First of all, ten mana is actually a bargain for
a 12/12. And you draw four cards when you cast
it! Not when it enters the battlefield, mind
you, but when you CAST it. If it gets countered,
you still draw four cards. Then it swings for
12, and before your opponent can even assign
blockers, he has to sacrifice four permanents.
Given that whatever blocks Kozilek is likely
dying, that's five cards on your opponent's side
of the table gone, and you got four for the
price of playing one. With an advantage like
that, it's hard to lose.
Also, it has the Gaea's Blessing-like clause of
causing your entire graveyard to get shuffled
back into your library if it ever goes there,
which means just having this in your deck pretty
much makes you immune to mill.
I, for one, welcome our new Eldrazi overlords.
Kozilek is arguably the weakest of the three
elders, having no built-in protection abilities,
but may have the best extra ability when he is
cast. And the day a 12/12 creature that destroys
everything when he attacks isn't good enough, I
will eat ten M10 foils and, I dunno, post it on
YouTube or something.
Today's card of the day is Kozilek, Butcher of
Truth which as a 12/12 for 10 mana is already a
bargain, but add in drawing four cards and
Annihilator 4 to the mix and you have a very
powerful creature. The cost is a bit high
for most decks to manage, but with some support
from spawn tokens or Green acceleration this is
playable. Even if your opponent is able to
remove the threat somehow you gain the advantage
of drawing four cards while costing them a
powerful source of removal.
For Limited this is a very solid card in such a
slow format and ten mana is still faster than
several other Eldrazi cards. Easily a
first pick in Booster and well worth serious
consideration in any Sealed deck as well.
Drawing four cards is a tremendous advantage
later in the game and even if Kozilek never uses
the Annihilator effect the damage should already
be done with the card advantage.
