Five mana, of any color, for an artifact that
enters play as a 4/4 with vigilance and lifelink,
can grant all that to any other creature for
five mana, and can return itself to your hand at
instant speed (to dodge artifact kill) for three
mana, only to re-hit play with a brand new Gern
token at the helm? If that doesn't scare you,
remember-- Stoneforge Mystic is still in
Standard. For two mana, you can tap a Mystic and
drop this thing into play at instant speed--
say, into an attacker? Surprise 4/4 lifelink
blocker? Add to that the fact that it can jump
back into your hand as an activated ability as
well, and these two cards together can really
make all hell break loose! Not to mention that
this basically gives every color access to
efficient lifegain. White doesn't even have a
4/4 creature with vigilance and lifelink for
five mana! Sure, when the first one dies, it's
five mana to re-equip, but you can still treat
it like a 4/4 for five. And besides, using six
mana to cast a Raging Goblin and equip this to
it, then swing for five lifelink haste, is a
pretty good play-- one of the best I can think
of that involves Raging Goblin. I greatly
suspect that this card will be the new Wurmcoil
Engine-- the go-to candidate when you need a
ruthlessly efficient creature in a color that
isn't known for having any particularly good
ones.
The third contender for the top of the
hypothetical living weapon constructed hierarchy
that I mentioned the other day. This one might
just edge it, at least in the short term,
because it's the craziest when your Stoneforge
Mystic tosses it into play on your third turn.
How exactly does a goblin deck plan to beat
that? Standard players, dust off your Divine
Offerings; in Extended, reach for Qasali
Pridemage; everyone else, hope you're stocked up
on Planar Cleansing, Purify, and Crumble. This
card is here. This card is real. This card is
mythic-powerful. You'll need them.
Today's card of the day is Batterskull which is
a five mana equipment with an equip cost of
five, has Living Weapon, can be returned to the
owner's hand for three mana, and gives the
creature it is equipped to Vigilance, Lifelink,
and +4/+4. This card offers pretty much
everything you could ask for in an equipment as
it comes into play with a creature that it is
attached to removing the drawback of needing
another in play, can be returned to hand if any
attempt is made to destroy it or if a new
creature is desperately needed, and gives an
excellent assortment of effects for the cost.
There is no drawback to the card outside of the
somewhat high casting and equip costs, but both
can be mitigated in the right deck as they are
colorless. Overall this is a fantastic
card and one of the best equipments currently
available.
In Limited this is truly a bomb and extremely
difficult for an opponent to deal with if played
correctly. It is a constant threat both
offensively and defensively and should always
have a creature attached to it and can not be
destroyed unless the controller taps out.
Lifelink by itself is quite playable and
combined with +4/+4 and Vigilance is a serious
concern to any opponent. It can and should
be played in any deck both in Sealed and Booster
as the colorless nature allows it and can be
supported by Myr. An absolute first pick
barring an extreme double rare pack and a card
that can help win games whenever it hits field.
Welcome to this
week’s final card of the day review here at
Pojo.com. Today’s card is Batterskull from New
Phyrexia. The Batterskull is an artifact
equipment with living weapon. The Batterskull
costs five generic mana and when it comes into
play, you get a 0/0 germ token that the
Batterskull automatically equips itself to. The
Batterskull gives the equipped creature +4/+4,
and gives it vigilance and lifelink. You can
also pay three generic mana to return
Batterskull to your hand. The normal equip cost
for the Batterskull is also five generic mana.
The Batterskull enable a creature to almost become as
good as the Baneslayer Angel, I’m just kidding.
But, the fact that a germ can almost be that
good is quite impressive. And just think what
happens when it comes off the germ. A
Batterskulled Metalcrafting Spiraling Duelist
could just be straight on insanity. That is one
creature that I would not want to have to face
off against. Add in a card like any of the
swords really, and that could become a real
problem. It all comes down to what you run with
the Batterskull. After all, a hammer is only as
good as the arm swinging it.
Not sure that this card is deserving of one of the most
sought after cards of the set, but it definitely
can be a game changer when properly used and
applied.
