Unlike Bruno, we need to talk about Tyvar.

The Himbo with a Heart of Gold, and standout character/future mathlete from the excellent Duskmourn: House of Horror storyline from Mira Grant (the pen name of Seanan McGuire, who also wrote the very fun October Daye series, seriously, check it out), Tyvar has emerged as one of the more interesting characters in the current Magic storyline.

Behold, Tyvar, the Pummeler.

If you see this and your first instinct is to start brewing an Elf kindred deck, there are some interesting cards to do so. Leaf-Crowned Visionary is an exceptional lord creature, with a secondary ability that will let you rebound from a sweeper, the bane of every elf deck. Glissa Sunslayer is already a Standard all-star and will only get better when Duskmourn hits, since her ability to destroy enchantments takes out half the cards in the set. Fauna Shaman is lurking in the background, to make sure you draw the correct creature cards you need. There are good Elf cards in Standard.

So, if you see Tyvar, the Pummeler and your first thought goes to how you're going to be slamming the pointy-eared gang in a few weeks, I can totally get it. But, if we're being honest, any attempt at making an Elf deck currently exists in a sort of purgatory. The haunting specter of Llanowar Elves is lurking on the periphery, and knowing that it's coming means we know that a nuclear bomb is about to drop on the format. It might be in our best interest to keep the other Elves in mind and revisit the idea when Magic Foundations arrives in a couple of months.

Instead, let's look at Tyvar as a simple, direct, punch-you-in-the-face card for Standard.

As a 3/3 for , Tyvar meets the first baseline for being playable. He dodges Cut Down. Having a one-mana spell take down your three mana creature is one of the easiest ways to lose right now. His Power/toughness is also at the baseline, enough to make him a threat, something your opponent can't ignore for too long.

His first ability, "Tap another untapped creature you control: Tyvar, the Pummeler gains Indestructible until end of turn. Tap it," means he should be able to survive most removal spells (there's not a creature in Standard that's able to handle Sunfall) as long as you have another creature on board. This also means that Tyvar is one of the few creatures that can block Glissa Sunslayer and live to tell about it. He has a level of durability very few cards have in the format. He can attack into any board, and you can tap a creature afterwards. He'll already be tapped, since he's attacking, but he'll still gain Indestructible.

This ability also has an added benefit or playing exceptionally well with the Survivor cards from Duskmourn. When you play them precombat, cards like Kona, Rescue Beastie, Defiant Survivor, and Reluctant Role Model can be tapped with Tyvar to immediately gain the benefits of their survivor ability when you move to your second main phase. Throw in a couple vehicles and a Mount creature or two, and you got a brew going! In fact, this will probably be the first deck I build once we get the complete spoiler.

If that was all Tyvar offered, he probably wouldn't see much play. The first ability is interesting, and lends to his playability, but it's the second ability that really pushes the card into a solid card for Standard. ": Creatures you control get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the greatest power among creatures you control." At it's base, this works as a sort of "Overrun on a stick" in that if he's the biggest creature on the board, Tyvar himself will give your creatures +3/+3. Not giving Trample is a let down, but that might have been too much.

When paired with bigger creatures, say something like Overlord of the Hauntwoods, you can immediately turn 1-2 creatures into game ending threats. The ability doesn't require you to tap Tyvar, so it can also be used immediately and multiple activations can be triggered in the late game. Mono-Green Stompy is one of those decks that will always have its fans that try to build a version in every format, and it might be that Tyvar, the Pummeler is one of the cards that brings in a new era for the deck.

I'm loving the Duskmourn spoilers and I'm excited to see how the set shakes up Standard and Pioneer. Overall, the set looks like it has been pushed and there are a bunch of exciting cards to build around.

You can find more of my musings on the website formerly known as Twitter: @travishall456