cards like reanimate mtg | Breaking News You lose life equal to its converted mana cost. MTG Cube: Archetype Breakdown: Reanimate

It did that, and most players were not used to it

Ilharg doesnt see much play outside of Commander, but it's still a big nasty creature built to create a huge threat once it hits the field

Now, Im not advocating for Surveil to instead be a Fateseal variant, because Fateseal is a net negative fun mechanic, as most folks whove faced down a Jace, the Mind Sculptor can likely attest

It was a good idea for Wizards to make the baseline on a lot of these creatures reasonable early blocker, because that ensures they can contribute if youre playing the deck unmodified out of the shrink-wrap

On top of its general self-mill utility, Mirror-Mad Phantasm also enables a wide range of infinite combos