Pointed Discussion

pesky Circles of Protection Black

But a creture for 6 Mana, that only 2 Life reduce by an opponent?

triggering on declaration of blockers is cool, but still he's kinda spendy compared to anything lately...

Can this guy be comboed with anything? He looks pretty crummy to me as a standalone. 6/6 for 6 with a drawback?

@Wraique: Fling. That's about all he's good for. And there are still better cards for that.

He makes an okay blocker though. Assuming your opponent doesn't have anything higher than 6/6. But for just that, he's overcosted.

Maybe if he was 10/10 it'd be okay.

Average Rating, 2 stars, and I will debate he is 3 stars easy. First only ONE BLACK in the casting cost. Many decks with new cards nowadays can run prism decks.Sure back in the day this was difficult, but not by any means nowadays in MTG.You can use 5 any color people! And the whole COP:Black, are you fricken kidding me?Life Loss cannot be prevented, it is not damage, it is LIFE LOSS!!!Read your cards and rules please:) In fact this nasty guy was MADE to help counter said PESKY COP DECKS!!! Furthermore, in a well made deck, colorless mana has a way of disappearing. Creatures likeStormscape Familiar, and spells like Helm of Awakeningjust to name a couple. And lets not forget favorites like Sol Ring and Mana Vault to eat through that colorless casting cost. Oh wait this is black, how many Dark Ritual variations are there now?Cabal Ritual, Sacrifice,Bubbling Muck, Burnt Offering, Culling the Weak...the list goes on and ON! Then there is that pesky Bog Witch.Okay mana production isn't an issue, but in addition to ALL that, black has this nasty habit of T1-ing a creature to the graveyard then bringing it into play with so many different reanimation spells...hmmm. Sure there are lower casting cost creatures that can do nastier and better things. But life loss on a habitual basis truly pwns all. Rivaled only in my opinion by Infectous Horror and Pulse Tracker. Fact is with all this in mind this card is 3.5-4 stars easy, in the hands of true deck building genius.

As for combos with other cards, anything that triggers when a "creature attacks and isn't blocked" would love him! Back in the day I used Farrel's Mantle, which was especially nasty because multiple copies of the enchantment will each go off. A few years down the road, we had Ninjitsu. This guy combos with so much!

I suppose he's the Keeper of Tresserhorn because he really needs home field advantage to do anything. That leaves defending to him; so would you want to play a six-mana 6/6 wall? He sucks at home, too.

They should have waited one set, and released him as another overcosted black legend in Homelands .

This guy was made to work against Circle of Protection tye effects. The keeper and Lim-Dûl's Paladin have similar effects to counter damage prevention. It's kind of a niche thing even back then. I would have played it for 3B or even 2BB but not at CMC 6.

I freaking love the art... this guy is pretty outcalssed nowadays, though. Nobody really plays with Circles of Protection, these days.

What's the flavor in the ability? I bet it's hilarious...

I think it is mostly for mood or atmosphere.

@wraique, there was a card in Ice Age that said if your creatures weren't blocked they could deal their power to a target creature. If you didn't block you would lose 2 life and a creature. not so good but it is a combo.

Edit: It was gaze of pain that lets you deal his power in damage if unblocked. Combine it with the already mentioned Farrel's mantle = lose 2 life and 2 creatures if not blocked!