Tarkir’s New Surrak is a Deathwish Against One of Magic’s Strongest Cards

Last updated on March 21, 2025

Surrak, Elusive Hunter & Orcish Bowmasters | Illustrations by Dan Murayama Scott and Maxim Kostin

As a wise frog once said: it's not easy bein' green. That's just a grim fact of Magic, and doubly so when staring at Islands across the board. Nothing worse than having your green mana all ramped up, ready to drop your big boys, and that pesky blue mage just goes: “Nope – Counterspell.”

Tarkir: Dragonstorm may change that a bit, though. Mistrise Village, a utility land that makes your next spell uncounterable, is already making control mages sweat. Inevitable Defeat gives Mardu a piece of exile removal that says “Nope” to Negates. And now here comes Surrak, Elusive Hunter, a 4/3 green human warrior with trample that won't be stopped by countermagic.

Cherry on top? With this green creature in play, you draw a card whenever your opponent goes for plan B and points removal or bounce spells at him, making Surrak, Elusive Hunter a two-for-one in many cases.

But green mages beware: There can be too much of a good thing here!

Bowmasters' Choice

Orcish Bowmasters | Illustration by Maxim Kostin

Surrak, Elusive Hunter has thus far received an extremely warm welcome among MTG players. Some call it a fair version of Nadu, Winged Wisdom, and lore buffs praise this legendary creature for how well it fits the Tarkir and Temur storyline. And also by how well Surrak gives the finger to counterspells, of course!

“The amount of sentimentality I feel for the temur is so silly,” writes u/Biggesturtle. “Love this guy, so glad he's still around and hating on blue players.”

“Neither sleet, nor hail, nor change of timeline can stay this man from hating counterspells,” cheers u/SquirrelDragon.

But, here's the catch: While Surrak, Elusive Hunter may end up being a solid player in Standard or Pioneer, dropping them in an MTG format where Orcish Bowmasters prowls would be akin to suicide. 

Here's the thing:

• You control your trusty Surrak, Elusive Hunter.
• Your opponents flashes in an Orcish Bowmasters, targeting any creature you control (they may target Surrak, Elusive Hunter, or any other of your creatures).
• Surrak, Elusive Hunter‘s ability will trigger, drawing you a card…
• … which in turn triggers the Bowmasters again, which can target any of your creatures, triggering Surrak again, and again, and again.

You are forced to keep drawing until you lose – Surrak, Elusive Hunter does not have a “may” clause, so you have to draw a card and mill yourself to death. The trigger happens when the Orcish Bowmasters targets something, not when it deals the direct damage. In other words, Orcish Bowmasters can target Surrak, Elusive Hunter and you'll mill yourself before a single ping actually lands on Surrak, or any of your other creatures.

Adding insult to injury, the Orcish Bowmasters player can, if they want to, stop the loop at any time, by targeting you rather than any of your creatures. They have optionality – you don't!

Unless you have an out in your library (like some stifle effect or some removal spell you can stop this draw hate loop with), Surrak, Elusive Hunter + Orcish Bowmasters = you die on the spot.

Is the Bowmasters + Surrak Interaction an Oversight by WotC?

Orcish Bowmasters by Tyler Jacobson

Most likely not. There's no way that Wizards of the Coast is not aware that Orcish Bowmasters exists – they even recently printed a card with the same interaction in Duskmourn:

And Altanak, the Thrice-Called even sees some competitive play in Duel Commander and cEDH, suggesting that Surrak, Elusive Hunter may survive there even with the threat of orcish ambushes.

Still, green mages beware: In any Magic format where Orcish Bowmasterss roam, it won't be easy being Surrak, Elusive Hunter!