Pointed Discussion

Magic: The Gathering Card Comments Archive

Whitemane Lion

Multiverse ID: 270859

Whitemane Lion

Comments (8)

Glech
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0) (2 votes)
@Speednat
The only problem is that Venser already does that with one of his abilities; of course, having an early way to reactivate ETB effects is always nice.
lorendorky
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0) (4 votes)
@Glech: it's not a "problem" it's synergy.
tcollins
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0) (1 vote)
Y'know, when you activate Venser's final ability, this guy suddenly becomes a reusable
{1}{W}: Exile target permanent

Aside from its use in the duel deck, a versatile card that can save your important creature from mass removal and can cause more enters the battlefield effects to trigger. Being a 2/2 is nothing to scoff at either, you can also use it in combat to chump block an opposing creature, then cast the lion to save it before combat damage is dealt.
TheWrathofShane
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0) (2 votes)
Why such a low rating? Flash bear with another great ability.
Mode
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Notably the ability is untargted as well.
This means you can even return creatures with shroud or Phantasmal Image.

"Why such a low rating? Flash bear with another great ability." --TheWrathofShane

Note that this ability is not unconditionally advantageous since it lacks a "may"-clause.
So what you say is not entirely true. It might be better than a flash bear, but it might also be worse.
Depending on the situation, might even turn out to be a drawback. It does not say "another creature", so if there aren't any other creatures on your side of the field, you'll have to return the lion. And if you don't play it in response to an opponent's removal spell or something similar, it might be inconvenient as well.

However, compared to Cavern Harpy I still think this card is underrated, at least in this Duel Deck printing.
Salient
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You don't even have to bother with bouncing some other creature.

Aluren + Whitemane lets you Storm like a boss.
jonrds
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Apparently "you may" is worth more than an entire star. Compare to deputy of acquittals, which has a harder casting cost.