Pointed Discussion

How exactly does a Merfolk ride a Seahorse?

Side-saddle, duh. ;)

In all seriousness, this card is actually pretty good. A 2/2 for 2 with Protection isn't bad, and Merfolk have a lot of buff's that could help him gain islandwalk and higher stats.

3/5

Vedalken Outlander.

Maybe the seahorse just kind of drags him along while he holds on. Gotta feel sorry for the guy who got an art de***ion telling him to draw a merfolk riding a seahorse.
Stupid spellchecker should be reconfigured to recognize Magic related words like merfolk or mana or darksteel and CMC.

The only one that isnt like its outlander compatriot at all. Artifact creature is too big a difference.

@Kryptnyt: Merfolk vs. Vedalken is a pretty big one too.

the seahorse is just swimming along side him. he gives the merfolk protection by being a meat shield..

Part of Invasion's cycle of 2-mana friendly color gold common creatures, all of which had protection from their shared enemy color:

Galina's Knight - (Merfolk Knight)
Llanowar Knight - (Elf Knight)
Shivan Zombie - (Barbarian Zombie)
Vodalian Zombie - (Merfolk Zombie)
Yavimaya Barbarian - (Elf Barbarian)

Apocalypse, two sets later, released an interesting cycle of 2-mana enemy color gold common creatures, all of which had different abilities:

Gaea's Skyfolk - (Elf Merfolk)
Goblin Legionnaire - (Goblin Soldier)
Llanowar Dead - (Zombie Elf)
Putrid Warrior - (Zombie Soldier - later Warrior was added)
Razorfin Hunter - (Merfolk Goblin)

As for this card itself, this is one of the better creatures in the cycle. Not only is it two relevant creature types (boosts from Knight Exemplar, Lord of Atlantis, etc.), but protection from red means it is also immune to red's huge suite of burn spells and aggressive creatures.