Butcher of the Horde
Creature — Demon
Flying
Sacrifice another creature: This creature gains your choice of vigilance, lifelink, or haste until end of turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BRW
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Khans of Tarkir Promos
- Price
- —
- EDHREC rank
- #20070
Butcher of the Horde lands as a 5/4 flying, haste threat that can gain lifelink, vigilance, or trample on demand by sacrificing a creature — that flexibility on a body this large is the whole pitch. Four mana is the right price for what it does, and in any deck already generating creature tokens it almost never costs you a real card.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Butcher of the Horde earns its keep — token-generating commanders in Mardu colors (white, black, red) produce the fodder it needs to swap abilities at will, and haste means it attacks the turn it resolves. In Pioneer and Modern it's legal but too slow and too fair; a 5/4 that needs a sacrifice outlet to match what other four-drops do natively doesn't make the cut in competitive lists. Legacy and Vintage don't give it a second look for the same reason. Oathbreaker is a reasonable home if your planeswalker generates tokens and you want an aggressive curve-topper with built-in reach.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
unknown tier
Pricing data isn't available at the moment, so check Scryfall or TCGPlayer for a current number. Butcher of the Horde has never been an expensive card — it's a four-year-old non-mythic rare — so picking up a copy should cost well under a dollar in most markets.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.