This is being rated too low. It's effect is identical to Fists of the Anvil when cast on a Ball Lightning or similar creature, which is where you'll use it most often. Likewise, casting it on that unblocked 1/1 attacker is no different than using Fists.
The -4 to toughness effect also gives it versatility that Fists of the Anvil doesn't have. Say your opponent just swept the board and dropped a 7/7 with haste; Blood Lust gives you more options for dealing with it, unlike Fists or Brute Force. Having to go 2 for 1 with a Lightning Bolt to kill it may not be ideal, but going down a card to get rid of what's likely your opponent's best creature and avoid potentially game ending damage is a fair trade, and the fact that something like that is even possible makes this card worth more than it's being given credit for; you just have to be able to think creatively. I speak from experience, it's saved my a... (see all)
Posted By:
helluin
(4/17/2011 4:30:25 PM)
Nice. Pump your creature (and red has all those 1 toughness with haste creatures, many with trample) or set an opponent's creature up to be taken down.
Posted By:
A3Kitsune
(1/14/2010 3:28:26 AM)
...what's up with the artwork? o.O
Posted By:
Snaxme
(11/22/2009 8:40:18 AM)
There was a time when a lot of geeky guys had a playset of this, Earthbind, and Fire Elemental for reasons entirely unrelated to the playability of the card...
Posted By:
Salient
(1/17/2012 2:03:56 AM)
Deceptively bad. Fists of the Anvil is nearly always better, since the only time the toughness decrease is effective is when you have a direct damage source, causing you to lose card advantage. In other situations, giving your creature +4 has the same effect as giving their creature -4 when that cannot kill it. If you're using it for the flexibility with direct damage sources, you might give your opponent an easy 2-for-one with their own direct damge when you try to pump your creature. So, as a combat trick Fists > this. As a pump spell, Fists > this. As a direct damage source, almost anything > this. The only time this makes sense if if you have a pinger, like Cunning Sparkmage, to take advantage of the 1 toughness. However, as a pinger compliment, Basilisk Collar > this. By a lot. I can't imagine ever wanting to use this. Even in a limited format, when the alternatives are not there, this is set up to give your opponent a... (see all)
Posted By:
rubber
(3/6/2010 10:54:00 AM)
geez, you really like those fists, don't you?you gotta remember what set this is from-back then spells weren't nearly as good. Basilisk collar would be way overpowered, and this would probably be used for whatever it needed to be used for, because of it's versatility.
That being said it's still not a good card
Posted By:
brunsbr103
(12/16/2010 4:48:30 AM)
People forget how useful this card was when it was printed. It was used in combo with Ball lightning and Berserk, or used to take down creatures that were out of Lightning Bolt range.
Posted By:
BuffJittePLZ
(4/1/2011 11:42:45 AM)
Amazing for a 3 turn kill.
1st turn: play a mountain and a Raging Goblin, attack with Raging Goblin. Opponents life total 19
2nd turn: play another mountain and Ruby Medallion, attack with Raging Goblin again (hopefully they don't already have a creature or block). Opponents life total 18
3rd turn: play another mountain, attack with Raging Goblin, play 2 Blood Lust for 1 red mana each thanks to ruby medallion (after blocking phase if they don't have a creature or block, before combat damage is assigned), making the Raging Goblin 9/1. Opponents life total 9. Play fling for 1 red mana thanks to Ruby Medallion again, sacrificing the 9/1 Raging Goblin doing 9 damage to the opponent reducing their life total to 0.
Posted By:
C1iVe
(5/14/2011 11:53:45 AM)
The Oracle text on this card makes almost no sense when compared against the supposedly inferior card text. Pretty useful card, and on some creatures, that drawback is negligible.
Posted By:
1qazxsw
(11/11/2011 6:35:07 PM)
I only use this on creatures with 1 toughness as it is, so there is no drawback.
Posted By:
joeah100
(12/27/2011 5:05:43 PM)