Man, that artwork seems very familiar to me, but
I can't figure out where I've seen it before...
Anyway, Herald of Leshrac is a GREAT card in
Coldsnap draft, allowing you to eventually take
over a game by taking control of all your
opponent's creatures. The relatively low power
level of Coldsnap limited leads to standoffs
occasionally including many turns with neither
player doing much of anything. While you're
sitting there hoping to draw a meaningful card,
why not steal some of your opponent's land. In
fact, why not steal all of it? Of course,
'steal' may not be the most accurate term to use
here, Herald of Leshrac's ability is really more
of a 'borrow' than a 'steal'. Four turns after
you play the Herald, chances are your opponent
won't have any more lands to conquer and the
Herald will go to the graveyard and your
opponent will get his lands back. Still, you
might very well have an important advantage for
a couple of turns, which could be all it takes
in the land of Coldsnap limited. In constructed
play, the jury is very much out on whether the
Herald's ability to harass your opponent's land
base is good enough to put a seven casting cost
black creature in your deck.
This is a very deceiving card. It looks terrible
at first when you consider it to be a seven cost
2/4 creature. You have to look closer. It has
flying. It also steals land from your opponent
at an alarming rate. He also gets bigger for
lands in play that you don't own. Unfortunately,
because of it's cost, I would assume that the
only good decks for it are slower controllish
monoblack or Black/Green decks.
Herald of
Leshrac - Leshrac and Tevash Szat have a history
of lending their names to some of the most
expensive and unwieldy (or just plain bad) cards
of Ice Age block. The Herald is certainly a step
in the right direction, but it's no powerhouse.
Anything that costs this much mana should
probably have "you win the game very soon"
written on it. Instead, this gets chump blocked
until you lose control of it. With a close eye
on number of lands in play your opponent can
seriously affect the lifespan of this guy. I'm
afraid Leshrac is just going to have to try
again.
Much too slow for constructed, but can be
playable in limited and casual. Get your damage
in quick (that shouldn't be an issue) and
deprive your opponent of their lands while
you're at it. Yes, it will disappear after 3 or
4 turns, but not before it does some crazy
damage.
