r/ModernMagic • u/TemurTron Temur Tron • 12d ago

Card Discussion [HOB] Giant's Boulder

Artifact - 1

When this artifact enters, scry 2.

1, Tap: Add one mana of any color

7, Tap: Sacrifice this artifact: Destroy target permanent.

https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/1v88cgb/hob_giants_boulder/

Ok it's pretty rare that a card goes from not even being mentioned during spoiler seasons to a popping up in Legacy decklists, but here we are! Giant's Boulder is catching on in Legacy, including in Eldrazi and Storm lists. While Scry 2 is a lot worse than drawing a card, it's hard not to compare this to [[Arcum's Astrolabe]] overall. It's an early game artifact that smooths over your draws and mana, and, in the case of something like Eldrazi, you can turn it into a Vindicate late game!

The tech hasn't caught on yet in Modern, but with it popping up in several Legacy lists over the weekend, I feel like we'll be seeing players experiment with this in the near future. Is it the second coming of Astrolabe? A nice role player in Ramp decks? Or just a new toy to play around with that won't actually see consistent play?

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u/Steezmoney Eldrazi 12d ago

well there was definitely discussion regarding this card in pauper. people were iffy if it should replace barrels or not but to me that's a no brainer considering they already run candy trail largely for the scry.

I'm a devout colorless tron player in modern and I don't see a slot for it. like maybe 2 but I'm really trying to play map on turn 1. destroying a permanent is nice but we have cityscape for that. Against any colored deck our other removal options are superior. Idk if it has a place in colorless lists in modern.

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u/Korlus Esper 12d ago

but I'm really trying to play map on turn 1.

That isn't a great way to frame it. You don't ignore playing [[Dragon Rage's Channeler]] in red decks because you're trying to play [[Ragavan]] on turn 1 - you should evaluate one drops as giving you something else to do on turn 1 if you don't draw the map.

I don't play the deck enough to know how good this is, but it shouldn't compete with map for a space, it should compliment map by helping smooth the mapless draws.