"Ayli , Eternal Pilgrim: Creature Grabbing for Profit"

"Ayli , Eternal Pilgrim: Creature Grabbing for Profit"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

When opening a pack of Oath of the Gatewatch one always dreams of getting a Expedition Land. One can always dream. Instead I got Ayli , Eternal Pilgrim. While it was not as life changing as getting an Exped Land I was nonetheless happy because I can actually play with this card.

One look at Ayli and I said to myself , this would make a great tiny Leader Commander.I mean look at that 2/3 frame that could survive attacks from weaker creatures. 2/2's and 1/1's beware! Even when faced with bigger creatures she could still dish out punishment because of her deathtouch. So even if she faces Eldrazis rampaging across the battlefield any player would pause just a little bit before attacking.And this is all for the measly price of 1 Black and 1 White mana!  

However the fun with Ayli doesn't stop there. There are more ways than one to utilize such a great creature. Her first ability lets you  pay 1 mana of any color and sacrifice a creature. You then gain life  equal to that sacrificed creatures toughness. While some players usually use a tapped creature or any spare creature lying around his or her side of the battlefield I thought that it would be more fiendish if Ayli is paired with Blue or Red .You could then grab your opponents best non-hexproof creatures Like Ulamog or Kozilek and feed them to Ayli where you  gain tons of life. Tons! Plus you also took out one of their biggest creatures. So creature grabs turn into one sided advantages. All in your favor of course.

Ayli is such a great defensive creature as well as a removal on a stick(given the right conditions). Her second ability allows you to Exile a non land permanent. At instant speed too! All for 3 mana! Assuming of course that you have met the requirements which is sacrificing another creature and having at least 10 life or more from your starting life total. So imagine your friend having a Kozilek and Ulamog in play thanks to a Tooth and Nail. It smells like a the Eldrazi will do a smack down on you right? Well wrong. Simply grab one of the Titans , sacrifice it to Ayli's second ability targetting the remaining Titan. Assuming you have enough mana to pull these off watch as your friend turns into different shades of disappointment.

Yup. Time to brow something up for Ayli.