Battalion is what R&D calls "a threshold mechanic," meaning that once you get to a certain state, its abilities click on, so there is a lot of push to quickly get to that state
Decree of Pain - The great thing about this card is it can be a small (token) board wipe while netting you one card, or it can get rid of everything while filling your hand and then some
Icy Manipulator is actually a reprint, and
Thats why we must appease them by increasing our devotion, and the easiest way to do that with Omnath as our deacon is to play a bunch of black-aligned hybrid mana cards
In a deck like the popular Shorikai, Genesis Engine where youre running a lot of untappers, this goes off
Dualcaster Mage functions as a Reverberate with a 2/2 body for one extra mana, which means they can be resurrected or flickered for additional triggers