Sadly he doesnt benefit from his own effect, which would have softened the blow of paying six mana for a 3/3 somewhat, but that doesnt stop him from being a great top-end to an aggressive deck
The first ability is definitely a bit tame, only discounting one spell per turn
Against Izzet, we take out Masked Vandal and typically trim some copies of Death-Priest of Myrkul (since it gets sniped by things like Frost Bite and Cinderclasm) to bring in all three copies of Duress and Go Blank, with the idea being we can attack our opponent's hand, use Go Blank to exile flashback spells like Memory Deluge, and hopefully resolve a Skeletal Swarming to win the game
You generally get at least one trigger, plus it opens the door to really interesting synergies with cards like Nesting Dovehawk and Padeem, Consul of Innovation that affect themselves when converted into tokens or artifacts
151 (2023) The original Kanto cast wields a veritable sledgehammer of nostalgia factor
Hostage Taker
