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There are tens of thousands of Magic: the Gathering cards out there today, and while many are obviously strong, not all of them are. Some are cards that people tell you are good…and it doesn’t make sense when you look at them.
For some beginning players, Brazen Borrower is just such a card. He may not look impressive when you first see him, but there’s more to this faerie than meets the eye.
In this post, we’ll explain to you why Brazen Borrower is good, and what some potential drawbacks are to using him.
Meet Brazen Borrower
Right above this paragraph is a picture of Brazen Borrower. This handy little card was released in the Throne of Eldraine set, which came out in October of 2019.
He’s a little confusing when you look at him, especially if you haven’t played MTG for long. As you can see, his card is split in half, and one half has an entirely different name – Petty Theft – on it.
This is because he makes use of the unique Adventure mechanic. Throne of Eldraine was all about fairytales, and consequently, adventures. Cards with “Adventure” written on them like Brazen Borrower could essentially be sent on quests.
To do so, you cast them for their Adventure cost, which in this case is two mana. Their Adventure effect resolves (which is bouncing a nonland permanent back to someone’s hands in Brazen Borrower’s case), and the card goes into exile. This seems like it should be bad thing – after all, you don’t want your cards to be exiled.
However, unlike with most other exiled cards, you can still cast those which are on an Adventure. You simply pay their casting cost listed in the upper right hand corner of the card.
At some point, we may discuss the Adventure mechanic in more depth. In a nutshell, though, that’s how Brazen Borrower works.
Here’s Why Brazen Borrower is Good
You’re basically getting two cards in one.
Because of the Adventure mechanic, Brazen Borrower is naturally versatile. He is two cards smooshed into a single card, and if there’s anything you should know about Magic, it’s that having more choices is almost always good.
Even if some of the choices seem unnecessary at first, it’s generally beneficial to have options. You never know when you’re going to need to take advantage of them.
For Brazen Borrower, you’ve got a couple different options. You can cast him as a 3/1 creature, and that’s the end of it.
But you can also send him on his Adventure, treating him like an instant and paying his Adventure cost. That way, you get to use his Adventure effect – sending a nonland permanent back into its owner’s hand.
Then you have the option of casting him again as a creaturefrom his Adventure-induced exile. The bottom line is, you have multiple different ways of putting him to use. You never know which one is going to come in handy.
He gets all the support available to faerie tribal.
A tribe is a particular type of creature, such as knights or vampires. When you play a tribal deck, it means you’re focusing on a tribe or two, and using as many of those creature types as you can.
Some tribes are way more viable than others. As an example, consider Nightstalkers. You couldn’t really make a tribal deck out of them, because there’s only twelve of them total.
Faeries, on the other hand, are a powerful tribe. You may not necessarily be able to play faerie tribal in standard because there haven’t been enough good ones printed recently. However, in eternal formats such as Commander, Vintage, Legacy, and Pauper, a faerie deck is entirely possible.
He fits into your mana curve smoothly.
In Magic: the Gathering, mana curve references how you optimize the amount of mana you have throughout the game and plan the mana cost of your cards accordingly. Another way to put it is that you are able to play cards that cost the amount of mana you have total every turn.
Brazen Borrower dovetails into mana curves nicely. You can play him for his Adventure cost of two mana on turn two. Then, on turn three, you can cast him as a creature for three mana.
Being able to access him early on just makes him even more beneficial to you.
You can flash him out at the last second as a creature.
Flash is pretty much always a good thing. It means that, like an instant, you can cast a card at any time.
Brazen Borrower, as you can see, has flash. Just like with the Adventure mechanic, this gives you some flexibility.
Sure, you could cast him on your turn like you might any other creature. But, if someone is about swing at you with something, he can also swoop in at the last moment and protect you.
When you decide to cast him is wide open. But again, having this broad horizon of casting opportunity is only to your benefit.
And Here are the Downsides
He’s susceptible to being pinged.
Brazen Borrower is overall a great card, but he’s incredibly fragile. As a 3/1, he can hit decently hard, but he can’t really take any damage.
If he takes one damage, he’s gone – assuming you don’t equip anything to him, he doesn’t have any +1/+1 counters, or you don’t protect him. This means that, even with tiny pings, such as those caused by Cunning Sparkmage, he’s a goner.
Monetarily, he can get a little pricey.
Mana cost isn’t the only thing most players are concerned about – monetary cost matters, too. Like with many other things, the price of Magic cards fluctuates wildly.
At the time of writing this, though, Brazen Borrower tended to be around $15. For a single one, that may not be a lot of money. But if you’re looking at playing a format that allows you to have four copies of a card, you might need to shell out a cool $60 to have enough copies of Brazen Borrower.
In terms of flavor, he doesn’t feel like a mythic.
When we say flavor, we’re talking about the feel and theme of a card. This might not matter to most people, because it doesn’t really affect your gameplay at all if you just think a card looks goofy or seems out of place.
But for many, flavor matters. Some like to put together carefully refined decks that reflect a specific theme, such as horror or fantasy or whatever else tickles their fancy.
This is why Brazen Borrower’s flavor leaves a bitter taste in some fans’ mouths. He’s a mythic, but he doesn’t feel like a card of mythic rarity.
Some fans think that a mythic card should be suitably impressive. It should make an almost audible thud as it hits the table. It should be packed with lore that leaves your opponents in awe.
Consider All is Dust, which is pictured above. Not only does it have an awe-inspiring effect – eliminating all colored cards on the table – but it simply looks epic. The eldrazi titan, Ulamog, looms in the background, the sun behind its head like a colossal light-shrouded nightmare.
In comparison, Brazen Borrower looks almost disappointing.
Wrap Up
At the end of the day, we think Brazen Borrower’s pros outweigh his cons. He’s definitely worth incorporating into one of your decks, and he’s a must-have for anyone who’s a fan of faeries.
It’s true that he can be a little fragile, but you can protect him. Furthermore, the negative feelings that people have about his lack of a mythic feel are purely subjective.
Want to learn about other specific Magic cards? You can read our post about why Oko is so good, or why Mana Vault is good.