Identity Thief's art is basically the same
concept as Unmake, from Shadowmoor - and in a
third color entirely! I'm not sure why you would
ever let someone out if you trapped them in a
mirror, because surely their first act on
returning would be to kill you, but for gameplay, it
does make some nice combos with the likes of
Mulldrifter and Captain of the Watch. Of course,
the timing of his trigger means that topdecking
a Titan or a Dragon is slightly less
intimidating to opponents and carries a new risk
- it'll be interesting to see if anyone changes
what sort of high-end creatures they play as a
result of this card's existence.
I've been playing Hearthstone for too long-- I
initially forgot 0-attack creatures were still
able to be declared as attacking.
The ability to copy any creature on the board
while also removing that creature from play as a
potential blocker is a strong one indeed. Sure,
they get it back at end of turn, but removing it
during this combat means most turn you'll have
to choose between which creature would hit the
hardest and which you most don't want them to
have open to block. (Sometimes it'll be the same
creature for both.)
Also worth noting is since the Thief removes the
target from play for a turn, it can "destroy"
Auras on the creature in question, forcing enemy
attackers to slough off their power-ups and
de-Pacifying your own creatures, as well as
providing an outlet to re-trigger ETB or
leaves-play abilities. The combo possibilities
are endless!
Identity Thief is certainly a unique card, being
able to take your opponent’s best body from them
(to keep it from blocking) and making it hit
them in the face instead. Unfortunately, it’s a
4 mana 0/3 with no protection, which tends to
make it more “cute” than effective most of the
time (since there are a lot of 3 damage burn
spells in many formats).
There are definitely matchups where Identity
Thief can pull its weight, and it also has the
advantage of “blinking” a creature that might
have troublesome Auras or a large number of
+1/+1 counters on it. Blue has more cards that
can do that particular trick and for cheaper,
though, and Identity Thief is largely consigned
to fringe applications as a result. The art on
the set card is suitably eerie, though.
