The Striders aren't splashy enough to be rare, but Wizards took the perfect chance to sneak them in at uncommon in Scars block. They fit right in with all the other artifact creatures, and Infect makes them fair in Limited.
If you're worried about Smelt, you can pay 
more for -1/-0. ;)
Posted By:
HuntingDrake
(10/28/2012 7:26:14 PM)
Remember, Hill giant is still technically the curve for some colors.
This is just plain better, in any color.
Posted By:
NoobOfLore
(11/8/2011 3:55:28 PM)
@ Eternal_Blue
Weren't artifacts of this sort always limited? I mean, I must say that I am not particularly well-versed in Magic history, but I have my doubts as to whether an Onulet or similar would change any metagame substantially, even before powercreep.
Posted By:
Gwafa_Hazid
(2/21/2011 2:14:28 PM)
What are you guys talking about? Did you guys actually read the card?
Lets put this in perspective: This is essentially a Bottle Gnomes that costs 1 more and gives you +2/+0. How is that bad? This is perfectly balanced. The lifegain feels a little random, but if you think of it as a bigger gnomes, you'll see it's solid. I give this an average score of 2.5/5.
Posted By:
dberry02
(3/1/2011 8:15:47 PM)
I don't know... a 3/3 for 4 is solid in limited. This guy isn't nearly as playable as his life loss buddy, but I'm more than happy to grab this guy 7th+ pick. Sneer all you want.
Posted By:
ZEvilMustache
(1/31/2011 2:26:20 PM)
Comparisons to Bottle Gnomes are accurate: he's a roadblock plus a Healing Salve. If you're running 3-4 Solemn Simulacrums, this is a viable sideboard alternative for matches like RDW where the lifegain will be crucial - assuming your deck doesn't have a better option like Kor Firewalker.
Posted By:
jstorrie
(7/30/2011 3:29:07 PM)
Underrated. Too many people read cards with a Timmy expectation and are disappointed when things either don't pop with some extravagant ability or power/toughness ratio. Peace Strider is a good card. Just because it's nothing to write home about doesn't mean it has no place in a deck.
Posted By:
DysprosiumJudas
(5/25/2011 4:18:07 PM)
Sometimes they think that the same CMC should gain more life than it makes your opponents lose. Sometimes they don't think this.
Posted By:
Axelle
(5/16/2011 8:01:03 PM)
back before powercreep was invented, a 3/3 artifact-creature would have cost 4 mana and it would have been unheard of to get 3 life just thrown in as a bonus. nowadays... it's limited at best.
Posted By:
Eternal_Blue
(1/29/2011 1:47:10 PM)
It's a bad limited card (lifegain vs. infect helps...not at all?) and an even worse constructed card.
Posted By:
Vividice
(1/28/2011 2:43:44 PM)