While its plenty powerful, its the effect on perceived barrier-to-entry that really posed a problem because casual players watching Commander games in passing could reasonably assume that they needed hundreds (now thousands) of dollars in Power-9 mana as table stakes, just to join the format
While I can't use the dreaded "strictly better" words because Midnight ReaperMidnight Reaper draws off itself dying and Grim HaruspexGrim Haruspex doesn't, the life loss can add up quickly when you're going wide or have an Aristocrats engine going, so most times if you had to pick between the two, you're going to choose Haruspex
In fact, a single 7 out of 7 victory will do that
Tarek could not tell whether he was losing his blood or his mind
Extremely fun concept, very malleable depending on what you want to play, and theyre certifiably the edgiest class on the game
The Broken 20% I believe in building context and operating with a sense of history