Pointed Discussion

Activated abilities are too expensive to be funtional. And why is a member of the Gruul Clans wearing purple?

Because purple is secretly the toughest color ever. It's also kind of the color of brains, so maybe some got on him. Or a lot.

One of the weaker ones yea, but its still a 2/2 for 2 with options.

I like the option to ping players with excess lands and buff creatures late game. As Shane said, it's still a 2/2 for 2 with options. Even though they're expensive, they become pretty handy when you've got the mana to spare.

A slightly inefficient mana sink, but any creature with pump or ping effects lets you get that last bit of winning damage through. An ok card overall.

Gruul story bro.

BEAST in RGD Limited. Otherwise...

I could see this being incredibly strong in limited environments. Even just threatening the 2nd ability makes attacking or blocking a nightmare because it can target anything. The first ability is obviously a bit more narrow, but the option to shoot 4 or 6 damage at the opponents face over a few turns in the late-game is a very powerful tool in limited.

I would compare this to Darkthicket Wolf. Obviously it has harder color-requirements in G/x decks that don't have red, but Gruul Guildmage's pump ability can target ANY creature, rather than only pumping himself (albeit for the cost of 1 additional mana), and to top it all off, he even has another useful ability, even if it is a bit narrow.