I was all obsessed with MBC like many, so I hadn¡¦t even begun testing UG at all. I knew UG was good in t2, maybe even tier 1 if you may. But, I thought of all the crazy wacky cards in OBC that are UG that many people don¡¦t even look at. I saw this guy, and like most cards I look at, I think BROKEN, even though he is know where near. But I¡¦ll show you the pro¡¦s and con¡¦s of this little fellow, and I¡¦ll bet you¡¦ll be looking at him in a new light when I¡¦m done.
1. Power and Toughness Ratio to Cost. He is a 3/3 for 4 Mana, and he has haste. He¡¦s not a Brushhopper, more like a mellow War Mammoth, that can attack the turn it comes into play. But, post threshold, let¡¦s examine his PT to his Cost. He still costs 4 Mana, but now he¡¦s a 4/4 with Trample and Haste until end of turn. Whoa he¡¦s a stick, and he grants trample and +1/+1 to all your creatures. So post threshold and before threshold his PT is comparable to a flashbacked Call with an added feature.
2. His ability after threshold is just huge. Say what you want, bad mouth me later, but how many times have you thought, He¡¦s going to swing for 6, drop me to 2, and then next turn I¡¦ll wipe him out, and then he drops the centaur after threshold. I don¡¦t really think him as a win condition, but more of an assistant. He can be a win condition, if your opponent is low enough and life and they don¡¦t see all your creatures now gaining trample and a little bit of power added to them.
3. Is he better then Overrun? I think so, and this is why. I have never dropped the Centaur post threshold before fifth turn. So, if you had that Overrun, you could cast it same time, but ask your self this, how many creatures do you have on the board 5th turn? Sure, you might have 2 mongrels, a couple Wallas and a Roar token, but that is the situation where Overrun would be way more optimal. I like the Centaur more, because he is a surprise. Overrun would be too, but say they have the same amount of creatures as you when you Overrun. Also, If that is the case, say you drop the Chieftain 6th turn. Now this leaves you with enough Mana to blow up a centaur garden, now if you got more creatures then them, blow it up on the one they didn¡¦t block, and they are taking a minimum of 5 damage, saying they took damage from a Rootwalla. 6th turn, overrun still costs 5 Mana, so if you think about it, the above situation is a situation like all situations¡K Did I confuse you? Good.
4. Now all good things must come to an end. I know I¡¦d tell you the con¡¦s as well so here we go. Now most of his strong points are after he gets threshold. Before threshold, he¡¦s just a 3/3 for 4 Mana that has haste. Not to good, but can be used to chump block if you¡¦re in dire need of creatures. Another drawback to him is he takes the place of one of your valuable madness creatures, or even a more powerful spell or creature. But, I would probably never put him in place of a wild mongrel.
In conclusion, damn I feel like I¡¦m writing a report for schoolƒº, I feel very strong about the use of Centaur Chieftain, and if he is not maindecked, at least sideboard one copy of him. Until my next article, may you top deck Centaur Chieftain.
-Doug-