#Craterhoof Behemoth

[reuxben]

Here’s our MTGinktober for “Beast,” starring Amalia Benavides Aguirre and Affectionate Indrik! ¡Uy! Smitten by a vampire, ¿eh?

Click this post’s Source link for this piece’s Making-Of.

More MTGinktober here.

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Reuxben

[chinchillacrossing]

[txttletale]

"Don't be ridiculous, Harry, how could I possibly cast a counterspell? I'm tapped out! I already used *all* of my mana. I'm sure a supercop like you can tell that all my lands are tapped. Go ahead, cast your big bomb. We both know you want to, and you know what, *I* want it too, I want nothing more than to see your Craterhoof Behemoth hit the board so you can win the game, because we're all friends here and friends help each other win!"

[sexhaver]

this card has kind of been power crept out of relevance at higher-end tables over the years, which is a shame because it's one of the coolest/fun/most skill-testing mechanics in the game for both the caster and targeted opponent. there's the unironic Game Theory of how to split the stacks if you don't like the caster, along with the political/metagaming possibility of the caster simply asking/forcing someone to not split the cards at all, making it a 4 mana draw 5, e.g. "if you split it into a stack of 5 and a stack of 0 i'll leave you alone until my next turn, otherwise i'll kill you with my damage on board". what a fun card

Fact or Fiction

“Try to pretend like you understand what’s important.”

Artist: Matt Cavotta TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[favoritemtgcard]

Official Bracket Announcement

After more than 420 individual nominations, 64 cards have been selected to compete to be tumblr's favorite Magic: The Gathering card!

You can view a complete list of Divisions and seeds below the cut

Thank you to everyone who submitted a card and supported their favorites. There are over 30,000 cards printed in Magic's history, so this poll would have been literally impossible without your help. There were a lot of very tight calls when putting this together, and not every card could make the final cut, but hopefully this bracket reflects the majority of the popular picks as well as a few individual favorite contenders.

The first matches of Division A will be posted tomorrow, November 5th at 10:00am PST. Division B will be posted the following day, then Division C, and so on. You will have a full week to vote in these matches for your favorite card. (Reminder: seed number is only a best guess at how a team will perform in a given bracket, and exist to facilitate a more interesting tournament. It is not at all uncommon for lower seed cards to beat higher seeds, and it is not a reflection of the quality of the card in of itself.)

Thank you again for all of your interest and support! I am already excited to learn how some of these early matches play out.

Division A Begins November 5th

Bearscape

Savor the Moment

Phyrexian Unlife

Dark Ritual

Damnation

Baleful Strix

Massacre Girl

Emrakul the Aeons Torn

Murder

Colossal Dreadmaw

Waste Not

Surgical Extraction

Forest

Perplexing Chimera

Stasis

Elvish Visionary

Division B Begins November 6th

Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

Brainstorm

Selesnya Evangel

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Thallid

Rona, Herald of Invasion

Jaya Ballard, Task Mage

Hot Soup

Phage the Untouchable

Earthbind

Cheatyface

Wedding Announcement

Storm Crow

Darksteel Relic

Rin and Seri

Madcap Skills

Division C Begins November 7th

Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful

Bitterblossom

Mana Tithe

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Tragic Slip

Olivia Voldaren

Craterhoof Behemoth

Island

Enthralling Victor

Indestructible Aura

Llanowar Elves

Gush

Urza's Ruinous Blast

Ashnod, Flesh Mechanist

Mountain

Division D Begins November 8th

Lightning Bolt

Faithless Looting

Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar

Gallia of the Endless Dance

Breach the Multiverse

Dark Depths

Heartbeat of Spring

Yargle, Glutton of Urborg

Niv-Mizzet, Parun

Swords to Plowshares

Archangel Avacyn

Run Away Together

Tempt With Bunnies

Enter the Dungeon

Plains

Mantis Rider

[glngrbred]

Counterspells are a toxic game mechanic that manopolize interaction slots and force all control decks to play very similarly.

they also have the problem of being much easier to use than targeted discard and ""stax"" (the broadest possible term, and only 'harder' to an extent :/). I think the only times you should be able to effectively counter an effect on the stack/being played are to counter a literal spell, like instants and sorceries, since the only ways to have "spell removal" are hand interaction, which is obviously only ok when limited, and counterspells. I straight up think that no creature or artifact/enchantment counterspells should exist in a healthy card game, because those other mechanics should be inherently interactable-enough to not necessitate counterspells, and the shear dominance of counterspells as the vehicle of control decks in MTG is evidence enough that they aren't good for a game.

also the reason I care is because I'm making a card game, and effects like counterspells are something you have to choose to have at some point, since they MANOPOLIZE DESIGN SPACE >:()

if you want to see an example of counterspells used well, play the game "unstable unicorns" which is entirely Balanced around counterspells, exclusively. but even then, you have to entirely balance the game around counterspells, exclusively

Also this isn't to say "counterspells bad :(" they have a place, and that place is in games who have not balanced the power of "instantly accessible" effects (so that counterspells aren't necessary). like yeah, craterhoof behemoth and Ghalta often can't be interacted with outside of counterspells, cuz once they ETB you win the game

that is bad design and necessitates the creation, use, and frustration of counterspells. Also, designers only want to make cards like "that" if they can say "just counter it" its just an unhealthy system that necessitates itself existing the moment you let counterspells be anything more than the most simple and direct "spell removal" effects.

thats all

[memoircomics]

Before you ask: I play Blue / Black and my favorite card is Craterhoof Behemoth! What’s your favorite color to play and what’s your favorite card? PS I’m just learning so tell me any fun MTG stuff that excites you please

(Featured in the last slide is the homie B r i a n from Game Parlour SF, one of my favorite places in the whole world and the place where I first learned about games!)

[markrosewater]

Now that Moonshaker Cavalry has made Craterhoof Behemoth a cycle, when can we expect the other 3? 😁

Magic's maxim: "Two points make a cycle." : )

[overgrown-estate]

Previews of "Wilds of Eldraine" from the preview panel at MagicCon Barcelona. During the Phyrexian Invasion, the courts of the Realm were falling and the remnants were desperate to find a way to resolve the conflict. Talion, a Faerie Noble, cast the Wicked Slumber which put the invading army into a magical sleep... as well as most of the people of the Realms. Of course, Ashiok has arrived to take advantage of the situation. The card, 'Sleight of Hand' is reprinted in this set and White gets its own 'Craterhoof Behemoth' in the form of 'Moonshaker Cavalry'. Each draft archetype will revolve around a particular faerie tale. Starting with WOE, each set going forward will have only one Planeswalker card in the set.

[samwiselastname]

the specific choice of craterhoof behemoth in that post is so good

[drmajalis]

Disdainful Stroke is a better counterspell than Arcane Denial in Commander/EDH

Ok but I'm serious, hear me out: Counterspells in EDH are best used when you need to stop something from hitting the field/resolving in the first place, something a simple removal spell doesn't really answer, stuff like Craterhoof Behemoth, or just, board wipes in general. How many of those cards can you think of that cost less then 4 Mana? The only one that immediately comes to mind is Toxic Deluge which you really only see frequently in CEDH tables There's also Fire Covenant I suppose but that's even more of a CEDH exclusive board wipe, like show of hands how many of you have cast or seen someone play Fire Covenant, how many of you even knew it existed? The best thing? Disdainful Stroke is a 10 cent common! Stop letting your opponent draw 2 cards for free with Arcane Denial and just use this underrated gem.

[mngwa5]

Life is Strange EDH/Commander headcanons: True Colors Edition

AN: Not a lot of canon stretching for this one really. I can totally see Steph trying to organize a Haven commander pod and roping Alex and a reluctant Ryan into the fray.

Alex Chen:

Has an incredibly cheese filled Jodah, Archmage list. While she and Steph snicker about the the thematic relevance of Jodah's emphasis on colors, what really attracts Alex is the fact that she can throw around huge, game-swinging spells at a steep, steep discount.

Absolutely uses her powers to read the other players at the table. If you feel sad and internally lament being mana-screwed, get ready to be targeted. If you're excited and getting ready to swing out for lethal or are on the verge of assembling your combo, don't be surprised if Alex suddenly starts politicking with the table to put you down.

On the topic of her own emotions, she will either be the picture of stoicism or a salty little gremlin who lets grudges run deep throughout the night. It really depends on the group, but God forbid if Ryan even swing at her with something as innocuous as a 2/2 squirrel token, you're all in for it.

Doesn't really like creature centric decks and when she does, they're usually being played in service of some other goal. Instead she values high interaction but utterly bullshit lists like Yarok landfall and Prosper tax fraud treasure, much to Steph's chagrin.

Ryan Lucan:

Kinda like Nathan in the previous installment of this series, Ryan is another case of someone who would really let the in-universe color philosophy affect their out of game choice of commander.

He LOVES the entire concept behind mono-green and endures Steph clowning on him for it because he knows that Birthing Pod and Craterhoof Behemoth do not give a fuck what she has to say when it comes time to shuffle up.

Really enjoys playing ramp heavy stompy decks like Selvala. The more creatures he can shit out, the better.

You already know he has a bird tribal deck too. He started out with Derevi, but splurged immediately and wheeled it into a Falco Spara, Pactweaver list once New Capenna dropped because it combines his love of avian stuff and cheating creatures out.

Alex constantly harangues him about how he never optimizes, but to be honest, it's already pretty serviceable at the Haven Commander Night's power level. There's just something about removing a counter off Soulcatcher and in order to flash out Aven Mindcensor that soothes Ryan's soul.

Steph Gingrich:

Oh Steph, where do we begin? Nerd queen supreme over here definitely makes routine trips into Denver to LGSs to pick up singles or just oogle fetch lands and art prints.

Isn't actually all that into Magic because she prefers more narrative driven modes of play like TTRPGs and LARPing, but will def throw down especially if it means she could school Ryan and Alex.

Once the AFR set dropped, Steph was suddenly ALL over organizing commander nights.

Once she got everyone together, she proceeded to debut a hum-dinger of a Captain N'ghathrod list much to the chagrin of pretty much fucking everybody in attendance (especially Ryan. Poor guy probably had to watch HER play more of his deck than he did lol).

I am 100% convinced every move she makes in-game would just be a subtle way of trying to flirt with Alex, which is both a great boon to those who can figure that out and a curse when it comes to making deals.

[lexiconarchitect]

You all decided on Druids, so here it is! Our commander allows us to tap untapped druids to add a green to our mana pool, this allows us to ramp, and drop a big ol' Craterhoof Behemoth on the field for the win!

[niuttuc]

Today's budget commander sleepers come from precons, but I rarely or never see them outside those precons. It's really simple, repeatedly, starting the turn you cast the spell, you can turn any token you have lying around (or bad creature?) into a real girl or boy from your deck.

Those two function slightly differently so decks might prefer one or the other, but they roughly work the same, and go in decks that generate tokens reliably. Transforming "real" permanents is also an option, but it carries more risk, whereas cards in your deck are generally universally better than most tokens. Reality Scramble can even work on stray Treasure tokens that are very common in red these days.

If your deck, or even just your commander, reliably creates tokens and is in red, I'd encourage you to consider trying out one of these two. They're very cheap (in $$$) and generate virtual card advantage by turning weak tokens into "free" permanents, Reality Scramble allowing you to avoid dead land draws late in the game too.

They do have some variance to them, I doubt most decks that'd play them will be able to manipulate the top of their library, but hey, that's what makes commander fun! And really, whether you polymorph your 1/1 token into a Spirited Companion or a Craterhoof Behemoth, you're coming out ahead.

[sexboobomb]

if someone is saying no one gets mad at Green then they haven't been around Genesis Wave and Craterhoof Behemoth enough

One of the funniest interactions I've seen on TikTok was a guy who posts about Magic The Gathering going on this really long rant about how much he hates Green with his logic being that people love to get mad at all the other colors when they do whatever their thing is a little too well but no one seems to get mad when Green gets a little too good at generating lots of mana and pumping out giant creatures and he thinks that's bullshit and literally all the comments were Green players being like "this guy plays Blue and we're drinking his tears"

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Round 2 Division C: Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful vs Craterhoof Behemoth