4 damage seems somewhat more lethal in this version of the card

Warleader’s Helix was quickly dismissed as a bad Lightning Helix reprint when it was first spoiled. Nowadays, it probably kills most creatures (a lot of 4-toughness guys) like Loxodon Smiter, Kalonian Hydra, Archangel of Thune, Gray Merchant of Asphodel and the list goes on….

Bigger, badder creatures need bigger, badder burn

The card saw some play in UWR/USA Flash decks before Theros and is now usually relegated to Dega Midrange decks (BWR). It’s probably missing a more established and efficient deck to call home. Perhaps Naya and UWR will become more of a ‘thing’ with the release of the 5 other temples in the next Theros Block expansion. For now it’s just a good card without a good deck.

 

The ‘weaker’ looking original version

Sure, the original version actually has Aurelia, Warleader illustrated on the card, but it just doesn’t really seem like much of a removal spell. The FNM version has that whole ‘dark lightning’ thing going for it, reminiscent of Star Wars. The character (likely an ‘armored’ version of Aurelia) seems colder and might as well have a comic book speech bubble that reads : “DIE!”.

 

Remember that you can only get these in January 2014, which is still quite some time from now. Go to your local brick and mortar store FNM events for a chance to win them either randomly or by finishing in the Top 2.

 

Remember that two are given at random and two to 1st-2nd place