$20 Budget Golgari Aggro
Modern
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Scarhide vs. Bloodsoaked Champ —Feb. 12, 2018
This is a debate over which is better as a Budget card. As mentioned earlier, Gravecrawler is probably better than either since we have 8 other zombies in the deck, but Gnarled Scarhide and Bloodsoaked Champion are much much cheaper, like .20 cents compared to gravecrawler's $3 or whatever.
So, what does Gnarled Scarhide offer us? The simple answer is Bestow. It can enchant a creature and add that power to a creature that is attacking this turn, which can be a form of pseudo haste. It can also offer some resilience against board wipes, as it becomes a creature when the creature it enchanted dies. Both are fine extras, but Bestow costs 4, and there are much better things we can be doing with our extra mana, even outside of casting spells. Transforming Kessig Prowler Flip, activating Hissing Quagmire, or using the Scavenge ability of Dreg Mangler all seem more attractive than casting Scarhide for its Bestow ability. On the other hand, Scarhide's art looks more at home in the deck than Champ, and that matters to some people.
And what does Bloodsoaked Champion offer us? The simple answer is Raid. It offers Resilience, the ability to come back from our graveyard, much like our budget upgrade Gravecrawler. If this deck isn't turning its creatures sideways, it's losing, so raid shouldn't be hard to trigger at all. Bloodsoaked Champ can also activate its own raid ability. It can attack alone, die, and bring itself back by triggering its own Raid ability. Pretty corner case, but really neat. I think the biggest advantage here is the opportunity to use its raid ability at 2 cmc is much more feasible than using Scarhide's Bestow ability. We can crunch 2 cmc into tighter spots, allowing us to possibly do more in a turn. Much more than Bestow at 4 cmc would. Sometimes we need to cast Ultimate Price or Vendetta, and 2 cmc Raid for Champ is likely able to fit into the turn if we're holding our more expensive spells in hand.
What are your thoughts?