Bloomburrow spoilers are showing off some real haymakers. From a new One Ring ruiner with a cheap Price of Progress attached to a bunch of Gift-related shenanigans, there is some serious heat packed in this cute and cuddly anthropomorphic plane.
Recently, Magic’s first Legendary Weasel was revealed, and it looks like a doozy. For just three mana, you can start casting spells for free in a Cascade-like fashion. All you need to do is discard a card.
The Infamous Cruelclaw
The Infamous Cruelclaw is a three-mana Weasel Mercenary with a very deadly combination of abilities. Stat-wise, this card is not too impressive. That said, if it manages to connect with an opponent, they could be in for a world of hurt.
Once you connect, you essentially get to Cascade until you hit a nonland card. Instead of paying the mana value of that card, you can discard a card. This means that The Infamous Cruelclaw could be a gateway to a free Omniscience. All you really need is to stack your deck.
Is there a way to do this in Standard? Technically, there are a few. Hidetsugu and Kairi is already part of a niche combo that will be rotating out once Bloomburrow hits, but the card can still stack your library with its ETB effect.
The scariest way to do this is likely with Insatiable Avarice. This allows you to search your library and put anything on top of your deck. This was already being used as a combo with Caustic Bronco to deal massive damage to your opponent. Now, you can do this with The Infamous Cruelclaw to cast anything in your deck for free! Whatever haymaker you want to include now only requires you to discard a card to play.
With all of these pieces already available, The Infamous Cruelclaw could certainly create a Standard archetype. We also know that Omniscience is coming to Standard through the new Magic Foundations set later this year. We could have an actual Omniscience deck in the format.
Read More: Colossal Dreadmaw Returns In Bloomburrow With Major Upgrade
The Infamous Cruelclaw in Commander
The Infamous Cruelclaw seems like a perfectly reasonable Commander, as well. Whether you play a Madness shell or try to cast gigantic spells for free, The Infamous Cruelclaw can get ahead of the curve real quick. Cards like Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots seem very strong in this deck. Not only will this protect your Commander, but The Infamous Cruelclaw can swing for damage on impact.
Another thing that a Cruelclaw Commander deck should consider is Double Strike. The Infamous Cruelclaw triggers on combat damage, which means that Double Strike can get an extra trigger out of it.
The other piece to The Infamous Cruelclaw in Commander is making sure you have cards to discard to its ability. Sure, Madness can create some value, but you’ll likely run out of cards. For that reason, cards like Squee, Goblin Nabob will likely provide a surprising amount of value. Anything that can recur itself to your hand and be discarded can help pay for the discard cost of The Infamous Cruelclaw, making your spells truly free to cast.
Whether it’s Standard or Commander, The Infamous Cruelclaw looks like the real deal. This Weasel may be adorable for now, but you may get sick of seeing this on your opponent’s side of the table.
Read More: MTG Common Fixes Failing Breakout Combo Deck
