Appetite for Brains

In Commander, Appetite for Brains is a surgical discard spell aimed squarely at the game-winning bombs that dominate higher-powered tables — the Cyclonic Rifts, Thassas Oracle lines, and haymaker creatures your opponents are sandbagging. Legacy and Vintage have access to so many superior discard options — Thoughtseize and Duress chief among them — that Appetite for Brains rarely makes the cut outside of budget builds or very specific targeting needs. Modern's threat density has crept high enough that the CMC-4-or-greater clause usually hits something relevant, but again, Thoughtseize just does the job better. Appetite for Brains finds its most honest home in Commander, where every opponent's hand is likely packed with expensive spells and surgical disruption on turn one can reshape the entire game.