Brindle Boar MTG Card
2010-07-16 - Number 166
2011-07-15 - Number 167
2013-07-19 - Number 167
| Card sets | Released in 3 setsSee all |
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Boar |
| Power | 2 |
| Toughness | 2 |
Text of card
Sacrifice Brindle Boar: You gain 4 life.
The war lasted for generations. The boars didn't need to hunt for food anymore. They fed on the fallen corpses, and the living fed off of them.
Cards like Brindle Boar
In the vast realm of Magic: The Gathering, Brindle Boar is a simple yet functional creature card. It shares similarities with cards like Sakura-Tribe Elder, which also offers a sacrifice ability for a beneficial effect. While Brindle Boar allows a player to gain 4 life upon sacrifice, Sakura-Tribe Elder can be sacrificed for an essential land ramp, fetching a basic land card onto the battlefield.
Examining cards with life-gain abilities, we can compare Kitchen Finks to our boar friend. Kitchen Finks provides not only a life gain but also persists, returning to play with a -1/-1 counter upon death, hence granting more resilience compared to the single-use Brindle Boar. Yet, Baloth Null, another creature in the same ecosystem as Brindle Boar, serves a different purpose by bringing back additional creatures from the graveyard to hand, though at a higher mana cost.
The straightforward utility of Brindle Boar might not match the potential recurring value of Kitchen Finks or the grave-recursion of Baloth Null, but it fits well into decks requiring immediate life gain, especially given its rather low mana cost and ability to impact the game the moment it arrives on the battlefield.
Cards similar to Brindle Boar by color, type and mana cost
Card Pros
Card Advantage: While the Brindle Boar doesn’t directly allow you to draw cards, it provides indirect card advantage by serving as a deterrent for attackers when its sacrifice ability is available. This can lead to favorable trades or prevent the opponent from attacking, effectively saving your other valuable cards on the battlefield.
Resource Acceleration: The Brindle Boar itself doesn’t contribute to resource acceleration in the traditional sense of providing mana or cards. However, using its life-gain ability at the right moment can give you a crucial buffer, effectively granting you more turns to deploy your strategies and draw into more resources.
Instant Speed: The boar’s sacrifice ability can be activated at instant speed, meaning you can wait until the most opportune moment during your opponent’s turn to gain the life. This unpredictability can cause complications for your opponent’s tactics, as they must consider the potential for life gain in their calculations and attack plans.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: This card obligates you to sacrifice itself (a variant of discard), thereby using up a creature resource that could be valuable for defense or attack in the game’s progression.
Specific Mana Cost: Brindle Boar’s mana cost requires green, which while not restrictive in mono-green or multi-color decks, still requires that specific mana investment that could be a setback in decks not focused on green mana production.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost of three mana for a basic 2/2 creature, there are alternatives within the same range that may provide greater utility or power, making it a less efficient choice in some scenarios.
Reasons to Include Brindle Boar in Your Collection
Versatility: Brindle Boar is a flexible addition to green decks, particularly useful in formats where gaining life can be crucial. Its simple cost makes it an accessible card for various stages of the game. Whether you need to stabilize against aggressive opponents or just want a reliable creature on the board, this boar has got your back.
Combo Potential: This unassuming creature holds potential in combos centered around life gain and sacrifice mechanics. Pair it with cards that trigger off creatures dying or gain you value for increased life totals to turn this simple swine into a strategic advantage.
Meta-Relevance: In a gameplay environment where burn and aggro decks are prevalent, having a creature like Brindle Boar can be key to outlasting your opponent. Its ability to give you a life buffer can mean the difference between defeat and victory against fast-paced threats.
How to beat
Dealing with a Brindle Boar on the battlefield is a subtle challenge for many MTG enthusiasts. The presence of this creature not only offers its controller a decent blocker but also an instant life boost when it’s sacrificed. Its real value lies in its synergy with various green strategies that capitalize on creature count and life gain. This might seem tricky at first, but several strategies can be employed to trump the boar’s advantages.
To outplay Brindle Boar, one might consider using removal spells that can preemptively target the creature before its sacrifice ability is activated. There’s also the option of employing graveyard manipulation tactics that inhibit creatures from reaching the graveyard, which negates the boar’s life-gain ability. If the game has progressed where life total becomes less relevant, focusing on overwhelming the opponent with card advantage or board presence can render the boar’s contribution inconsequential.
Moreover, understanding when to ignore the boar and pressuring the opponent on other axes is pivotal. Timing and strategic planning thus play essential roles in minimizing the impact of Brindle Boar and paving the way to securing victory.
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Brindle Boar MTG card by a specific set like Magic 2011 and Magic 2012, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Brindle Boar and other MTG cards:
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- eBay
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
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Printings
The Brindle Boar Magic the Gathering card was released in 3 different sets between 2010-07-16 and 2013-07-19. Illustrated by Dave Allsop.
| # | Released | Name | Code | Symbol | Number | Frame | Layout | Border | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010-07-16 | Magic 2011 | M11 | 166 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Dave Allsop | |
| 2 | 2011-07-15 | Magic 2012 | M12 | 167 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Dave Allsop | |
| 3 | 2013-07-19 | Magic 2014 | M14 | 167 | 2003 | Normal | Black | Dave Allsop |
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Brindle Boar has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Brindle Boar card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2010-08-15 | If you sacrifice an attacking or blocking Brindle Boar during the declare blockers step, it won’t deal combat damage. If you wait until the combat damage step, but Brindle Boar is dealt lethal damage, it’ll be destroyed before you get a chance to sacrifice it. |