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From the Magic: The Gathering official site: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/archive.aspx?tag=serious%20fun&description=serious%20fun
heroes seem to be everywhere. There are times when the media would have you believe that everyone is a hero. Roughly defined, heroics are brave deeds and noble qualities. In Magic, Setessa, Benalia, and Kinsbaile are just three places it the Multiverse that have heroes. Heroes are devoted, reunited, remembered, and reborn. In short, there is no shortage of heroes or heroic acts in Magic.
Heroic as a keyword, however, is a tough sell in multiplayer games. When a creature has heroic, it gets some kind of benefit when you cast a spell that targets that creature. There are three reasons why this makes heroic a tough sell in multiplayer games:
1. Spell. It has to be a spell. Not an ability, a spell. If it was an ability, you could find an ability that targets a creature repeatedly with relative ease. Battlewise Hoplite is a nice 2/2 with a nice upside. If you target it with a spell you get a 3/3 and scry. Making it an ability would make the Hoplite into a powerhouse. I understand that this is likely the reason why it is limited to spells. Getting repeated use of a single spell is a valuable thing and it is harder to do with a single card. Elvish Fury can be used multiple times, but the cost is very high. Artful Dodge and other flashback cards can be used twice, but then they are gone. Getting repeated use of a single spell generally involves at least one other card. Now we are starting to require a combination of cards to make heroic into something exciting. This may prove to be worth it, but we have to start asking those questions.
2. Target that creature. What spells do you normally put into your decks that target creatures? If you are anything like me, you likely use bounce and removal spells in most of your decks. The spells you use to pump or protect your own creatures likely don't target any one of your creatures, but instead offers a blanket benefit a la Akroma's Memorial. You may use a few Auras on your creatures (I do love me some Armadillo Cloak!), but not many. The occasional Aura is not going to be what you want to use to put your heroic creatures on the map. This means that for your heroic creatures to become truly heroic, you are going to need to rehash the spells you use into targeted cards that may not protect all of your creatures. That can be a real risk.
3. Benefit. Many of the heroic creatures offer only a short-term benefit. Getting +1/+1 until the end of the turn may be enough in shorter games or in games where your card quality is lower, but in a casual multiplayer game, Battlewise Hoplite is the weakest card I would want to include.
Like I said, heroic is a tough sell. This is not to say that there aren't heroes out there that I admire, in spite of the overabundance of heroes out there.
heroes seem to be everywhere. There are times when the media would have you believe that everyone is a hero. Roughly defined, heroics are brave deeds and noble qualities. In Magic, Setessa, Benalia, and Kinsbaile are just three places it the Multiverse that have heroes. Heroes are devoted, reunited, remembered, and reborn. In short, there is no shortage of heroes or heroic acts in Magic.
Heroic as a keyword, however, is a tough sell in multiplayer games. When a creature has heroic, it gets some kind of benefit when you cast a spell that targets that creature. There are three reasons why this makes heroic a tough sell in multiplayer games:
1. Spell. It has to be a spell. Not an ability, a spell. If it was an ability, you could find an ability that targets a creature repeatedly with relative ease. Battlewise Hoplite is a nice 2/2 with a nice upside. If you target it with a spell you get a 3/3 and scry. Making it an ability would make the Hoplite into a powerhouse. I understand that this is likely the reason why it is limited to spells. Getting repeated use of a single spell is a valuable thing and it is harder to do with a single card. Elvish Fury can be used multiple times, but the cost is very high. Artful Dodge and other flashback cards can be used twice, but then they are gone. Getting repeated use of a single spell generally involves at least one other card. Now we are starting to require a combination of cards to make heroic into something exciting. This may prove to be worth it, but we have to start asking those questions.
2. Target that creature. What spells do you normally put into your decks that target creatures? If you are anything like me, you likely use bounce and removal spells in most of your decks. The spells you use to pump or protect your own creatures likely don't target any one of your creatures, but instead offers a blanket benefit a la Akroma's Memorial. You may use a few Auras on your creatures (I do love me some Armadillo Cloak!), but not many. The occasional Aura is not going to be what you want to use to put your heroic creatures on the map. This means that for your heroic creatures to become truly heroic, you are going to need to rehash the spells you use into targeted cards that may not protect all of your creatures. That can be a real risk.
3. Benefit. Many of the heroic creatures offer only a short-term benefit. Getting +1/+1 until the end of the turn may be enough in shorter games or in games where your card quality is lower, but in a casual multiplayer game, Battlewise Hoplite is the weakest card I would want to include.
Like I said, heroic is a tough sell. This is not to say that there aren't heroes out there that I admire, in spite of the overabundance of heroes out there.
Last edited by Meritt on 11/3/2013, 11:03 am; edited 1 time in total
