[Single card discussion] Cranial Extraction

[kabal]

Just incase you need a refresher on what this card does:

Cranial Extraction (http://magiccards.info/chk/en/105.html)

Sorcery - Arcane, 3B
Name a nonland card. Search target player's graveyard, hand, and library for all cards with that name and remove them from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

This card doesn't see much, if any play. Seems to be very good at cripppling combo. Is it just too slow? What if it were to be used as a singleton in the board as a wishable target?

For example, variants of Survival and Aggro Loam run burning wish. Some of these builds do splash black for discard and/or Confidant. Is that discard enough? Against some decks like Ichorid, discard isn't really relevant. This is where Cranial Extraction would come help.

What do you guys think?

[SpikeyMikey]

Is it just too slow?


*Put's finger on tip of nose*

You nailed it buddy. What threatening card is going to be in your opponent's hand on T4? With the abuse the GY sees these days, Extirpate is a much more solid choice, and even that's kind of iffy, because there's just no room for it most of the time.

[ClearSkies]

I really think the biggest problem is the casting cost. Also, it is a sorcery.
Obviously, it isn't much use to fast combo decks. Like Extripate, it doesn't affect the board. What exactly are you going to use this against?

Extripate, which almost does the same thing, is instant, uncounterable, and only cost one B. Combined with discard, Extripate is just much faster, and more reliable.

Edit: Typed to slow and someone got there before me...

[galeng]

It's because Extirpate was printed, which is almost a cranial extraction for :b: with split second. Otherwise its just too slow.

[scrumdogg]

The other posters nailed it on the head, Extirpate has made Cranial Extraction completely obsolete. The other card it competed with <theoretically> was Haunting Echoes. If I'm going to Burning Wish for a backbreaking, deck-clearing sorcery after stabilizing, it is going to be Echoes not Extraction.

[Tacosnape]

The other posters nailed it on the head, Extirpate has made Cranial Extraction completely obsolete. The other card it competed with <theoretically> was Haunting Echoes. If I'm going to Burning Wish for a backbreaking, deck-clearing sorcery after stabilizing, it is going to be Echoes not Extraction.

I sort of agree with this, although not in the sense that Extirpate competes with Haunting Echoes.

I think Cranial Extraction is in large part gone because if you're trying to get rid of a single card, Extirpate is far cheaper and can't be countered or responded to. And if you want a high impact spell, Haunting Echoes can win a game by itself where Cranial Extraction rarely can. So I think it's not so much a case of Extirpate competing with Haunting Echoes, so much as that Cranial Extraction loses to one or the other depending on what you want it for.

[Bovinious]

WOW I remember this card along with the rest of Kamigawa kind of made me quit Magic once. I went to the Champions prerelease and when someone told me THAT was the chase rare and showed to me I was mad, that combined with seeing the rest of the terrible set made me realize the set sucked and so would magic for bit so I was like fuck this, Im quitting, or at least taking a break. So yeah I missed Kamigawa and Rav. Blocks to play WoW...beats. But anyways this card is pretty awful, kinda obvious.

[JDunkin00]

I sort of agree with this, although not in the sense that Extirpate competes with Haunting Echoes.

I think Cranial Extraction is in large part gone because if you're trying to get rid of a single card, Extirpate is far cheaper and can't be countered or responded to. And if you want a high impact spell, Haunting Echoes can win a game by itself where Cranial Extraction rarely can. So I think it's not so much a case of Extirpate competing with Haunting Echoes, so much as that Cranial Extraction loses to one or the other depending on what you want it for.

My thought exactly. I guess its true great minds do think alike. The only time extraction would be better is if they have not drawn a single copy of a card you are wanting to remove in which case you prob will not have to worry about it.

[Team-Hero]

Cranial Extraction is a very good card when used correctly. I like using it with Burning Wish or in Truffle Shuffle. Other than that, I don't see much good use for it.