Elderwood Embrace and Gift of Steel are both +6 overall ATK/Life but at +3/+3 Gift of Steel is more aggressive than Elderwood Embrace while still giving a huge +3 Life boost. I can’t understand why Red would have a buff just as powerful as the best instant green buff. Worse yet, the life buff is limited to “combat” creatures making most other red creatures irrelevant.
After adding 3 Elderwood Embrace, green decks will usually resort to Tiki Caretaker or Ruunin’s Guidance which are both +2/+2 but Gift of Steel is a +3/+3 and Red can complement it with powerful removal that Green does not have.
It would almost be fine if “combat” creatures were offense-based as befits Red but completely contrary to this notion Underground Brigand is a 3/5, able to take down most low-faeria creatures and still survive, buffing it with Gift of Steel brings it to 6/8. This is enough to survive battle against a Collossus and Red can still destroy it afterwards with Seifer’s Wrath. Indeed, this is taking a lot of cards but the “Brigands” both “float” in the sense you get part of your Faeria back every time they fight and Red is already very good at keeping presence at the wells by using its removal, the other “combat” are all very tough as well.
My suggestion is to remove the Life buff from Gift of Steel (or make +2/+1) and if it’s equipped to a “combat” creature, it deals an 2 damage to your opponent whenever it fights OR gives you 1 additional faeria. This could help Red’s Burn and “float” themes without overlapping with Green as it currently does.
