From the art to the abilities, this dragon makes it clear that you shouldn't mess with him.
nomegus
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(8 votes)
hi I'm a dragon that can kill baneslayer angel what other selling point do you need
SIlverSkyz
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
@ CockworkSwordfish It's a 5/5 for How could you mess that up? The card is right in front of you.
It's still amazing.
DonRoyale
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(11 votes)
I call him Pernicious Dragon for a reason. He's not quite as powerful as Pernicious Deed, but you get the idea...
raptorjesus69
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
:O The fact that blue can play this bad boy makes me happy inside.
Minus_Prime
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(13 votes)
Remember when colorless used to get you 4/4 vanilla or less? This card is awesome. Wipes out token armies at zero extra cost.
Chrome_Coyote
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
This totally rules. Bring on the cool dragons!
MasterOfEtherium
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
RIDICULOUS- Gucci Mane
Atali
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
He can only kill the Banesalyer if the Baneslayer isn't available for blocking, cause that first strike pro-dragon will stop the from ever being played.
hugemanatee
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
THIS GUY OPENS 6 PACKS OF WHIP A$$ CANS ON ENEMIES! I got him in pre release and we're getting married. Seriously this guy flies, breathes fire and for the right cost you decimate token hordes or that pesky ground creature (today's victim was Ichor Rats) that's poisoning you. Beautiful example of colourless power.
Mindbend
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
BOOM!
BlackAlbino
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(7 votes)
bomb, just a big sexy bomb
Alicanto
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
this didn't work out for me in pre-release. Turn 6, him. Then Disperse to my hand, then again, then he got exiled...
MTGGameHero
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Eh, I personally don't think being both artifact and creature is great because there's so many ways to remove it. In constructed, I don't see anyone let you do combat dmg to him with 6 cmc flier. They should have plenty of removal or air defense by then, should able to at least chump block air attacks. Then there is a baneslayer angel which almost any competitive deck using white has.
This card could've been great if it was any dmg instead of combat dmg since then it could've been comboed with Sarkhan the Mad ultimate, but I guess it's pointless to think about those scenarios.
4/5
Yozuk
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Amazing card. I got one in the pre. Won me some games.
infernox10
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(24 votes)
I'm surprised someone hasn't rated this terribly with the quote:
"Falls to Doom Blade AND Naturalize AND Shatter." -.-
Thank goodness, though.
Zenzei
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This one could start seeing real play next summer when baneslayer (probably) rotates out of standard.
mrd8888
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Noob question: Can you pay 0 to destroy all of your opponent's tokens with the second ability?
sungkwon
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Man so this guy dies to removal and Baneslayer? What deck are people assuming I'm playing him in? 20 myrs? I'm going to have ways of dealing with BSA my self and might even have spells to make sure he doesn't die to removal.
And then you lose a lot of stuff from his X
Wizard-of-the-Toast
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I want one for my Dragon's deck. With 3 or more Dragonspeaker Shaman or Urza's incubator this card has 0 mana cost! Or play one of those on turn 3 and get this out on turn 4.
ClockworkSwordfish
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(3 votes)
This is the premier artifact dragon. A 5/5 flier for 6 CMC is nice in any colour, but the fact that this is colourless makes this a good deal. The colourless firebreathing may not be excessively useful given that it costs 'stead of , but it'll still find lategame use. The X ability makes this unique, though, and makes it feel like a true Mirran dragon, not a generic colourless flier. AND the ability is awesome.
Edit: Fixed typos. Sorry about my dyslexai.
JanusAurelius
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@mrd8888 Yeah I'm pretty sure you can, tokens are a permanent with a mana cost of 0 so... Kind of like Genesis Wave pumping lands out since lands are a permanent with a mana cost of 0.
But yeah, it's still really good. If it doesn't get killed, it's likely to win the game on its own since it can pretty much get through whatever it wants and hit hard when the road is clear. Sure, it's vulnerable to a lot of removal, but considering the consequence for not removing it, it's only fair.
TheKeiser
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Opened 2 of these out of the 6 packs in my prerelease main. Top 8'ed easily, clearing boards along the way. Got 2 more opening some boxes so my playset is probably going to be made unblockable somehow. If you can make him connect once you can remove the biggest threat or the only thing that can block him, then he's unstoppable. If he was red, he'd say all creatures. Since he's an artifact, it's permanents. Once you start killing creatures but accidentally cause some collateral damage of planeswalkers, artifacts, or enchantments you realize how good this guy really is. His versatility will wreck any deck that plays permanents.
Discoduck
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I like that, in the same set, I can use a dragon and a wurm (Wurmcoil Engine) for finishers in a blue artifact deck.
Kryptnyt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
got owned by this in a Sasaya, orochi ascendant edh the other day. Nasty.
PEVE_O
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This dragon really hates token creatures.
ArtifactGentleman
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(5 votes)
This won me the local championships. This is one epic card
ZombieSnail
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This is an Artifact Dragon, people. (This isn't) A sociopathic one who likes to blow things up, no less. The second largest flier in the set, and colorless. The only possible reason for not taking this from a pack, at least for me, is a foil Skithiryx in my colors, which wouldn't happen a lot. Bomb. 5/5
xXFranXx
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is just amazing.
And just got a foil one in 5 boosters. Gonna include it in my artifact destroyer deck.
Luke_BPC
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
You can bring this guy early with Grand Architect (Probably as early as turn 3), use your blue cretures to pay for his ablilty, and since you're in color, protect him from removal with your counterspells and make sure it hits with Distortion Strike.
MrBarrelRoll
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Holy balls, this is sick with Training Grounds. Not only does it make that first ability into non-color-specific firebreathing, but it lets you go crazy with that second ability!
And also note the rulings on Training Grounds -- you can choose NOT to reduce the cost by the full amount of 2. Meaning with 1 Grounds out, you can clear their field of 1 and 2 cost stuff, for free, every turn, on top of any additional acitivations being reduced by 2. Additional Training Grounds are only a plus!
chazashley
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Amazing card and works very well in a blue/artifact deck. Turn Asides and other counterspells keep it alive. Semblance Anvil with myr acceleration brings them in very quickly. And for fun, imprinting it on Prototype Portal is just icing on the cake. One of my new favorite cards.
EggShen
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@ plunging forward,
Notice the wording of the second ability. "nonland permanents"
It's there for a reason.
Plungingforward
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Why are folks saying you can zap tokens for zero? According to the comprehensive game rules, it seems to me a token would only have a CMC (or any other characteristic) if the card that created it said it did. It's not CMC = 0, it's CMC = N/A. If things that didn't cost mana to play automatically had CMC 0, you'd get tokens and LANDS for 0. Is there something I missed? All that aside, this Dragon is awesome in my wife's white-and-urza-land Myr deck.
@ Eggshen - I did miss the land thing, which makes a lot of sense. Still, the rules for tokens seem straightforward - no characteristic that isn't explicitly stated - but perhaps the rules for CMC override this somewhere?
badmallocx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think this guy is pretty severely underrated right now. Yes, he can be removed like most every other creature, and yes being an artifact makes him more susceptible. But he's 5/5 flier with (bad) firebreathing for 6 COLORLESS. That means green flies now. He's a finisher for any deck that needs a finisher. And boy is he a finisher. Not only is there a 5+ clock, but in a few turns he can wipe the opponent's board. Black can remove enchantments and artifacts. You know you'll have at least six mana when you untap with him in play so first you take out his best permanent (or two or three) then you start crushing everything they drop.
Lateralis0ne
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Plungingforward:
Learn2Magic. If a permanent (or any card) does not have a specified casting cost, it is assumed that said permanent or card's casting cost is {0}.
Nighthawk42
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy breathes colorless and drops Ratchet Bombs as he flies over your opponent's creatures to hit him. Expensive, vulnerable due to being a flying artifact creature, but deadly if it stays in play long. Amazing in sealed, situationally useful in constructed.
@Minus Prime: Triskelion is only 4/4 but hardly vanilla and has been around forever. I guess in the middle creatures did get weak for a while though.
GracefulInferno
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the most versatile six-mana investments in Standard right now. It's big. It flies. It pumps. It wipes tokens for nothing. It wipes everything else if you can spare the mana. And it's colorless.
Honestly, I'd rather have this guy as a bomb in a Myr deck than Myr Battlesphere.
TheZilla
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
When I got my hands on one of these guys my friends told me I couldn't use Tinker. I call him the Dragon of Tolaria West.
@Aburaishi - I thought that at first glimpse too, but Training Grounds can not reduce the cost of abilities to anything less than . It does double his potential power, though.
rinoh20
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(8 votes)
falls to naturalize .5/5
Hoonster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I hate idiots who rate this card low just because it is an artifact creature. Yes, this falls to Naturalize, Shatter, and all the artifact removals in the entire universe. This card, however, can be easily brought out using Master Transmuter. It is also 'only' 6 COLORLESS MANA. There are ton of cards that can produce colorless mana such as Urza's land series, Grim Monolith, Ancient Tomb, and Metal Worker. THERE ARE ADVANTAGES OF BEING AN ARTIFACT CREATURE. This deserves 6/5 and *** you to all artifact creature haters.
NoobOfLore
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Remember, Aburashi, Training grounds can't reduce a cost to less than 1.
Anyway, it makes a great finisher to tutor into in my esper control deck, and if you can trample it up with something like Golem Artisan, you are virtually guaranteed that awesome destruction ability,
This guy's card efficiency is just great, too. Clean out whatever CMC is giving you the most trouble--aggro decks like infect especially hate it when you wrath their 2s.
.Blaze.
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(12 votes)
With green as my favorite color, I'm shocked I'm only now really loving this card. Two of greens biggest problems is flying and is inability to destroy creatures, This fixes both of those problems. The speed that green can ramp up it's mana only makes his effects that much better.
rufio_massacre
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
dis ole big man be there woppin on dude like SKRAT ya'mean? sh'onn B mad redikkaluss y'ahn, dey rock it. bang out wit 'em and dude be like "DANG YO"
Use Brion Stoutarm or some similar effect and you just won. By a disgusting amount.
@CeremonialBathory; Crud, you're right. Frankly, there'd be a lot more broken combos than just this if it could reduce it to zero, so I suppose it makes sense that they had the foresight to prevent that.
grey-warden
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this guy's awesome. I use him with Hoarding Dragon and Sarkhan the Mad. Summon small dragon, tutor, swing for 4, sac my 4/4 to get a 5/5 token and this guy into my hand, next turn, drop my Hellkite, Sarkhan helps them hit for 10, then swing for the rest.
Ability is icing on the cake, I did once take out a pair of Titans in one hit with it. And I love the look on people's face when he eats their Jace or Garruk. Awesome, awesome card. 5/5
Froenx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
a kraken spam deck dropped dead when I attacked with this.
"i tap one mana and destroy all your quests for uula's temple...'
"... I hate you."
Pontiac
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Mmmm...player crunchy....player's permanents soft and chewy!
iSlapTrees
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Considering the storyline regarding Nicol bolas, Tezzeret and Sarkhan, I believe this is a good card for a story themed grixis deck with:
Tezzeret fetching the dragon and Sarkhan the mad to do extra damage with the dragon.
Or worse, what if it's casual play we're talking about and the opponent Donates you an Ashnod's Coupon then controls you with Mindslaver, uses the Coupon's ability targeting a large bottle of vodka, and gets you so drunk that you are easily persuaded to concede and throw away your card?
Immortal Troll would be completely unplayable! You'll have to try much harder if you ever want to come up with a decent card design.
EvilCleavage
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Definitely waaay better than many of the dragons printed in the last year or two. Don't get me wrong, there have been a few solid dragons, but for the most part, eh. This guy rocks though I use him in my Tinker deck.
DiasFlac420
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@saphireblade
You forgot to add Haste.
saphireblade
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(4 votes)
@DiasFlac420 Yeah, sorry about that. Seriously though when I wrote that I was just annoyed by all the people saying how X dies to removal and how pretty much everything sucks if its doesn't fit their play-style. Sometimes I wonder if people realize we all strive for the top 75 most effective cards that work to defeat opponents and to me a one-sided partial board sweeper with evasion and the ability to do 5 damage is pretty sweet on a card. Only real problem is the fact that now its a little underwhelming post besieged when you've got things like sword of feast and famine and blightsteel colossus as the go to artifact win cons.
@Templar314, DAMN YOU HINDSIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! forgot that it dies to counter spell lol.
Odorous_Walker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Actually if you give him whispersilk cloak he pretty much will wipe the board in one turn except I have one question, if your oppenent has 2 1 mana creatures out and you attack with five damage with this dragon just out of curiosity do the 1 mana creatures die as well or does only non-land perm. with mana coast of 5 die and a 2 mana creature survive.
RaVaug
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
infinite loop right there with dragonspeaker shaman infinite damage!!
TheSwarm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
yeah, this card is absolutely a beast. It just flat out says no. Anything they want to play, if you can control them to a certain point, they just cannot get anything important through. brilliant card, my favorite card in my monoblue artifact control deck. I like him more than wurmcoil engine, actually. He is a megabeast.
I especially love the look on people's faces when they look at the cards they have in play and see that every permanent they have unfortunately has the same cmc.
Brings me joy.
@ Odurous walker: It seems like you are associating the destroy ability to the kite's power, you have to pay extra mana and then that mana destroys the permanents. for instance, if the hellkite did damage, I could pay an extra one mana and kill everything that costs two mana. Also, if I pay 3 mana, everything that costs three will die, but not things that cost two or one. Hopefully thats helpful.
ToAsTy42o
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
omg its a STEEL DRAGON! my favorite fictional 80's metal band!
and my opponents all die young.
thank you very much. high fives, anybody?
JFM2796
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It like Ratchet Bombs their field upon impact. I once used a Bribery to pull this out of someone's EDH deck.
calibir
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
lol myr superions are screwed
Squab
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I've seen a few people saying this card rocks with tinker. 2 things.
1. If you're using tinker, you might as well get Blighsteel out.
2. Tinker is more broken then stoneforged mystic. Unlike the Mystic you need a artifact to sack - but if you're playing somewhere that you can PLAY tinker, you could use artifact lands, memnites or Ornithopters.
Great card tho.
Paladin85
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Built in 'slow' but reusabale Pernicious Deed, colourless firebreathing and 5/5 body with flying for 6 colorless cmc
The biggest flaw is the 2nd ability. To be used you must hit your opponent with the Hellkite which can be difficult against decks with flying chump blockers. Otherwise pretty good and balanced card
4/5
pedrodyl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this guy right here is PURE AWESOMESAUCE. reason1: not outrageously overpriced high-powered colorless flier reason2:it's a dragon reason3: it's got fair removal built in reason4: it's an artifact dragon. Tek, Draco, teeka's dragon and ***work dragon needed a new bud. reason5: it's got colorless firebreathing. I rest my case.
@tantallum99 that's what im saying, im buying one! also, why not osmium99 or tungsten99?
TherealphatMatt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy is ABSURDLY good. Removes just about whatever you want, and en masse. His ability to pump himself isn't that great, but with ramp (and you SHOULD run this guy in a ramp deck) he is ABSURD. In my elves deck he usually hits around turn 3 or 4.
The sheer number of things this guy neuters is insane. Sure he's gonna have a removal bull's eye painted on him when he hits the field; but there are ways around that, and besides, that's just more proof that he is amazingly effective.
Goldbach
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Too damn powerful
netog121
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's no titan, but it is a fun casual card
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Most dragons don't see much play outside of casual because they're red. Luckily for Steely Dan Hellkite here, he looks pretty blue to me.
ZirilanoftheClaw
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
the fact that cards have bulls eyes on them for removal is good think of it this way: "well i dont want my opponent to want to remove my guy cuz their too good so i guess im running a storm crow deck" or maybe "phyrexian obliteraitor? not for me" yah its ridiculous, play your bombs and out maneuver your opponent, its what magics all about
So there was a story once about how I had this guy on the field and 8 life and my opponent was tapped out and had a Shrine of Burning Rage with 8 counters on it. My opponent says "That's game." and I simply respond "No, it's not." I proceed to swing next turn with him and pay 2 for his third ability, blowing up the shrine (only then did my opponent actually read the card) and winning me the game. That same opponent later faced a friend of mine who also runs this card, and when my friend dropped it, the other guy immediately scooped. For that reason (and more) I love this card.
5/5 flier for 6 that can be played in blue control actually giving them a big threat, plus with Turn Asides and Negates, he's cheap and easy to protect. Just make sure to Gitaxian Probe first so he doesn't get countered. Plus, what is blue's big problem? Stuff already on the field. Oh... nevermind, he handles that. What is green's problem? Flying. Oh, wait, he has that covered (I play blue-green, fyi). Simple and cost-effective (only about $1.50 online!) solution for a lot of problems.
5.5 out of 5 stars!
tantallum99
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this has really become one of my favorite cards. yes it costs 6 to play but look at all you get: a nice-sized 5/5 flying PUMPABLE body, plus destruction of permanents. by the time you've busted this guy out, you have access to at least 6 mana so few threats will be able to withstand it's 'X' ability if you can get the damage in. the cherry on the sundae is that it is colorless! This guy fits easily into so many decks. oh, and did I mention that it costs $1 at time of this writing, (A BUCK)??
alzabo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
ridonkulous in EDH.
Herucarne
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Works awesome with trample. Just tried him out in my Elven deck. I combinated him with the Mosstodon
This is a Timmy card that Spike can respect. Just pulled one and seriously thinking about replacing Emrakul with him in my Elf ramp deck.
kiseki
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Prototype Portal + THIS is a lot of fun in my Urzatron deck. Having 10 mana to cast and run the portal usually happens by turn five. The deck also has O-Naginata which helps this guy out a lot.
Trygon_Predator
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wow. One of the best dragons is one that can be played in any deck. loves this card, as do I.
JimmyNoobPlayer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Vs. tokens and flip cards you can pay zero mana.
Quentil
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love this card. It can be plugged in mostly anywhere and can often dominate and win a game by itself.
humor_love
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I've given this a 5 of 5 rating, which I almost never do.
Why? Because all of its costs can be paid with any type of mana, it's very powerful, and despite these two aspects, it's balanced.
SgtPepperjack
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Just gotta say, Selesnya is sooo very glad this guy is rotating. I, on the other hand, am not.
With regard to EDH/Commander, Steel Hellkite is part of a select group of colorless cards that I recommend players to consider including in all their decks.
While it is obvious that Steel Hellkite's primary use is repeatable, one-sided removal, the crucial hidden tactical function of this card is that it can enable Grixis decks, and any that do not include Selesnya colors, to be able to perform an action that blue, black, and red cards generally cannot perform: one-sided enchantment destruction (without random effects).
Great card, not overpowered but it really hits the board hard. It's not even mythic but it's a perfect example of what mythics should be like - creative, powerful and balanced. I think if they made the second ability 'X: Destroy all nonland permanents with converted mana cost X' or kept this ability and gave it +1/+1 and trample or shroud then it would be an awesome mythic. The problem with the second ability is you probably will never be able to use it. They'll chump block or remove it before that.
Actually his 2nd ability is such a big threat that it forces the opponent to have an answer or face some serious hurt.
Lord_of_phyrexia
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
see all of your3/3 memnites( tempered steel) pay 0 mana, BOOM MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously though, it's a good card it's won me a lot of games. @raptorman33: ONCE PER TURN
TowerDefender
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Illusionist's Bracers as even though you can only activate it once per turn it says nothing about not being able to copy the ability. Hit two player's boards with one hellkite?
MHaruspex
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Absolutely beautiful card. I run 4 of these guys in a colorless Urzatron/Locus/Sol Ring deck and they can decide most games when they come out turn 3-4.
CJOLL4
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@TowerDefender: Illusionist's Bracers wouldn't work. Steel Hellkite's ability doesn't target a player, or have a target at all. It destroys all permanents of the chosen mana cost whose controller was dealt combat damage by Steel Hellkite this turn. The way to create the effect you're looking for would be to redirect part of Steel Hellkite's combat damage to a player you aren't attacking. As far as I can tell, the only way to do that would be to enchant an opponent's creature with Ward of Piety, use an effect that gives Steel Hellkite trample, and then get the enchanted creature to block Steel Hellkite. Rather complicated.
Theevbomb
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Also illusionist's bracers only works on non mana cost abilities
Comments (104)
It's a 5/5 for
How could you mess that up?
The card is right in front of you.
It's still amazing.
The fact that blue can play this bad boy makes me happy inside.
This card could've been great if it was any dmg instead of combat dmg since then it could've been comboed with Sarkhan the Mad ultimate, but I guess it's pointless to think about those scenarios.
4/5
"Falls to Doom Blade AND Naturalize AND Shatter." -.-
Thank goodness, though.
And then you lose a lot of stuff from his X
Edit: Fixed typos. Sorry about my dyslexai.
But yeah, it's still really good. If it doesn't get killed, it's likely to win the game on its own since it can pretty much get through whatever it wants and hit hard when the road is clear. Sure, it's vulnerable to a lot of removal, but considering the consequence for not removing it, it's only fair.
A sociopathic one who likes to blow things up, no less.
The second largest flier in the set, and colorless.
The only possible reason for not taking this from a pack, at least for me, is a foil Skithiryx in my colors, which wouldn't happen a lot. Bomb.
5/5
And just got a foil one in 5 boosters. Gonna include it in my artifact destroyer deck.
And also note the rulings on Training Grounds -- you can choose NOT to reduce the cost by the full amount of 2. Meaning with 1 Grounds out, you can clear their field of 1 and 2 cost stuff, for free, every turn, on top of any additional acitivations being reduced by 2. Additional Training Grounds are only a plus!
Notice the wording of the second ability. "nonland permanents"
It's there for a reason.
@ Eggshen - I did miss the land thing, which makes a lot of sense. Still, the rules for tokens seem straightforward - no characteristic that isn't explicitly stated - but perhaps the rules for CMC override this somewhere?
Learn2Magic. If a permanent (or any card) does not have a specified casting cost, it is assumed that said permanent or card's casting cost is {0}.
@Minus Prime: Triskelion is only 4/4 but hardly vanilla and has been around forever. I guess in the middle creatures did get weak for a while though.
Honestly, I'd rather have this guy as a bomb in a Myr deck than Myr Battlesphere.
@nomegus - Not if she blocks him. :(
@Aburaishi - I thought that at first glimpse too, but Training Grounds can not reduce the cost of abilities to anything less than
Yes, this falls to Naturalize, Shatter, and all the artifact removals in the entire universe.
This card, however, can be easily brought out using Master Transmuter. It is also 'only' 6 COLORLESS MANA. There are ton of cards that can produce colorless mana such as Urza's land series, Grim Monolith, Ancient Tomb, and Metal Worker.
THERE ARE ADVANTAGES OF BEING AN ARTIFACT CREATURE.
This deserves 6/5 and *** you to all artifact creature haters.
Anyway, it makes a great finisher to tutor into in my esper control deck, and if you can trample it up with something like Golem Artisan, you are virtually guaranteed that awesome destruction ability,
This guy's card efficiency is just great, too. Clean out whatever CMC is giving you the most trouble--aggro decks like infect especially hate it when you wrath their 2s.
Hello infinite power. Nice to meet you.
Use Brion Stoutarm or some similar effect and you just won. By a disgusting amount.
@CeremonialBathory; Crud, you're right. Frankly, there'd be a lot more broken combos than just this if it could reduce it to zero, so I suppose it makes sense that they had the foresight to prevent that.
Ability is icing on the cake, I did once take out a pair of Titans in one hit with it. And I love the look on people's face when he eats their Jace or Garruk. Awesome, awesome card. 5/5
"i tap one mana and destroy all your quests for uula's temple...'
"... I hate you."
Tezzeret fetching the dragon
and Sarkhan the mad to do extra damage with the dragon.
and maybe use artifacts for mana acceleration so you can play Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
That card would be terrible! What if the opponent has a Leyline of Anticipation out and kills the troll with a super-pumped Black Sun's Zenith, an All Is Dust, or a reprinted Decree of Annihilation?
Or worse, what if it's casual play we're talking about and the opponent Donates you an Ashnod's Coupon then controls you with Mindslaver, uses the Coupon's ability targeting a large bottle of vodka, and gets you so drunk that you are easily persuaded to concede and throw away your card?
Immortal Troll would be completely unplayable! You'll have to try much harder if you ever want to come up with a decent card design.
You forgot to add Haste.
@Templar314, DAMN YOU HINDSIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! forgot that it dies to counter spell lol.
I especially love the look on people's faces when they look at the cards they have in play and see that every permanent they have unfortunately has the same cmc.
Brings me joy.
@ Odurous walker: It seems like you are associating the destroy ability to the kite's power, you have to pay extra mana and then that mana destroys the permanents. for instance, if the hellkite did damage, I could pay an extra one mana and kill everything that costs two mana. Also, if I pay 3 mana, everything that costs three will die, but not things that cost two or one. Hopefully thats helpful.
and my opponents all die young.
thank you very much. high fives, anybody?
1. If you're using tinker, you might as well get Blighsteel out.
2. Tinker is more broken then stoneforged mystic. Unlike the Mystic you need a artifact to sack - but if you're playing somewhere that you can PLAY tinker, you could use artifact lands, memnites or Ornithopters.
Great card tho.
The biggest flaw is the 2nd ability. To be used you must hit your opponent with the Hellkite which can be difficult against decks with flying chump blockers. Otherwise pretty good and balanced card
4/5
reason1: not outrageously overpriced high-powered colorless flier
reason2:it's a dragon
reason3: it's got fair removal built in
reason4: it's an artifact dragon. Tek, Draco, teeka's dragon and ***work dragon needed a new bud.
reason5: it's got colorless firebreathing.
I rest my case.
@tantallum99 that's what im saying, im buying one! also, why not osmium99 or tungsten99?
The sheer number of things this guy neuters is insane. Sure he's gonna have a removal bull's eye painted on him when he hits the field; but there are ways around that, and besides, that's just more proof that he is amazingly effective.
think of it this way: "well i dont want my opponent to want to remove my guy cuz their too good so i guess im running a storm crow deck"
or maybe "phyrexian obliteraitor? not for me"
yah its ridiculous, play your bombs and out maneuver your opponent, its what magics all about
.......
Say hello to Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. AND Sarkhan the Mad. I believe we can find a use for you. Yes, most definitely....>:D
5/5 flier for 6 that can be played in blue control actually giving them a big threat, plus with Turn Asides and Negates, he's cheap and easy to protect. Just make sure to Gitaxian Probe first so he doesn't get countered. Plus, what is blue's big problem? Stuff already on the field. Oh... nevermind, he handles that. What is green's problem? Flying. Oh, wait, he has that covered (I play blue-green, fyi). Simple and cost-effective (only about $1.50 online!) solution for a lot of problems.
5.5 out of 5 stars!
(Hat tip to infernox10 for the joke!)
This is a Timmy card that Spike can respect. Just pulled one and seriously thinking about replacing Emrakul with him in my Elf ramp deck.
Why? Because all of its costs can be paid with any type of mana, it's very powerful, and despite these two aspects, it's balanced.
I, on the other hand, am not.
Delirium.
T1- Forest; Llanowar Elves.
T2- Land; Palladium Myr.
T3- Land; Myr Galvanizer x2.
T4- Land; Steel Hellkite.
T5- Swing, infinite colorless mana pump. GG.
Formidable P/T and versatile abilities? Check.
Evasion? Check.
Protection? Sigh.
4.5/5
While it is obvious that Steel Hellkite's primary use is repeatable, one-sided removal, the crucial hidden tactical function of this card is that it can enable Grixis decks, and any that do not include Selesnya colors, to be able to perform an action that blue, black, and red cards generally cannot perform: one-sided enchantment destruction (without random effects).
My Thraximundar and Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind decks have applied Steel Hellkite's ability for significant advantage.
I think if they made the second ability 'X: Destroy all nonland permanents with converted mana cost X' or kept this ability and gave it +1/+1 and trample or shroud then it would be an awesome mythic. The problem with the second ability is you probably will never be able to use it. They'll chump block or remove it before that.
alloy myr and myr palladium finsh the combo.
MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously though, it's a good card it's won me a lot of games.
@raptorman33: ONCE PER TURN
Fireshrieker
Edit: Thanks Lord_of_phyrexia and... boooooooo! i would like to go on ignoring that last sentence.
eh hem... Bear Umbra so you can go on playing spells and stuffs, plus green could use fliers.