How does such a creature end up being so big and
so quick? Green creatures with haste are almost
always mythic rare, and almost always awesome
because of it. This guy may look like a 5/5 for
eight, but on the turn he hits play he's much
more. At worst he's a surprise 6/6 before he
gets downgraded to a 5/5. At best he's a giant
Overrun plus an additional massive trampler
seemingly out of nowhere. They say that
anything that costs eight mana had better win
you the game right then and there. Well, this
can... if you have enough creatures on the board
to seal the deal. That depends on your opponent
not having enough kill spells to keep your board
in check, and not having a significant board
advantage himself. The Craterhoof can turn a
stalemated board into a rout, can be the killing
blow for a token deck, and can end a race
situation several turns ahead of schedule, but
really doesn't do much if you're behind. And of
course, the next turn, it's a 5/5 and nothing
more.
Overrun is, depending whether it's you or
someone else casting it, one of the most fun
cards in Magic or one of the most frustrating.
Personally, I think putting it on a creature
makes it even cooler. We could sit here and
exchange standard phraseology about how
Craterhoof Behemoth isn't a dead card even when
you don't have any other creatures, or how you
can't use Cavern of Souls to force through an
Overrun, or how Overrun never lets you strike
for 40. But it'd be a lot more fun to point out
that Overrun very rarely lets you stomp people
to atoms with a giant spined frog. It's not easy
being green - but it's lots of fun.
Today's card of the day is Craterhoof Behemoth
which is an eight mana
5/5 Green with Haste and when it enters play it
gives +X/+X and Trample to creatures you control
until end of turn. With three creatures in
play including itself it is a living Overrun,
which alone can win the game, but add in an elf
or token swarm alongside a summoning trick and
you can have a very early win. This is a
finisher card for a mana acceleration build that
really looks for major speed, tons of tokens, or
preferably both to be feasible in Constructed
formats. A deck can be stable with both
elements, though it is tight and potentially
vulnerable against Blue, and adding in blink
effects adds even more power. Overall this is a
very powerful card that works in a specific
design as an almost guaranteed winning play and
can even be a threat by itself, though the high
cost will likely keep it out of any other
builds.
For Limited an eight mana 5/5 with Haste or
nearly any Overrun style effect is a bomb in any
set, so both in one card is a huge threat and
easy first pick. It may not be likely to
have too many creatures in play, but even one
other makes for a 7/7 and 3/3 or larger each
with Trample and able to attack. Three
Green out of eight mana should not be an issue
for anything playing more than a splash of the
color and this is an easy first pick in Booster
and solid start for a deck in Sealed.
