Setessan Battle Priest MTG Card

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Setessan Battle Priest’s ability to gain you life everytime you cast a spell that targets it can indirectly contribute to card advantage. By ensuring your life total remains high, you are in a better position to utilize other cards and strategies without the pressure of a dwindling life total threatening your game state.

Resource Acceleration: While the Battle Priest itself doesn’t provide direct mana acceleration, its low mana cost allows for an early deployment on the battlefield. This enables you to allocate resources towards more impactful plays sooner, effectively speeding up your game pace.

Instant Speed: Her ability to gain life pairs well with spells of instant speed. Casting auras or combat tricks targeting the Battle Priest during the combat phase or in response to an opponent’s actions can not only bolster your defenses but also improve your life total, maintaining a robust position on the board.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: The Setessan Battle Priest requires you to discard another card if you want to utilize any abilities that synergize with discarding. This could deplete your hand and reduce your ability to respond to opponents’ threats.

Specific Mana Cost: This card demands white mana, which can restrict deck diversity. Players who run multiple colors may struggle to consistently have the necessary white mana available, limiting the situations where the Battle Priest can be played effectively.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its mana cost demanding one generic and one white, Setessan Battle Priest’s ability to gain life is not as competitive. There are cards with lower mana costs or with more impactful life-gain abilities, making the Setessan Battle Priest less efficient in a fast-paced game.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Setessan Battle Priest offers a reliable source of life gain, which can slide into any deck looking to improve its sustain against aggressive strategies. With its heroic ability, it becomes even more efficient in a deck designed around spells that target your own creatures.

Combo Potential: As a piece of a life gain combo, Setessan Battle Priest can be crucial. When combined with cards that capitalize on life gain or boosted through enchantments and auras, it can create substantial incremental advantages over the course of a game.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where small, incremental advantages lead to victory, Setessan Battle Priest excels. Its constant life padding makes a difference against burn decks and other fast-paced archetypes, ensuring your survival as you steer towards the late game.

How to beat

Setessan Battle Priest can be a subtle but persistent presence on the battlefield in MTG, promoting a strategy that incrementally strengthens a player’s life total. This card dovetails seamlessly with decks built around the heroic mechanic, as the ability to gain life each time it’s targeted can be a nuisance to opponents. Despite its strengths, overcoming Setessan Battle Priest is achievable through strategic play.

Direct removal spells are a straightforward solution – cards like Doom Blade or Murder can dispatch the priest with little fuss, bypassing the life gain ability entirely. Board wipes are also effective; a well-timed Wrath of God can reset the board, removing any benefits gained. Avoid targeting the priest with spells that trigger its ability, instead opting for indirect methods of dealing damage or removing it from play. Control decks can also outpace the incremental life gains with potent finishers or combos that deal massive damage. By carefully choosing your battles and leveraging the right removal at the right time, Setessan Battle Priest’s influence can be mitigated, ensuring it doesn’t become the cornerstone of your opponent’s defense.