Craterhoof Behemoth – Avacyn Restored
Date Reviewed: March 27, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.0
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 4.0
Commander [EDH]: 4.38
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a card with such a big gap between its fair and unfair uses as Craterhoof Behemoth. You might be aware that he’s been in the official Jumpstart releases, where he almost never comes into play before turn seven and the usual reaction is “Fair enough – you win if I can’t answer that, and you’ve earned it”. But in formats where decks are built in advance (or homebrew Jumpstart with different goals), players are often on edge against any kind of green deck, starting from the very first turn. No format is entirely safe when it comes to ways to search for a Behemoth, and ways to flood the table with tokens; and the fact that your deck could have an Overrun that also attacks for five damage on its own was mind-blowing in 2012, and still underappreciated now. In fact, I would go so far as to call Craterhoof Behemoth the best Overrun variant of all time.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Stomping back into Standard and our hearts, Craterhoof Behemoth has long been the premiere “I win” button in green, able to turn even a modestly sized board into a lethal alpha strike. Trample and a massive stat buff are both huge in terms of making sure an attack sticks, and given green’s ability to go wide in the right scenarios, this lets the color go wide and large.
The issue is that eight mana is quite a tall order, and so Craterhoof Behemoth oft has relied on being tricked into play through the likes of Natural Order. To that end, it’s really only as powerful as the tools around it…it’s quite the force multiplier and has long been a signature play in Elf decks in Legacy, but it’s a hard sell if you lack those tools. I’m curious to see what Craterhoof Behemoth does in Standard this time, as this feels like quite the intriguing format for it.
Constructed: 4.5
Casual: 3.5
Limited: 3 (can put a game away in Limited, but a color-heavy casting cost makes it trickier than average)
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.75 (the premiere way to win a game through combat damage…just watch out for Fog effects)
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