This is a pretty clear example of how a hybrid
card's value changes based on what color you
look at it from. A red deck looks at this card
and sees a waste of a slot-- for the same mana
it could have Searing Spear and not risk killing
of one of its own creatures. Sure, its creatures
tend to have pretty high power (and
firebreathing, making Pit Fight an ersatz X
spell) but they also have low toughness and few
reliable ways to recoup lost card advantage.
A green deck, on the other hand, would love to
have this card. Green almost never gets direct
damage, and its creatures tend to be plenty big
enough to cope with a fight. The fact that it's
the creature, not Pit Fight itself, that deals
the damage means that Green can exploit its
deathtouch capabilities as well. I kind of want
to rate this as a 1.5 for red decks and a 4.5
for green, but I think I'm just going to go with
the higher score, because the existence of decks
in which this card doesn't help doesn't negate
the power of this card in decks where it does.
Now that "fight" is a keyword, it was
inevitable that this card would exist sooner or
later. Apparently they went for sooner. I'm not
sure how often this is a good option as a
mono-red card, where you could play something
like Searing Spear, but as a mono-green card it
often works like Terror. (Note how it interacts
with Acidic Slime and other creatures with
deathtouch.) I think everyone has a better time
when the color pie isn't absolute.
That comment I made about Terror makes me
wonder if maybe Desert Twister will return to an
expert-level set one day. Start writing strong
letters, people.
Today's card of the day is Pit Fight which is a
two mana Red or Green instant that has target
creature you control fight another target
creature. This is similar to Prey Upon
with the increased speed, mana cost, and being
available to Red in addition to Green. The cost
is a drawback that is balanced out and then some
by this being a potential response to removal or
an aggressive combat trick. There are many
uses for a card like this, but only when paired
with a creature capable of killing most targets.
Without that this is worse than most Red options
and is not helped by the frequent low toughness
in Red's aggressive creatures, which leaves this
costing two cards to destroy one. In the
right deck this is an effective choice,
particularly for Green or predominantly Green
Red/Green builds and is likely to see at least
some competitive play.
For Limited this is a fairly weak source of
removal outside of a Simic deck as the number of
favorable match ups to fight can be problematic.
The Evolve keyword and +1/+1 counters in general
improve the reliability and efficiency of the
fight mechanic. The other guilds aren't a
great fit for this, oddly enough including Gruul,
and outside of drafting a sizable number of
creatures with solid power and toughness this is
too situational to be an early pick. Weak
or not, it is removal and can get some value in
some combat steps or as a response, so it
shouldn't be overlooked or left out of Sealed
without considering what else can accomplish
similar results.
