2. But is it that big of an upgrade over Skinrender? That always triggers, too. Either way, you’re going to have the wrong card in some niche scenarios, but usually Skinrender will be more reliable.

  3. Well, Skinrender showed up in very early Modern Pod lists (like circa 2012) and then once in a blue moon it pops up as a one-of in a G/B/x sideboard. Getting a borderline-playable effect at a mana cheaper with some restriction or condition is often the type of thing that winds up producing an eternal playable, so I figured it was worth exploring. If a playset of Siege Rhino is your top-curve creature, as it is in Abzan Rock decks for example, you won’t have much more room for dudes that expensive in your build, but getting a 2-for-1 with your 3-drop might be very attractive if you can swing it.

    I think a bigger problem is the Grixis deck can already out-grind G/B/x decks and this guy’s 3/2 body only trades with their Snapcasters in combat, but when I do a set review for eternal I have to take into account that the existing metagame quirks will be different X number of weeks/months from now.

  4. I’m more excited about Zulaport Cutthroat as Blood Artists 5 to (potentially) 8 than as replacements. I don’t know precisely how much of a benefit Blood Artist decks get from the extra consistency on that axis, but it seems worth exploring.

    I’ve also heard suggestions for Bring to Light bringing Eggs back into Modern, by returning the redundancy to Faith’s Reward that was lost when Sunrise was banned. Again, not sure if it’s enough to do it, but it is a mana cheaper than Open the Vaults.