IF you manage to get all your important critters into your graveyard somehow, then this is a Survival of the Fittest surrogate. It has it's uses.
Opponent's upkeep: "I'll use Oriss, Samite Guardian's grandeur ability to lock you down this turn." Opponent's end phase: "I'll use Tortured Existence to discard a Squee, Goblin Nabob and return the Oriss to my hand."
Wash, rinse and repeat.
DacenOctavio
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Black is pretty good at getting key critters into the yard. This is literally black Survival of the Fittest.
greg2367
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
E. Hustle *MADE* this card. If cards had feelings and could love, this card would love E. Hustle. This card was one of thousands of forgotten orphan cards, with no one using them seriously in any deck, anywhere. Then a man named E. Hustle came forth from the depths of the Pauper format on MTGO and now this card is the all-star of a deck that seems to go 3-1 perpetually.
Gerbil_Lord
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(3 votes)
@DacenOctavio Uh, no, it's not. "literally a black survival of the fittest" would require it to have the same name, mana cost, and abilities while being black.
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Seems... Insane, specially in madness decks?
Paladin85
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Creature recycling with cheap casting cost and synergy with Madness Haakon, Stromgald Scourge's best friend
Paolino
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card can be devastating if used with cycling and madness creatures! Both its casting cost and activation cost are extremely low.
drunyon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is a total beast in Pauper. Mono-black in Pauper has a ton of strong cards (like Hymn to Tourach), and this is just another one of them. Really great card advantage with Madness.
Extremely powerful and yet rarely played (based on my experience) in formats where it would help - Commander comes to mind. Amazing effect, dirt cheap casting and activation cost, and this was a common!
Works better than I thought it would! Given a dredge card all your guys basically get dredge for {B}. It works fantastic with Ichorid and Skaab Ruinator as well. (Bloodghast, Nether Traitor.. you get the idea.)
Great addition to a Recurring Survival deck. 4.5/5
Snock
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card was a COMMON in Stronghold?! Absolutely insane. Karador EDH loves this.
Ragamander
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As long as you control Tortured Existence, every creature in your hand can be cast as an instant-speed, uncounterable Raise Dead. That seems extremely powerful. Off the top of my head, I'd use it in a creature ramp deck. Once I start drawing mana dorks in the late-game, I can start cycling them out to reuse threats like Shadowborn Demon or utility creatures like Shriekmaw. Good GOD, Shadowborn Demon! That seems so incredibly strong that I think I need to go build a deck around it.
By the way, if you combo this with Survival of the Fittest instead of just comparing the two, you get ": Search your library for a creature card and put it into your graveyard. Then shuffle your library." It's practically Entomb on a stick. ... Not that you need Entomb on a stick when you have Survival of the Fittest; you can just keep using Survival of the Fittest.
Comments (23)
Opponent's upkeep:
"I'll use Oriss, Samite Guardian's grandeur ability to lock you down this turn."
Opponent's end phase:
"I'll use Tortured Existence to discard a Squee, Goblin Nabob and return the Oriss to my hand."
Wash, rinse and repeat.
This card was one of thousands of forgotten orphan cards, with no one using them seriously in any deck, anywhere. Then a man named E. Hustle came forth from the depths of the Pauper format on MTGO and now this card is the all-star of a deck that seems to go 3-1 perpetually.
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge's best friend
Combine with Shriekmaw for repeatable removal.
I'll discard Squee, Goblin Nabob to gtake back this Basking Rootwalla. I'll discard that (casting it for Madness) to grab my Memnite and cast that bringing back my Vengevines to finsh you off!
Great addition to a Recurring Survival deck.
4.5/5
By the way, if you combo this with Survival of the Fittest instead of just comparing the two, you get "
...
Not that you need Entomb on a stick when you have Survival of the Fittest; you can just keep using Survival of the Fittest.