Conduit of Ruin - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Ever wanted a tutor for your colorless creatures that cost 7 or more? Well, there are plenty of those creatures to get, and Conduit of Ruin can do that for you! The only downside is that it’s like a Worldly Tutor - the tutored creature goes to the top of the deck. But the Conduit can do even more for you; it makes the first creature spell you cast in a turn cost 2 colorless mana less than normal. That static ability alone may make up for any downsides this creature would otherwise have. Being a 5/5 seems a bit light for an Eldrazi, but with those abilities it’s worth the slight tradeoff in power and toughness.

You do have to cast the Conduit to get the tutor effect, although it being an enter the battlefield effect would probably have made it a fair bit too good - especially in Commander. Being able to search out any Eldrazi Titan (Emrakul, Ulamog, Kozilek, etc.) is good enough and Battle for Zendikar offers plenty of other bombs to acquire as well (Breaker of Armies, Desolation Twin, etc.) It would seem worth it to play just one of these in a deck to give you a tutor effect and a bit of acceleration - but is it only good enough to be Limited worthy or does it have real Constructed potential?

There are plenty of Commander applications for this card, allowing you to seek out the aforementioned Eldrazi, but also Blightsteel Colossus, Bosh, Iron Golem, Colossus of Akros, Darksteel Colossus, Myr Battlesphere, Platinum Angel, and many others. Artifact-happy decks will probably find room for the Conduit.

It remains to be seen how Eldrazi decks shape up in Standard, but if an Eldrazi ramp deck is viable, this is going to be at least a one-of in that archetype. Being able to put an Ulamog or other colorless bomb on top of the deck in anticipation of a See the Unwritten is definitely worth considering. At the very least, it will be easily pickable in Limited and probably will find more than a few homes in Commander.

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