Of all the Souleaters, only the Immolating one really appeals to me. Obviously, it's very aggressively costed while the others aren't. But the real clencher is in it's activated ability -- the fact that I can use it without paying mana makes me want to activate it a lot to take advantage of it. While I technically could give the other Souleaters Trample, Infect, or evasion over and over again on the same turn, doing so is less rewarding than with this card.
AlunJaceImpostor
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
If only it had trample :/
still a playset in my kuldotha deck though
WhiteyMcFly
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(3 votes)
Makes a turn 2 win if you get lucky with Chancellor of the Tangle. This guy on turn 1, then on turn 2 pay 18 life, put up an assault strobe, and swing for 20.
Lost to this turn four at the prelease. Firereathing on a creature that cheap is not to be underestimated. Especially if they get four straight mountains.
Jake1991
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Watch out for this guy in Constructed formats. He is able to win games out of nowhere.
He's going to end up at the back of the pack anyway, so when you see him late, take him if you're red. The two life isn't really worth paying most of the time, but in a near-mono-red deck or even two color red deck, he'll be darn good for a late pick.
EDIT: Holy crap this is better than I thought. If you're on the play he's insanely aggressive; late game you can block pretty much anything w/o 1st strike. He's just so flexible. That phyrexian mana symbol is frickin insane. Try to get at least two of him, he's best when you can reliably draw him early; 7th pick.
collision562
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Best card of the set in my opinion... just as powerful and as underestimated as Kiln Fiend. Turn 2 killer with Rite of Flame and either Assault Strobe, Double Cleave or Fling. I love powerful Commons!!!
ddong
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
so much fun with fling or assault strobe, good in constructed and limited, though be careful when paying life, you dont want a gut shot out of nowhere after dumping a dozen life into him.
@NoFace22, unfortuantely Phyrexian Unlife doesnt work like that, you cannot pay the 2 life if you have 1 life or less, so even though you won't lose if your life is 0 you cannot keep paying life into the negatives
Vinifera7
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(5 votes)
@PhyrexianFailure: It's not quite that good, since you only get 1 point of power for every 2 life spent.
@NoFace22: Do note that you can't pay 2 life if you have less than 2 life.
JoralG
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
With a few phyrexian mana costs on non-tap activated abilities like this, I wonder if Near-Death Experience will become playable now? If you can get your life total to an odd amount and keep your opponent from finishing you (maybe by casting silence or holding counterspells) then pump all but 1 life into the ability at the end of your opponent's turn.
Paleopaladin
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
With all the insta-win combos people are throwing out there, I thought I'd add Fatal Frenzy to the mix.
Immolating Souleater + Tainted Strike . Use the Phyrexian mana to burn yourself the remaining 8 poison counters. Winner!
Wulfsten
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Immolating Souleater begs to be put in the same deck as Assault Strobe, and the colours match up, too. It's a great 2-drop that constantly threatens huge amounts of damage. It's splashable, the art looks cool, overall a very good card.
I run 4 in my red-white fliers deck. Lots of evasion and removal, and these and assault strobe are my win conditions.
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
infect much?
RazzmatazzTheGreat
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Spend your life to pump it up, then have Brion Stoutarm throw it for a partial rebate on the spent life :-)
Hanksingle
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
This card is bonkers good. There are any number of things red can do on turn 3 that involve this guy, pumping with 18 life and then killing your opponent. Badly underrated.
jsttu
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This one seems the best of the cycle to me as elaborated by previous posts, followed by the white one and then the blue one. The black one seems nice if you are missing an infect creature for your draft, but the green one is almost useless. it WILL get killed when it attacks and 3 damage is not worth the mana cost plus the activation of trample, 3 damage being dealt at most, possibly negated by you losing two life for the activation. Maybe as a deterrent to attackers? whatever. This guy will probably be the only one that is used in a constructed deck.
Edit: wow, there is nothing as frightening as being attacked by two of these with less life than the opponent and only one blocker. Luckily i had a removal spell, but that could have gone very differently depending on luck of the draw. These things are really good in an aggressive deck, and while firebreathing alone is something to be careful around, the Phyrexian symbol just makes this more terrifying and a creature that MUST be blocked every time, which can really through you off. It doesn't seem like much at first glance, but if you draft red, these will make you very happy.
Deserves 4/5 just for a turn 2 win in Standard. Amazing in aggressive decks.
PrOgentius
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
turn 1: land turn 2: land, immolating souleater turn 3: land, pump up immolating souleater 9 times making it 10/1, assault strobe, win
redmercury
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This thing gets me second turn wins on a very consistent basis. Any first turn mana booster, then any variety of buffs or fling-like sac's on the second turn.
Strongly consider him with lifelink, pumps, vault skirge, and moltensteel dragon.
If you can find other ways to gain a bit of life too; consider them. 2-for-1 trade on your opponent's life is good if you can manage it, and quite abusable if done properly.
MightyWhitey
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Cards like this ruin the game for me. Have a friend who kills you with just this and Fling. Two commons. Round three kill potentially. Not sure how that's enjoyable. Especially if its done two games in a row....
Comments (35)
Fling, Assault Strobe, Tainted Strike, Kiln Fiend, some kill and discard spells.
still a playset in my kuldotha deck though
T2: swamp, this
T3:glistening oil, pay 18 life, swing
EDIT: Holy crap this is better than I thought. If you're on the play he's insanely aggressive; late game you can block pretty much anything w/o 1st strike. He's just so flexible. That phyrexian mana symbol is frickin insane. Try to get at least two of him, he's best when you can reliably draw him early; 7th pick.
@NoFace22, unfortuantely Phyrexian Unlife doesnt work like that, you cannot pay the 2 life if you have 1 life or less, so even though you won't lose if your life is 0 you cannot keep paying life into the negatives
@NoFace22: Do note that you can't pay 2 life if you have less than 2 life.
I run 4 in my red-white fliers deck. Lots of evasion and removal, and these and assault strobe are my win conditions.
Edit: wow, there is nothing as frightening as being attacked by two of these with less life than the opponent and only one blocker. Luckily i had a removal spell, but that could have gone very differently depending on luck of the draw. These things are really good in an aggressive deck, and while firebreathing alone is something to be careful around, the Phyrexian symbol just makes this more terrifying and a creature that MUST be blocked every time, which can really through you off. It doesn't seem like much at first glance, but if you draft red, these will make you very happy.
Between the Children and Angelic Renewal I often boosted my life to around 100
T2: Tainted Strike, pay 16 life, opponent scoops.
Deserves 4/5 just for a turn 2 win in Standard. Amazing in aggressive decks.
turn 2: land, immolating souleater
turn 3: land, pump up immolating souleater 9 times making it 10/1, assault strobe, win
If you can find other ways to gain a bit of life too; consider them. 2-for-1 trade on your opponent's life is good if you can manage it, and quite abusable if done properly.