If noncombat damage triggered it too, Coastal Piracy would rank a lot higher on this list. As it is, we've got a pretty good card here. If your attackers are getting through, you're doing damage and getting card advantage, solidifying your advantage and sealing your opponent's fate. But in that case, Coastal Piracy is still a bit of a "win more" card. A better use for this enchantment is with evasive creatures. Your opponent never gets the chance to block your attackers in the first place and you start drawing cards even before you're in a dominant position. To put this into perspective, Ophidian is a very good creature, but it has to forgo doing combat damage to draw a card. Coastal Piracy turns every creature you have into Ophidian, except the opponent is still taking damage from them.#117: Seal of Strength
Giant Growth is the prototypical green instant. To this day, it's one of the best. But the enchantment version, Seal of Strength, is better. As with similar enchantments, you lose the element of surprise the instant version offers. But you have the advantage of storing the effect until you need it, even if you don't have mana available when that moment comes. The decks I've seen both cards in the most are stompy decks, where they're functionally identical or near enough to it. But for most decks where this type of card is desireable, and there are plenty of them, I prefer Seal of Strength. Your opponent might know that it's there, but there's not much he can do about it. You can use it to get in some extra damage on an opponent, kill a blocker, kill an attacker, or even jut to keep your own creature alive if that's what you need most at the time.#116: Living Plane
We've already covered Living Lands, which only affects forests, and Nature's Revolt, which costs more mana. But it's Living Plane that's the most useful. The creatures it turns lands into are 1/1's instead of the sturdier 2/2's produced by Nature's Revolt. But there are better uses for Living Plane. The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale becomes a death sentence for opponents who don't have artifact mana. As I've already mentioned both in this list and in the old decks series, Overburden can serve a similar purpose. Effects that damage all creatures double as Armageddon, with Pestilence, Pyroclasm, Plague Spitter, etc. wiping out all lands. Targeted damage is even better, letting you kill your opponent's lands and leave your own intact, which is probably the most brutal use of Living Plane.
#115: Equilibrium
One temptation with Equilibrium is to use it as part of a game-winning combo. It can be done. Actually, there are lots of ways in which it can be done. But Equilibrium isn't really the most practical card for such purposes and it leaves you relying on combos that use too many cards, usually cards that are more powerful than Equilibrium anyway, like Earthcraft, High Tide, or Aluren. Where Equilibrium really shines is with creatures that have "comes into play" abilities. There's a lot of flexibility here. You can have Equilibrium bounce a creature that you want to replay or you can bounce an opposing creature. With Man-o'-War, you can do both of those at once. Other favorites are Avalanche Riders, Deranged Hermit, Gilded Drake, Mystic Snake, and Wall of Blossoms.
We've already covered Living Lands, which only affects forests, and Nature's Revolt, which costs more mana. But it's Living Plane that's the most useful. The creatures it turns lands into are 1/1's instead of the sturdier 2/2's produced by Nature's Revolt. But there are better uses for Living Plane. The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale becomes a death sentence for opponents who don't have artifact mana. As I've already mentioned both in this list and in the old decks series, Overburden can serve a similar purpose. Effects that damage all creatures double as Armageddon, with Pestilence, Pyroclasm, Plague Spitter, etc. wiping out all lands. Targeted damage is even better, letting you kill your opponent's lands and leave your own intact, which is probably the most brutal use of Living Plane.#115: Equilibrium
One temptation with Equilibrium is to use it as part of a game-winning combo. It can be done. Actually, there are lots of ways in which it can be done. But Equilibrium isn't really the most practical card for such purposes and it leaves you relying on combos that use too many cards, usually cards that are more powerful than Equilibrium anyway, like Earthcraft, High Tide, or Aluren. Where Equilibrium really shines is with creatures that have "comes into play" abilities. There's a lot of flexibility here. You can have Equilibrium bounce a creature that you want to replay or you can bounce an opposing creature. With Man-o'-War, you can do both of those at once. Other favorites are Avalanche Riders, Deranged Hermit, Gilded Drake, Mystic Snake, and Wall of Blossoms.#114: Crusade
You might be wondering why Crusade ranks above Bad Moon, considering that they're virtually identical except one boosts white creatures and one boosts black creatures (Bad Moon also costs 1B while Crusade has a more color-demanding WW). And maybe it shouldn't. One thing to be said for Crusade is that it matters more. Fast monowhite decks with lots of small creatures are so common that "white weenie" is one of the most famous and longest lasting deck archetypes ever. And the boost really helps small creatures. Like I mentioned with Divine Sacrament, white creatures often have first strike, which has synergy with a power-boosting enchantment like Crusade. Crusade is cheap and makes your creature hoard much more dangerous. On top of all that, it's also very good in multiples.
You might be wondering why Crusade ranks above Bad Moon, considering that they're virtually identical except one boosts white creatures and one boosts black creatures (Bad Moon also costs 1B while Crusade has a more color-demanding WW). And maybe it shouldn't. One thing to be said for Crusade is that it matters more. Fast monowhite decks with lots of small creatures are so common that "white weenie" is one of the most famous and longest lasting deck archetypes ever. And the boost really helps small creatures. Like I mentioned with Divine Sacrament, white creatures often have first strike, which has synergy with a power-boosting enchantment like Crusade. Crusade is cheap and makes your creature hoard much more dangerous. On top of all that, it's also very good in multiples.
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