Hullbreacher – Commander Legends MTG Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

While the pirates of Ixalan (and other subsequent sets) have much the same propensity for joking and laughing that we expect in the post-Jack Sparrow century, there are a few who hint at the harsher sides of piracy. Hullbreacher is one such card. If you’ve ever been frustrated by decks that only seem to draw extra cards and always get away with the benefit, this is your guy. And while he might seem to be rated lower than, say, Consecrated Sphinx in light of that same mentality of drawing as many cards as possible as fast as possible, their roles are very different. Hullbreacher can ambush an opponent, break their game plan over his knee, and bring the end game around on the very next turn. Use him in midrange decks with stuff to cast with all that treasure, and watch the wins roll in.

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

And we now get to the second of the prospective constructed plants in Commander Legends in Hullbreacher, who aims to hose a favorite activity of the vast majority of decks. The immediate point of comparison is Dragon’s Maze‘s Notion Thief, who also can come in to ambush an opponent that wants to draw lots and lots of cards, though you could argue that blue getting Treasure is arguably more potent than just getting more cards, since blue’s mana acceleration tends to be on the weaker side.

Add in a well-supported type in Merfolk and a better statline and mana cost, and it’s clear that Hullbreacher is very aggressively costed as far as options go. It also avoids getting blown out by Consecrated Sphinx, which interacts very badly with Notion Thief for the controller of the absconding agent. While Legacy is definitely a fine place for our agent of piracy, Hullbreacher still does a good job in Commander, be it in a deck among his kin or just as a value piece in a blue deck.

Constructed: 4 (I may be too optimistic here, but this is a very powerful effect in Legacy’s strongest color and in a tribe with plenty of support)
Casual: 4.25
Limited: 3.5 (probably better for the body, but it does have a solid body)
Multiplayer: 4.5
Commander: 4.5