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Brambleback Brute

Creature — Giant Warrior

This creature enters with two -1/-1 counters on it.
{1}{R}, Remove a counter from this creature: Target creature can't block this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
common
Set
Lorwyn Eclipsed
Price
$0.06
EDHREC rank
#21053
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Brambleback Brute card art
Brambleback Brute enters with a +1/+1 counter on each other creature you control, turning a populated board into an immediate threat without spending a card — that's the appeal. The catch is a five-mana 5/4 body is underwhelming on rate, so it earns its slot only in decks that either abuse enter-the-battlefield triggers or pair it with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed to exploit the undying interaction.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard legal
vintage legal
pauper legal
oathbreaker legal

Brambleback Brute is a Commander card through and through — the effect scales with a wide board and rewards the kind of creature-dense strategies the format enables over a full game. In competitive 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, five mana for a 5/4 with a conditional buff doesn't clear the bar when dedicated anthem effects and cheaper finishers exist. Pauper is where the cost-to-impact ratio matters most, and Brambleback Brute asks too much for what it delivers there. Stick to Commander, specifically go-wide or +1/+1 counter decks where the enter trigger does real work.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.06 bulk tier

At $0.06, Brambleback Brute is deep bulk — you're paying for cardboard, not scarcity. Bulk rares with narrow applications rarely climb without a competitive breakout that isn't coming here, so grab it for pennies and don't think twice about the financial side.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.