Somberwald Stag

Removal stapled to a body has always carried a tax, and this Elk shows where green sets the price. The fight clause hands you a creature kill the moment it lands, but the trade runs through combat math rather than a clean point-and-destroy: the Stag deals 4 to whatever you target, clearing most early threats, while taking back whatever that target swings for. With only 3 toughness, it survives the exchange against creatures of 2 power or less; against anything with 3 or more power the return damage is lethal, so the kill costs you the Stag too. That built-in risk is exactly why green is allowed to play in the removal space at all. White exiles, black destroys, red burns, and green is made to wager its own creature in the dirt to earn the trade, which is why the fight reads "you may" rather than a forced liability when the only legal target would beat it cleanly. The 4/3 body for five is unremarkable on rate, but that is not what you are buying: the two-for-one potential is. The lineage runs through every green creature that hunts on entry, the long tradition of fight-on-ETB beasts and elks that let green pretend it has spot removal. Three toughness sets the terms of the whole deal: enough to win a fight you pick carefully, small enough that picking the wrong one flips the trade to your opponent's ledger.