if your board and hand are empty and youre at 27 life, youre roughly just as dead as if your board and hand are empty at 20 life, or 15 life, or 10 life you get the picture
The plus ability making flexible threats is also very nice, but not being able to give first strike means they are trading with elks who join the battle much earlier
Whats cool is that it comes with foretell, so you can cast it later at a discount
Thankfully, later this month, that is all about to change
It's so powerful that it has never really been reprinted in this powerful form despite the obvious combination of those two abilities
#19: Near-Death Experience A similar path to that traveled with Barren Glory exists here for Boros mages, incorporating Worldfire or Soulgorger Orgg to decimate yourself in the name of one big Near-Death Experience turn