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Glint-Horn Buccaneer

Creature — Minotaur Pirate

Haste
Whenever you discard a card, this creature deals 1 damage to each opponent.
{1}{R}, Discard a card: Draw a card. Activate only if this creature is attacking.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{1}{R}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
Core Set 2020
Price
$5.60
EDHREC rank
#1999
Buy on TCGplayer
Glint-Horn Buccaneer card art
Glint-Horn Buccaneer deals damage to each opponent whenever you discard a card, turning looting effects into a table-wide clock — and when paired with Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce, that clock runs on a combo loop that can close games on the spot. Three mana for a 3/4 with haste is already a reasonable rate; the discard trigger is the reason you're here.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed NavigatorVial Smasher the Fierce

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce

89.1% of decks · synergy 0.85

Glint-Horn Buccaneer is the engine in this partnership: discard a card to trigger Buccaneer, then discard again with a looting outlet to generate infinite damage once Malcolm is generating Treasure to fuel the loop. It shows up in over 89% of Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator // Vial Smasher the Fierce decks for exactly that reason.

02
Kediss, Emberclaw FamiliarMalcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar // Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

74.9% of decks · synergy 0.69

The Malcolm half of this partnership enables the same Treasure-fueled discard loop, and Glint-Horn Buccaneer is the payoff that converts those triggers into lethal damage across all opponents — Kediss just accelerates how fast the table dies when the engine goes off.

03

Clive, Ifrit's Dominant

65.3% of decks · synergy 0.62

Clive, Ifrit's Dominant rewards repeated discard with power and aggression, and Glint-Horn Buccaneer turns every discard outlet in that deck into a source of direct damage — the two cards are pulling in exactly the same direction.

04
Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge

65.1% of decks · synergy 0.60

Captain Howler, Sea Scourge cares about Pirates and treasure, and Glint-Horn Buccaneer fits as a Pirate that converts the discard side of that gameplan into chip damage that compounds over a long game.

05
Queen Kayla bin-Kroog

Queen Kayla bin-Kroog

59.1% of decks · synergy 0.58

Queen Kayla bin-Kroog's activated ability discards to put creatures and artifacts into play, and Glint-Horn Buccaneer tags each opponent for every card pitched — so Kayla's value engine doubles as a damage dealer without any additional slots spent.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Glint-Horn Buccaneer does its best work: three opponents means each discard trigger hits three targets simultaneously, and the combo ceiling with Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator and a repeatable looting outlet is a legitimate tournament-level kill. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but finds no home — the formats don't support a three-mana 3/4 that needs setup to matter. Pioneer and Modern are the same story: Glint-Horn Buccaneer is too slow and too dependent on a critical mass of discard synergies to compete with what those formats are doing. Play it in Commander and nowhere else.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

If Glint-Horn Buccaneer is out of reach, Surly Badgersaur fills a similar discard-payoff role and can grow into a threat over time, though it doesn't deal direct damage and won't close out a game the way Buccaneer can. Rummaging Goblin and similar cheap looters can feed a damage-dealing finisher elsewhere in the 99, but nothing in the budget tier replicates Buccaneer's combination of immediate haste, solid body, and per-discard ping — the card is doing something fairly unique at its price point.

Price Context

Current price

$5.60 mid tier

At $5.60, Glint-Horn Buccaneer sits in the mid tier — affordable enough to include without budget strain, and justified by the fact that it's a combo piece in one of the more popular Pirate builds. Prices for combo-critical cards at this range tend to stay stable as long as the commander driving demand stays popular, so this is a safe pickup at current value.

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Sources

Mentioned

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