nice idea, but actualy kinda bad in practice. No one blocks unless they can kill it, so it ends up being a 4 drop that does 4 damage and requires you to dich a card everyturn. Yes it's "fog-proof" until they figure out that blocking it than fogging works.
SandMouse
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
He's a Human Knight.
FragNutMK1
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(5 votes)
This guy has so many uses...the 4 life loss shouldn't be considered a bad thing seeing as it gets past prevention and sundroplets.
Azymth
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(11 votes)
What a worthless excuse for a card. He makes me discard during my upkeep (losing card advantage), no one in their right mind would block him (unless thay have first strike), he has no attack power, so he's just a wall. An unavoidable loss of life is cool in some situations, but I can think of dozens of cards I would field before this douche.
DoctorKenneth
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(7 votes)
As a lover of somewhat convoluted mechanics and cards that have "middle-of-the-road" quality, this card has a certain appeal. I kind of like the general idea. Used right, with the strategies achilleselbow mentioned, he's fairly okay.
However, the big issue I have with this guy is the flavour. Why, exactly, does he get this large boost in power when he fights a creature? Some kind of battle frenzy? Why can he not be as badass all the time? Does he have to stop and catch his breath afterwards, shrinking down to a 0/3? It's a little hard to piece together why he's effectively a 4/3, 0/3, or 6/6 depending on how he happens to feel at the time.
Kirbster
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(8 votes)
This guy is just a pile of neat effects. You even get a nice little card if you can't pay his upkeep. This is an example of "cool and completely playable with a bit of support," rather than "obviously good but painfully uninteresting."
achilleselbow
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
5 for the art alone. One of Christopher Rush's best, which is to say one of the best artworks in MTG overall.
And yes, people are overlooking its combo potential with Madness, Hellbent, or reanimation. Plus he fits perfectly in a knight deck with Haakon, Stromgald Scourge. He gets Haakon into the graveyard where he needs to be, and after that you just keep discarding other knights which you can cast just as easily from your graveyard.
@DoctorKenneth: I'm not sure either, but it's a recurring theme with Lim-Dul related cards. See Keeper of Tresserhorn, for example (basically a crappier version of this guy). It may be that they get physically strong when fighting normal corporeal creatures, but affect a planeswalker through more arcane life-draining means. Also the 0/3 may be because he is sustained by necromancy and is really just a lifeless corpse. I know he LOOKS human, and they gave him the human creature type, but come on, it's LIM DUL's paladin.
TasPap
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(5 votes)
This is pretty good. If he is blocked he is 6/6 if not the defender loses 4 life. Not a masticore but close enough.4.5/5
NARFNra
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(5 votes)
I love this guy. He's basically an undercosted 6/6 vs creatures, and far better than Balduvian Horde in that regard.
Lord_of_Tresserhorn
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
One of my absolute favorite pieces of Magic art.
I also like the mechanics of the card itself a lot, even the discard penalty can be abused.
Only problem is he is utterly useless as a blocker and not boltproof. But I guess a paladin serving Lim-Dûl would know only attack and death...
scumbling1
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(6 votes)
This is how to design a bad card exemplified.
You have a base value for it's stats: 0/3.
Then you have his stats if it gets blocked by anything: 6/6.
Then you have yet another value to remember - the life loss inflicted if it isn't blocked: 4.
Furthermore, throw in the fact that he has an upkeep to keep track of (Not to mention, the upkeep has the counter-inuitive aspect of allowing you to draw a card if it's not paid)! That's a bit too much going on for a single card.
It's a bunch of disparate numbers and abilities that are NOT in anyway helped out by envisioning them from a flavor standpoint (who knows what is meant by his life loss trigger?). It's not even a remotely useful card, either, so I can't understand in the slightest what the intention was for this paladin.
Oh yeah - it's a Red and Black paladin! What the hell?
Kryptnyt
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Haha great art. Really illustrates "Come and get it, you corpses that know not that ye are dead yet"
HuntedWumpusMustDie
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
.... gonna tell me what color socks he's wearing too??
yyukichigai
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Love this card. Opponents generally aren't sure how to react to him (short of instant-kill or something) and he's pretty robust. Even though the loss of 4 life isn't that much, somehow the fact that it's unpreventable life loss makes it hurt that much more. What essentially amounts to a 4/3 that can become a 6/6 in combat for 4 mana with a manageable upkeep cost isn't bad at all.
This guy used to be the center of a very effective Ice Age-block deck back in the day, alongside Ashen Ghoul, Nether Shadow, and Death Spark. Death Spark could be discarded again and again and again to the Paladin provided you could kill off at least one of the Shadows or Ghouls every turn, which wasn't that hard given how little toughness they have. Generally attacking with one every turn would wind up with the thing dead. Keep in mind this was in the days of Howl from Beyond, so your opponent generally wasn't going to let a black attacker through if you had a bunch of mana untapped.
NoobOfLore
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(3 votes)
"Come at me bro."
Superllama12
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(4 votes)
"Come at me bro!!!"
nunyaJs
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
This is a prime example of the 'silver age' of magic. Still original enough to do fresh things, but wary of OP cost/effects. A good flavorful card, and Christopher Rush's art as always, awesome.
gasimakos1
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
this one's dying for some flavor text. come on! 3.5/5 because he's vulnerable to lightning bolt AND swords to plowshares... and he doesn't beat your opponent swiftly enough, even though he can. what a lazy prick. he doesnt even give you 6 life when he gets the swords.
i still hate that upkeep cost, but at least you can work around it by using some reanimation spells.
Okuu-chan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
One of my favorite art pieces. Flavorwise it's really awesome---I imagine this grim knight who invokes a terrible battle rage when anyone stops his charge, but if he manages to get through with nobody stopping him, all he really does is strangle you with a life-snuffing black spell.
DacenOctavio
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This is a sweet discard outlet. I want this for my Crosis the Purger Reanimator EDH.
majinara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Put a cloak of confusion on it. When unblocked it causes 4 lifeloss and random discard, and if blocked it's a 6/6 trampler for 4. Or a farrel's mantle, then it can shock a creature each turn. Or play it with a delif's cube. :)
@ Azymth: you obviously didn't read the card.
Lord_Ascapelion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Pretty bizarre. The life loss is probably there as a defense against the Circles of Protection, which ran rampant in Magic's early years. And if you did try to block him, he'd mess your creatures up. That discarding thing is kind of annoying/pointless, though. Nowadays, he wouldn't have that and would probably have protection from white. :P
azure_drake222222
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This goes in my accent deck.
Maraxas-of-Keld
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I just got a few for my RB Haakon deck today. Not only can he dump the haakon for you, but once he is out this guy can actually become a card draw engine by never paying his upkeep cost and then returning him back to play. Maybe not the most efficient way to draw cards, but the fact that he can also beat face fairly well means you get some extra functionality out of him.
Chamale
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This card's abilities are confusing, but he behaves like a 4/4 with Bushido 2 that can't block very well. For 4 mana that's a good deal, but the discard can be a problem. I prefer Molten-Tail Masticore, but this is a reasonable choice for a Knight deck or a way to show off complicated old cards.
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think this is a fantastic and well designed card.
Comments (30)
However, the big issue I have with this guy is the flavour. Why, exactly, does he get this large boost in power when he fights a creature? Some kind of battle frenzy? Why can he not be as badass all the time? Does he have to stop and catch his breath afterwards, shrinking down to a 0/3? It's a little hard to piece together why he's effectively a 4/3, 0/3, or 6/6 depending on how he happens to feel at the time.
And yes, people are overlooking its combo potential with Madness, Hellbent, or reanimation. Plus he fits perfectly in a knight deck with Haakon, Stromgald Scourge. He gets Haakon into the graveyard where he needs to be, and after that you just keep discarding other knights which you can cast just as easily from your graveyard.
@DoctorKenneth: I'm not sure either, but it's a recurring theme with Lim-Dul related cards. See Keeper of Tresserhorn, for example (basically a crappier version of this guy). It may be that they get physically strong when fighting normal corporeal creatures, but affect a planeswalker through more arcane life-draining means. Also the 0/3 may be because he is sustained by necromancy and is really just a lifeless corpse. I know he LOOKS human, and they gave him the human creature type, but come on, it's LIM DUL's paladin.
I also like the mechanics of the card itself a lot, even the discard penalty can be abused.
Only problem is he is utterly useless as a blocker and not boltproof. But I guess a paladin serving Lim-Dûl would know only attack and death...
You have a base value for it's stats: 0/3.
Then you have his stats if it gets blocked by anything: 6/6.
Then you have yet another value to remember - the life loss inflicted if it isn't blocked: 4.
Furthermore, throw in the fact that he has an upkeep to keep track of (Not to mention, the upkeep has the counter-inuitive aspect of allowing you to draw a card if it's not paid)! That's a bit too much going on for a single card.
It's a bunch of disparate numbers and abilities that are NOT in anyway helped out by envisioning them from a flavor standpoint (who knows what is meant by his life loss trigger?). It's not even a remotely useful card, either, so I can't understand in the slightest what the intention was for this paladin.
Oh yeah - it's a Red and Black paladin! What the hell?
This guy used to be the center of a very effective Ice Age-block deck back in the day, alongside Ashen Ghoul, Nether Shadow, and Death Spark. Death Spark could be discarded again and again and again to the Paladin provided you could kill off at least one of the Shadows or Ghouls every turn, which wasn't that hard given how little toughness they have. Generally attacking with one every turn would wind up with the thing dead. Keep in mind this was in the days of Howl from Beyond, so your opponent generally wasn't going to let a black attacker through if you had a bunch of mana untapped.
i still hate that upkeep cost, but at least you can work around it by using some reanimation spells.
@ Azymth: you obviously didn't read the card.
MATE: Block with my 3/3... take 3 damage...
ME: Hang on...Brute Force...Double Cleave
MATE: *SAD FACE*
Even just giving him some double strike ability is nuts especially if you run it in a reanimator deck with Haakon, Stromgald Scourge