Browbeat

[TheJord]

I am still learning magic, and Browbeat is the card I am struggling to understand at the moment. Can anyone explain its use to me?

[FM]

It's fairly useful if you're playing monored burn decks, for instance (which means a monored deck filled only with cheap spells that deal damage to an opponent so that you drop him from 20 to 0 quickly). Browbeat gives you a way to either deal 5 to their dome for 3 mana (an awesome deal most of the time) or draw 3 cards (possibly drawing 3 burn spells, which might result in even more damage to their dome) with a red card, which is nothing to sneeze at.
Problem is, in possibly every other deck build, Browbeat will be subpar, because it fits in the category of cards like Dash Hopes: they give YOUR OPPONENT the choice of what's going to happen. They both seem like awesome cards, but most of the time, unless you're playing against a bad opponent, you'll get the worse option out of the two.

[Witchkingx5]

Yeah, it's more something like a, you know, win-win situation, but you have to hold your lands in your hand if you want him to draw you cards, cus' then he will think that you still have enough burn spells, but usually, in a Genju-16 or 14 lands burn you will drawcards that inflict more damage to your opponent than just 5.
It's quite difficult to play, you have to see how your opponent is playing, if he either does never tak any risks or if he does, and thats so interesting about MtG.
You see, I play Cards like Dash Hopes, or better, Curse of the Cabal which le you make the opponent suffer really hard and then with Cards like Crosis's Charm (I know that it's not a very playable card but usefull to show in here, if you want something stronger, let me say.. take Cryptic Command)
So, according to what your opponent took you take the option(S) that hurts your opponent most and make him suffer.. muahahaha... (sry about that)
Let me show you an example:
Your Life Points: 9
Opponents life points: 11
Your field: 6/6 creaure, 4 Islands, 2 Swamps
Your opponent's field is empty, neither Creatures, Enchantements and things like that, only 9 Mountains. He plays a creature to save himself. You play Dash Hopes and your opponent chooses to end his turn, doesnt play anoter creature cus' its something like a Kumano, Master Yamabushi, cus' he wants to save some mana (4) for burning. End of turn, you play Cryptic Command and Bring back Kumano and draw one card. You win cus of the damage that was dealt to him by Dash Hopes and your atttacking 6/6 Creature.
See, if he would have chosen to let counter Kumano and played another Creature, e maybe wouldnt have won, but he'd survived one more turn.

I hope you understand now that both types of Cards are useful, first the cards that let you choose and also the cards when your opponent has to choose.

Witchkingx5

[FM]

But that is a near-perfetc scenario youjust built, in which case ANY card can be useful. Just because I was playing Lava Axe in a deck, my opponent was ta five life, we both had empty hands and I topdecked it, it doesn't make it a good card (for Constructed play, I mean, Limited is a whole different matter, it IS actually quite playable).
Most of the time, however, you'll draw it in your opening hand. Then, you'll end up leaving 2 black mana open (instead of playing, say, Sign in Bloood) on turn two just so he plays a lesser creature and you counter, just for the sake of it, in which case you lost your play and wasted a card to deal with a single creature (and if it's an important creature, like, say, a Vampire Hexmage in a Dark Depths deck he WILL force it through paying 5 life since it will win him the game), while you could have just as easily played something else and played a larger creature your turn, or a piece of removal. Even Browbeat, which is at least somewhat playable in an archetype, is still bad. Dash Hopes is even worse, and believe me, I loved the card, still have my playset. It's just no useful. If you are playing a format where it CAN be used, Remand or good old Counterspell are simply strictly better, and dippinginto blue while playing black is no stretch at all, as allied colors there are PLENTY of land to make that happen.

[Witchkingx5]

Well I jused Dash Hopes in Standard in my rogue Deck and it did it's job pretty ggod, same as Browbeat, which I was playing 3 times in my Snowland-Siege-Gang-Garuuk-somewhat-Deck which was pretty cool, then (and 4 times Harmonize, too) and I must say, in a Deck with 4 times Garruck and 4 times Siege-Gang Commander, Browbeat IS cruel.