[c]Batterskull[/c] competes with [c]Wurmcoil Engine[/c] for the same slot in this deck: lifelinker, stabilizer, win con. [c]Wurmcoil Engine[/c] was first and is still the favourite for many people. A few reasons why [c]Wurmcoil Engine[/c] might be better (quoted from MTG-Fan):

– Most decks can deal with the Germ token very easily. Yes, you can bounce the Batterskull back to hand and replay it then, BUT if they abrupt decay or liliana or whatever your Germ token, and you bounce and replay, you’ve just spent THIRTEEN mana for a 4/4 lifelink vigilance guy. If you had Wurmcoil in that situation, Decay doesn’t touch it and Lili edict is just bad vs. it. – A 4/4 lifelink vigilance is solid vs. aggro but it’s still just a 4/4 body in the end. Against a combo or control deck, that’s a slower clock. For 1 more mana you could have 6/6 instead of 4/4. And against Tarmogoyf decks and the like, a 4/5 tarmogoyf kills a Germ token with ease, whereas no matter how big a Tarmogoyf is it’s always dying to Wurmcoil.

However there are some good qualities too. The most important thing to consider is [c]Path to Exile[/c], the best answer versus [c]Wurmcoil Engine[/c], doesn’t really do anything against [c]Batterskull[/c]. [c]Batterskull[/c] is generally very resilient to removal as long as you have 8+ mana and while it is true that bouncing and replaying takes time and mana your opponent is basically trading removal spells for tempo which is a good trade for us as long as we don’t die immediately.

Something that is too often ignored (I was guilty of this for a time) is the ability to equip [c]Batterskull[/c] for 5. Especially when you already have a creature in play that doesn’t have summoning sickness it’s a great idea to equip [c]Batterskull[/c] on that creature and swing rather than bounce replay. Having a Titan or Angel equiped with [c]Batterskull[/c] is insane. A Snappy/Treasure Mage/Solemn riding the ‘skull is still way better than a 4/4 germ.

[c]Batterskull[/c] costs only 5 mana compared to [c]Wurmcoil Engine[/c] 6 mana. This can be great because you might be able to play [c]Batterskull[/c] earlier against decks like Zoo where you want the stabilizer asap but it also means you cannot tutor for it with [c]Treasure Mage[/c]. If you want to be able to tutor for [c]Batterskull[/c] you can play [c]Fabricate[/c], which has a few other advantages like tutoring Chalice, Map, Ostone, [c]Jester’s Cap[/c], Spellskite and being able to flashback it with Snappy.

Even when we ignore the cmc and removal it’s not obvious which card performs better on the board. In a stabilizing/lifelinker role [c]Batterskull[/c] can sometimes be better because of vigilance allowing you to attack and block gaining 8 life each turn. In similiar situation it’s sometimes a real headache whether you want to attack with your Engine because you might die to your opponents swing if he has Snap+Bolt in your end step. The advantage for Batterskull only gets bigger if we can equip on another creature. Still there is again also an argument for Wurmcoil Engine being the better stabilizer. Consider a [c]Primeval Titan[/c], 4/5 [c]Tarmogoyf[/c] or just any creature that can block a Batterskull for days. The deathtouch on Engine is very good vs double blocking, stopping your opponent from just swinging with their biggest dude every turn and generally a great thing to have. Trading an Engine with one of your opponents big dudes is usually a good play considering we get tokens and have Academy Ruins. Compare that to chump blocking with your germ every turn, it may buy you some time but you have to spend 8 mana each turn to keep your board state while your opponent is most likely still developing his board further.

One last thing which you have to consider is [c]Stony Silence[/c]. It doesn’t completely turn Batterskull into a blank since you still have the ETB trigger but it seriously weakens it. I still believe in playing Batterskull vs white, you just have to keep this card in mind and bounce it at some point.