At first I saw no advantage to this over Ghostly Prison/Propaganda both of which cost less and forces opponents to pay 
mana per attacking creature. Then I realized this; your opponents have to pay 
mana in order to attack or pay 2 life. This forces nonwhite decks reliant on attacking to sacrifice at least some life. It's still just a speed bump solution, but a very nice one.
Posted By:
AssKickingBoots
(5/21/2011 12:07:06 PM)
I dont know if anyone has already noticed this, but this is a major thrat to phyrexian mana decks, mix this with a mono red burn or a white red deck and it'll be a nightmare for other players
Posted By:
cortezinmortal
(5/22/2011 1:41:43 PM)
as the attacking player can you pay for it with any color mana?
Posted By:
oak11
(5/27/2011 6:50:24 AM)
I can't believe noone commented on this, adding this with Lightmine Field is also a sick combo. Imagine, winnies and anything with low toughness can't really attack without dying, they can't swing with everything so leaving them with big creatures, if you play a heavy control-combo deck add in come pacifisms, arrest, day of judgments, everything you can imagine that makes your opponent just can't attack with their best creatures and BAM! you have a lovely take over deck. slowly and surely he or she will cry on the inside and wonder why he can't attack you and why he can't even touch you.
Posted By:
LordTaco
(5/28/2011 4:51:09 PM)
For me, this is the best card in this set.
It's the first white card, where you have quite a good alternative to winning by combat.
It fits very nicely into a "gain life" deck. Add Wall of Omens, Cathedral Membrane and Perimeter Captain and some "gain life" spells. Many nonwhite decks will have problems to kill you before their attacks kill themself.
However, usually I would say that this type of card should be black (see Hissing Miasma). I didn't like the white Lightmine Field, since a minefield doesn't fit into white and dealing damage doesn't either. But I would really like to see more powerful white enchantments (like a white Dissipation Field or even Energy Field). If these cards would include some alternative win condition without the word "win" in the rule text, this would really make me happy.
So long, thanks R&D.
Posted By:
Cheza
(6/2/2011 4:52:06 AM)
From a constructed viewpoint, Ghostly Prison is definitely better in most cases. This card can never save you when you plop this down last minute, since usually when you're playing control they will be at ~20. On the other hand, if you play creature-based aggro, then why do you care if they attack? One creature attacking means one less blocker when you alpha strike.
On the other hand, I can see this card being played in a burn-heavy deck, not unlike the Mono Red Ensnaring Bridge decks back in Odyssey era. This becomes the Ensnaring Bridge effectively, if they can't make a white. If you have lots of burn and keep them under life pressure, then pretty much no creature can attack profitably, save for perhaps Wurmcoil Engine.
Posted By:
Gabriel422
(6/11/2011 8:26:16 PM)
I like to combine this with Solitary Confinement, Immortal Coil, Necropotence, Phyrexian Unlife, and Lich's Tomb.
In a Kaalia of the Vast EDH deck. :)
I haven't yet finished puzzling out the perfect way to set up the lock, but it's pretty clear there's an amazing Evil Death Lock that involves your Fortress spewing out tons of Dragons and Demons while you roflmao from the safety of the Throne Room of your evil lair >:D
Posted By:
DarthParallax
(11/2/2011 4:51:00 PM)
this works very fine against poison decks.
and I think that the mechanic of this card is commonly underrated... if your deck runs some life gain or a serious control deck, you can play it in turn 3 easy. Before this block runs out, I will play this in a deck.
Posted By:
grandpraetor
(12/28/2011 8:04:04 AM)
You could play this in ANY deck that wants some good defence . 2 damage for each attacker adds up pretty fast (well unless they are using white then ...) . G/W is good as is a blue/red Rage Manipulator ( I forget its name but its that red artifact that does damage based on phyexian mana) .
It might be funny to have more than one out in a white/green deck . 4.7/5 I dont know how to rate on this board...
Posted By:
cioskookycards
(2/26/2012 6:43:46 AM)
This just got better with the reveal of Angel of Jubilation yesterday....
Posted By:
reapersaurus
(4/11/2012 2:06:46 PM)