Am I missing something?
Rabid Bite is already a thing, and for just
more it doesn't endanger your guy.
The reduced cost is pretty important, but obviously comparing it to
Lightning Bolt is like comparing
Dispel to
counterspell.
Just surprising me that the few people who have commented on prey upon were singing high praise, when the comments I've seen on rabid bite around here largely dog on it and only give it a little credit for being removal in
. While it's prob not the same people saying both things, it's just got me confused about the vastly different takes on an effect that's only separated by
(though the more expensive one doesn't have the same damage exchange drawback).
I don't have any experience with previous versions of digital magic, so I didn't know prey upon has prior history like zzmorg mentioned.
Wow, conversation is going fast on here. Okay, so... first off, I'm not dogging on
Rabid Bite, the card is amazing and I will kill all of your stuff with
Gnarlwood Dryad when/if she arrives. I already use a playset in a green control deck I'm running.
Rabid Bite is excellent for mono-G and useful in some two-color builds perhaps.
I admit that I was being a bit facetious by comparing
Prey Upon to
Lightning Bolt, the card is not nearly that reliable or instant-speed (I should've put in an emoticon, I see now). It compares more to
Bone Splinters on a bad day when you lose your critter, and on the really bad days it can't get rid of what it needs to destroy. On the good days though, it can be better than a
Flame Slash. Notice that everything I am comparing it to costs 1 mana; this is a very relevant difference between it and
Rabid Bite if you are running green aggro or even green midrange. What's the difference in one or two mana for a removal spell?
Shock and
Reality Hemorrhage. Again, that might not be a fair comparison, but it illustrates the point. For 3 mana, you could drop
Lambholt Pacifist and
Prey Upon in one mean, lean turn 3, but
Rabid Bite has to wait a crucial turn.
Anyway... suffice to say that I will be happy to have
Prey Upon for green to tinker with.