So, Battalion sucks. It's hard to activate. But, let's take a look at it: We've got two battalion one drops, four two drops, two three drops, two four drops, and one five drop. Makes sense, right? That looks like an awesome Limited curve, which WotC definitely had in mind with battalion. That is the thing, though.
It's a curve.
Yeah, your Boros Elite isn't going to be swinging for 3 on very many turn twos or even turn threes. But Firemane can come down well after you've built your board. It will hit for battalion. As for the three toughness, well, have you ever heard of burn? This IS your second spear.
Posted By:
Taudisban
(4/2/2013 11:37:05 AM)
High five Boros.
Posted By:
Gadtzgan
(4/4/2013 3:52:42 PM)
@El_Richardo
Actually, with 1 scourge of the nobilis, it will only gain you 5 life unless you have battalion.
4 scourge of the nobilis to automatically lose to any bounce/kill spell.
This card is hilarious. There are people saying it is ridiculously overpowered, and people saying it is extremely terrible.
I'd say it's a fair rare. Not broken, not bad. Battalion is really hard to trigger reliably, and a 3/3 flying for 4 mana is not very impressive. However, if you have battalion, it becomes amazing. It will shoot blockers, dish out a vicious 6 damage on each swing if they have no blockers, and the lifegain helps in races.
I really like it, but I am having troubles using it in my Tajic deck. It's right on Tajic's mana cost, so it's almost never actually a turn 4 drop, but rather a turn 5 drop or later. I also don't trigger battalion too often. I think the card is good, but it's just not the right deck... (see all)
Posted By:
SAUS3
(6/25/2013 8:30:16 AM)
It's a sad day indeed when a creature this good sees literally zero standard play. Freaking Rubblebelt Maaka is seeing more play than this!
Posted By:
Continue
(8/24/2013 5:35:54 PM)
Considering how sparse the 4-drop slot is now that Innistrad's gone, I'm gonna give this a try again. T1 Mystic, T2 Smiter, T3 this, T4 Archangel of Thune, Helix -> swing for 11 seems pretty sick.
Posted By:
Smithereen
(9/22/2013 1:53:36 PM)
Overall an excellent card that takes full advantage of the battalion mechanic. If one hybridizes Gatecrash and Boros in a White-Red Deck it would be excellent, especially given it is a 4 drop with flying.
Adding Moonsilver spear would certainly make this card extremely annoying.
Posted By:
Vastator
(10/4/2013 9:30:53 AM)
The real problem with this card is that it has no place in the current Standard environment. Like many have pointed out, without Battalion, it is only a 3/3 with flying. While that is a respectable creature, it's nothing to get excited about. The current environment is dominated by either fast aggro decks that will kill you before this can attack more than once, or removal-heavy control decks like Mono-Black Devotion or Esper control, which will ensure that you never get Battalion. So, even though Firemane Avenger is a fine creature in a vacuum, it is actually quite weak in the metagame. It competes with cards like Fanatic of Mogis and Polukranos, World Eater in decks that can cast it, and the others are stronger on their own (i.e. provide greater reward) than this guy.
Posted By:
HoHIndie
(12/20/2013 9:43:17 AM)