Deathbringer Thoctar is weeping with glee right about now. Equipped to it, it's like Novablast Wurm with the added effect that you gain a life for each creature it manages to kill.
By tournament standards, this is jank, but I see its potential and want to pick up one or two. It will compliment my two foil Thoctars and my Quietus Spike quite nicely.
Elysiume
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(12 votes)
Very effective for its cost. A serious bomb in limited, as it pretty much makes every creature a threat.
mutantman
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(8 votes)
Amazing limited bomb. If you pull this, you play it.
wolfv
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
this card is way better then the nighthawk seeing as you can equip this to protection creatures, and as long as they have protection from the right things, they will never take damage, but you will always be the master of life and death.
Demonic_Angel13
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(7 votes)
Turn everything into a potential Nighthawk.
Leonina
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(11 votes)
While I will admit that this card is very powerful, it seems very off flavor-wise to me. Why does a basilisk have lifelink? And why is it being worn by a pit bull??? Waaaay too mundane for Magic.
Cheap and effective, although like most equipment its mostly effective on fatties and does little with smaller creatures.
Donovan_Fabian
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's not exactly behemoth sledge because the sledge is a lot stronger with the +2/2 and trample/lifelink (which are all synergistic together), but it is a lot faster, which counts for a lot. It's great to be able to slap this on a token so your opponent can't attack you at all without losing a big creature to your 1/1 saproling/bird or whatever. Anything with first strike, obviously another good choice, like the sejiri merfolk.
Meliagaunt
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
looks like someone at wizards has played dragon age
Archomental
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ok. Here's the skinny. Great Card! Cheap, powerful bordering on broken, cool. Horrrrrrrrrrrrrrrible artwork!! WHY GOD WHY?
tehbeast
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(15 votes)
"No, Wall of Denial, you put your hands up!"
Gaussgoat
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Devastating, total bomb in limited formats. I like the art myself. Most of the games I won at the pre-release were due to this guy saving the day.
5/5
Behalter
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Woot, instant vampire nighthawk :) Can put it on your 3 drop with flying for awesomness of the nighthawk+whatever else it does :) 5/5 for versatility
majinara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
The abilities on that card don't fit together imho. I mean what to put it on? On a large creature? Why would that need deathtouch? A large creature would kill anything that gets blocked by it anyway. Then on a small creature? Then the life gained is that little that it makes no difference. Not to mention that it does neither help me to kill my opponent faster nor make this creature harder to kill.
I can't imagine ever playing this outside limited.
Well it sure kicked my tush in one of the matches I played at prerelease. It was perfect for Sealed because I had absolutely nothing to counter it and my opponent just kept nibbling away at me while I continuously sacrificed creatures to keep it from being equipped. For a newbie like me it was devastating. I think the art is stupid for the artifact as well, doesn't add up, a Basilisk is not a bulldog. I'm curious to learn how to counter this, but I still have lots to learn about MTG. I wouldn't mind having a set of them though, if you could get two or three of them on the field at once, it's hard to see how you would lose.
BelloAbril
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If kor ever makes it to tier2 decks, this will fit perfectly the theme.
dsbum
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@Gwafa_Hazid ...... Correct me if I'm wrong, Deathtouch only applies to Combat Damage right? Using a tap ability like Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile wouldn't be considered combat damage.
GrimjawxRULES
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Good card, but ... I really can't imagine it outside drafts or limited play. It just doesn't seem very strong for me compared to Quietus Spike...
RHS
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
To @dsburn: Deathtouch applies to any damage dealt by a creature, not just combat damage. This makes deathtouch great on pingers, who become repeatable removal.
Kurhan
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(6 votes)
Goblin Sharpshooter + this. mmm-mmm-mmm! Delicious mass removal with a hint of life gain.
Oh, and for majinara's comment.
Its designed to be flexible. Just because your equipped creature can't fully benefit from all of its abilites, no creature will go without benefit. A 1/1's life gain won't give you a huge advantage, but having death touch will work wonders against those bigger baddies biting you.
Your 5/5 won't really need the death touch, but gaining 5 life per attack wont really kill you. And should your opponent decide to block your 5/5, you still get life, and if they block with more than 1 creature trying to kill it, the death touch will guarantee that everything you could even damage will die.
So, no you won't get 100% benefit, but you will never get 0% benefit (as long as you have a creature on the field).
lz17
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card can be played three different ways. Way one turn one of your 2/1 into a vampire nighthawk. 2. put it on a cheap medium creaure like a 3/3 thats a nice chunk of life and can clear the board pretty quickly. 3. put it on a fatty the lifelink is really nice and the deathtouch just insures your creature.
givethepeopleair
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(6 votes)
5 stars. i thought gorgon flail was awesome and then they 1 up it with lifelink. the possibilities are endless. those of you who don't see its utility outside of limited or comparing it to creature cards are lacking the creativity to make this card as devastating as it could be. Stop thinking about placing it on generic creatures and start thinking about combinations.
Blow Ashling for global deathtouch plus HUGE lifegain :)
phoenixcobra27
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
equip this to prodigal pyromancer and elimate a creature each turn
coyotemoon722
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This card is pretty awesome. It puts your opponent in a precarious attack position. Not to mention you can attack, gain life, then attach it to another creature for defense. This card is really nuts.
99grimangel
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Yay i finaly found a reason to find a Ajani Goldmane! you bring him up to 6, use the -6 ability, bring out the avatar, equipt this to it and BOOM! a creature that grows with you life total and help your life total grom, so basicaly a creature thats never going to die by damage alone.
makes my gorgon flail look like a joke :(
1 less casting cost and added lifelink? And instant equip?
Oh well, Im sure I'll find some use for that extra +1/+1 from my flail.
WER386
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(8 votes)
This things makes combo with almost anything in current (03/08/2010) Standard format... except for the nighthawk which already has both abilities. It gives the 2 most painful abilities one creature may have on declare damage step; not to mention its on table on turn 1, stays in table if you suicidally kill your equipped creature and has a very decent equip cost. Here we call it "the standard jitte" in relation ship with the voted best equipment ever: Umezawa's Jitte. The only drawback I see as an overview is that having 2 of this on the table on your side is the same as having one unless you manage to get more than one creature.
TryceMaxwell
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
My friend once called this a "Noobtubing" card. Putting this on a pinger like the Pyromancer and regardless of actual damage, the monster dies anyway. An incredible way for a burn deck to effortlessly take out monsters without having to waste burns on creatures.
Diachronos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Slapping this on a Deathbringer Thoctar makes for an effective way to clear the field and gain some life, and all the Thoctar needs is one counter. Ping a creature, it dies, Thoctar gains a counter, you gain a life. Repeat until the opponent's field is empty of creatures.
ClowWizardEriol
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The lifelink ability feels off-flavor given the card name. None of the past Basilisks (Thicket Basilisk) or Basilisk-like creatures have Lifelink.
The overall abilities of this card, irrespective of the card name, are quite potent.
izzet_guild_mage
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh man, Mudbutton, right there with you on Ashling the Pilgrim. I had a casual shaman deck that used that, Flamekin Spitfire, and Heartless Hidetsugu as its primary win conditions...the amount that the printing of this card has improved that deck is ludicrous.
daemonfrog
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(12 votes)
Goblin Sharpshooter, anyone? "hold on while i clear your field AND gain tons of life."
lifelink and death touch for 3 CMC, a definite 5 star.
vadaaaa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
boöööoöouüü ugly art work
phantom.lance
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
if only it had +1/+0 too, even birds of paradise could be deadly :)
Zero115
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
While this Isn't nearly the most AMAZING card in the set, I favor it over almost all others personally. It's flexibility compared to its cost is ASTOUNDING. I can instantly see many combos, but just for a quick one in standard that I ran into. Someone played Ajani Goldmane's( M11 http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205957 ) final ability -6: Put a white Avatar creature token onto the battlefield. It has "This creature's power and toughness are each equal to your life total."
I just happened to have a clone on me (M11 http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205220 ) cloned that ***, put basilisk collar on it and now i had a 15/15 with death touch and life link, unless someone has creature removal (which is common but it was 3 turns before my friend pulled a doom blade) its going to double your life total every turn you can attack with it and if it survives, double its power and toughness. (i had over 120 life before it got destroyed) Needless to say... I won that game XD
As well as putting on people like Goblin sharpshooter, just slapping it on a big creature you have to get more health, or making a chump blocker instantly a threat...there really Isn't many places this card can go wrong
SorianSadaskan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Had a feeling this may be added into the Vault Collection.
lyle685
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This is awsome mabe put it on ajani's pridemates for a great combo
This... And Cunning Sparkmage, you can kiss you field good-bye.
KyoDarkFire
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
one of my favorite equipments ever, where I play they call it the Batman collar
Toversnol
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think this isnt working that well, since the taunting elf got 0 power :/
Thisprofilemocksyou: Put this and Regenerate on Taunting Elf for great justice.
If I'm correct, Deathtouch works with combat damage, so all combos with prodigal pyromancer and the like would not kill opponent creatures. Right?
ZombieSnail
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Really good, so many annoying combos. Many of which are very cheap. Dropping this tends to make the rest of the game more annoying for your opponent. 4.5/5 because It's a dog and not some kor/human chick. Sad face.
vomitron6000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@doitpow- LOL!
@bagilis- no deathtouch works with any damage dealt by the creature, i.e. i can give this to goblin sharpshooter and wipe your board fast, hooray for selective damnation!!!!
DerStrudelkopf
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@mrd8888 - Sadly, Kusari-Gama says it deals the damage, so unless you can give an equipment deathtouch, that combo won't work.
@Thisprofilemocksyou - You'd have to give Taunting Elf some power, or he wouldn't do any damage and would thus not kill anything.
mlanier131
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This thing with trample is absurd. Deal one to creature and the rest to player, if they block with multiple creatures it becomes a tiny day of judgment. I put it on a kor dualist with sword of vengeance and watched as my opponent lost the game by losing 2 life every turn as he blocked.
It should also make the creature a 2/3 and give it flying....
MasterOfEfherium
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Too Bad This Thing Dies To Removal!
AlunJaceImpostor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Not seen a better equipment since Worldwake. Hands down 5/5
jumpenrun
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Kor Duelist + Basilisk Collar = Lifelink, Double Death-Strike (Killer Combo) When will MTG create an Artifact Equipment that has Deathtouch, Firststrike, Provoke? LOL Wishful thinking.
kiseki
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(13 votes)
I have to give a shout out to every big green trampler ever. Sure you can block my 6/6 trampling deathtoucher with three 0/8 walls, but I only have to do 1 damage to each before I can trample the rest over. My friends are not happy about this rules interaction, as seen below. 702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature's toughness. 702.17b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking.
Cunning Sparkmage plus This plus Tideforce elemental.. seems really good, the ability to kill three creatures in a turn, gain three life. Also, all three of the cards in this combo are good in other places as well. I like. Interestingly, I have not seen anyone post the comment about Inferno Titan being even more ridiculous with this card, and i am slightly disappointed. SO, Inferno Titan plus basilisk collar makes absolutely nutty situations where I will be killing three of your creatures and plowing into you with my 6+X/6 deathtouching lifelinking bad muther.. SHUT YOUR MOUTH
RowanKeltizar
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Is there a creature that doesn't benefit from this?? Niv Mizzit, Ashling, the Pilgrim, etc, etc... but I want to put this on Isamaru, Hound of Konda!
TheEtheriumMaster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I equipped one of these to a Storm Crow. And I thought only Charlie Sheen could melt someones face!
mrbgddy
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Very combo-able card...but just for the record DeathDark, Pestilence Demon would kill itself with this. However, I have a very fun deck with this + Goblin Sharpshooter + Living Plane. (By very fun, I mean for me...my opponent, well, not so much.) Also turns Masticore into a super-sniper.
Toybot06
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
My favorite for this card: Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile.. My opponents don't attack me, and you can even use it against the Eldrazi titans by activating it just after they attack and before their Annihilator ability.
asskicker123456789
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Type your comment here.
Noobma45
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(6 votes)
@kiseki
Sorry to burst your bubble, but trample + Deathtouch does not work as when assigning trample damage, you MUST assign the normal definition of combat damage, before trampling.
mattblack04
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This + Magma Phoenix = repeated Day of Judgment where you instead take no damage yourself or, if you kill 2 or more creatures, gain life from the phoenix's ability.
KarmasPayment
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(10 votes)
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but trample + Deathtouch does not work as when assigning trample damage, you MUST assign the normal definition of combat damage, before trampling." ~Noobma45
You must assign lethal damage to a creature, which with deathtouch would be 1. Yes, you actually CAN trample over the rest.
Remember when this used to be the best thing Stoneforge Mystic could search up in Standard? ... Boy, times change.
Jeri
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I am using this card in my tempered steel deck to a great success. Saved me many times, turning the game from 20 - 4 (opponent - me) lifecount to win at my side. Especialy annoying with porcelain legionnaire.
NinjaShadow
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
I will equip this to Hypnotic Specter just to give Nighthawk the finger. i love this equipment.
FirstPrime
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I have a deck using Shard Phoenix, Magma Phoenix, and Bloodfire Colossus. Adding a set of Basalisk Collars to it really pushed that deck over the edge into awesome territory. Constantly having the option to clear the table of creatures and gain buckets of life in the process (I mainly play casual multiplayer) is pretty sweet. There are so many possibilities a one drop like this brings to the table you could spend days finding killer combos. Great equipment, Johnny approved.
KerosAohco
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is great with decks that want to be aggro without having to hold back too much. I use my play-set in my black weenie deck. Turns all my 1/1s into chump killers. Also, do not ignore some combos. Any creature that taps for damage can be lethal with this, and as the people have pointed out, Goblin Sharpshooter makes this absurd.
lukedgh
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This can go as singleton in almost any deck. Enough said.
TheWrathofShane
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I dont like it because I could not afford a playset.
This + Balefire Dragon + Kessig Wolf Run/Rancor = big tramply damage in the air + big deathtouch damage to all your opponents creatures + huge life gain = epic win
Odee
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I cannot wait to equip one to an Izzet Staticaster.
I see a lot of people posting strange 3-4 card combos with this. That kind of stuff can be fun for theorycrafting, bu is usually so convoluted it doesn't even happen in casual. Especially when the cards needed for the combo are as excellent as this one. You don't need to combo this with anything. (Though, as stated, Goblin sharpshooter and this are together absurd. That is both viable and annoying.)
In fact, what I love about this card is how simple and thematic it is. Sure deathtouch and lifelink have absolutely no synergy, but don't they feel awesome together? Strap this on any creature and let it go wild. Even better with trample, and always fun in EDH. Just a few words, but so much fun to play with.
Joseph_Curwen
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It should be obvious from the name that this card is intended to invoke green. An iconic green creature type and an equipment that is worn by an animal rather than worn or wielded by a person? Sounds green to me. And what does green have plenty of that would love both deathtouch AND lifelink? Trampling fatties. Get that one point of lethal in on the blocker, pile the rest up on the player, and gain life for all of it. This card and a trampler essentially says to an opponent, "You CAN block, but you'll just end up takin a pounding and being out a critter, too."
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Fetchable with Trinket Mage. So is bonesplitter.
Think about it.
jonrds
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This single-handedly makes me hate every ping player in existence. Turn 1: this Turn 2: absolutely whatever you want Turn 3: gelectrode Turn 4: equip gelectrode, ping, cast hidden strings, ping, hidden strings resolves, ping. TRIPLE KILL
Awareqwx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think a good idea would be to put this on an Izzet Staticaster. Oh, you played Collective Blessing on all 942 of your Assemble the Legion tokens? I'll just kill them all, gain 942 life, and put 942 counters on my Lumberknot now, if you don't mind.
Comments (103)
By tournament standards, this is jank, but I see its potential and want to pick up one or two. It will compliment my two foil Thoctars and my Quietus Spike quite nicely.
Move over Loxodon Warhammer...
5/5
I can't imagine ever playing this outside limited.
Oh, and for majinara's comment.
Its designed to be flexible. Just because your equipped creature can't fully benefit from all of its abilites, no creature will go without benefit. A 1/1's life gain won't give you a huge advantage, but having death touch will work wonders against those bigger baddies biting you.
Your 5/5 won't really need the death touch, but gaining 5 life per attack wont really kill you. And should your opponent decide to block your 5/5, you still get life, and if they block with more than 1 creature trying to kill it, the death touch will guarantee that everything you could even damage will die.
So, no you won't get 100% benefit, but you will never get 0% benefit (as long as you have a creature on the field).
*this + Ashling the Pilgrim (awesome EDH general)
Blow Ashling for global deathtouch plus HUGE lifegain :)
1 less casting cost and added lifelink? And instant equip?
Oh well, Im sure I'll find some use for that extra +1/+1 from my flail.
The only drawback I see as an overview is that having 2 of this on the table on your side is the same as having one unless you manage to get more than one creature.
The overall abilities of this card, irrespective of the card name, are quite potent.
"hold on while i clear your field AND gain tons of life."
Why?
I like to party.
But not a terribly exciting game.
I just happened to have a clone on me (M11 http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205220 ) cloned that ***, put basilisk collar on it and now i had a 15/15 with death touch and life link, unless someone has creature removal (which is common but it was 3 turns before my friend pulled a doom blade) its going to double your life total every turn you can attack with it and if it survives, double its power and toughness. (i had over 120 life before it got destroyed) Needless to say... I won that game XD
As well as putting on people like Goblin sharpshooter, just slapping it on a big creature you have to get more health, or making a chump blocker instantly a threat...there really Isn't many places this card can go wrong
Thisprofilemocksyou: Put this and Regenerate on Taunting Elf for great justice.
4.5/5 because It's a dog and not some kor/human chick. Sad face.
@bagilis- no deathtouch works with any damage dealt by the creature, i.e. i can give this to goblin sharpshooter and wipe your board fast, hooray for selective damnation!!!!
@Thisprofilemocksyou - You'd have to give Taunting Elf some power, or he wouldn't do any damage and would thus not kill anything.
in other words Lure & Venom
The effect of Lure needs a name cuz Venom got effect name of deathtouch
CAN'T FIGHT THE WORLDWAKE POWER!!!!!!!!!!
When will MTG create an Artifact Equipment that has Deathtouch, Firststrike, Provoke? LOL Wishful thinking.
My friends are not happy about this rules interaction, as seen below.
702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature's toughness.
702.17b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but trample + Deathtouch does not work as when assigning trample damage, you MUST assign the normal definition of combat damage, before trampling.
~Noobma45
You must assign lethal damage to a creature, which with deathtouch would be 1. Yes, you actually CAN trample over the rest.
Just kidding.
...
Boy, times change.
over the edge into awesome territory. Constantly having the option to clear the table of creatures and gain buckets of life in the process (I mainly play casual multiplayer) is pretty sweet. There are so many possibilities a one drop like this brings to the table you could spend days finding killer combos. Great equipment, Johnny approved.
Deathtouch applies to all damage the creature deals, not just combat damage.
In fact, what I love about this card is how simple and thematic it is. Sure deathtouch and lifelink have absolutely no synergy, but don't they feel awesome together? Strap this on any creature and let it go wild. Even better with trample, and always fun in EDH. Just a few words, but so much fun to play with.
So is bonesplitter.
Think about it.
Turn 1: this
Turn 2: absolutely whatever you want
Turn 3: gelectrode
Turn 4: equip gelectrode, ping, cast hidden strings, ping, hidden strings resolves, ping. TRIPLE KILL
Love Pestilence Demon idea!