Pointed Discussion

interesting card, consitering the graveyard theme of innistrad (and zombies in particular) I may be a sideboard card

Remember kids, take a moment to reread what you just wrote because your comment is going to be there forever.

Wow, there are so many better options than this it's not even funny. Though of course the hoser cards for main set themes are going to be weaker than in your average set.

you spoiled kids and your relic of progenitus! back in my day we had to use tormod's crypt!
and did either of those gain you life? I am pretty sure they did not!

anyways...
it's a clever way to encourage getting rid of noncreature cards in a graveyard, but i'd rather wipe it all out a different way (just personally)

also first shovel in magic

Use it on yourself, thin the mob before using one of the set's several "at random" graveyard effects.

This would be a lot more useful if you chose the card you exiled, rather than the opponent.

Hm... can give a flashback deck opponent a choice between exiling flashback-able spells or life-giving creatures, but unless you want to for some reason exile the creatures from your graveyard anyway... actually, even then, there's better options I'd think.

on your opponent: either you get rid of flashback cards, or you get rid of creatures, gain some life and prevent a Skaab Ruinator
on yourself: as nooboflore said, it helps with randomized graveyard effects, or can gain you some life in a pinch


but this should have been an equipment. I mean come on I want to whack my opponents over the head with a shovel...

Really this shouldn't cost any mana to activate.

The fact that the target player chooses the card prevents it from ever being too punishing to graveyard based decks, so it would be fine with free activations.

Yeah, the cost really makes this kinda not so amazing. But tell me, have you ever TRIED digging a grave? It's not exactly an effort-free kind of endeavor! 5/5 on flavor.

Lowest rated card in Innistrad right now. Interesting.

If it didn't require tapping, or allowed YOU to choose, it would be great 'board tech.
As is, it's the set's Mindless Null.

Dig a hole, dig a hole. Buttered toast.

This card is not nearly as bad as people are saying. It definitely has its place though not in every deck. I built a red/black sac deck. Unlike most sac decks it's not about repeatedly saccing the same creature (reassembling skeleton) or buffing from saccing (Bloodthrone Vampire), it's about putting creatures on the board that my opponent doesn't want to remove (Goblin Arsonist, Mortis Dogs, Perilous Myr) and using them to chump block my opponent or set up combos with Falkenrath Noble and Rolling Temblor for massive self board wipes. There isn't any room for recession but I wanted to find a way to gain a little extra mileage out of my creatures. This card is that. It lets me turn my creature burn into life gain when I have extra around namely just before I activate a combo or just after. Every time I've gotten it on the field it has changed the game in my favor.

This isn't Mental Misstep or Tragic Slip but it's better than just a 2 star card.

It's like an artifact version of Grave Robbers.