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Exclusive Theros Preview – Fabled Hero

ManaDeprived.com’s exclusive Theros spoiler is brought to you by members of Team Mana Deprived: David Caplan, Jon Stern and Alexander Hayne.

“You. Poet. Be sure to write this down”

Caplan
David Caplan:
As a former student of Greek and Roman mythology, I have to say that the pairing of the card and flavor text made me chuckle. The poet, the true authors of ancient Greece and Rome, were responsible for transcribing oral legend, essentially ancient history as we know it. The most popular surviving poems, like the works of Homer, are among the most well-known stories around the globe. What is it about these stories that has kept them alive thousands of years later? It’s the idea of the hero. The fact that an ordinary person can become extraordinary.

Hercules is one of the most iconic figures in Greek/Roman mythology. Living the life of a simple mortal for so many years, he is suddenly faced with a set of divine challenges which require his god-like abilities to overcome. This classic legend has been replicated and paralleled countless times since in both literature and oral history, and is very often the model used to create modern heroes in literature. A young man living a nearly ordinary life discovers extraordinary abilities and uses them to take action.

There are heroes, but then there are legends. Heroes receive medals and commendations, but legends, well they make history.

So tell me hero, how will you become legendary?

Well, let’s find out. I sat down with Alexander Hayne and Jon Stern to take a look at this new sweet card and answer a few questions.

Fabled Hero

Question: What are your immediate first impressions of [card]Fabled Hero[/card], the exclusive Mana Deprived preview card for Theros?

Jon Stern
Jon Stern:
First impression? Probably relief that the card is actually decent, so I won’t have to gush about its applications in casual formats. Besides that, my first thoughts were that this would be really sweet with hexproof, and that an [card]Enlarge[/card]d [card]Fabled Hero[/card] is a nice little one-shot.

Hayne-e1378360091449-150x150
Alexander Hayne:
Pretty decent card. Double strike is a strong ability on a cheap creature, and the new mechanic is obviously a bonus. Clearly you do want to pump this guy up somehow, and the heroic ability makes this even more effective.

Caplan
David Caplan: Blech, it’s white! Seriously, I thought it was a pretty cool card, a limited powerhouse which also has a lot of strong interactions in the current standard format. It also forced me do a lot of math to figure out what different pump spells and auras would do to my opponents’ life totals.

Question: Does [card]Fabled Hero[/card] compare favorably to other cards of a similar nature?

Caplan
David Caplan:
It compares best to [card]Mirran Crusader[/card], but we are now in a standard environment where white and auras go hand in hand, and the available auras are very powerful. Given that cheap double strike creatures are generally played along with pump effects, and that this creature offers a very significant bonus when targeted, I think it stacks up very well.

Jon Stern
Jon Stern:
Another card that immediately comes to mind is [card]Silverblade Paladin[/card]. Objectively, I think the lack of pseudo-haste makes [card]Fabled Hero[/card] worse, but a little worse than [card]Silverblade Paladin[/card] might still be pretty good. The key will be finding ways to leverage value out of the heroic mechanic without throwing a lot of bad cards in your deck.

Hayne-e1378360091449-150x150
Alexander Hayne:
[card]Silverblade Paladin[/card] was usually used to give another bigger, badder creature double strike, but also did require that second creature, leading to blowouts in combat when one or the other was removed, say with an [card]Azorius Charm[/card]. [card]Fabled Hero[/card] doesn’t have that issue.

You can also make a valid comparison to [card]Fencing Ace[/card], which saw some play in hexproof decks. We have to consider if it’s worth paying an extra white mana for +1/+1 and the heroic ability. While on a normal creature, +1/+1 is not worth a mana, on a double striking creature, I think it is. It is more like upgrading a 2/2 to a 4/4 rather than a 3/3. [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card] sees play while I haven’t seen [card]Runeclaw Bear[/card]s in any decks lately.

Question: Does [card]Fabled Hero[/card] have a natural home in post-rotation Standard?

Caplan
David Caplan:
As I alluded to earlier, I think this card’s natural home is in Bant Hexproof, where this guy represents a massive threat with any of their auras, especially an [card]Unflinching Courage[/card]. Those two cards alone represent a 20 point life swing. It could also see play in a W/x weenie strategy, especially if more good combat tricks are printed. With both this and [card]Fencing Ace[/card] in the format, we could definitely see a deck that tries to exploit the interaction between double strike and pump spells.

Jon Stern
Jon Stern:
While the most natural home in current Standard would almost certainly be Hexproof, the loss of [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card] and [card]Invisible Stalker[/card] will make it hard for that deck to surviving rotation.

As for new decks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an aggressive WG deck develop into a tier 1 strategy. [card]Fabled Hero[/card] has synergy with anything that gives +1/+1 counters or pumps power and toughness like [card]Ajani, Caller of the Pride[/card], [card]Archangel of Thune[/card], bloodrush cards, and [card]Unflinching Courage[/card], but the card I’m really looking forward to pairing this with is [card]Selesnya Charm[/card] which I already like more than most. This really takes advantage of the heroic mechanic while providing ample functionality when you don’t have a [card]Fabled Hero[/card] in play.

Hayne-e1378360091449-150x150
Alexander Hayne:
Obviously, what you really want to do is pump this guy up. Both double strike and heroic encourage you to do so. But I think with [card]Invisible Stalker[/card], [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card], [card]Thragtusk[/card], [card]Huntmaster of the Fells[/card], [card]Strangleroot Geist[/card], [card]Geralf’s Messenger[/card], and [card]Gravecrawler[/card] leaving the format, spot removal spells like [card]Doom Blade[/card], [card]Abrupt Decay[/card] and [card]Putrefy[/card] get better. However, Theros is not yet spoiled, and if there is enough incentive from other cards to push heroic in Constructed, this card could be a real powerhouse. It could be a really strong addition to Craig Wescoe’s deck from Worlds, with [card]Brave the Elements[/card] to protect him from removal. Unfortunately, [card]Brave the Elements[/card] won’t trigger his ability, but I don’t see that stopping Craig from having four in all his Standard and Block decks until Theros rotates.

Question: Will rotation help or hurt its chances of seeing play?

Hayne-e1378360091449-150x150
Alexander Hayne:
I currently don’t own a crystal ball, so I can’t say for sure. But I would guess that White Weenie decks will want him more than they did pre-rotation, when they had access to [card]Silverblade Paladin[/card]. However, I do think that spot removal will get better with Theros, so that could hurt his chances. Also, decks like Bant Hexproof, that would have played this card, may not survive the rotation. However, I expect that at least some people will be trying to put [card]Unflinching Courage[/card] or maybe even [card]Mark of the Vampire[/card] on this guy for a two-turn clock and massive life swing.

Jon Stern
Jon Stern:
Hard to say. The rotation of efficient burn spells like [card]Pillar of Flame[/card] and [card]Searing Spear[/card] should help its cause, but natural predators like [card]Doom Blade[/card] and [card]Azorius Charm[/card] will still be around. Overall, I’d say this is probably a net positive. I expect [card]Fabled Hero[/card] to shine more in creature-based matchups where it can play offense and defense, and those are the kinds of decks that will feel the loss of the burn spells.

Caplan
David Caplan:
I think it makes it more likely to see play. [card]Geist of Saint Traft[/card] was the go-to 3 drop for the aura deck and, with it rotating, this fills the spot on the curve quite well. However, with the loss of [card]Invisible Stalker[/card] as well as some auras, more help will need to be printed for the deck to remain viable.

Question: What do you think about the heroic mechanic in Limited?

Caplan
David Caplan:
I am interested to see if there are going to be many cards in the set that trigger the ability and are strong enough on their own. You shouldn’t have to play spells just to get a +1/+1 counter. Good pump spells and strong auras are a requirement to make the mechanic strong.

Hayne-e1378360091449-150x150
Alexander Hayne:
I think that it will probably be pushed enough to be good. It doesn’t appear to be a dominant Constructed mechanic, and if there are enough enablers, I could definitely see it as a strong Limited ability. However, I don’t think cards like [card]Fabled Hero[/card] are the reason it will be good. Creatures that give a benefit that outlasts their own lives will be the best ones to use. [card]Fabled Hero[/card] asks for a removal spell all by itself, and you don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket if you can avoid it.

Jon Stern
Jon Stern:
It’s hard to preview a Limited card for an unreleased set without using the word “context” about a thousand times. In the immortal words of Bart Simpson, “I can’t promise to try. But I’ll try to try.”

Obviously, R&D can push any mechanic to the breaking point and it’s hard to predict exactly how far they’ll go. As Alex mentioned, I don’t think heroic is particularly dangerous for Constructed, so that might give them some leeway to push the envelope. With respect to game play, I’m generally not a fan of mechanics that encourage you to cast spells on your own creatures and walk into 2-for-1s. It leads to high variance situations where your opponent either has an answer and you lose, or don’t and you win. You can do your best to bait removal and set up a good situation, but that’s not always possible. Fortunately, the enchantment creature cards should help mitigate this effect.

Question: Is [card]Fabled Hero[/card] a first pick?

Caplan
David Caplan:
Yes. Not only is the creature solid without the heroic ability, it is very abusable. If you manage to draft cards that synergize well with it, it can be extremely swingy.

Jon Stern
Jon Stern:
It attacks and blocks very well, even without heroic benefit. Assuming a reasonable amount of support for the mechanic, I definitely think it’s a high pick. Whether I would take it over a premium removal spell really depends on how easy it is to kill creatures in the format. Actually, both [card]Fabled Hero[/card] and cards like [card]Doom Blade[/card] get better in removal-light formats. Generally speaking, I prefer bombs to removal. I’m not sure this is a bomb, but it could be.

Hayne-e1378360091449-150x150
Alexander Hayne: In the dark, I wouldn’t feel bad first picking this card. [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card] was very strong in Return to Ravnica, and I suspect that this will be even better. Wizards has not been shying away from including ways to pump creatures for quite some time, and this card obviously looks amazing with any kind of [card]Giant Growth[/card] or [card]Ethereal Armor[/card]. Considering heroic is a major mechanic in the set, I expect [card]Fabled Hero[/card] to be really good. Of course, if removal is plentiful, it becomes worse, but I suspect that won’t be the case.

Altogether, I think that [card]Fabled Hero[/card] is probably the best card that ManaDeprived.com has gotten to spoil yet. Efficient creatures with Double Strike are hard to come by, and with him effectively getting pumped up twice by any enhancements, this is one Hero who can certainly change the history of a game. He definitely compares fairly well to similar cards we have seen in the past, and is fairly likely to find a home come rotation. While perhaps not a huge limited powerhouse in a deck that can’t trigger his heroic ability, this card will definitely be a solid player in any deck just on stats alone.

Despite not being a poet myself, of many of the cards spoiled thus far, I am writing down [card]Fabled Hero[/card] on my wish list for Theros, and so should you.

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