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Horde Ambusher

Creature — Human Berserker

Whenever this creature blocks, it deals 1 damage to you.
Morph—Reveal a red card in your hand. (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for {3}. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
When this creature is turned face up, target creature can't block this turn.

CMC
2
Mana cost
{1}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
uncommon
Set
Khans of Tarkir
Price
$0.02
EDHREC rank
#24411
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Horde Ambusher card art
Horde Ambusher hits the board as a 2/1 that forces a defender to pay one life or deal with a blocker that gains menace — immediate pressure for two mana. The cost is that Missy decks are where it earns its slot; outside that shell, it's a narrow roleplayer with limited reach.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Missy

Missy

17.9% of decks · synergy 0.18

Missy's ability to recur and flicker creatures rewards bodies that generate value the moment they enter, and Horde Ambusher's forced life-loss trigger fits that loop cleanly — nearly 18% of Missy decks run it for exactly that reason.

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

Horde Ambusher is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Pioneer, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's doing real work in almost none of them outside Commander. In competitive Constructed formats, a 2/1 for two with a minor drain effect doesn't clear the bar — faster threats and more impactful two-drops dominate those metagames. Commander is the format where Horde Ambusher actually justifies a slot, specifically in Missy builds that repeatedly trigger enters-the-battlefield effects and value the cumulative life-loss pressure across a long game.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Price Context

Current price

$0.02 bulk tier

At $0.02, Horde Ambusher is deep bulk — you're picking it out of a common box, not budgeting for it. That price won't move; it's too narrow for any Constructed demand to spike it, and Commander inclusion isn't broad enough to change that.

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Sources

Mentioned

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