Ah, yes, the green Samurai! This card is
fantastic in limited, and would be okay in
constructed if Isao weren't the only green
Samurai that will probably ever be printed. It's
hard not to like a 2/1 creature with Bushido
2 that your opponent cannot counter the casting
of. Oh, and you can regenerate this guy (or use
him to regenerate any other Samurai in play) for
the amazingly friendly cost of just two
COLORLESS mana. I don't know...maybe the mono
white Kamigawa block Samurai deck oughtta think
about splashing green for this guy! (probably
not) Still, Isao is a bargain any way you look
at him. By the way, one would think that if you
could have a GREEN Samurai, then you could print
some Ninjas in Saviors of Kamigawa that weren't
blue or black. Alas, this appears not to be the
case...
This card has some decent abilities, but it just
doesn't come up a winner. The fact that is costs
two to regenerate also makes it a bit subpar.
This is only compounded by the fact that we have
Troll Ascetic right now that regenerates for one
mana. The other problem is that he's the only
samurai in Green. All the others are red or
white.
I think that Isao is a decent enough card, but
his time has not yet come. Aside from mono-blue
control, which doesn't seem like it does all
that much countering, there aren't a ton of
counterspells floating around Type II right now.
Bushido is a nice addition to Isao, making him
somewhat more difficult to take out, though the
1 toughness means it doesn't take a lot. His
third ability, as relates to Samurai, seems
pretty mediocre to me.
All in all, I think no matter what the format,
Isao is likely a sideboard card at best.
A card that works well against control decks. He
isn't super-powerful, but he does come down as a
threat if you can't counter him, and has the
ability to regenerate to keep him alive. And to
boot, he has Bushido 2. Not a bad card, and with
Blue control making a strong come back, you may
just see Isao in more and more sideboards or
decks. In casual, he is a Samurai, though a
green one, so out of the traditional
White...still, he may see some casual Samurai
play.
In limited, you really don't give a crap about
countering, but you do want his regenerating
ability. He's a nice blocker, and you can use
any color mana to regen as a bonus.
