The big reason Chandra Nalaar never caught on is
that she came down a turn too late, and her
abilities just didn't do enough. Her +1 was
nice, and could keep other planeswalkers from
achieving their ultimates, but while you're
using your 'walker to undo an opposing 'walker's
progress, they're doing things that have more
impact on the board. Chandra's -X was nice, but
frequently it just made her little more than a
5-mana sorcery that killed a creature. Koth of
the Hammer, meanwhile, seems to have solved each
and every one of Chandra's problems. He comes
online a turn earlier than Chandra, his +1
swings for 4 instead of directly zapping for 1
(though this does put your Mountains at risk of
instant kill spells), and his ultimate is easier
to build up to and is pretty much guaranteed to
finish off any opponent (remember, you can ping
with your Mountains for the rest of the game)
whereas Chandra's ultimate is backbreaking, but
survivable in some circumstances and even
possible to be built back from.
Planeswalkers are the driving force in modern
Magic, both in the backstory and in the
deckbuilding. Koth, like the other characters
we've seen, has the potential to affect both in
profound ways. Don't think of what his
particular talents prevent you from putting in
your deck, like other colors or land
types. Think instead of what they enable a red
deck to do - things like get more mana than even
Garruk can give, or have free sources of extra
damage for ever. I'm sure you can think of
things to do with those, right?
Today's card of the day 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.
