It seems that, with every week that goes by, players are discovering more and more great cards from Bloomburrow. Last week we saw Into the Flood Maw show up in Vintage, and the week before that Dewdrop Cure made its way into multiple lists in Pioneer and Modern. This week’s new hotness? Cruelclaw’s Heist, a spicy new MTG discard spell that lets you steal the card they discard, too. This card is enjoying similar success to the others I just mentioned. Decks in Standard, Pioneer, Modern, and even Legacy are very much enjoying it at present.
Cruelclaw’s Heist In MTG Standard
When it comes to Standard, Cruelclaw’s Heist is showing up largely in Midrange decks. That’s a lot of the format right now, which means Heist has no shortage of homes. Golgari, Rakdos, Orzhov, and even Sultai are all playing the card, often in decent numbers too. Given the nature of Standard as a format, this isn’t particularly surprising.
At a base level, Heist is essentially a two mana Thoughtseize that exiles. For Midrange decks, that’s a solid one-for-one. Exiling is also very relevant, with plenty of decks playing around in the graveyard at present. Midrange decks have historically played and loved Thoughtseize, and even Duress out of the sideboard. Getting the same effect for one extra mana is, it turns out, quite good as well.
Of course, that’s without considering the Gift effect on Heist. If you’re willing to let your opponent draw a card, you can play the card you exile yourself any time you want. Using any colors you want. Giving your opponent a draw is never good, but this essentially gives you one too, while stripping the best card from their hand. The fact that you get to pick what to exile after they draw for the Gift is crucial as well. This gives you maximum information, and maximum value.
It’s a perfect Midrange card, then, no real surprise there. What’s more interesting is the other MTG Standard decks Cruelclaw’s Heist is popping up in. Mono-Black Discard is another obvious one, but we’re also seeing it in Abzan Ramp and Dimir Control. The fact that this is a discard spell that ‘draws’ you a card is clearly propelling it to success as a generic value piece, more so than the discard spells of the past.
Breaking Into Eternal Formats
It’s always great to see a new card shine in Standard. What’s even better is seeing one go even further back, and succeed in older formats, where the stakes and power level are higher. Cruelclaw’s Heist is doing just that and then some, with appearances in Pioneer, Modern, and Legacy logged so far.
In Pioneer, the card is largely seeing play in Rakdos brews. Rakdos Midrange, of course, enjoys the card just like its Standard counterpart does. Rakdos Vampires is a little different, however. While this also plays like a Midrange deck for the most part, the combo element of cheating out Vein Ripper early sets it apart. In both modes, Heist helps the deck out a lot. Either by trading for value, or by removing disruption or removal that could jeapordize the Vein Ripper win.
When it comes to Modern and Legacy, Cruelclaw’s Heist had the same home: Scam decks. These are Rakdos in Modern, and Mono-Black in Legacy. You’re probably all too familiar with these divisive decks by now, but in case you’re not they’re essentially Midrange decks that can combo out with Grief early to steal games. Heist provides additional discard that helps further that game plan. The Gift option is also even more attractive here than in other formats, since the low average mana costs of Modern and Legacy mean you can easily double-spell with this even early on.
Ironically, since Grief is now banned in Modern and Legacy, this home no longer exists.
We’ve ignored Commander so far, but don’t worry: Cruelclaw’s Heist is seeing plenty of play there too. one-for-one discard typically isn’t great in the format, but the political element of Gift gives it an edge. As does the card stealing element, which can get you a free bomb before your opponent can cast it themselves.
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