Spined Karok

Four points of toughness on a three-drop is the whole pitch here, and it points at a defensive role green does not always fill well: the small-and-fast starts that outrace a slow green plan bounce off a wall like this, buying the turns a payoff-heavy deck needs to reach its payoffs. The lone green pip keeps the cost undemanding, so any base with a green lean can run it without bending a manabase around it. The two power is incidental, enough to trade up into an attacker or chip in after the board stalls, but the card is not swinging games from the front. Nothing on it to build around: no keyword, no ability, just a crocodile that eats early damage a slower deck cannot afford to take to the face. Glue for a green shell short on turn-three defense, and rightly passed over anywhere three-drops are asked to do more than block.