nonland mana acceleration (but then again, this is vintage, whether or not you get your value with this before hitting a land is probably the least of your concerns.)
Comments (90)
This card is terrible, 5 mana for what could easily turn out to be just a meager +1/+0 bonus, and will average to be about +3/+0. Oh and mill some flashback cards into their graveyard while you're at it.
No way would Caw-Blade play this.
Going 'snicker snack' is now a new game term. 'Snicker Snaking' refers to both 'ping milling', as seen here and many other places in Innistrad. (It's a big ping, but it's not a combos-with-self, so it's still ping)
Snicker Snaking could also refer to using Ashnod's Coupon on a Snickers McFlurry.
Don't get me wrong, blade is fun card, just not high pick in draft.
If nothing else, I value the "critical strike"-feeling of this card. Randomness and variation always make for fun games.
Attack > mill a creature or two and a land > put zombies into play > if the zombie connects, mill some more cards for more zombies. Once you have enough zombies. Unsummon the Alchemist.
@ Alsebra:
Note: the land that gets revealed gets put into the graveyard as well.
@ Faralay:
That's his point. Trepanation blade fills your opponents graveyard with useful stuff. ((defending player))
That being said, I did have one game where it randomly gave +9/+0 and led to a victory out of nowhere. So if you're facing someone with this (in Limited/casual) it's probably best not to take that chance - block the creature if possible.
Fossilized skulls have been found with signs of healing around the area, so not only did people survive, this procedure has been around for a LONG time.
And is anyone else thinking that this card's art wouldn't be out of place in Esper as some sort of Etherium Sword?
Fun equipment, but when it backfires it really backfires
...
Hail to the king, baby.
Oh yeah I'm gonna do damage, and I'm going to mill your already small library. Oh and do more damage.
I've seen this win games almost single-handedly; either through damage, or by decking the opponent. It's just the best of both worlds.
As far as the card is concerned, I get a similar reaction to seeing it in my opponent's control.
It would completely fit into an Esper sword, except for the skulls on the floor!
Actually, it is The Mill Drill.
Trepanation!
It's the new sensation!
Trepanation!
This is how you play!
Drill into opponent's head,
mill his deck until he's dead
Drill his head!
(drill his head)
'Till he's dead!
(till he's dead)
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Trepanation!
It's the new sensation!
Trepanation!
It's the one for me!
Mindcrank
Mind Funeral
Oust/Excommunicate
What I like about using Blade combined with Mind Funerals is that it continuously increase the pressure on your opponent, and it's even faster when your opponent is searching his library for lands a lot. It's so flavorful :)
Funny story: at a draft I had this on a Fiend Hunter beefed up from a Elder Cathar with a Kessig Wolf Run. Out came Moment of Heroism. Ever attacked for 14 trample lifelink damage?
That said, I got incredibly lucky one time with this. And by lucky I mean I was on the receiving end. I would draw a spell, then the next time my opponent's creature attacked this card would hit land, then I drew another spell. This happened about 3 times in a row.
Unfortunately no, because they're not put into the graveyard until the effect finishes resolving. Until they're put in the graveyard they are still in the library, only they're revealed. The equipped creature gets pumped, and then everything is put into the graveyard. Furthermore, Guile's ability is a triggered ability, so it doesn't even go onto the stack until Trepanation Blade's ability finishes.
If Trepanation Blade read:
"Whenever equipped creature attacks, defending player puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard until he or she puts a land card into the graveyard this way. Equipped creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each card put into the graveyard this way."
it would be a lot more interesting with cards like Progenitus and Darksteel Colossus/Blightsteel Colossus, since they would be shuffled back into the deck as a replacement effect. If your opponent had one of those and no lands, it would get into a non-optional infinite loop: the ability would never be able to finish resolving. Same with Wheel of Sun and Moon. Furthermore, even if the ability did somehow finish resolving, the equipped creature would only get pumped up for the cards that actually do go into the graveyard, so the infinite loop would not result in infinite power.
P.S. @Trepanation Blade:
You're awesome. At some point I will equip Awesome Bird with you, and I will win by default via Rule 104.2e:
"A player who at any time is at least three times as awesome as any other player in the same game wins by default, and in addition will be awarded at least two internets."
Or I could give you to a Mirran Crusader, who will naturally be holding Equipment Nobody Expects in his other hand.
Looking at Argentum Armor (which also says "whenever equipped creature attacks") if you have two equipped to one creature (or multiples on multiple creatures) when you declare attackers, they should all activate and each destroy a permanent, not all activate and destroy one permanent. This is because the equipment doesn't give the ability to the creature, but activates when the creature(s) attack, therefore putting an effect on the stack for each Armor and destroying a permanent each time.
When talking about Trepanation Blade, this means each blade could mill a different amount and each buff could be different, but you would mill more. That's how I see it if there isn't some weird official ruling debunking it.
tl;dr: If there are multiple Trepanation Blades on the field (equipped to one creature or multiple) they should each activate and resolve separately (supported by looking at something with a similar activation like Argentum Armor), therefore milling and applying the buff individually for each blade.
As Blade is printed, multiple Blades on creatures (or a single creature) attacking at the same time don't cause extra revealing into the graveyard. Cards are revealed into a land only one time, but each Blade is getting that bonus.
I don't really understand how this works, unless it's just a "magical" device. Shouldn't the whole revealing/damaging/throwing into graveyard thing happen when the device is screwed into the victim's head and brain? Shouldn't that all happen only after the attacker has successfully connected with the defending player, unblocked? How does this thing extract brain tissue (or whatever it's doing) just from its wielder attacking?!
t1: Island, Hedron Crab
t2: Hedron Crab, Dimir Aqueduct
t3: Island, Mind Funeral
t4: Swamp, Trepanation Blade
t5: Tap out, equip Blade to Crab, Mind Funeral, Aqueduct, swing with crab.
t6: Island, Confiscate opponent's Sphinx of Magosi, swing with crab.
t7: Jace's Erasure, activate Sphinx's draw ability, swing with crab. opponent DECKED. pass turn.
winning like Storm Crow.
Thanks for sucking more fun out of MTG.
Not only is it incredibly destructive and cheap, it breaks your opponents deck and reveals their entire strategy... dishonorable and embarrassing. You'll love it if you're an A$$hole.
This would be brutal if equipped to Blighted Agent or Ghastlord of Fugue.
Pairs well with Mindshrieker.
On the one hand, you might mill off some cards with flashback and give the other guy some card advantage, especially if it is a low cost flashback like Think Twice.
On the other hand, with all the mana fetch some decks are able to pull out, you can consistently get big numbers from this because so many lands get pulled from the enemy deck.
Against decks that don't mana fetch, this can create a serious mana screw, because once you start getting this across the other guy will only get mana when he has two lands next to eachother.
In a knight deck (no doubt with double strike and indestructibility as any self respecting knight deck would) this card will have your opponent's crapping their pants trying to run away.
5/5
why:
1)it mills
2)creature gets +1/+0 per card milled
3)only costs 3
Double strike and protection from colors (whichever ones depends on your knight) makes a broken combo.
(by the way, double strike makes it mill twice, and the tempy counters stack.)
i bought 4 of these prior to the draft and they sit nicely in my unblockable deck.
I drafted one of these and an Inquisitor's Flail. Had the luck of dropping both of these on a Stitched Drake and went to town... got 8 damage off in the first shot... he then naturalized my flail... lol poor choice, apparently-- thy mighty mill sword swung for 21 damage + the drakes power.
edit:
@Vastator
double strike does NOT make it mill twice, you declare your attacker once--that is when the trepanation blade triggers. the damage boost will stick though cause the damage to hit twice, granted, if you're attacker is still there.
In all seriousness, though, the Mill Drill is a really versatile card. For a while, I didn't care that it milled the cards you reveal, I just liked that you got +2, +3, or sometimes even +4/+0 whenever you attack. That alone is really powerful in an aggressive deck. It had a spot for quite a while in my Rakdos, Lord of Riots EDH deck.
But my favorite thing is how versatile it is. It can supply an alternate damage strategy to a mill deck, or an alternate milling strategy to an aggressive deck. I've seen both done, and they're funny. This is one of the only cards that has let me win against an infinite lifegain combo.