Orcish Settlers

This card is just incredible in a high-mana deck. In an artifact-mana type deck (those decks that are packed with any mana producing artifacts), or even better an elf deck that has skyshrouds, priests of titania, fyndhorn elders, wirewood channellers on turn 5 you can wipe out every land they have with this card. I didn't notice how powerful it was until I created a deck whose purpose is mana and wanted in a single turn to kill all their creatures and wipe out all their lands. This is the only destroy X target lands, the more mana you pump the more that's destroyed card I know. So, I combined this with Kumano, Master Yamabushi as my deck killing theme. Yamabushi can do 1 damage per 2 mana pumped into him to creature/player any creature killed is removed from the game instead of graveyard. That's why I prefer him to avoid the "when goes into graveyard" many cards have or creatures that keep coming back.

Anyhow, this with a priest of Titania, and a staff of domination (the priest or channeler & staff can produce an unlimited amount of mana given 5 elves and staff in play) and boy does it feel good when you clear all their lands, wipe away all their creatures from the game, then finish them off. Great utility card, I believe the only land destruction card that can destroy X lands the more mana you put into it.

Generally only useful in LD decks. Not tremendously effective as LD due to the fragility of the creature, having to wait a turn to use it, and needing a lot of mana to make it hurt a lot. Your opponent has a lot of opportunities to get rid of it.



However, these issues aside, it makes an ok small creature, cast before you can bring out larger LD creatures. Around the time that having a 1/1 critter around is no longer useful, you sac it to keep your opponent from getting rid of your fatties. Its actually very good threat for the mana cost.



It gets 4 stars in an LD deck because it's strong but it isnt really the king of the deck, but only 3 stars overall because its not very useful in other decks.