Pinecone Strike
AI draftAI-generated draft analysis — not yet human-reviewed. Treat with healthy skepticism.Limited summary
Excellent two-mana removal that kills most early creatures, suppresses death triggers through exile, and can occasionally destroy an artifact token at the same time for a two-for-one. It is a premium common in any red Limited deck.
Roles
Archetypes
Play around this
Avoid relying on a creature with 3 or less toughness surviving combat when the opponent holds two mana, and sacrifice a targeted Treasure in response when possible. Remember that the exile clause can shut off death and graveyard-recursion effects.
Gameplay notes
Hold the spell when practical to catch both a creature and an artifact token with its two modes. Against sacrifice decks, cast it when their outlet is unavailable; otherwise they may sacrifice the targeted creature in response and deny the exile.
Key synergies
Casting Pinecone Strike triggers Noisemaker to amass Goblins 1 while the Strike removes a blocker, simultaneously growing the Army and opening an attack.
Pinecone Strike is a cheap noncreature spell that temporarily grows Gandalf and adds his damage trigger while also removing an opposing creature.
If the targeted creature dies, Pinecone Strike enables Bat-Cloud's cost reduction, letting you cast the removal for two mana and follow it with the Bat for one mana in the same turn.
Both cards replace an opposing creature's death with exile. Because Pinecone Strike's replacement can be applied instead of Head of the Hunt's, the creature may be exiled without Head creating a Wolf token.
A creature that would die after being damaged by Pinecone Strike is exiled instead, so its card never reaches the graveyard and cannot be returned by Supper for Spiders.