Grindstone (Original Sketch)

Grindstone is a one-mana artifact with an activated ability for (3), tap: target player mills two cards. If they share a color, repeat the process. When printed in Tempest (1997), Grindstone was part of a cycle of artifacts with “repeatable” effects (e.g. Distorting Lens, Torture Chamber). The original design intent was grinding against multicolor decks – sometimes milling 3-4 cards, but nothing like its current combo role. Its life changed dramatically after the release of Painter’s Servant (Shadowmoor, 2008). The two cards together form a one-card kill. Painter paints your opponent’s deck a single color, meaning Grindstone’s “repeat” clause loops until the entire deck is milled. This catapulted Grindstone from bulk rare to one of the most iconic Legacy combo win conditions. Legacy is the primary competitive home for Grindstone. The deck that made this card relevant is a red combo / control deck called Painter. Painter’s Servant is key to making the combo function – it makes all cards, including lands, have a chosen color (often blue). Legacy Painter uses Painter’s Servant and Grindstone as its main combo kill – and plays cards like Goblin Engineer, Goblin Welder, and Urza’s Saga to assemble these pieces. Urza’s Saga also serves as an alternative win condition, creating large construct tokens. The deck also plays 5-6 maindeck copies of Red Elemental Blast / Pyroblast which can destroy any permanent once Painter’s Servant is in play naming blue. Fast mana sources like Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Simian Spirit Guide, and Mox Opal help the deck get its combo pieces and prison tools like Blood Moon or Magus of the Moon into play ahead of the opponent’s actions. Some versions of this deck are blue based for cards like Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Kappa Cannoneer, Pinnacle Emissary, Thoughtcast and Force of Will (Blue Painter). In cEDH / Commander, Grindstone is not widely used outside of Painter Combo, but it does see play with commanders like Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Oswald Fiddlebender, and Bruvac the Grandiloquent. Grindstone is not on the Reserved List, it has a few reprints. Of course, there's nothing like the og Tempest version featured here in this preliminary sketch.