Lathnu Hellion 2R
Creature - Hellion
Haste
When Lathnu Hellion enters the battlefield, you get EE.
At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice Lathnu Hellion unless you pay EE.
4/4
Kind of surprised there was no discussion for Keldon Marauders' bigger, angrier brother (hellion?).
Seems like an incredible rate for damage/mana invested.
On an empty board, it can do 8 damage (immediately attacks for 4, then pay the energy cost on your end step and attack again the next turn before having to sacrifice it).
Or it can kill a creature and deal 4 damage.
Or it can kill 2 creatures.
Are red's three drops so stacked now that this doesn't make the cut?
I think the Marauders comparison is apt. They are both temporary dudes that can swing hard early. Getting behind on board is a concern, but plenty of people still play Marauders. Dividable burn can shore up some of this card's weakness against chump blockers as well, clearing the way for unblockable attacks. Ideally by turn 4 you should be swinging for the win, or close enough to close out the game with burn, so I don't think having a permanent body is totally necessary.
Ya, this looks more comparable to Hell's Thunder. Two hasty 4-power attacks. Hellions second attack doesn't cost you mana, but it lacks the evasion and you cannot choose the timing. The lack of evasion really hurts. Maybe it's better than Hell's Thunder if you play a lot of energy cards, but so far I haven't seen many cubeable ones, so that seems unlikely.
Lathnu has much higher variance than Hell's Thunder. If you can clear out any small blockers, it's either dealing 8 or taking out two midsize creatures for 3 mana, which is a great deal. If you can't, it's trading with two chump blockers, which is subpar for a 3 drop. If I ran Hell's Thunder, I would swap it for Lathnu even with no energy support. But I don't, so I'm probably only running Lathnu if I support energy.
It just looks like a bad Hell's Thunder to me. No evasion, and telegraphs the second attack.
Keldon Maraudersguarantees 2 damage for 1R (which isn't the worst, and it can go directly at 'walkers) and it gums up the board in the aggro mirror for a round of combat.
Maybe if an E subtheme becomes a thing this Hellion can gain enough value to be worth inclusion? IDK.
Gumming up the board for one turn in an aggro mirror doesn't seem like much value to me, but for what it's worth, Hellion would gum it up for 2 turns.
Marauders comes down a turn earlier and does 2 guaranteed damage (that can go at walkers) - true, and that's why I love me some Marauders. On the other hand, Hellion can attack out of nowhere via haste, so you can play it into windows that also guarantee damage, or will surprise take out a walker.
I realize Hell's Thunder can do the same thing, but we ultimately cut it because it couldn't go in as many decks due to the RR, and we found the unearth to be a tad expensive. Sure it's fine when you have nothing else to do, but that wasn't a good enough reason to warrant inclusion.
Also, lack of evasion applies to most red 3 drops. I don't see that as a major knock. Even the mighty Rabblemaster can be stymied by a 2/2. Clearing the path for your team is often necessary. So I disagree that taking out two blockers is below par. That's about average for Staggershock/Arc Lightning/Flames of the Firebrand, at least in my experience.
Perhaps Hellion will end up being too inconsistent, but it embodies the philosophy of fire so well that I can't help but testing it at least.
Also, lack of evasion applies to most red 3 drops.
Not the ones that can't stay on the board.
I'm not playing 1-shot creature-based damage effects unless they have evasion or can guarantee damage. Especially not if I have little control over their timing windows.
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for what it's worth, Hellion would gum it up for 2 turns.
Not if it's getting damage in...
Quote from Kouri »
That's about average for Staggershock/Arc Lightning/Flames of the Firebrand, at least in my experience.
Those burn spells can directly kill creatures that don't want to be involved in combat. And they can kill 'walkers even through blockers. And they can directly kill players at low life totals. It's not even remotely close to the same thing as a Hell's Thunder variant.
2R
Creature - Hellion
Haste
When Lathnu Hellion enters the battlefield, you get EE.
At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice Lathnu Hellion unless you pay EE.
4/4
Kind of surprised there was no discussion for Keldon Marauders' bigger, angrier brother (hellion?).
Seems like an incredible rate for damage/mana invested.
On an empty board, it can do 8 damage (immediately attacks for 4, then pay the energy cost on your end step and attack again the next turn before having to sacrifice it).
Or it can kill a creature and deal 4 damage.
Or it can kill 2 creatures.
Are red's three drops so stacked now that this doesn't make the cut?
I could see trying it if you go deep on energy, as red does seem the best energy color so far.
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Keldon Marauders guarantees 2 damage for 1R (which isn't the worst, and it can go directly at 'walkers) and it gums up the board in the aggro mirror for a round of combat.
Maybe if an E subtheme becomes a thing this Hellion can gain enough value to be worth inclusion? IDK.
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Marauders comes down a turn earlier and does 2 guaranteed damage (that can go at walkers) - true, and that's why I love me some Marauders. On the other hand, Hellion can attack out of nowhere via haste, so you can play it into windows that also guarantee damage, or will surprise take out a walker.
I realize Hell's Thunder can do the same thing, but we ultimately cut it because it couldn't go in as many decks due to the RR, and we found the unearth to be a tad expensive. Sure it's fine when you have nothing else to do, but that wasn't a good enough reason to warrant inclusion.
Also, lack of evasion applies to most red 3 drops. I don't see that as a major knock. Even the mighty Rabblemaster can be stymied by a 2/2. Clearing the path for your team is often necessary. So I disagree that taking out two blockers is below par. That's about average for Staggershock/Arc Lightning/Flames of the Firebrand, at least in my experience.
Perhaps Hellion will end up being too inconsistent, but it embodies the philosophy of fire so well that I can't help but testing it at least.
Not the ones that can't stay on the board.
I'm not playing 1-shot creature-based damage effects unless they have evasion or can guarantee damage. Especially not if I have little control over their timing windows.
Not if it's getting damage in...
Those burn spells can directly kill creatures that don't want to be involved in combat. And they can kill 'walkers even through blockers. And they can directly kill players at low life totals. It's not even remotely close to the same thing as a Hell's Thunder variant.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!