A pretty nasty ability, especially in draft and
sealed deck formats. You pretty much better have
a way to get rid of Michiko, or you better have
a fast deck with heavy hitters, or she can
really put a dent in your plans. That being
said, I believe her ability is not as good as
advertized. I have been able to get past her a
couple times when I was running accelleration
and had some good momentum going both before and
after she hit the board. Her downfall is that
she probably won't hit the board until turn 4,
and if your opponent is going first, he'll have
a lot of good opportunity to make a large dent
before Michiko sees the light of day. At that
point, your opponent is probably willing to pay
the price to continue to beat the snot out of
you. Since your 4 drop was Michiko, which can be
a very critical drop, you may not have the
defense available to stop the bleeding. So while
she's decent, you really need to thoughtfully
plan your deck with other cards to support her.
This card seems a little hazardous for limited
play. It would be cool for your opponent to have
to sacrifice a land when his 1/2 Zubera hits
you, but it would NOT be all that amazing if
your opponent only has to sacrifice a land when
he hits you with a big 6/4 beast. In either
case, Michiko Konda is delivering some level of
card advantage, but in limited, I just doubt you
will gain much of an advantage from this card
before you are, well, killed by your opponent.
Obviously, Michiko Konda is better suited for
constructed play. Unfortunately, in constructed,
this card screams "Kill me first!" This will be
no problem for red and black decks, each packing
targeted removal.
This card could be effective against some
creature strategies that don't have ways to
target Michiko Konda. Of course, Wizards has
already given these decks an answer to this
card, Sword of Fire and Ice. Hard to love
Michiko Konda.
When I look at this card, I see an
incredibly scary card to be on the opposite
side of the table from me. Four mana for a
2/2 with a good ability is a decent cost
too, as is evidenced by Solemn Simulacrum or
Avalanche riders. The only real drawback I
can see to playing with this card is that
she is legendary, but I suppose if she
wasn't, it would be a bit too good. I have
to rate this card fairly high in all
formats.
