Bloomburrow has been seriously impressive so far. From a One Ring hoser that doubles as a Price of Progress on a stick, to a Legendary Weasel capable of casting free Omniscience, this set looks like it’s going to impact Standard seriously at the absolute worst.
Today, we’re looking at yet another interesting Bloomburrow rare. This one triggers similarly to how Ledger Shredder did, but it is going to be a bit less impactful than the infamous Bird Advisor. Regardless, if you want to punish opponents for casting too many spells in a turn while promoting multicasting on your own board, Hearthborn Battler is your friend!
Hearthborn Battler
For three mana, Hearthborn Battler offers a 2/3 with Haste. In current Magic, this is definitely below-rate. That said, thanks to a potent triggered ability, Hearthborn Battler can push some serious damage.
Hearthborn Battler triggers on every player that casts a second spell in a turn, just like Ledger Shredder. That means that this card can deal four damage in a constructed turn, and eight damage on a particularly interactive turn of Commander. While that’s the sky for Hearthborn Battler, this card will generally be dealing two damage a turn in many games of Constructed. The card’s viability will somewhat depend on how strong multicasting decks are in the Standard format. I do not think this card is strong enough for formats past Standard.
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Potent Trigger, but is it Good Enough?
Ral, Crackling Wit certainly has enough potential to create a combo deck in the Standard format. Granting all of your instants and sorceries Storm is a quick way to end the game. Sure, you need to get Ral to ten Loyalty, but thanks to his ability to get Loyalty whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, it’s not outside of the realm of possibilities.
If you’re specifically worried about this deck potentially becoming a thing, there are better sideboard answers to it than Hearthborn Battler. Magebane Lizard, in particular, is a very powerful answer to strategies that cast a bunch of noncreature spells in the same turn. Its toughness also prevents it from eating a Lightning Bolt to the face, which is a huge boon in older formats.
So, will Hearthborn Battler be good enough to see play? The triggered ability certainly suggests it might, but this card does need to be good enough in the main deck of a strategy to get there. The sideboard strategies that it encourages are outmatched by other options. Maybe a mono-red Aggro deck wants to sideboard this over Magebane Lizard since it pushes damage in a variety of different matchups, but the sideboard applications of Hearthborn Battler seem narrow.
All in all, Hearthborn Battler is definitely in contention for Standard play. The damage caused by the triggered ability can wrack up over time, especially when dealt with poorly.
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