Koth is a master of causing huge damage swings
out of nowhere. Since his first ability untaps a
Mountain and makes it a 4/4 able to swing that
turn, he's basically like a 4/4 with haste for
four mana. If you don't need a 4/4 to swing with
this turn, you can also use him as a Seething
Song. If you cast him turn five or later, you're
getting a net gain in mana. Better yet, cast him
on turn four, then turn five drop a 5th mountain
and use Koth's second ability for a total of
nine mana on turn five. Can you think of
anything good that RRRRRRRRR buys? If not, then
have no fear-- it's Koth's ultimate that really
makes me quake. Once it goes off, there's pretty
much nothing you can do anymore. All your
Mountains can ping for 1? You don't even need to
cast spells anymore-- you have five or six
Prodigal Pyromancers in play, and nobody has
kill spells for them. Burn down everybody's
creatures one by one, or go for the opponent's
face. Unless your opponent has Leyline of
Sanctity or some means of preventing damage en
masse (a leveled Hedron-Field Purists? Yeah,
people really play that.), anything they try to
play is just delaying the inevitable.
If Jace has come to represent the color blue for
some people, Koth may yet come to be the face of
red magic. Like M10 and M11's Chandra, he
embodies aspects of his color's heart and soul,
and the ability to use his powers
repeatedly gives red a certain type of card
advantage, letting its aggressive decks face the
likes of Jace decks on even terms. He may not
have shown up in the recent world championships
or other pro events, but I have a feeling we
have yet to see this card at its best.
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Koth of
The Hammer
Welcome back readers today's card of the day
continues to countdown our top ten cards of 2010
todays card of the day is Koth of The Hammer. In
standard Koth has revitalized red decks
providing them with a powerful and finally
usable planeswalker and a powerful finisher for
red decks. Koth has seen a large variety of play
in standard. In extended and eternal red decks
can utilize this card as a powerful way to
end games quickly, burn decks are popular in
every format and this card provides an
additional way for those decks to win. In casual
and multiplayer this card can create attackers,
power up your mana, and in the long term turn
all your lands into a way to kill players as
well as troublesome creatures. Koth points a
huge target on his head with his ultimate
ability, having a way to protect him is
recommended. In limited it requires heavy
commitment to red but this card is a bomb,
turning lands into attackers and being able to
tap your lands to deal the game ending blow is
powerful. Overall a powerful red card that has
revitalized the competitive red decks and
provides a decent planeswalker for red decks.
Today's card number four of 2010 is Koth of the
Hammer which is a very impressive Red
planeswalker at four mana starting at three
loyalty. The first ability is a +1 that
can be used to simply untap a Mountain for a
little acceleration or as a 4/4 attacker, more
with Elemental support.
This is reminiscent of Garruk's first two
abilities and a very welcome addition to Red's
arsenal. The second ability is a -2 which
can be used as soon as Koth enters play leaving
him at just one loyalty, but with a little
patience can set up an impressive Fireball or
power out almost anything very early in the
game. Both the first and second ability
offer the kind of acceleration Pyretic Ritual
missed out at being which make Koth very
appealing for that alone. It is the
ultimate ability that should really catch a Red
player's attention though. For only two
additional loyalty counters, easy to get with
Proliferate in the game now, any Mountain turns
into a damage dealer that is almost impossible
for most opponents to remove. Koth is
overall a solid threat and can leave an impact
on the game even if destroyed thanks to the
emblem mechanic. Most creatures,
planeswalkers, or a player can be swiftly dealt
with via a combination of land damage and
standard burn spells available to a Red player.
For Limited the option of acceleration may
exist, but often the ultimate should prove more
useful to clear the board or finishing the
opponent directly. This is absolutely a
first pick in Booster despite the double Red
cost and unless the Red pool in Sealed is
completely unplayable should be seriously
considered as part of the deck there as well.
At worst a 4/4 attacker with Haste and a target
for your opponent instead of your own life
points and at best a card that can win the game,
Koth is great in the format for such a low cost.
Today’s Card of the Day is Koth of the Hammer
from Scars of Mirrodin. I personally love this
guy, and he is definitely one of the best cards
from Scars of Mirrodin. Two red mana and two
generic mana gets Koth on the board.
His first ability is an add one, untap a
mountain, it becomes a 4/4 elemental until end
of turn that is still a land. I like this
ability not necessarily for attacking, but for
being able to gain additional mana. Sometime you
are one mana away, not anymore.
His second ability takes getting mana to the
extreme. Minus two, add red mana to your mana
pool for each mountain you control. Double mana,
why thank you. I know I salivate when I think of
potentials involving 10-12 mana on turn 5 or 6.
His final is almost ridiculous. Remove five
counters, and now you get an emblem that gives
all your mountains tap: deal one damage to
target creature or player. Simply incredible.
In limited and standard this guy is great. Any
one who would pass on this guy in a red themed
deck needs their head examined. There are no
draw backs to anything he can pull off. And even
without the abilities that break this card in
vintage, who can resist what he does. Using his
abilities with Comet Storm can seal an early
victory. The possibility of 10 damage from it on
turn 6 is astonishing. And a turn 4 4/4 is hard
to deny. Fling your own mountain for some extra
impact.
But, as is often the case, casual, multiplayer,
and vintage is where cards truly get the
opportunity to shine. Blood Moon? Can you say
definitely blood? All your nonbasic lands you
may need become mountains, which means that all
of Koth’s abilities trigger for said lands, fun
in a can. And then, using that mana with other
accelerators, such as Seething Song, could
result in enough mana to do just about anything
you damn well please. I don’t think I can write
an article short enough for Card of the Day to
really describe how much this guy can
accomplish.
