How Good is Pathbreaker Ibex?
General forum
Posted on May 19, 2025, 9:17 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
There are numerous variations of Overrun, some of which are also sorceries and some of which are creatures, and my favorite of those is Pathbreaker Ibex, because its ability is reusable, for only one additional mana over Overrun, and it can provide some major increases to the power and toughness of other creatures, in the proper deck, so I am wondering what everyone else thinks about that card.
What does everyone else say, about this subject? Is everyone else here as fond of Pathbreaker Ibex as I am, and why is Craterhoof Behemoth the more popular variant of Overrun, when it has a higher casting cost and cannot be reused without additional support? I certainly am interested to hear what everyone else has to say, on this matter.
wallisface says... #3
Pathbreaker Ibex is terrible! It doesn’t have haste so your opponent(s) have a whole turn to respond accordingly, by either mounting a defence, or just killing it (or you). It’s reusability doesn’t mean anything - these kinds of effects are meant to end the game on the spot; if they don’t then you’ve done something wrong.
May 19, 2025 9:50 p.m.
100% agree with wallisface. Imagine if you took Thassa's Oracle, and made it an attack trigger. It would be way worse, worse than even lab man. On top of all that, even if you manage to give the ibex haste, your opponents can kill it before you go to combat.
May 19, 2025 9:56 p.m.
Ibex also suffers from a generally worse power boost for this kind of effect. Overrun effects want large numbers of creatures - if two creatures are getting +5/+5, that is ten extra damage; if ten are, that is fifty damage.
Ibex depends on you having both a wide deck and a big anchor creature to buff everyone - that is a bit awkward, and essentially means you need Ibex and another high cost creature to get value. Behemoth only requires you to go wide - you get the power boost based on what the card already wants to be doing, without another companion piece required.
legendofa says... #2
Craterhoof Behemoth has haste. It doesn't have to survive for a turn before it starts doing its thing, and the mana cost has lots of ways to get around it or mitigate it--ramp, reanimation, something like Eladamri, Korvecdal and other cheats, etc. For , the Behemoth gets +2/+2 and immediate use over Pathbreaker Ibex, and that's a lot of its power.
That's not to say the Ibex isn't a really good card. It's strong and worthwhile in its own right, and it's easier to bring out by itself. The Behemoth's haste, though, is probably the deciding factor. The Ibex just needs a little bit more support to get full output than the Behemoth, and that little extra support can make the difference in a match.
Ibex is a beatdown card. Behemoth is a finisher.
May 19, 2025 9:47 p.m. Edited.