This card is Armadillo Cloak, famous from
Invasion. Yeah, we can quibble over corner
cases, but the way this card works is the way
Armadillo Cloak is always used in practice. It
should have been a new edition of Armadillo
Cloak, but apparently the old-timers get enough
thrown their way already. Apparently. I
complain, but that doesn't necessarily need to
be held against Unflinching Courage as a card.
Armadillo Cloak has always been amazing, and so
a card that's the same as it is, by
definition, also amazing. Maybe more so,
considering how many creatures have hexproof now
(I don't think there was one in either half of
the original's tenure in Standard!).
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
a near functional reprint of Armadillo Cloak
finally able to see standard play once again. In
standard aura based hexproof decks are a thing
and this card seems to provide a powerful effect
for a reasonable mana cost and is one of the
best auras available making it a shoo in for
certain strategies. In modern and legacy and
vintage this card may see play in
conjunction in a hexproof deck or decks
utilizing an enchantment but this seems a
stretch as the power may not be there in eternal
formats as Armadillo Cloak isn’t tearing up top
tables. In casual and multiplayer this card is
not quite as effective or versatile as Armadillo
Cloak but still secures a space in some decks
that are looking to maybe run more than a
playset of Armadillo Cloak and this card has a
solid power level and useful effects for casual
and multiplayer but players may be better off
using Armadillo Cloak or Loxodon Warhammer due
to the versatility they offer. In limited this
card seems like quite a beating evasion and a
way to race your opponents makes this quite an
amazing and powerful pick. Overall the second
coming of the cloak but different but still
quite powerful and playable.
Today's card of the day is Unflinching Courage
which is a three mana
Green and White aura that gives +2/+2 Trample
and Lifelink. This is
only subtly different from Armadillo Cloak in
the mechanism of life gain and should be equally
popular in builds with creatures that benefit
from auras or have Hexproof to help mitigate the
risk of a two for one loss.
Trample alongside the +2/+2 is very reasonable
for the three mana and the addition of Lifelink
helps make this one of the best auras in
Standard. Overall this is a gheat aura and
ecks that pair it with removal avoiding targets
will have a place in current formats.
In Limited this is an aura that should be picked
very early, even first if the rare is weak, as
it can dominant almost any game in which it is
played. Splashing for this in non-Selesnya
should be considered if either color has
creatures with useful effects like Vigilance or
First Strike available. The boost this
brings any mid-range threat up to the high end
and the addition of Trample and Lifelink are
huge advantages in the format. Punishing
cheap blockers and widening the life point
spread with each attack makes this valuable even
if it only lasts a single turn, but the lack of
removal makes that unlikely. Attaching to
a creature with damage triggered effects or some
form of protection may not always be an option,
but should be considered when building from your
pool.
