Stats                : Broww, Huntsman of Dark World is a Level 3 Dark/Fiend.  Level 3 may be one of the best Levels you can be: not only are you a no-Tribute Normal Summon, but you slip under Level Limit-Area B and Gravity Bind.  Dark Monsters no longer have the support they did now that Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning is no longer with us, but there are still a few bits of Support not common to all Attributes.  In my opinion the Dark Attribute is the strongest Attribute family just due to their membership.  Fiends are not the strongest Type, but they do have some support and once again many of the strongest cards in the game are part of this Type.

 

Broww, Huntsman of Dark World has an ATK of 1400.  Given that it already slips under Level Limit-Area B and Gravity Bind, it isn’t too bad a score since this allows Broww to get under Messenger of Peace.  It also is small enough for Mystic Tomato, Sangan, and Last Will to target.  The DEF is sadly puny at 800, though.  Ideally, it’d have a 1450/1500, since that would keep all these advantages, but the ATK is the important thing.

 

Of course, Broww is a Dark World Monster, giving it access to all their support, and giving it greater significance as the biggest Dark World Monster that slips under Level Limit-Area B, Gravity Bind, and Messenger of Peace.

 

Effect(s)            : The effect of this card is solid: if you discard it (for something other than a cost), you get to draw a card, and if your opponent makes you discard it then you get to draw an additional card over the first effect (that is, two cards).  This effect further increases it’s usefulness to Dark World decks, as such decks have so many ways to make sure at least the owner of Broww can discard him easily.  In other words, it’s almost like Broww is a free slot.

 

Uses and

Combinations  : Dark World decks would be the obvious place to include at least one copy of Broww in the Side Deck, just because he’s an easy way to handle the stalling aides listed above and still fits in with the Dark World theme.  Given that he should be easy enough to discard in a Dark World deck, I would think a copy or two in the main deck should also work.  After all, while your real deck size goes up by one, your effective deck size doesn’t.  Even allowing for the whims of probability, Broww should be valued as less than a whole card.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional       : 3/5-Dark Monster?  Check.  Punishes the use of popular hand control functions?  Check.  Is he big enough to make a difference?  Check.  Now, that being said, there are many other better cards for decks in general.  That’s right, “in general”.  In a Dark World based deck, he clocks in at 3.5/5.

 

Advanced        : 2.5/5-Again, this is a general score for pretty much any deck.  In actual Dark World decks, Broww acts should be valued at about 3.25/5.  The reason would be you have your own tricks to discard him, but it’s no longer likely your opponent is running as much random/semi-random discard effects.  I can see Side Decking Broww in case of Hand Control decks: he isn’t as rewarding as many other Dark World Monsters when discarded, but he also isn’t as useless when he isn’t discarded.

 

Limited            : 3.5/5-His native set includes plenty of support, and even if it isn’t, 1400 ATK is passable here for a non-Tribute Monster.

 

Summary

Broww appears to be a solid, well made card.  He has some use outside his own theme, given that there are a least a few cards that discard your own cards as part of the effect, and the Monster “attached” to that effect isn’t negligible.  He’s not useful enough to be consistently Main-Decked, but the Side Deck likes him.

 

-Otaku