Sanitarium Skeleton in SOI Limited
Limited forum
Posted on April 6, 2016, 3:55 p.m. by VampireArmy
Has anyone else had success with this guy? I certainly have seen some. It's the blocker that can basically block forever. Milling him is fine and he also gives you unlimited discard fodder if needed. Underrated card imo. What do you think?
I feel like it's bad, and here's why. If this guy was a Squee, Goblin Nabob, he'd be busted. A free discard each turn would be great, especially in the decks that want it. I did lose to the Call the Bloodline + Sanitarium Skeleton combo during the prerelease, but that doesn't change my opinion. Squires are historically bad in Limited. That doesn't mean that Sanitarium Skeleton can't be good, but it'll take a lot of evidence to convince me otherwise. Essentially, I don't think Sanitarium Skeleton is worth the card slot in your deck. I think there are better cards that you can put into your 22nd or 23rd card slot than ole Skelly here.
April 6, 2016 4:43 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #4
JWiley129 don't get me wrong. I won't claim this card is the best card ever but in the vacuum of SOI, it seems great. If you're playing a grindy deck, having the chump blocker from turn 1.
I guess I might be a little biased after seeing it do some major work last weekend in a UB midrange pool.
April 6, 2016 4:50 p.m.
VampireArmy - That's interesting, because I'm also thinking of Sanitarium Skeleton in the vacuum of SOI. A 1/2 does not impact the board, fails spectacularly at blocking tramplers and fliers, and is only useful when discarding it for "value."
Additionally, the biggest thing to get in Limited, and Magic in general, is to not be a Results Oriented Thinker. Aka, don't be ROTTY. Seeing a card do work and thinking it's good is exactly Results Oriented. It could be the case that the skeleton IS good, but I'd rather see more data than just two people's anecdotal evidence :)
April 6, 2016 4:54 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #6
right, which is why I've asked what other's have experienced with it. It was also sealed deck instead of draft so that could have had an impact on my observation. Should note that I'm not exactly trying to convince anyone of anything even if I believe it myself. I can see how that might seem contradictory to my previous statements though so I apologize if i came off that way.
April 6, 2016 5 p.m.
I wouldn't pick it highly but I appreciate the work it can do. 1 mana 1/2 is pretty good but only truly useful against other creatures with 1 power. His ability to be recurred is really nice if you're behind on the board but only stop one attacker a turn. And he does combo nicely with discard outlets and things.
I don't think he's bad at all but I wouldn't pick him very highly
April 6, 2016 5:49 p.m.
In a fairly aggressive RB deck I feel like he is decently strong. I had one in my sealed deck at the second PR I went to (along with 4 other 1-drops), and it was fairly good.
As a creature you can play on T1.
The card is shouting Admiral Ackbar all over (incidentally, a lot of cards in this set seem to be doing so, ie: Skin Invasion and Thing in the Ice). I never discarded it once, and not due to a lack of discard outlets. Paying 
every turn simply to chump block every turn is ridiculously sub-par, even if you're managing to trigger some good abilities when you discard him.
April 6, 2016 6:03 p.m.
SpringingTiger says... #9
I think that it does enough different things well enough that it's worth playing. Self-mill, discard, and chump blocking are obvious, but it can also block skulk creatures and tokens all day long and trigger ETB or dies triggers multiple times. It also holds equipment reasonably well, although I don't think that's as relevant, because I think the skeleton will be better in a slower deck, whereas equipment is better in more aggressive decks.
raithe000 says... #2
Its not bad, but its not great either. As a discarded card it can do work, but you need a good discard outlet first. As a blocker, it's ok, especially considering skulk, but still not amazing there. I haven't gotten to drafting the new set yet, but I'm not sure how powerful the self-mill theme is going to be, so put a question mark there. Overall, decent card, but not a top pick, ImO.
April 6, 2016 4 p.m.