Desolation Prowler
AI draftAI-generated draft analysis — not yet human-reviewed. Treat with healthy skepticism.Limited summary
An efficient 2/2 that can become a 4/4 each turn at the cost of 2 life, making it an excellent early Ferocious enabler and a threatening combat piece. The life payment limits repeated use in races, but its flexibility makes it a high-quality BG uncommon.
Roles
Archetypes
Play around this
Account for it becoming a 4/4 once each turn before blocking or using damage-based removal; forcing its controller to pay life repeatedly can also improve a race.
Gameplay notes
Activate it before declaring attackers when you need to turn on Ferocious attack triggers. Avoid paying life when the extra stats do not change combat or enable a payoff, and remember that becoming power 4 makes it vulnerable to Stone by Sunlight.
Key synergies
Activating Desolation Prowler before attacking gives you a 4-power creature, enabling The Chief Warg's attack trigger to draw a card even when your board contains no naturally large creature.
Pumping Desolation Prowler to 4 power before combat turns on Nighthowl Pursuer's Ferocious trigger, allowing the one-drop to attack as a 3/3 with menace.
Paying 2 life during your first main phase makes Desolation Prowler a 4/4 until end of turn, enabling the Rabbit's beginning-of-combat trigger as early as turn three.
Desolation Prowler can activate once during every turn without spending mana, reliably triggering Elrond to draw a card each turn while also becoming a larger combat threat.
Activating Desolation Prowler before attacking turns on Ravening Warg's Ferocious trigger, and the 2 life gained exactly offsets the Prowler's activation cost.
Desolation Prowler can become a 4/4 before attackers are declared, enabling Wargling to get +1/+0 and grant trample to the entire attacking team.
Paying 2 life raises the Prowler to 4 power before Bolg sacrifices it, turning a cheap creature into 4 damage and making excess-damage amass much easier to generate.
Prowler can become a 4/4 before attackers are declared, cheaply enabling Puppyyyy's first trigger. That trigger then permanently grows both creatures and makes Puppyyyy a self-sustaining 4-power Ferocious enabler.
Desolation Prowler counts toward the two other Wolves required for Chief Warg's Company to attack, while the Company's upkeep token helps complete that requirement and builds a wider Wolf board.
Desolation Prowler can raise its power to 4 before Azog destroys it, letting Azog replace the two-drop with a 4/4 Goblin Army while also drawing a card.
Desolation Prowler can become a 4/4 before being sacrificed to Tom, Bert, and William, turning the cheap two-drop into four cards before the required discard.
Desolation Prowler can activate at instant speed to become 4/4 before Quarrel resolves, allowing the pair to kill a substantially larger creature for only 2 life.
Desolation Prowler can activate before being sacrificed to Rhovanion Rampager, giving the Rampager four +1/+1 counters instead of two and increasing its eventual death-trigger amass.
After Desolation Prowler activates, Reverent Howl makes it a 6/6 with lifelink; connecting or trading in combat recovers the life spent and produces a large life swing.
With Glamdring equipped, Desolation Prowler can activate without spending mana to raise its power to 4, reducing the cost of each instant and sorcery you cast that turn by up to four mana.
Desolation Prowler can pay 2 life to become 4/4 before Desolation of Smaug resolves, allowing it to survive the 3-damage sweep.
Paying 2 life to activate Desolation Prowler triggers the Master to mill you for two, helping your graveyard reach seven cards so the Master's death trigger can draw an additional card.
Because Desolation Prowler is a Wolf, Mirkwood can place two permanent +1/+1 counters on it, leaving it as a 4/4 Ferocious enabler without requiring repeated life payments.