Archived - Matchup Analysis - Rhinos

Key Cards: Aid/Paladin, Urza’s Saga, Kaldra, Post-board: Blacksmith’s Skill, Lavinia

Problem Cards: Fury, Brazen Borrower, Leyline Binding & T3feri (in 4C) Post-board: Force of Vigor, Blood Moon

Objectives:

• Game 1, your entire plan is to get a hammer (and maybe a Spear) on a creature. Once it’s there, their only outs are Brazen Borrower and slowing you down with Ice. In 4C, they also have Binding and T3f, which are real considerations.
• Their outs to a fast hammer are:
  • Multiple Cascades back-to-back
  • Otawara
  • Brazen Borrower
  • Leyline Binding
  • Some Builds play Archmage's Charm to steal your creature
• If you ever get a Shadowspear and a Hammer on a creature, it is very unlikely for them to win. The huge life swing and fast clock means that they will likely just die.
• Sticking a Sigarda’s Aid is one of the strongest things you can do in the matchup, because it effectively turns off their tempo/countermagic plan, and allows you to pick your spot to “go for it”. Having an Aid in play also means that bouncing your hammers mid-combat is not a reasonable strategy.
• Keep in mind that while they have some powerful cards like Fury, their best tools against you often require 2-for-1’ing themselves. As they also need to hit land 3-4 on time, it can be very challenging for them to keep up on resources and deploy their own gameplan.
• Game 1 your Urza’s Saga makes for an excellent fair plan, as they will usually be larger than a rhinoceros, and provide a ton of value/pressure.
  • Additionally, leaning on end-step constructs means that they either waste their mana by passing out of fear from a surprise hammer, OR they tap out, leaving them open to a connection.
• Giver->SFM->Kaldra is often a very strong plan vs Rhinos, as they typically do not have much meaningful interaction for it.
  • Temur just has Borrower
  • 4C has T3f and Binding
• Brazen Borrower: Keep in mind that if you don’t have to give Inkmoth Nexus flying after hammering it, you shouldn’t. Brazen Borrower can’t block non-fliers.
• Fire/Ice: especially with no memnites, Fire is rarely a 2-for-1, and ice is usually just there to tap down a big creatures. As such, this means you should often put hammers onto creatures mid-combat after they have already been declared as attackers via Aid when given the option.
• Fury: Don’t run multiple creatures into an early Fury unless you absolutely have to.

SB Strategy and highlights: Lavinia does basically everything you could want in this matchup. Partner that with a proactive strategy and Skill as your protection, and you are in good shape.

• Blacksmith’s Skill protecting specific cards (Aid, Hammer, Saga) from getting tagged by Ice or Force of Vigor is excellent.
• Lavinia does the following:
  • Counters: Crashing Footfalls, Force of Vigor, Fury,
  • Prevents the 4C version from casting Leyline Binding until they have 6 lands in play.
  • She carries a hammer.
  • Basically, if Lavinia sticks around, it is incredibly difficult for Rhinos to win. If she’s in play and you have Giver or Skill, play conservatively and play “Protect the Queen”.
• Spell Pierce is a good card that can counter Rhinos, Blood Moon, or (sometimes) FoV, but is largely covered by Blacksmith’s Skill (since Hammer is the beatdown in the matchup). I like pierce a lot more vs the 4C version since it keeps T3f from coming down.
• Drannith Magistrate is similar to Lavinia in that it stops Crashing Footfalls, but doesn’t counter Fury or Force of Vigor. These are real and meaningful differences, so while Magistrate is fine, it isn’t an auto-include.
• Blood Moon can potentially be a way to get cheesed out of the game. As such, you should try to sniff out if they are going to Moon you and fetch accordingly.

TL;DR: Hammer em fast or force them 2-for-1 themselves until they don’t have resources. Saga Constructs can take over from there. Game 2 do your best to beat Force of Vigor, and you’re good to go.