Bruse Tarl is returning to Magic: The Gathering Standard through Outlaws of Thunder Junction, granting all Oxen you control Double Strike.
A native of the MTG plane of Zendikar, Bruse Tarl has traveled the Omenpaths to Thunder Junction to herd his Oxen. The famous herder has become an Oxen lord through his card Bruse Tarl, Roving Rancher in the Standard-legal set Outlaws of Thunder Junction (OTJ). An Angel Ox called Holy Cow is also included in the Western-themed Magic set. The two are a powerful duo for the OTJ Limited format and are the start of an Oxen Commander deck.
Bruse Tarl, Roving Rancher is a four-drop in Red and White, granting all Oxen you control Double Strike. When the Eldrazi defeating rancher enters the battlefield, or attacks, you get to exile the top card of your library and play it until the end of your next turn. And if the card is a land, Tarl creates a 2/2 Ox token.
- Card name: Bruse Tarl, Roving Rancher
- Casting cost: 2RW
- Type: Legendary Creature—Human Warrior
- Passive ability: Oxen you control have Double Strike.
- ETB/Attack ability: “Whenever Bruse Tarl, Roving Rancher enters the battlefield or attacks, exile the top card of your library. If it’s a land card, create a 2/2 White Ox creature token. Otherwise, you may cast it until the end of turn.”
- Flavor text: “I find a world where the herds finally listen to me, but now the plants have an attitude?”
Bruse Tarl has the potential to lead an Ox deck in Commander, but the number of Oxen available in Red and White is somewhat limited, according to Scryfall. Cards like Ox of Agonas from NEC, Holy Cow in OTJ, Arc Runner from M11, and Earth-Origin Yak from GS1 are all good cards to build around.
The herder will most likely have a big impact on OTJ Limited, though, especially with Holy Cow as a Common in the set. Bruse Tarl, Roving Rancher can provide card advantage, create tokens, and give all those tokens Double Strike without Holy Cow on the battlefield. Put the two together and RW is looking like a solid OTJ archetype to Draft.
You can test out Bruse Tarl, Roving Rancher through Sealed gameplay when Outlaws of Thunder Junction drops into local game stores for Prerelease events that start on April 12.
