MTG Salvation

I've seen a lot of posts referencing Hero of Oxid Ridge and he does look quite good. I have a 360 variable cube, only done 5 drafts so it changes incredibly fast... but I am running a variety of other cards in that spot that i think are just as strong if not stronger
Hound of griselbrand,
Chandra, the firebrand,
Koth of the hammer,
Avalanche Riders,
Hellrider,
Flametongue Kavu,
Keldon Champion,
So i guess my question is, "is he worth a slot?" and what does he provide that is so special about him?

He may be the best red 4cc creature in the cube (behind Flametongue Kavu, of course). The battle cry allows your creatures to attack into blockers that they otherwise may not be able to attack into (as well as getting in or extra damage). The 4 power and haste is obviously great. But the real key, is the evasion. Turning off all of your opponent's small blockers can just steal wins out of nowhere. Against token decks, walls, mana-dorks ...whatever. It shuts all their blocking down.

From that list, I would easily cut Hound, Chandra or Keldon Champion (my cut of choice) for the Hero. It's similar to Hellrider, but different in enough relevant ways to make it better, IMO. The blocking disruption is so very good.

I've just never seen him played ever in an actual game, didn't know how relevant that ability was. My preferred cut probably would have been Hound of Griselbrand But someone in my playgroup is in love with it.

Didn't wanna acquire him if i was gonna instantly take him out.

I think the best 4 are:

Keldon Champion
Hellrider
Hero of Oxid Ridge
Flametongue Kavu

With Koth and Avalanche Riders up next. Chandra and Hound are the weakest I think.

Edit: Explanation...I think Hellrider, Champion, and Hero are all pretty close, and virtually guaranteed to deal damage. They are great curve toppers in aggro. Kavu is versatile, and while a bit weaker in aggro I think and the others, is better in other archetypes. Koth and Avalanche Riders are really good, but just less efficient than the others and are more situational. Chandra and Hound are decent, but even less efficient, though they are both fairly versatile.

The Hero is about to enter the fray in my Multiplayer cube (coming in for Roc of Kher Ridges, which is efficient but boring).
Because Aggro generally doesn't work in multiplayer, the usual suspects listed above are probably not even viable for me. My 4cc red slot looks like a dog's breakfast at the moment.
I suspect the Hero is about to go from "Should we put it in? Maybe... it's not bad..." to "OH MY HOW DID WE EVER LIVE WITHOUT HIM".

I've found the usual suspects to not be too bad in Multiplayer, strangely enough^^ WR is one of the most drafted archetypes in my cube, and while I'd certainly hesitate to call it truly 'aggro,' it's certainly one of the best decks at keeping pressure on. I might try the Hero out myself, as I have noticed a few situations recently where it would have been a real game changer.

Haste, high power, battlecry and the blocking restriction often result in a massive amount of damage out of nowhere. One second, you sit there quite comfortably with a high life total and a few blockers, the next second, your are taking 5 to 10 damage to the face. For only 2RR. And if you don't stop the Hero, you will receive a similar amount of damage during your next turn.

The hero cannot deal with planeswalkers directly, but otherwise, he has at least as much offensive potential as Keldon Champion... without any echo cost. And he is definitely better than Hound of Griselbrand and Chandra, the Firebrand, putting him in the top 5 of red 4-drops.

Quote from eidolon232

We have made the completely opposite experience: when we play 2Hg with our cube, aggro is the deck that you want to be in as long as your and your teammate's pool both allow you to play a beatdown deck. The only reason why you might see it less often is that you mixed strategies (Seat A aggro, Seat B midrange) are suboptimal as long as 1 of them is aggro, while midrange + control works perfectly fine.

Agreed with you there - it works fine in 2HG. Free-for-all? Not so much...

Quote from eidolon232

offtopic:
I can't say I like f4amp at all, since it is a format, where nobody wants to attack and if you do, multiple players are attacking one player. You don't want to be the guy who play any threatening cards either, since that way you only bring up the other players against you. Finally there is the "my enemy's enemy" problematic, where players tend help other players they are competing with either directly or passively by not attacking / not disrupting them when they have the option.

Only being able to attack the person on the left can solve this, although that format may have its own name. I always enjoyed that variant.

FTK is amazing. I don't have to explain that. K. Champion is an absolute tank. He looks like jank but plays amazing. We're talking ball lightning damage against an open field. Hellrider is also a quality card in that you can have a swarm and still punch damage through to "players".
I like Hero because he's great for red in many ways, including but not limited to ending the game when he comes out, boosting your army's strength, and fitting nicely into several draft decks (mono red, boros, blue-red, stompy w/ red, etc).
Recently, I have cut Koth who just doesn't do enough for the 4cc slot. Avalanche Riders is hit-or-miss. Most of us play it because it opens LD tactics for red. Is it the best card in red's 4cc slot? Ehh you can argue against it -- especially given the better aforementioned cards. 4cc Chandra is crap imo. Her upside is sweet but just getting there isn't worth the slot in smaller cubes.
Hound falls under my proverbial grey-line. I think this is a card I'd cut to keep Hero in. Hound has undying, which is amazing and double-strike, which keeps players honest. However, the card lacks that oomph I'm looking for. The oomph I get from playing Hero -- who immediately kicks ass and makes things happen NOW. Depending on how many 4cc slots you want to run, I find Hound the odd card out of the mix. If I ran a bigger cube, this would clearly make it in. However, 400 and below, I find it very difficult to support choosing this card over other options.

I would play Koth, Hellrider and Hero over Champion in any red deck I'd ever build. And it's not even remotely close.

Quote from wtwlf123

I would play Koth, Hellrider and Hero over Champion in any red deck I'd ever build. And it's not even remotely close.

Word. I think Keldon Champion is completely outclassed in small and medium cubes these days.

Cheers,
rant

What? Koth is a 4/4 Haste for 4. And that's as bad as he ever gets.

Is Hero still in most Cubes? Rear end of 2 with no ETB is anemic these days.

Quote from Patrunkenphat7 »

Is Hero still in most Cubes? Rear end of 2 with no ETB is anemic these days.

It's still a fine option, but it seems like a lot of people are cutting it first.

Also, it kinda has an ETB, not literally but the battlecry and blocking clause often happen the turn it ETB.

For me, it was either that or Hellrider, and I like the reach Hellrider provides, along with the bigger butt.

It's a very good card in a section with many things (and ultimately, does the same thing as many other cards in that same role - Hellrider, Koth and even Hazoret, as top-end finisher.)

I ended up cutting Hero and would likely see it working well if it came back in; its mini-falter ability is fine but it's the least good in the slot where it resides.

I just cut it recently. Great card, but red 4-drops have gotten really competitive and Hero is too similar too and somewhat inferior to Hellrider. If I had a 540 card cube, it would like make a comeback.

Cheers,
rant

I cut Hero of Oxid Ridge for Hazoret and haven't looked back. I could see it making it in my list over Avalanche Riders, but the Riders have a special place in my heart.

Quote from rantipole »

I just cut it recently. Great card, but red 4-drops have gotten really competitive and Hero is too similar too and somewhat inferior to Hellrider. If I had a 540 card cube, it would like make a comeback.

Cheers,
rant

540 cube here, there's still no room lol not that it would feel out of place, but even with 90+ cards I still don't really need another aggressive 4 drop. If I was you, I'd be throwing in Purphoros first, that guy has been a beast and is an awesome splashable build around.

I'm at 720 cards, but as they keep printing more and more red 4-drops at the power level they've been doing, I've been getting worried about my Hero. He was one of my first chase mythics that I opened out of a pack (I took a break between Alara and SOM) and was an early rockstar in my list. Compared to Koth and the other red 4s, he's probably got the shortest lifespan.

Hero remains in my 360, but he's very much on the fringe nowadays. If they print another strong 4-drop Dragon like Thunderbreak Regent, he's probably getting voted off the island.

Quote from Salmo »

Quote from rantipole »

I just cut it recently. Great card, but red 4-drops have gotten really competitive and Hero is too similar too and somewhat inferior to Hellrider. If I had a 540 card cube, it would like make a comeback.

Cheers,
rant

540 cube here, there's still no room lol not that it would feel out of place, but even with 90+ cards I still don't really need another aggressive 4 drop. If I was you, I'd be throwing in Purphoros first, that guy has been a beast and is an awesome splashable build around.

I already run Purphoros. He's been great. Sometimes, it's my only red card in an otherwise Orzhov token deck.

Cheers,
rant

Quote from rantipole »

Quote from Salmo »

Quote from rantipole »

I just cut it recently. Great card, but red 4-drops have gotten really competitive and Hero is too similar too and somewhat inferior to Hellrider. If I had a 540 card cube, it would like make a comeback.

Cheers,
rant

540 cube here, there's still no room lol not that it would feel out of place, but even with 90+ cards I still don't really need another aggressive 4 drop. If I was you, I'd be throwing in Purphoros first, that guy has been a beast and is an awesome splashable build around.

I already run Purphoros. He's been great. Sometimes, it's my only red card in an otherwise Orzhov token deck.

Cheers,
rant

Ah right, didn't see him in the enchantments sections, excuse me.