Maybe i can make it "short" to say why Upheavel is totally nuts in any "slow" multiplayer format (at least the most formats):
You make ofcourse some decks that have any advantage of the upheavel, something like UG (a little aggro/Controll with Cards like Roar of the Wurm, Genesis and Garruk and so on).
Thats example 1) UG (Which is one of the worser examples in terms of brokenes)
You play your normal aggro plan, maybe u beat 1 player to like 20 life than all players have flooded the board, you have like 6 mana and go with Upheavel, than u drop land, play a 1drop and maybe discard some Flashback alla call of the herd/roar of the wurm, madness like Rootwalla or Genesis or Dredge like Gravetroll. Than you have a nice advantage and the game is resetet so u can play Beatdown again what u want.
The thing is that "maybe" other decks can have a little advantage of Upheavel too, but most not and if you have more than 6 mana (which is really worst cast if you play Upheavel) than you play land+your bigger stuff, which they dont have.
Example 2) More broken example
If you play something like reanimator in UBXYZ what u want is to reset the game, than get the discard you maybe needed or just that your reanimated Akroma can finish everyone off (really less cards beat white Akroma, Swords to Plowshare, maybe Gilded Drake, in the end really not much cards you want to play), funnier it gets if u play Terravore(which UG can play too ofcourse), and beat the hell out of people which discard lands (you will discard lands ofcourse).
Example 3) Brokeness
Really strong Upheavel gets which a Deck with really much Artefact mana, something like, Grim Monolith+Thran Dynamo and than beat you with Upheavel + Smoke Stack so everyone is finished forever (you ofcourse replay you mana artefacts and have nearly no problem).
So Upheavel really is broken if u want it to be, random decks get random effects, but a deck that want to abuse a card gets a lot more.
Apokalypse compared kills you out of the game, so you will never ever play Apokalypse (at least if you are not on drugs).
Playing Obliterate is possible, and can ofcourse be good if u have some enchantment that can seal the deal. Obliterate is a card u can play if u think you can get a good number of possible "finisher draws" out of it, but Obliterate is not broken, simply because that "finishers draws" are really unlickly, with Upheavel its easy as hell and u ALWAYS get an advantage, not only with some good draw.
And ofcourse you can say a card that costs more than 7 mana is "normally" unlickly to be a strong card, Biorhytmn is a card i wouldnt ban, simply because it costs hell of mana and can kill you the same it can win you games (and you wont play cards that kill you if u play them, simply because your goal is to win games). On the other site you play the card ofcourse only if the board got Wrathed and only you have a creature, but in the end someone destroys the creature (u not even can be sure if they are tapped out, Snuff Out, Black Pact and the like), and ofcourse the win comes very very slow if u dont boost in it with a bad ass Mono Green Rofellos Draw or something.
But before u misunderstand i talk from the perspectiv of a 1on1 OR a 2on2 or something, not a 8player Free for All (which i dont like because its totally combo nuts format).
So comparing Upheavel with a Red Board Sweeper is like comparing Ancestral Recall with Browbeat (you may draw 3 card with both, but the Ancestral costs less, is blue, gives you ALWAYS 3 cards and is so the better card, from Browbeat u get the worst, or never know what u get).
_________________ If u take me too serious, you may explode ...
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