This is an interesting twist on Fiend Hunter. I rather like the Hunter's higher toughness, but I love the mechanic.
Flyheight
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(4 votes)
More like a fixed fiend hunter. Now you can't use bounce/blink shenanigans to permanently exile something.
master_biomancer
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(5 votes)
The flavor text it burns......
ThisisSakon
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
I like this wording change. Saves some space on the card, and prevents abuse with blink/bounce/sacrifice. I hope this isn't the last we see of effects like this.
WishResign
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Balanced Fiend Hunter is nice. The effect still remains very powerful for Limited or Constructed, but FH's higher toughness did come in handy often.
JimmyNoobPlayer
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Goodbye, Cloudshift shenanigans. Can't say I'll miss you, you were nothing but a screwy loophole exploitation.
lorendorky
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I'm delighted to see people agree that the new un-abusable wording is better :D
Kryptnyt
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I sure don't mind more Fiend Hunters. This is probably more fair in a limited format with Shock in it. Still very good.
Sabisent
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Would someone mind explaining to me why this is unusable with cloudshift, and a worse version of fiend hunter? I'm guessing it is because of the 'opponent controls' clause, because other than that I cannot see any real difference in wording.
Purplerooster
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Solid card, almost always relevant, where do I sign up?
Hungerstriker
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@Sabisent: check the rulings on Fiend Hunter. FH has two abilities, so it's possible to make the second ability resolve before the first. BP has only one ability, so you can't exploit Cloudshift to permanently exile things.
Also, being able to target your own guys meant that three Fiend Hunters could loop, entering and exiting the battlefield over and over an unlimited number of times. This combos for infinite life with a Soul's Attendant or similar.
chainsmoker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i dont usually break my oath, but when i do, i get cast out.
Wraique
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
'Until' feels like the start of a triggered ability to me, so I have to keep reading it as "When Banisher Priest enters the battlefield, exile target creature an opponent controls for as long as Banisher Priest remains on the battlefield." Otherwise I get confused and think it's just Fiend Hunter >.<
sweetgab
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great change, Rules Team. Now while we're at it, let's fix another problem like this, the "Waylay swings for six" or "Rakdos Guildmage makes a token at end of their turn and it lives to attack" problem. Your mission: find a way to template these kind of cards (without refering to the cleanup step), or change the rulings about the end step slightly to accommodate these cards, so something like "exile during next end step" really means what it seems to say.
I picked this one out because I think it is even less explainable than the Oblivion Ring / Fiend Hunter (which was kind of explainable, but did feel pretty unintuitive and needed to be fixed). Players learn about how the stack works as they get used to the game, but even good players can misjudge about the Rakdos Guildmage thing if they never heard about it. It's not deducible from the card text.
Takno
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This effect in combination with a sac deck built mostly upon humans, + Undercity Informer + Angel of Glory's Rise.
Step 1 play Undercity Informer and a bunch of humans (preferably of in the likes of Doomed Traveler, Elgaud Inquisitor and Mauseum Guard)
Step 2 play Angel of Glory's Rise
Step 3 play this card and exile said Angel
Step 4 sac all the humans you got back and then this card, Angel of Glory's comes into play seeing as it was exiled and you get all your humans, including Banisher Priest which allows you to exile Angel of Glory's Rise AGAIN and then just keep using Undercity Informer's 1 mana sac milling and repeat this until you've milled your opponent to defeat.
LordRandomness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Yet another target for my hypothetical Un-set enchantment "self loathing" which makes you count as your own opponent :v
DarthParallax
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
"You have betrayed the express command of your king. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these peaceful realms, and innocent lives to the horror. and desolation. of War! You are unworthy of these realms! Your are unworthy of your title, You are Unworthy! I now take from you, your Power, and your Freedom, in the name of my Father, and his Father before! I therefore CAST YOU OUT!"
I mean....there wasn't room for it.....maybe if the shrank the font. x3
alblast
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@hungerstriker I don't see how you can't abuse this. Sure you can't use it on your own guys, but you can still permanently exile their creatures. so you play the priest and in response to the etb ability, bounce or flicker him, let his etb ability resolve and then permanently exile.
majinara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Well, it's a faceless butcher. Slightly worse faceless butcher. Sure, it the one point of additional toughness the butcher has is rarely worth the one point of mana, however, the butcher can exile your own creatures. This one can't. Like, play butcher, exile your best creature, play "destroy all permanents" or similiar effects, and your exiled guy returns. You can't do that with the banisher priest.
Still, it's a good card. But only in fast formats. In formats like Commander, or other multiplayer formats, it's not as good, since the exiled card will almost always return when you don't it to. And that especially hurts after someone played mass removal, and the thing you wanted to get rid of is now the only creature on the table.
There is also still the trick where you play this guy, and in response to it's triggered ability, you kill or bounce it or have it leave the battlefield in another way. So the "return part" triggers first, when there is nothing to return, and the exile part triggers last, exiling the target permanently. The faceless butcher was awesome in that, simply because black is so great in sacrificing creatures at instant speed. White can't do that that easily, and so that combo is much harder to pull off for white.
In short, good, but dumbed down. I don't like dumbed down cards.
myztikrice
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@alblast Fiend Hunter's return ability goes on the stack. Banisher's doesn't, it's just a state-based effect.
Tamerlein
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Being able to play eight Fiend Hunters in Standard for a few months will make several people really happy.
5/5
VirusVescichetta
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I've abused Fiend Hunter's ability far too many times to like the new wording. Still a solid card, though, especially in limited.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Banisher Priest: Because Standard still needs Fiend Hunter.
The only thing I don't like about the new template is that it'll leave the old cards alone. My OCD is kicking in here. It's kinda like the difference between lifelink and the previous lifelink-like ability.
DoragonShinzui
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Huzzah for new, not broken wording!
Polycotton
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is the absolute bomb digits in limited. I will almost always pick this first when opening my first booster. It fits into any strategy and provides insane value for the casting cost.
MRK1
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I appreciate the offensive boost but the loss of stack shenanigans is disheartening.
Rancid_Raptor
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
A strictly worse version of fiend hunter.
If you could Exile your own permament it would be amazing. But WOTC likes to dumb it down.
Quotations
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
oh man does this bring bad memories back from mtg 2014 the game... that dang avacyn deck 4 path to exile 4 priest 4 hunters 4 oblivion ring 4 of that one first strike protection from demons/dragons lifelink angle 4 unruly mob
just so annoying to face
patronofthesound
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
On the low actually better than hunter. This is bc that 2 power can do good damage once you tempo them with the ability. Dies to shock though but definitely better overall (notwithstanding blink)
Thundermaw_Hellkite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"Stricly worse or better than Fiend Hunter?" Very idiotic comments.
Banisher Priest adds more punch power for tempo play, while Fiend Hunter clearly survives a lot more threats and acts as a better defender. I love the latter, but I could easily find a LOT of use to this card for more aggressive strategies. Now though, he acts as an more removal to me, so the extra toughness helps it survive damage and act as an wall.
Drewskithelegend
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The mechanic is good, the card is very good in sealed, but I feel like it should have been a 1/2 for {1}{W} instead. The double {W} makes it feel awkward and I would hope to have a more productive creature for 3 mana, not one that is very easily killed by Shock and other commonly played burn-removal in the block (Magma JetDrown in Sorrow etc.) And no, it's not strictly worse than Fiend Hunter ,the 2 power makes this a much more offensive creature (though with 2 toughness, you won't always want to attack with it).
Stuflames
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Let's just take a moment to appreciate how badass her mace is.
Comments (34)
Also, being able to target your own guys meant that three Fiend Hunters could loop, entering and exiting the battlefield over and over an unlimited number of times. This combos for infinite life with a Soul's Attendant or similar.
I picked this one out because I think it is even less explainable than the Oblivion Ring / Fiend Hunter (which was kind of explainable, but did feel pretty unintuitive and needed to be fixed). Players learn about how the stack works as they get used to the game, but even good players can misjudge about the Rakdos Guildmage thing if they never heard about it. It's not deducible from the card text.
Step 1 play Undercity Informer and a bunch of humans (preferably of in the likes of Doomed Traveler, Elgaud Inquisitor and Mauseum Guard)
Step 2 play Angel of Glory's Rise
Step 3 play this card and exile said Angel
Step 4 sac all the humans you got back and then this card, Angel of Glory's comes into play seeing as it was exiled and you get all your humans, including Banisher Priest which allows you to exile Angel of Glory's Rise AGAIN and then just keep using Undercity Informer's 1 mana sac milling and repeat this until you've milled your opponent to defeat.
I mean....there wasn't room for it.....maybe if the shrank the font. x3
I don't see how you can't abuse this. Sure you can't use it on your own guys, but you can still permanently exile their creatures. so you play the priest and in response to the etb ability, bounce or flicker him, let his etb ability resolve and then permanently exile.
Still, it's a good card. But only in fast formats. In formats like Commander, or other multiplayer formats, it's not as good, since the exiled card will almost always return when you don't it to. And that especially hurts after someone played mass removal, and the thing you wanted to get rid of is now the only creature on the table.
There is also still the trick where you play this guy, and in response to it's triggered ability, you kill or bounce it or have it leave the battlefield in another way. So the "return part" triggers first, when there is nothing to return, and the exile part triggers last, exiling the target permanently. The faceless butcher was awesome in that, simply because black is so great in sacrificing creatures at instant speed. White can't do that that easily, and so that combo is much harder to pull off for white.
In short, good, but dumbed down. I don't like dumbed down cards.
5/5
Awesome card.
If you could Exile your own permament it would be amazing. But WOTC likes to dumb it down.
that dang avacyn deck
4 path to exile
4 priest
4 hunters
4 oblivion ring
4 of that one first strike protection from demons/dragons lifelink angle
4 unruly mob
just so annoying to face
Very idiotic comments.
Banisher Priest adds more punch power for tempo play, while Fiend Hunter clearly survives a lot more threats and acts as a better defender. I love the latter, but I could easily find a LOT of use to this card for more aggressive strategies. Now though, he acts as an more removal to me, so the extra toughness helps it survive damage and act as an wall.
And no, it's not strictly worse than Fiend Hunter ,the 2 power makes this a much more offensive creature (though with 2 toughness, you won't always want to attack with it).