It's an efficiently-costed five-power flyer. In
a set with cards like this, who cares that
there's no Dragons? I also like that it always
has flying, but has an option to gain one of
three other keywords (or all three, if you've
got enough expendable creatures in play). The
fact that haste is one of those abilities means
that this could be a surprise 5 damage... and a
surprise 5 life gained for you if you sack
another creature for lifelink. Lifelink is
probably going to be the most-used ability,
since it's the only one that is relevant if
gained AFTER blockers are declared, and
sacrificing creatures that chump blocked or fell
victim to combat tricks is probably going to be
the Butcher's best trick. I'm just sorry he
isn't a legend: he'd make a great Commander.
Today's card of the day is Butcher of the Horde
which is a four mana Red, White, and Black 5/4
with Flying that for the cost of a creature
sacrifice gains your choice of Vigilance,
Lifelink, or Haste. The situational
versatility offers some nice options, but the
sacrifice is generally very inefficient compared
to the other evasive choices each of the three
colors ahve that are available at a similar plus
less specific mana cost. Overall even
though this is a four mana 5/4 evasive, the
three color mana cost will keep this almost
exclusively to Commander builds and it is
unlikely to see play in many other settings.
In Limited this is a bomb that while somewhat
difficult to cast earlier in the game is a
serious threat at any time. In Booster the
three colors make it somewhat risky and limiting
as a first pick, but it is an easily aggressive
build with whichever two are focused on.
For Sealed it should be forced in with a splash
as long as any two of the three colors are solid
as there are only a few cards in the set that
can compete with a 5/4 with evasion as a
game-winning threat.
This is a great example of the power you get for
being able to cast cards with three colors. A
5/4 flier - even with no other abilities - would
normally cost at least 5 mana. Now, you get him
for 4 mana AND have the option to sacrifice
something to give him extra abilities.
The closest thing he has to a weakness is the 4
toughness, which does leave him vulnerable to a
number of removal spells, but that's a small
weakness compared to the potential power the
Butcher has.
Any deck that can afford the mana cost should be
running this card.
