"Bontu's Last Reckoning:All in the timing"

"Bontu's Last Reckoning:All in the timing"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

When you have a card that let's you destroy everything on the battlefield it will always get compared  to another card that does the same thing. In this case Bontu's Last Reckoning and Damnation will be on the same comparison sheet. Those who have enough copies of Damnation (or wish to have enough copies) see the 4 mana Sorcery as a better version of the two despite the added 1 mana cost. Sadly Damnation only exists in Modern while Bontu's Last Reckoning will help a lot in Standard for a couple of years.

Bontu's Last Reckoning can be used in Standard and would currently be the best Mass removal spell because of it's low 3 mana cost. A lot of players will auto include this but you should still be careful when you use it since it does have one nasty draw back. You won't be able to untap your lands on your next turn. A turn that would leave you like a sitting duck ready for slaughter if you are not careful. Yes you can wipe out all of the early aggressors like Energy decks but still end up dead due to two things. Vehicles and Gods(I am looking at you Hasty Hazoret). 

With the abundance of vehicles out there who can be crewed after a sweep by a creature who just landed on the battlefield and Gods who can survive mass removal due to their indestructibility and attack after their particular demands have been met you really need to get the timing right. Haste creatures can also be a problem or even Embalmed and Eternalized creatures since there are a lot players who would just let this sorcery resolve and get their zombies next turn. 

I am all for this card but in current standard it needs graveyard clearing support otherwise things that you have already taken cared off would take a big chunk of your life total later on. 4/4 Eternalized creatures are no joke even if you can Fatal push them into submission. Best to have 4 copies even if the draw back is a bit steep.