I'm impressed by the way this guy manages to
make an ability that can be paid for only with
red or white mana, and which is strongly part of
the color abilities allocated to red and white,
feel very much at home in black. Because your
opponent is going to feel very, very bad, both
in terms of their life total and
psychologically, each time you pay that mana
cost. The forced life loss feels almost
secondary, despite the fact that it can be
absolutely devastating (Thatcher Revolt says
hello), because he basically means that your
opponent is never winning a combat again as long
as he's on the table. This is how you do orcs
right.
Welcome back readers today's card of the day is
Brutual Hordechief a powerful Mardu mythic that
does a good impression of Hellrider. The drain
one and gain one effect whenever a creature you
control attacks is fantastic, it allows you to
get even more damage in while also padding your
life total for the crack back from opponents.
The second ability while steep at 5 mana allows
you to completely control your opponents blocks,
this can lead to a huge blow out while allowing
you to protect your valuable creatures and push
through for damage by forcing some double and
tripled blocks. In standard this card is
interesting as a four mana 3/3 its solid and
operates in the same space as Hellrider with
more of a man sink ability meaning I think it
has what it takes. In modern its a little slow
but could be extra copies of Hellrider for the
decks that want that. In legacy and vintage too
slow. In casual and multiplayer the block
forcing ability can lead to some crazy games
where you can simply kill a player and its a
repeatable ability and combined with the life
gain and drain its well suited for multiplayer.
In limited this card seems powerful its block
ability can win the game and the first is good
for aggressive decks to push through more
damage. Overall a powerful aggressive card.
Today's card of the day is Brutal Hordechief
which is a four mana Black
3/3 that has the defending player lose one life
and you gain one life whenever a creature you
control attacks and for three and two White or
Red mana any opposing creature able to block
must do so and you choose how they block.
This is a very impressive and dangerous card
that can immediately halve the clock when it
hits play or outright win the game depending on
the number of creatures in play. The life
gain is a nice bonus and the potential to choose
blocking when running Red or White is an amazing
combination with Deathtouch, particularly if
supported with First Strike or other effects.
Overall this is a very strong card that will see
play in current formats and across different
decks that use Black, particularly Black/White
tokens or very aggressive Rakdos builds.
In Limited this is an easy first pick in Booster
that may not have the swarm support of a
Constructed build, but should still impact the
game with a noticeable swing in life points.
It is even stronger if the effect can be used
with White or Red to manage an alpha strike and
even as a four mana 3/3 it wouldn't be
unplayable. The life drain aspect with just one
Black mana in the base cost gives it a strong
position in Sealed as well and it should be
played whenever possible.
With the increasing support for Warrior tribal,
I can see the Hordecheif possibly becoming a
finisher for the deck. Warriors want to attack
and do so relentlessly. By the fourth turn, you
should have at least a couple warriors out
already attacking, and the Hordechief
immediately makes them more damaging. Then, on
turn 5, you can manipulate their blockers to
your advantage and put yourself in the driver's
seat.
It's possible, however, that this is too slow.
Aggressive decks don't like things that cost
four and have activated abilities that cost
five. His three toughness makes him easy to
kill, and his abilities make him an attractive
target.
I expect to see some of this guy, but I don't
think he's going to be a huge player in thet
future. In limited, however, this is an absolute
bomb. Creatures attack a lot, so you'll have a
good chance to make a big swing with his
ability.
