Ruin Grinder is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
Menace When this creature dies, each player may discard their hand and draw seven cards. Mountaincycling(
Complete guide
Ruin Grinder is a versatile red artifact creature that offers both early-game mana consistency and late-game explosive card draw. Whether you are using it to fix your mana or as a threat that punishes opponents for killing it, this Construct is a powerhouse in aggressive and midrange decks.
Understanding the Death Trigger
When Ruin Grinder dies, a triggered ability goes on the stack that allows each player to potentially refresh their hand. This is an optional 'may' ability, meaning players aren't forced to lose their current resources. If a player chooses to participate, they must discard their entire hand to draw seven new cards.
The Step-by-Step Resolution
When the ability resolves, players decide in turn order starting with the active player whether they will discard and draw. Once everyone has made their choice, all players who opted in discard their hands simultaneously and then draw seven cards. Note that while you see if an opponent is discarding, you do not see what cards they are discarding before you make your own choice.
Mountaincycling Mechanics
Early in the game, Ruin Grinder serves as a tool to ensure you never miss a land drop. By paying two generic mana and discarding it from your hand, you can search your library for any card with the Mountain subtype. This includes basic Mountains as well as non-basic lands with the Mountain type.
When to Deploy Ruin Grinder
Play Ruin Grinder when you have a low hand count or when you want to force an opponent into a difficult choice. Since it has Menace, it is difficult to block, but its death trigger is so powerful that opponents may hesitate to destroy it if they are happy with their current hand.
Interaction examples
Goldspan DragonYou attack with Goldspan Dragon, generating Treasure tokens to help cast Ruin Grinder. If your opponent uses a removal spell on Ruin Grinder while your hand is empty, you can choose to discard your non-existent hand and draw a fresh seven cards, while your opponent might choose to keep their hand to avoid losing their own removal options.
Etali, Primal StormOn turn two, you use Ruin Grinder's Mountaincycling ability to find a Mountain, ensuring you have the red mana required to cast Etali, Primal Storm later. This also puts Ruin Grinder into the graveyard, where it could potentially be reanimated to trigger its 'when this creature dies' ability later in the game.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Ruin Grinder
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
Players decide and announce in turn order, starting with the active player, whether or not they want to discard their hand. Then, all players who chose to do so discard their hands and draw seven cards. Players later in the turn order will know if players before them are discarding, but they don't get to see what those players will discard to help them decide whether to discard themselves.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Ruin Grinder
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.