Bonecrusher Giant – MTG Throne of Eldraine Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

“I smell the blood of an Englishman!” If you somehow feared that there might be a Standard season without red decks, this card should be very reassuring. The giant is a very efficient creature who punishes people who think they’re clever enough to just remove all the threats; the spell doesn’t have huge numbers on it but can chip away planeswalkers and small creatures, and wreak havoc on creatures with protection (don’t forget that protection counts as damage prevention). And you can do both if you really need to. In the right situation, he can add up to a total of ten or more damage to various things over the course of a game, which is just insane considering that he still takes up only one slot in your deck.

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
EDH/Commander: 4/5

A mini Skullcrack is pretty cool in and of itself, especially since this one can actually hit creatures! Bonecrusher Giant itself is also pretty good: a 4/3 for 3 is rather on-curve, and most removal will cause the opponent to take a Shock to the face. The body is obnoxious to try and remove, but don’t sleep on Stomp; with the return of protection to standard in Core Set 2020, this can be a good way to catch someone off-guard who thinks they can use their protection-bearing creature to block with impunity.

Of course, a 4/3 for 3 with no protection, while not useless, does leave a bit to be desired, though it makes sure usual answers to it help further your gameplan. I think this’ll be a decent role player in this Standard, able to stomp its way to victory through multiple angles of attack.

Constructed: 3.25
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.25
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander: 3.75