It can also function as a counterspell, turning aside your opponent's Peer into the Abyss or neutralizing a Torment of Hailfire
The deck features a huge number of mana rocks including Sol Ring, Worn Powerstone, Thran Dynamo (and many more) to generate colorless mana quickly, allowing you to play powerful eldrazi ahead of curve
First up is Abaddon, the Despoiler, the face of The Ruinous Powers deck
He also rewards board control with Guardian of Lost Souls, which lets you gain two lore whenever one of your characters banishes another in a challenge, turning combat into a lore-generating engine
Three Kamis of Whispered Hopes add three, and so on
It is a handy artifact in almost any deck that is not purely aggressive