Like Snaxme said, this card was probably designed to be a center piece. Believe it or not R&D sometimes puts out cards that aren't Baneslayers (and subsequently are affordable enough to actually enjoy).
To contribute, I use this guy in my Bazaar Trader deck. If I don't have the mana to kill him off right away, I can still trade him on the stack if my opponent tries to kill him. Either way I get a 1-sided wrath of god for somewhere between 4 and 6 mana (heck, it's better than Wrath since my opponent has to sacrifice: no regen and no indestructibility).
Posted By:
Calver
(9/2/2010 7:55:19 AM)
If you want to do something flavorly lulzy but functionally rather weak, try this:
Cast him. Now let Bazaar Trader impose that enchained monstrosity (troll-physics style with twirly hands) on your opponent.
Flicker the demon, which will cause him to go RAEG-mode and annihilate most life on your opponent'side.
Then watch it return about half a second later (with a kitty face) on your side.
Posted By:
Mode
(7/23/2011 8:23:52 AM)
@tcollins - Players nowadays want the cards to do the thinking for them, it seems. They're too impatient to figure out a use for something that doesn't have to do with flat-out winning the game if they cast it.
Posted By:
Alsebra
(6/30/2012 2:05:13 PM)
Combos people. As other's have mentioned works very well with Bazaar Trader. Alternatively, run cards that you want to sacrifice. Things like Kokusho, The Evening Star. Lastly, if you're running a very heavy control deck, with no other creatures in it, this guy is a 5/5 for {2}{B}{B} without a drawback.
Stop complaining about cards that aren't overpowered, there are plenty of us out there still willing to use them!
Posted By:
tcollins
(4/30/2012 8:37:55 AM)
all he needed was flying to make him great. but I also like how no Kamigawa demons (or almost none) have flying. It makes them distinct and interesting :)
if you're wondering about the flavor, it's because he is so powerful he can slay an army of ogres. that's why he's considered dangerous to the point of needing 99 monks to contain.
yes, when you overanalyze it as a card in a game, then you can prove everything is crap and you can prove the game is stupid and all sort of other things I care not to hear about.
He's a Demon Spirit from the Other World. Instead of imagining any of the Kamigawa cards being represented by their mechanics, imagine stripping them of everything except Name, Art, and Flavor Text and then designing a videogame character after them. In this way, Kamigawa is a lot like the set Legends. To do justice to the awesome, you have to think outside the box of being a Magic Player.
This guy would have been a tremendous BAMF on the Jackie Chan Adventures show! :D
H... (see all)
Posted By:
DarthParallax
(8/5/2012 2:13:02 PM)
Say what you like about Yukora, but in three games so far with my ogre-demon deck he single-handedly saved the day. Oddly, he always seemed to turn up as my only creature, and I just drop an enchantment or two on him whilst swinging like a nutter.
I'm talking about multiplayer here by the way, which explains where all the removal's going, but for some reason he never gets targeted until he's killed a player or ripped way too much of their health off. Then he dies, and my other creatures finally start turning up.
Ah, for the crazy days of beginner's magic....
Posted By:
psychichobo
(10/13/2012 3:15:29 PM)
Then there's the obvious two ways to null the drawback--Conspiracy and Xenograft.
Posted By:
SkyknightXi
(2/8/2013 12:26:16 PM)
Why the hate? This is clearly a "Build around me" card, or at least a cheap finisher in a Mono-Black control deck, which usually runs little to no creature.
Posted By:
Snaxme
(3/15/2010 9:06:29 AM)
creature. light. decks. apparently somebody had to say it.
Posted By:
metalevolence
(7/25/2010 9:22:24 PM)
Don't understand how this set had so many terrible cards.
Those must've been 99 terrible monks if they couldn't contain a 5/5 that did nothing but kill it's own army when it died.
Posted By:
Omniance
(10/4/2009 10:42:39 PM)