I feel this card is very good, but not broken. It is an interesting card that takes some skill to know how to deal with when you see it hit the table across from you.
When you play it, worst case scenario, it's 4/3 for R (closest to that value is Talara's Battalion), or 4 damage for 4, better that Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning
Posted By:
swords_to_exile
(4/28/2012 9:08:12 PM)
I opened one at prerelease and played it in a RW deck. I had an opponent who was foolish enough to let it resolve without having any creatures out to block it. That game quickly went my way.
I know it is technically a drawback, but I like cards that force an opponent to choose between two negative outcomes. There are also some cards out there that play well with this. Sun Titan can bring it back over and over, but if you have Sun Titan out and your opponent can't handle a vanilla 4/3, you're probably winning anyway. The one that really interests me is putting this in the same deck as Driver of the Dead.
Posted By:
Powercat
(4/29/2012 6:24:23 AM)
Unearth.
Posted By:
Travager
(4/29/2012 9:28:10 PM)
Somebody played this against me and I unsummoned it. Then I slapped myself in the forehead and groaned.
I pulled one at the end of the prerelease and was so excited I built a burn deck straightaway.
Posted By:
KokoshoForPresident
(4/30/2012 2:16:52 PM)
I have mixed feelings on this card.
I play EDH for the most part now, and wouldn't play this card. In a more "normal" 60 card format, it is a very good card for a sligh deck.
Posted By:
MANABURNWASGOOD
(5/2/2012 7:39:33 AM)
In modern or legacy, as GrimjawxRULES pointed out, this card is a beast. In the current standard meta, not so much.
Mostly it's a matter of taking a look at what decks he'd work in. R/G ramp is more interested in manadorks turn 1. RDW doesn't need damage right out of the gate since that will only help enable your opponents Timely Reinforcements. If anything he might have a spot in frites re-animator with Sun Titan, but even there he doesn't really fill any role the deck is missing or could improve upon.
Yeah it's a cool card, potentially great in the right deck, but so far he's not shaking up standard. Maybe when Return to Ravnica comes in he will find a place.
Posted By:
Pinto331
(5/2/2012 7:10:20 PM)
Getting most of a Lava Axe on turn 1 for 
is pretty great. Getting a 4/3 for 
is always great.
Posted By:
NoobOfLore
(5/2/2012 9:40:03 PM)
Pay four life. 3 turn later, Driver of the Dead.
Posted By:
nimzo
(5/2/2012 10:52:23 PM)
Vexing Devil... I mean this is Real Devil.
Posted By:
Autor
(5/3/2012 10:21:44 AM)
Ok, to sum it up, this in when this card is good:
1) You have to be a deck that would want a 4 damage lava spike (most decks, even aggressive decks, don't).
2) You have to have a deck that plays enough creatures that the 4/3 body is an actual threat. In burn decks that might only be running goblin guide, your opponent usually will have very few targets for their removal spells so they will just let the creature resolve and then kill it.
There are not a ton of decks that this actually fits into, but when it does, it is very good.
For example, I played a cool 5-color tribal flames burn deck in modern that ran goblin guide, wild nacatl (replaced by delver after bannings), snapcaster, and dark confidant and then a ton of burn. This card fits PERFECTLY into that deck. However, my legacy burn deck, plays just goblin guide as a creature (and depending on the metagame, sometimes lavamancer, marauders or hellspark) and this would NOT be very good in that deck because they would just reso... (see all)
Posted By:
auhosj877
(5/3/2012 11:29:03 AM)