Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder - A Magic the Gathering Commander 2016 Card Review

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

With Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder, we get quite a Red/White Legendary Creature. He is one of the Commander 2016 Legendary Creatures with Partner. This means that you can have him Partner up with another Legendary Creature with Partner and have two Commanders! By having two Commanders, you get to utilize the colors of the other Partner to build around, as well. Besides having this innovative mechanic, though, there's a lot to like about this Human Ally.
 
First, there's the bit that he's an Ally! There are a lot of people out there who like to build Ally tribal decks, and Bruse Tarl can serve the function of Commander for those decks. Since he triggers Ally abilities, it's not a bad idea to explore this avenue when deck-building. But what's most fascinating is his repeatable ability. Whenever Bruse Tarl enters the battlefield or attacks, he gives a target creature you control double strike AND lifelink until end of turn. This could be himself, of course. As a 3/3 for 4 mana, he's not a bad candidate to be a Voltron-style Commander.
 
However, being a Partner Commander opens up possibilities. Since  Bruse Tarl can gain the use of one or two other colors alongside a partner, the number of potential creatures with nasty combat damage triggering abilities that he can target increases dramatically. With double strike, not only are you gaining a lot of life, but you can create some pretty unfair advantages with combat-damage triggered abilities.

---