Old Man Willow (LTR)

Old Man Willow
Casting Cost: {2}{B}{G}
Card Type: Legendary Creature - Treefolk
Power/Toughness: */*
Card Text:
Old Man Willow's power and toughness are each equal to the number of lands you control.
Whenever Old Man Willow attacks, you may sacrifice another creature or a token. When you do, target creature an opponent controls gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
Artist: Miklós Ligeti

Card Strengths and Weaknesses:

• Strengths:
  • Scalable power and toughness based on the number of lands you control, potentially making it a huge creature.
  • Ability to weaken or potentially kill an opponent's creature when it attacks, offering added utility.
• Weaknesses:
  • Requires a sacrifice to activate its ability, which can be costly.
  • The card's strength is highly dependent on the number of lands you control, making it weak in the early game or if you're mana-screwed.

Deck Utility:

• Golgari Midrange: Old Man Willow would be a good fit for a deck that aims to control the board while ramping up its mana.

• Landfall Decks: Given its dependency on the number of lands you control, it would be a good fit for a deck with a landfall or land-ramping strategy.

• Sacrifice Synergy: Could work in a deck that benefits from sacrificing creatures or tokens, like one with cards that have "dies" triggers or generate tokens.

Interactions and Combos:

• Azusa, Lost but Seeking: Helps you ramp up lands quickly, increasing Old Man Willow's power and toughness.

• Blood Artist: Turns your sacrifices into a life-draining effect against your opponent, making the cost of the ability more bearable.

• Overgrown Tomb and Other Dual Lands: These lands can help smooth out your mana base while contributing to Old Man Willow's power and toughness.

Old Man Willow presents an interesting and dynamic threat that scales throughout the game. While it offers strong late-game potential and board control through its attack-triggered ability, it requires specific synergies to maximize its strengths fully. Overall, it seems like a strong card in a deck built to take advantage of its unique set of abilities.