Green is not known for its evasion. Green is
mostly known for being big enough to flatten
blockers, as well as for actively provoking them
to block just so it can kill them. So a card
that gives ALL your green creatures a form of
evasion is an incredibly valuable commodity,
especially when you stop to remember that green
specializes in BIG creatures which would hit
VERY hard if your opponent couldn't block them.
An artifact-themed block is probably the only
kind of block where giving all green creatures
intimidate is acceptable. Creatures with
intimidate can stillbe blocked by artifact
creatures, which are numerous in this block, so
your opponent is still fairly likely to have
blockers. Maybe.
I love the idea of green cards with intimidate.
After all, isn't it pretty usual to see a pack
of wolves (or a gigantic slagwurm, if we're
staying in-world) and go "Wow, that's scary"?
The Tanglewurm can win a game all by itself, and
it makes every Verdant Force, Cloudthresher, and
Plated Slagwurm you might play alongside it even
scarier. The downside, of course, is that once
your friends realize what's going on, they might
start playing with the Tanglewurm themselves, in
which case intimidate becomes irrelevant again.
But that's a small price to (potentially) pay
when your green decks can tap into the fear
action that black has had for decades.
Today's card of the day is Bellowing Tanglewurm
which is a five mana 4/4 with Intimidate that is
playable as is, but giving all other Green
creatures you control Intimidate makes this an
excellent addition to any mono-Green build.
A reasonable cost, fairly reliable mass evasion,
and a sturdy body equal one of the best bargains
in a color known for efficient creatures.
Expect to see this alongside Garruk and
acceleration style decks for the foreseeable
future.
In Limited this is a bomb of an uncommon that is
only weakened by the artifact dominated
landscape of the set. Supported with
artifact removal or even just hitting a field
where the opponent doesn't have enough artifacts
or large creatures allows this to dominate in
short order. In Booster this is a card
that might get picked before the rare if it is a
weak choice, but otherwise a solid second or
third selection. In Sealed this should
always be played if your primary color is Green
and with two of five in the casting cost it can
still be effective as the secondary color.
