Combos Browse all Suggest
Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Arena | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Freeform | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Historic Brawl | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Modern Beyond Horizons | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Planar Constructed | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Pre-release | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Standard | Legal |
| Standard Brawl | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Self-Destruct
Instant
Target creature you control deals X damage to any other target and X damage to itself, where X is its power.
Crow_Umbra on Is Anyone Else Concerned with …
1 month ago
I agree to an extent that power creep exists and is an unavoidable facet of this game; boundaries in design space will be pushed and broken interactions with various mechanics from the game's 30+ year history may not always be evident at first glance. I think that the various cards you listed in your example are more gimmicky than examples of being broken or power crept.
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Overkill - This is a flavorful uncommon, but it still costs 3 mana. Since 3 toughness is considered a benchmark by many players due to Lightning Bolt, then something like Nightmarish End, Ob Nixilis's Cruelty, or Sudden Death achieve a similar effect for a similar cmc. Here's a more extensive list of Black instants that give some -x/-x effect as removal for comparison.
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Jumbo Cactuar - Again, this is a flavor gimmick given the Jumbo Cactuar's infamous attack. While 10k damage is a lot, the Cactuar costs 7 mana, needs to be cast, and lacks Haste or Trample. Yes, you could Fling or Self-Destruct the Cactuar, but that's now 9 total mana across 2 colors to send 10k damage directly at someone's face.
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The Station Artifacts you mentioned are both 5 cmc and each require 20+ Stationing power from other creatures on your board to achieve their fullest potential. Some strategies will have an easier time accomplishing this, but that's still a very steep investment of resources towards a single artifact/creature. I'd recommend checking out any gameplay videos of any of the Station commanders to see direct examples of the resource commitment needed, especially once they get into mid-late game where boards suffer more removal, and Stationing is harder to do.
In regards to more blatant power creep, I think cards that start seeing a lot of saturation in tournament top 8s should be examined. Take all of the cards recently banned from Standard as examples of power creep that have more direct effects on tournament metas. Vivi Ornitier is now getting similar complaints from different outlets.