Cranial Extraction

Sorcery — Arcane

Name a nonland card. Search target player's graveyard, hand, and library for all cards with that name and remove them from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (39)

Basshunter on Slime Caves Minibiome from Starbound

3 months ago

Hey dude, i had the same idea - just didnt build it yet. Here's an idea i had about Slime Against Humanity: It counts towards cards in exile aswell, so there are plenty of cards to exile cards out of our library, what could be a nice interaction with slime...

i.e. Bitter Ordeal, Cranial Extraction, Lost Legacy, Memoricide could be used to make the slime-token lot stronger..

Its just an idea yet and i havnt tried any of those, but what you think about it?

DreadKhan on unthinkable apocalypse

1 year ago

I'm not certain the Commander has enough explosive power to consistently win vs 2 decks, but I have very good results in 1 v 1 with my Rakdos deck, and it often has spare cards by the end of the game, be it wipe or removal, because the deck just runs so much of those, with lots of the removal hitting more than 1 target (I love stuff like Phyrexian Purge, Fire Covenant, Make an Example, and Volcanic Offering can each be a terror of a card, and a deck running all of them has lots of pinpoint removal that will clear lots of stuff out. Ashes to Ashes and Reckless Spite also exist fwiw, and if you aren't certain you'll have creatures out, Tergrid's Shadow can do a bit of work, as can Plaguecrafter or Demon's Disciple, cards Sedris can recur for 2B even. Another value card is Dredge the Mire, which can cheat in the 3 worst creatures in people's graveyards, note certain creatures will kill you if you control them, so check before playing! Necromantic Selection not only clears the field, it also gives you back the best thing, this is extra juicy if you use some sort of Indestructible creature(s) that won't die. If you consistently have a fairly big creature, or one with Deathtouch and Lifelink, Chandra's Ignition is one sided by definition, one of many cards that shines brightly with Basilisk Collar (which is also very good with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage or even good old Banshee, Jaya's 6 damage wipe really is amazing if you've got Collar on her, though it'll kill her too). If you expect to have multiple opponents, Goad is a very strong effect, Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant is potentially pretty solid, lots of card draw. There is also Kardur, Doomscourge that will force everyone's hand. Spectacular Showdown is a great card if you've actually got a board of your own to finish people off, keep in mind that on your next turn, you not only won't have been attacked by any pre-existing creature, everyone else will have swung for the fences with Double Strike, and they will likely have nothing left to defend with, making your Double Strikers very effective. Another Goad source that is great with a creature heavy board is Agitator Ant, which is hilarious a lot of the time. If you're using Goad effects, War Tax can let an opponent have a way around them, if there is a tax to attack Goad fails, and War Cadence is absolutely devastating with Goad, even a tax of 1 to block can make blocking impossible for weenie decks, and you can use either on anyone's turn.

As you've got access to Blue, there are a few non-Rakdos tricks you can use, the most hilarious I know of is Mass Diminish, note that it lasts until your next turn and have a good laugh. There is also Sudden Spoiling, which is powerful but lasts for that turn, or Polymorphist's Jest, which is similarly a 1 turn solution. I use Mass Diminish more aggressively, to make a player hyper-vulnerable to attackers (and make them unable to counter attack), getting two casts is just savage. Visions of Duplicity can create some chaos with it's two casts, Cultural Exchange is obscene if someone else has better creatures. Bident of Thassa is glorious if you want both of it's effects, forcing people to attack is incredibly mean, and this doesn't require you to run a weenie like Goblin Diplomats, but that's also a fun card fwiw. If you're going to run Oriq Loremage, you might slip in a huge creature to Unearth, something like Dragon Tyrant can be huge and not break the bank, Double Strike and Firebreathing are really good together, and you won't have to pay the upkeep with Unearth, he's dead before that matters.

I was looking at your land count and average Mana Value and I think you probably are running too few lands at this point, it's very tempting to cut them, but 30 is probably too few for a MV that is over 2.5. You might get away with adding 2 mana ramp, but I'd still aim for at least 36 lands (or MDFCs that count as a land, you probably already have the best two MDFCs in those colours, but people also run Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip) to ensure you can consistently cast stuff. There is a smattering of ways you can run less lands/ramp, but these all come with downsides, but in Grixis you can run 4 solid Bounce Lands, Dimir Aqueduct and Guildless Commons should be in here as well if you want a lower land count, these let you hit another land drop when you draw them. You might also run stuff like Thran Dynamo or Worn Powerstone to help you hit higher MVs sooner, ramping by only 1 mana feels bad compared to hitting a land drop most of the time, there is also Gilded Lotus, but hitting 5 mana can be rough. Coalition Relic can charge for 1 turn, Skyclave Relic is super versatile/rugged, and Everflowing Chalice can be huge if you want, 6-10 mana is absurd but sometimes comes up. Cantrips like Ponder and Preordain are also good at digging for a land, but I know in Talrand it stings pretty bad when you Preordain and don't find a land and I needed one. As for some cards to remove, I'll take a look, but if I'm trying to build a deck that can handle attention, I look first at cards that will hurt only 1 player, unless that card will almost certainly end that player, either right away or in a few turns.

A few to consider removing (I may be missing why you have them in, so user discretion is advised or something): Archive Trap, Outpost Siege, Palace Siege, Ponder, Preordain, Haunting Echoes, Cruel Ultimatum (this seems insanely hard to cast, and hits only 1 player, unless you can copy it I'd run Captive Audience if I want to hose one player hard), Cranial Extraction, Cormela, Glamour Thief, Kess, Dissident Mage, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, Lobber Crew, Loyal Subordinate, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Obeka, Brute Chronologist, Phenax, God of Deception, Runo Stromkirk  ^Flip, Spear Spewer, and Thermo-Alchemist.Some maybe cards include Angrath, Captain of Chaos, and Cryptolith Fragment  ^Flip (for another land, maybe a better rock, there is Thought Vessel, but fixing is sweet in Grixis).

Hope some of this is helpful!

MindAblaze on Why Does Mono-Black Have So …

3 years ago

We also mustn’t forget blacks ability to attack the entire graveyard with things like;

Leyline of the Void

Haunting Echoes

Bojuka Bog

And go after specific cards in your hand, library and graveyard like;

Cranial Extraction

Memoricide

Lost Legacy

MagicMarc on Counteracting large hexproof creatures.

3 years ago

Black has a lot more options. Name Hate removal galore and punishment cards that get rid of creatures for attacking you.

Dread, No Mercy and cards like it destroy creatures without targeting them. Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts will even give you token creatures for killing stuff.

Also limited to black, Name Hate cards like Extirpate which even has split second so it will resolve before your opponent can do something about it. Another good one is Cranial Extraction. It does not target a creature and the creature you name does not need to be in play. If their yard is loaded, then Haunting Echoes will ruin their day. Surgical Extraction can get cast without black mana. The big drawback is you need to know the name, or there needs to be a copy in their yard. There are some that let you look at their hand, like Lobotomy and then get rid of them.

THCue on "Library.exe has stopped working" | Phenax Primer

4 years ago

Okay I ordered couple more cards got the Cranial Extraction and I was missing the Bitter Ordeal and Cyclonic Rift two major key players in the dilemma. Another player being Junktroller and Lim-Dul's Vault He will allow me to keep casting these cards.

I'll have a rematch with the player and play him a few more times and report back.

K1ngMars on "Library.exe has stopped working" | Phenax Primer

4 years ago

Ouch, that's what I get for answering late in the night, THCue. The Wheel is a replacement effect, so one of my alternative win con suggestions is indeed incorrect. Anyways, as for other possible solutions to get rid of enchantments that don't involve counterspells or selective removal from the library/hand/graveyard, I definitely wouldn't recommend Steal Enchantment : albeit the low CMC, this card is too limited in its usage. Moreover, stealing the Wheel of Sun and Moon from one of your opponent's control, won't change the enchanted player, so actually, it's effect will still apply.

As squadcarxmar pointed out, Dimir doesn't have a lot of specific interaction for enchantments. Since bouncing to hand doesn't seem a very viable option in this case, as two mana enchantment can be easily re-cast on the next turn, I'd probably try to interact with the addition of more counterspells, and only as a second choice with specific exile effects, as a counterspell will more useful in most of the situations with respect to a Cranial Extraction .

squadcarxmar on "Library.exe has stopped working" | Phenax Primer

4 years ago

Yeah THCue is right. Wheel of Sun and Moon is a replacement effect. Nothing is hitting the graveyard.

Removal can include things like Bitter Ordeal (already mentioned), Sadistic Sacrament , Nightmare Incursion , Jester's Cap , Praetor's Grasp , Cranial Extraction , and counterspells in general would handle the card. Nevinyrral's Disk can get Wheel back into their library and off the field. There are other exile cards from library effects but those are pretty good ones I listed in my opinion. Cranial might be a better bet in case it's in their hand.

Black and blue can't do a whole lot against enchantments and artifacts once they're out besides maybe bouncing them to hand with blue?

Yesterday on Why does it still count …

4 years ago

(For clarity, I meant that Cranial Extraction and Grasping Current only say 'search' because they involve looking through a library, not just any hidden zone. I know that Thoughtseize doesn't say 'search'.)