How is War Priest of Thune Real?

I mean, it almost goes without saying.

War Priest of Thune
War Priest of Thune

I am trying to figure this out.

Looks like Magic 2011 is going to be a set where tournament staples of times past are just going to be strictly outmoded by the M11 versions.

If you don’t have a lot of context, War Priest of Thune might just look like a pretty good 187 creature. That doesn’t quite capture it… War Priest of Thune is in fact full court bananas. You see there used to be a creature Monk Realist; Monk Realist was played main deck in basically all of the Survival of the Fittest decks of its era.

And War Priest of Thune is twice the man Monk Realist was.

Monk Realist — also a Cleric mind you, so there isn’t much wiggle room around creature type — was a mere 1/1 creature for the same 1W mana cost.

And now that there is a new Survival of the Fittest with legs? I think War Priest of Thune might just pick up where Monk Realist left off ten years ago.

Of course a 2/2 for two mana with a very serviceable special ability (I’m looking at you Oblivion Ring) is plenty good enough for regular old inclusion in a beatdown strategy. I don’t know that I would want to be the Pyromancer Ascension rogue in the room once the War Priest comes legal.

Snap Judgment Rating – Role Player (high); Staple (in White-enabled Fauna Shaman decks [one-of])

LOVE
MIKE