Craterhoof Behemoth – Avacyn Restored MTG Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

I’ve always found this guy rather cute – if you could get up high enough, he would probably like having his chin scratched. His game text, meanwhile, is actually a lot more aggressive and much more straightforward. Overrun effects end games in any format, though the Behemoth’s has a little bit of tension: his mana cost is high enough that you’ll be tempted to cheat him into play somehow, but then the global boost won’t be quite as big. Even that still isn’t overly disappointing, because he includes himself in that boost and thus will always do a ton of damage even if your other creatures are tapped to cast him. Overall, he’s a lethal threat you should always be prepared for whenever you face tribes that generate a disproportionate amount of mana, like Elves and Myr. 

Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 5/5
Limited: 5/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
EDH/Commander: 4/5 (he’s one of the things that keeps creature attack-based decks viable in multiplayer and Commander settings)

While that body might look innocuous, Craterhoof Behemoth is one of the ways you can try to say “this game ends now” in a creature-based deck. Even a merely decent board state represents a lot of added power when this resolves, and it’s in the color with the fewest problems in getting out creatures that qualify as “absolute units”. You only will usually get one chance to end the game with Craterhoof Behemoth, but that can be all you need, and decks that go wide love this as a way to lock things down. He sees play in Legacy Elves as a prime target for Natural Order (and sparing amounts of Modern Play in Elf decks), and he’s a Commander staple for obvious reasons.

Constructed: 3.75
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4 (can end games, but you need a board state to make him work)
Multiplayer: 4.25
Commander: 4.5