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This thread is for discussion of this week's Serious Fun, which goes live Tuesday morning on magicthegathering.com.

Pernicious Deed is a Gorilla to me. It scares people off, sure, but to the point of you not wanting to play anything... And it's going to pop, oh it's going to pop, as soon as that players is threatened OR WHENEVER he's about to make a large move. I've seen the same thing happen with Nevinyrral's Disk . Admittedly, it has some elements of a Rattlesnake, but don't be fooled, most players are going to be corrupted by its power.

Daybreak Ranger I'd say doesn't fit well into these schemas. He's kind of like a Rattlesnake, though. I mean, he's going to kill anything he can every turn, but if you have the least threatening element on the board, just don't threaten him. 

Batterskull is a Cockroach and a half! Drop him in, he's dangerous. Kill his token, Equip it elsewhere MORE threatening. Wrath the board, target it, or lazing about? Return to hand!

Novablast Wurm is a monstrous Gorilla. I've seen it in action before. The funny thing was, it came in through a Genesis Wave , along with about 7 other valuable creature. So while he couldn't attack with it, everybody response was clearly to GET OFF THE BOARD. Except me... When he decided to attack, my Kaalia deck's Master Warcraft flashed in... I had none of his guys attack except NWurm, and I sent it at the guy-next-to-me's Jace Beleren !

Arashi, the Sky Asunder is impossible to judge for me. But I think in general strategies, it's a Rattlesnake that scares off flyers. Small ones it ignores because 5/5 at the face is more potent than sitting it back waiting for somebody to foolishly play a big flyer.

Why I say it's impossible to judge is because it depends on the deck(s) invovled. If you have reanimate or return cards from the grave, and/or you have opponent's that threaten a large amount of flying, then you'll hold this card until you need to flash in a Hurricane .

Nov 1, 2011 -- 8:38AM, chronego wrote:

Nov 1, 2011 -- 7:10AM, Senyuno wrote:

Pernicious Deed is a Gorilla to me. It scares people off, sure, but to the point of you not wanting to play anything... And it's going to pop, oh it's going to pop, as soon as that players is threatened OR WHENEVER he's about to make a large move. I've seen the same thing happen with Nevinyrral's Disk . Admittedly, it has some elements of a Rattlesnake, but don't be fooled, most players are going to be corrupted by its power.

It's a Rattlesnake. "While nearly any card can have a bite to it, only some of them telegraph the bite in advance. Those are the rattlesnakes." It doesn't get more 'telegraph that bite in advance' than sitting on the board for a turn until you untap and choose a value for X.

Some problems with Rattlesnake: "The point of using rattlesnakes... to encourage attention elsewhere. 'Don't attack me!' is what these cards cry." Yes, this card has a warning, and it's not something that you can easily blackmail with. It says, "Don't play permanents!" It's not a rattlesnake when it's 'warning' is to stop playing the game so it can take over at its leisure. When such an effect is sitting around, it's a threat that needs to be addressed.

"Using gorillas is often a function of getting things done; when opponents pull ahead, put too many things onto the battlefield, or hide behind a wall of defensive entrenchment, letting a few gorillas loose should rattle the game back into motion." And that's exactly what this bomb does (and all gorilla bombs), it explodes all over everything, and may even leave the controller with things and you nothing.

For example, Yawgmoth is a source of godly power, if he was a card (and sometimes "he" is) he would wreak havoc and take over the game... But Pernicious Deed doesn't stave him off, it quips back:

"Yawgmoth," Freyalise whispered as she set the bomb, "now you will pay for your treachery."

The main point that tricks you into believing it's not a Gorilla is, "Gorillas are the powerhouses you drop onto the battlefield. These cards, like rattlesnakes, are played visibly and openly but affect things immediately." Immediately being the keyword. Now I could argue for this card because cards are gorillas even if they take a turn to go off— because they threaten to do nasty things that make everybody playing pay the most attention to (and we already know this about Novablast Wurm )—

But even though that applies to Pernicious Deed , whose definition is perhaps a very deed of gorillas: "causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful"; still what really sells this one is the fact that the card actually isn't even as weak as stuff like Novablast Wurm , it actually CAN go off immediately xD. Many times it will be played for 1BG and activated for x=~6 as if it were a Damnation with performance-enchancing substances, an Akroma's Vengeance with an agenda!

And that's why this guy looks tricky, but watch it played and you'll realize this monster's nothing you can "play around".