"Reap Intellect: Lobotomy X"

"Reap Intellect: Lobotomy X"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

     There are cards that are good in EDH and there are cards that are good in fun decks. I'm not really sure if Reap Intellect will be great in Standard play but it is the only format where it would prove effective unless proven otherwise. I was able to have one of these in my Dragon's Maze pre-release and had one player gasping for air because he thought that this card would really make it big. I lost interest in it because it made no sense to put in my updated Dimir EDH deck. Of course if this is my garbage then it is another players treasure. For the record I actually think it is a very powerful card.It is the stronger version of Lobotomy. People with enough mana acceleration could really take advantage of it. 

    Ideally it would be great to cast in the 5th or 6th turn to maximize its benefit to your overall strategy.It is lobotomy multiplied by X! Assuming of course that you have survived multiple Thragtusks and Boros Reckoners then it could really be a great card.

     The effect is really massive and this is based on the assumption that you could pull it off (ie. you are still alive to be able to do it). Imagine your opponent holding all of his key combo pieces in his hand and you cast this spell. 1 Blue , 1 Black and 2 Generic mana with an X at the end. Let us say you were able to put in 3 generic mana for X.

Your opponent now reveals his or hand and you get to choose 3 non-land cards from it and you get to search his graveyard , hand and library for all the copies of the cards you have chosen and you exile them! It eliminates potential reanimation targets as well as eliminates copies of a particular annoying spell to come into your opponents hand. Assuming that you were able to peek at 3 different cards from your opponents hands and he has 4 copies each of those cards then you are looking at a potential net of 12 nonland cards beyond his reach.

One downside to this cool effect however is that this card will not play well with the Dimir Maze Runner Mirko Vosk. His mind funeral on a stick effect will be limited because your opponent will end up mostly with Lands in his deck. 

Forecast while playing with this card?

Expect Massive Land flooding. Lots and lots of Land on draws that your opponents need a key card to save him or her. Try not to gloat too much when they keep on getting lands and just putting them into play. Always be gracious. 

In standard it is a devastating card that decimates all aspects of your opponents game plan except for the pieces that he already has in the battlefield.In EDH it is merely an expensive "Hand Exiler".The format does not take advantage of its potential abusiveness factor.And we are all in to abuse it right?

All in all I would assume that someone will come up with a unique combo with this some time soon or it will end up in bargain binders all over.