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Monster Train takes a similar approach, giving players more control over a subset of units, abilities, and items, rather than one hero-like character
If you're worried about a board wipe like Ritual of Soot, Tend the Pests only gives you 1/1s, but A: that's more than enough damage to kill every player at the table many times over, and B: They gain you life when they die
Dark forces can also control the undead and use them for evil
Ideally you want to win the same turn that you cast Samut, which means you need to Start Your Engines good and early for his cost reduction, ramp hard, and have some non-trivial removal so you survive the early game
A skilled player needs to pick and choose what to disrupt in order to put opponents off their game plan for a while, all the while protecting an often singular key threat