I really like Death Tyrant. Good combination of an interactive trigger and GY recursion on a non-overbearing body. Probably will replace Bontu for it.
That's the cut I'm looking at. I think they're of similar power, and while I do enjoy Bontu,
Death Tyrant is more flexible and fits into more decks, I imagine.
I like Ebony Fly too, but I don't think it operates in the same slot as liquidmetal torque does. One could certainly swap out the torque for it if desired, but they do pretty different things.
The slot I'm considering it in is "2-drop colorless artifact ramp with upside", but for sure, those upsides are very different. I put in Torque for
Prismatic Lens, and I think this is more compelling than even that, as much as I do like Torque.
Hellish Rebuke is weaker than Settle the Wreckage because Wreckage exiles attacking creatures, not creatures after they deal damage. Still pretty strong. In 20 life formats Rebuke can one-shot the opponent. That is definitely powerful. But you have to survive first lol.
Super fair point re: surviving first, from that I think I was a little silly to worry about it being
too good, but it's still plenty powerful enough to steal games. Great flavor text too!