MTG Salvation

"You know what we need, is more red 4 drops with haste", said no cube owner ever.

Seems like a sweet card though. Indestructible is awesome, and the attack/block clause seems right at home in a red aggressive deck. I'm a big fan, I could see replacing one of my currents 4s with it, which seems blasphemous considering their quality but this guy seems super good.

Splashable cost, discard outlet, reach, 5 power ... The animation clause seems reasonable. I'll test this, probably over Avalanche Riders, although possibly over Hero or Hellrider, since they're so similar. This supports a different kind of aggro. We'll see!


Plus it's a red mythic, which means it'll be bulk in a few weeks.

The big question is, how much will it matter if this doesn't attack on turn 4?

On the play:
T1 7 cards, land -> 1 drop; 5 cards
T2 draw, 6 cards, land -> 2 drop; 4 cards
T3 draw, 5 cards, land -> 3 drop; 3 cards
T4 draw, 4 cards, land -> 4 drop; 2 cards

So, yes I get that this won't happen every time, that a number of games you will be jamming two spells on turns 2-3, but that's not 100% out of the question above, meaning this guy probably isn't attacking turn 4. It still might be good enough since it gives you reach and doesn't die to a lot, but it's something to consider.

I

Quote from steve_man »

This is going to go in a lot of Rakdos decks with Liliana of the Veil and gives Stax decks a good amount of reach.



Invocation font makes the text look like Hazoret the Pervert.....

If I get convinced to run this, I'm definitely running the pervert version. I don't think this does enough unfortunately. I just love my red four drops.

I like it. The floor of being a mono-red indestructible Stormbind variant is pretty neat, but the ceiling of being able to bash as a 5-power indestructible creature is great. Playing with cards like Blood Scrivener and Sea Gate Wreckage showed me how hard getting hellbent is in comparison to only having 1 card in hand. While it's true that the average curve won't lead to this attacking on T4, I think it'll be able to attack and block far more often than other hellbent mechanic cards have led us to believe. Especially since the discard ability can help you get there. I'll be giving this some extended testing time, and it may replace one of the more redundant current red 4-drops. A splashable, indestructible discard outlet that's a source of reliable reach is solid, and when this creature is "on"... it's really on.

Hmmmmmm. I don't *think* I like it all that much. It won't make use of its haste in nearly all cases and by the time it can swing, perhaps a more conventional curve-topper would have had more impact. However I DO really like the discard trigger. I have a soft spot for cubeable discard outlets and this could pack a lot of quick damage in the late game. Certainly an interesting design and I'm really eager to see the other Gods now.

One thing I really like about this guy over hero of Oxid ridge or hell rider is I could see him seeing play in other archetypes than Agro, at least as a sideboard card.
The splashable casting cost, and the ability to BLOCK huge cube monsters is very good.

If I were hurting for playables I could see running this in a wildfire type deck or a reanimator deck main.

Certainly testing.

Could see it be anywhere from a near miss to a staple. Leaning towards a near miss.

Quote from LucidVision »

If I were hurting for playables I could see running this in a wildfire type deck or a reanimator deck main.

This card seems *great* in wildfire. Discard the cards you can't cast until you can attack. Doesn't die to Wildfire. Can attack after a wildfire with pretty much no reservation.

I don't think the card is great in typic red aggro lists. It seems decent in disruptive black shell though. Still doesn't know if it's worth it there, but definitely has potential. Because there isn't that much, just being a discard-outlet in red seems also appealing. Dredgy-midrange lists may want this just to get some reach at killing planeswalkers and bashing in the face when entering into Recurring Nightmare mode. Great mana sink when you have cards to pitch in. Seems fine with Land Tax for that matter.

Overall, I'm not that impressed. But I do think that at least one of the others should be interesting. Having activated abilities that help you reach your goal is something really nice. Great job by the WotC R&D crew!

You can sometimes get choked on cards post-Wildfire since you lose resources, but it's certainly better in that deck than red's other 4cc creatures are.

Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond will help too. Looks fun with Firestorm! #petcard

This seems perfectly fine as an aggro curve topper to me. It will be the last spell I play, and a 5/4 indestructible haste is serious game. A great topdeck. Animating him is much easier than traditional hellbent. It also provides ample reach and planeswalker control and is even splashable. As a general discard outlet though, I think it is too slow and expensive.

Agreed, the discard function will likely be a secondary/backup advantage. It's fine for enabling Daretti, Scrap Savant to reanimate an Inkwell Leviathan, but it's not a discard outlet for your Exhume decks. Regardless, it's giving you reach and planeswalker control when pitching cards, while simultaneously helping to keep himself "active".

Love it. Take a seat, Hellrider...

Quote from B8R »

Love it. Take a seat, Hellrider...

Hellrider is still safe with me. It's one of the few creatures in that spot on the curve that provides what is essentially guaranteed reach on stalemated boards and makes a lot of bad attacks actually lethal. I think the only other red 4 that has won more games in that deck is Koth. If I was cutting a 'reach' 4 it would probably be Hero of Oxid ridge since it gets blanked/chumped more in my experience. I don't know if I like that cut either though. Why couldn't they just make this a super OP 3 drop lol

That's reasonable. I like Hero more I think. Recruiter of the Guard FTW! I do like that Red is becoming more and more diverse as a whole, and the array of 4 drops reflect all the of the possibilities.

Hellrider is a unique card. Unless my list is too low power for it, I try to find room. Hero on the other hand is a fairly boring option. I like Avalanche Riders a lot more because it goes in other decks. Land Destruction is a powerful effect largely unrepresented in cube (outside Wasteland and a few Vindicate effects). I can see this being a forth option though for lists that want a third red 4 drop. It's a safe pass for me I think.

I like Avalanche Riders quite a bit, because the effect is pretty unique. It's one of the few remaining answers to problematic lands (and there's a lot of them now) and it also has synergy with the Alesha/Feldon/Recruiter/Vat/'Lark shells that are breaking 2-power ETB triggers. If Hazoret makes it in, it'll be over one of the more redundant aggro curve-toppers.

I like this card. Even if it can't attack right away, it can pick off a planeswalker until you can turn it sideways. Survives Wildfire and a lot of sweepers. Definitely a solid card, though Red 4 is obviously crowded. Making room for this will be a challenge.

I was sure nobody here would like this. I sure didn't at first glance, but I've been eager to replace Stormbreath Dragon for awhile and came to join the discussion. I just can't imagine a deck that REALLY wants this god. To discard a card with this, you'd need to spend 5RR, and the payoff for that is 2 damage to a planeswalker or your opponent, a card in the yard, and closer to animation of the 5/4 indestructible. It seems like a trap to build around and a mediocre playable or sideboard card in already existing archetypes. All that said, I do appreciate that it's rather skill intensive to get this card to work, which could be rewarding. I am also keeping the Archfiend from this set in mind while adding Collective Brutality so if a R/B madness/self discard theme gets enough support in this set, I'll certainly keep this in mind.

Quote from wtwlf123 »

I like it. The floor of being a mono-red indestructible Stormbind variant is pretty neat

I assume you saw this, but it's not Stormbind... it only hits players. That's a pretty huge difference, like going from Goblin Fireslinger to Prodigal Pyromancer.