Fortunately i had a HA cleric on guard at the time his grizzly could strike, which immediately took 11 damage ! cleric was instant dead
This is why I prefer a bit stronger creature as a HA. The [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC06]Guardian Angel[/mwcard] makes a great mage guard as she heals when she guards, she has a defense, and between the Armor and Aegis she typically is really hard to kill. A HA cleric in addition to the Angel would be quite wicked.
Barring any buffs that grizzly got pretty darn lucky on that hit (4 damage above average). Of course you still need to answer threat appropriately with HA (ie possibly make a bigger one vs bigger guys). Paying 7 mana to block 11 damage is still a pretty good deal, especially since the Priest can still lay on the damage will Pillars from afar while full casting creatures. Block, and now Fumble and Defend, are pretty good ways deal with the big hits.
I'm glad to hear you won though
makes me feel like some of what I said helped.
Also, it's not just sleep I'm worried about when I spend 17 mana on a creature. Tanglevine, Agony, etc, etc. I still think big HA's are good, they just need to be really justified. I think rather spend that 17 mana on making my Priest undamageable than put it into potentially a huge liability. Both ways of thinking have benefits though.
