Ornery Tumblewagg – Outlaws of Thunder Junction
Date Reviewed: April 24, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.50
Casual: 4.50
Limited: 4.13
Multiplayer: 3.88
Commander [EDH]: 4.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
In hindsight, we probably could have predicted this guy too – the similarity between tumbleweeds and the past Brushwaggs we’ve encountered was just too apparent. This guy is probably the most powerful member of the kindred so far, and actually fairly powerful just in general. Even if you don’t get to use his counter-doubling ability, the beginning-of-combat trigger will make an immediate difference more often than not, and adds up a lot faster than it seems. And when you do get to use it, it can generate the kind of insane swing we usually associate with Doubling Season and similar cards. It’s easy to underrate combat-centric cards like this in an era when lots of casual decks are packing creatures with entry triggers and other crazy abilities, but they can end games fast – and this guy looks cool doing it, too.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
r o u n d
Ornery Tumblewagg makes its entrance as the third member of one of the most well-known meme tribes of all time, bringing with it a new mechanic related to the set and a potentially scary ability if it gets the chance to get going. It’s not just a meme, though it does earn points for both being a Brushwagg and being exceptionally round, so here we are.
So, let’s start with the new mechanic. Saddle is the mechanic tied to the mount creature type, allowing your creatures to get their ye-haw on. All mounts carry some bonus to them if you pay for their saddle costs, and it’s sort of like paying the crew cost on a vehicle. Notably, creatures with summoning sickness can be used to get a saddle cost paid for, so that’s useful.
As for what our round friend does, Ornery Tumblewagg is good at multiplying power. It grants a +1/+1 counter at the start of combat, and attacking doubles a permanent’s +1/+1 counters if Ornery Tumblewagg is saddled beforehand. Doubling can always be rather perilous in the right context, and there’s plenty of things this can pair well with in a pinch.
It does have the downside of a small base body, but that can play well into some of the low-power/toughness support spells we’ve gotten. Still, a fragile 2/2 that needs to get to combat can be a hard sell in deeper formats, but I feel like Ornery Tumblwagg is well-suited as a solid support creature if you have creatures that want to turn sideways (most of them) and specifically benefit from just a little extra power to do their job.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.25 (probably surprisingly easy to start a snowball rolling over a couple of turns)
Multiplayer: 3.75 (might be able to play politics here)
Commander [EDH]: 4
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