A 7 drop that AT BEST wins in 4 turns. Not exactly awe-inspiring to begin with.
Well we already run a 6 drop that does about the same.Actually this is a fair comparison. Lets looks at the pros and cons over Cruel Reality.
Pros:
- Can target specific creatures or PW with his "-X" ability, you gain life based on the value of X.
- Provides card advantage with his +1.
- Ult can put bodies onto the field (although its easily his worst and often wasted ability).
- Costs 1 less mana and isn't hit by enchantment removal.
Cons:
- His "-X" ability is limited to the number of counters he possesses. Whether its a creature or PW, Reality is killing something.
- His "+1" ability varies in damage, and in most Esper builds he is one of only two 6 mana cards, meaning his damage
ceiling is tied with Cruel Reality.
- Consistency can't be argued since he can and does hit lands, exactly as Cruel Reality can and will eat threats instead of doing damage. The advantage of reality is you can remove sac fodder, whereas
Telling Time is Sorin's only tool to aid his +1. Worst case scenario, Sorin hits a land, whereas Reality kills a token. Both situations suck, but I'd take a dead token over a dead card in my hand.
I'm not advocating replacing Sorin with Reality, the enchantment hate thing pushes it out of favor for me, just a fair comparison to one of the reasons players splash White to go Esper. A lot of arguments I'm seeing against Reality can just as easily be applied to Sorin to some extent (e.g it gets countered). Both are repeatable effects, but the ceiling in a control mirror is consistently higher with Reality than Sorin, who can just land whiff for a few turns.
EDIT: And since I see this as a Control mirror card at best, we'll say its Esper vs Esper. Both eat the same answers. Both eat Unmaking and die, both eat Cast Out and die, both eat counterspells and die. However, Reality does not die to Never // Return, or Gearhulk/Gideon/Disciple swinging. What other card in Esper targets Reality that cannot target Sorin?
The biggest difference between Cruel Reality and cards like Sorin or Disciple is the possibility to actually choose and control by yourself. Disciple is a wincon that let you control literally everything, Sorin let you draw cards while dealing damage or kill something while gaining life. Cruel? Make opponent sac something not by your choice, easier to remove compared to the other 2 cards and it has more chances to be stuck in your hand. Disciple and Sorin down, with the possibility to protect them for the first turn, are 90% gg, idk about cruel but i feel something like 50%.
My approach with Cruel Reality is to try it in the first 2 weeks of Amonkhet, that for me are the janky weeks. But i would not consider it as wincon for control as i never considered ulamog for it.
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