Awesome card. You get a free flame slash just by attacking with him. You practically going to need 2 creatures to be able to block him. The RRR in casting cost will make it hard to splash him though.
OutlawD1
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(4 votes)
4/4 for 4cmc is good. RRR is an issue though.
Gets rid of a chump blocker, and still can go through for a normal attack.
Laguz
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
I'm not sure that mono-red wants to play this, but it's still a great card that takes out chump blockers.
Just a question that has been bothering me with all of these kinds of cards - if Cyclops Gladiator kills the creature with its ability, will the dead creature still deal damage to Cyclops Gladiator? Or is the damage dealt at the same time?
Kryptnyt
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I'm scared. You know why? This looks better then Tahngarth. Poor, poor minotaurs.
Artscrafter
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@GrimjawxRULES: I might be mistaken on this, but my understanding is that an "if you do" clause makes the second piece a part of the same effect and it would all resolve simultaneously. If that's the case then the gladiator would still take the damage if it kills the other creature.
kilovortex
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Not bad when equiped with mage slayer !!! Damage is delt to target creaure and player !!
Sharunodal
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
This is the kind of a card that makes me want to build a red deck. I just love pretty much everything about it.
Gezus82
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I cud see him seeing play in RDW as he's at very least a 2 for 1 and depending of the matchup might be better than hell's thunder, especially against low creature decks.
BlackAlbino
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
4 mana (albeit very heavy color cost) for a 4/4 isn't all that bad. killing a utility creature your opponent has whenever it attacks is awesome.
JaxsonBateman
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Pretty decent for limited... depending on your opponent's board presence he'll just end up as a 2 for one (as if they have two Runeclaw Bear type creatures and you kill one, they'll block with the other), but that's still not bad. If you can boost him up with a Warlord's Axe though he can cause some chaos. Definitely works best with the Whispersilk Cloak though - 4 unblockable damage to the opponent and killing up to a 3 power creature is nice.
His colour cost is quite restrictive though. Even if you have a heavy red investment it's likely you've gone at least two colours, which means by turn 4 there's a decent chance you'll have 2 mountains and 2 of your other type of land in play. I played a RB deck at a draft a few weeks ago, and in my final game - the game I had to win to come first and not second - I ended up losing when I couldn't get my third mountain out.
i once managed to get my cyclops gladiator equipped with a mageslayer and a spellbinder with fling imprinted on it during a casual match once. it was hilarious when i attacked with him. mageslayer hits for four upon attacking, cyclops ability triggered bashing a birds of paradise, then i threw him at my opponents face. :p
borgesian
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Magebane Armor. 'nuff said.
Now, instead of saying, I shall ask. Is there a sequence to the damage, and if so, does it recognize priority? If, for instance, I give him infect, will he deal his damage first (as -1/-1 counters) and then receive damage from the other creature at its reduced power? And if those counters remove said creature from the battlefield, I would assume the other creature would deal its last power, just as the second ruling says Cyclops Gladiator would, but would that power be the reduced power?
If you're afraid of losing him, use Reconnaissance and pick off a 4 toughness thing every turn.
Vedalken_Arbiter
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Is this going to get the fight terminology?
phyrexiantrygon
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@Vedalken_Arbiter
No. fight happens at the same time, unlike this. So you could give this deathtouch/infect and kill/weaken your opponents creature before it touches you. With Fight, it would just kill the other at the end, but still take damage.
DivineNocturnus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I used to not think very highly of this one. Then it smacked me in the face a couple times.
Shard_Fenix
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@ phyrexiantrygon: Deathtouch doesn't do anything special with this ability. The other creature still deals damage back.
It does however work with Wither/Infect. The other creature will deal damage back equal to its lowered power.
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Whenever Cyclops Gladiator attacks, it fights target creature."
Or, "Whenever Cyclops Gladiator attacks, it plays YuGiOh for a moment."
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Borgesian You take the power *last known* before the creature left. If you hit a 4/4 creature but this guy has infect, it will hit you for 0 damage. *It will still hit you!*, but for zero damage.
Thus Everlasting Torment is a beautiful curve into this guy :D Also, Shard_Fenix is correct about Deathtouch and also covers the wither/infect information And.. phyrexiantrygon is *mostly* correct, in that this is not quite the same as the fight mechanic; as one can tell by the interaction of Wither/Infect.
EbbnFlow
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ok so the way I understood the wording was "... if you do, that creature deals damage equal to its power to Cyclops Gladiator". That to me says - deals damage equal to the power of the target card you are attacking. Aka. if I use cyclops gladiator to attack a 2/1 card, cyclops deals 4 damage and the 2/1 card deals two damage to cyclops gladiator.
While I was playing Magic 2014, for some reason, I attacked Unruly Mob (1/1) and it sent my Cyclops gladiator to the graveyard. How does this make sense? Bug?
Comments (31)
Gets rid of a chump blocker, and still can go through for a normal attack.
The arena effect operates seperately of combat damage, so this guy is bringing an 8 point swing.
killing a utility creature your opponent has whenever it attacks is awesome.
His colour cost is quite restrictive though. Even if you have a heavy red investment it's likely you've gone at least two colours, which means by turn 4 there's a decent chance you'll have 2 mountains and 2 of your other type of land in play. I played a RB deck at a draft a few weeks ago, and in my final game - the game I had to win to come first and not second - I ended up losing when I couldn't get my third mountain out.
4.5
Now, instead of saying, I shall ask. Is there a sequence to the damage, and if so, does it recognize priority? If, for instance, I give him infect, will he deal his damage first (as -1/-1 counters) and then receive damage from the other creature at its reduced power? And if those counters remove said creature from the battlefield, I would assume the other creature would deal its last power, just as the second ruling says Cyclops Gladiator would, but would that power be the reduced power?
No. fight happens at the same time, unlike this. So you could give this deathtouch/infect and kill/weaken your opponents creature before it touches you. With Fight, it would just kill the other at the end, but still take damage.
It does however work with Wither/Infect. The other creature will deal damage back equal to its lowered power.
Or, "Whenever Cyclops Gladiator attacks, it plays YuGiOh for a moment."
You take the power *last known* before the creature left. If you hit a 4/4 creature but this guy has infect, it will hit you for 0 damage. *It will still hit you!*, but for zero damage.
Thus Everlasting Torment is a beautiful curve into this guy :D
Also, Shard_Fenix is correct about Deathtouch and also covers the wither/infect information
And.. phyrexiantrygon is *mostly* correct, in that this is not quite the same as the fight mechanic; as one can tell by the interaction of Wither/Infect.
While I was playing Magic 2014, for some reason, I attacked Unruly Mob (1/1) and it sent my Cyclops gladiator to the graveyard. How does this make sense? Bug?