
Collective Brutality
Escalate—Discard a card. (Pay this cost for each mode chosen beyond the first.) Choose one or more — • Target opponent reveals their hand. You choose an instant or sorcery card from it. That player discards that card. • Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn. • Target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
Rulings (7)
Jul 13, 2016 · If an effect allows you to cast a spell that has escalate without paying its mana cost, you pay escalate costs for that spell if you choose more than one mode.
Jul 13, 2016 · You choose all of your modes at once. You can’t wait to perform one mode’s actions and then decide to choose more modes.
Jul 13, 2016 · Effects that reduce the cost of spells reduce the total cost, including any escalate costs added.
Jul 13, 2016 · Additional costs don’t affect a spell’s mana value.
Jul 13, 2016 · If one target of an escalate spell becomes illegal, the other targets will still be affected. If all of the targets become illegal, the spell won’t resolve.
Jul 13, 2016 · You can’t choose any one mode multiple times.
Jul 13, 2016 · If two of the chosen modes of an escalate spell target a creature, you may choose the same creature for each mode’s target, or choose different creatures. The same is true if the chosen modes target a player (or opponent).
Where it’s played now
Inclusion by archetype
| Archetype | Format | Inclusion | Copies | Decks (n) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimir Reanimator | Legacy | 100% | 4× | 6 |
| Grixis Reanimator | Legacy | 67.9% | 1–4× | 56 |
| Mill | Modern | 6.3% | 2× | 16 |
| Dimir Midrange | Legacy | 2.9% | 2× | 34 |
| Dimir Frog | Modern | 1.8% | 1× | 55 |