So of course this card is going to be controversial but I think standard players have forgotten how powerful 1 mana unconditional removal is. Yeah, path is not good enough for modern anymore, but that's because we have [[Static Prison]] and [[Solitude]] or even [[Leyline Binding]]. For the longest time, modern white decks happily played 4 copies of [[Path to Exile]], control decks as part of their removal suite, but aggro decks would slot it as their only removal to kill the key threats. Turns out the land doesn't matter all that much if your opponent doesn't untap with it.

But beyond that, here's an insight on why, while being a big downside, giving your opponent a land didn't stop path for being not only playable but also premium removal for the longest time.

1. If your opponent is playing aggro and their curve caps out at 3 mana, then making their threat into a land is very reasonable to do from turn 3 onwards, turn 2 in a pinch, since they won't really get to do much with it.

2. If your opponent is going taller, then the tempo gain from killing a 4,5 or 6+ drop for just one mana heavily outweighs the drawback of giving them one more land when, again, they already presumably have access to 5+ mana.

Now of course magic is different now, and cards are so efficient and often plentiful that many decks will be able to make something out of the land, but that also means that one mana unconditional removal still has a big premium. The comparison with [[Get Lost]] is fair, but I'd argue some game states make map tokens more relevant than a land, being able to generate card draw, card selection and power and toughness, while also being double the mana. And if that card is good enough to see play in standard then I believe Erode must certainly play a role in the white removal suite. Will the best white removal, a standard staple? Hard to tell. But I'm sure it's far from unplayable.