Heroes' Bane is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
This creature enters with four +1/+1 counters on it.: Put X +1/+1 counters on this creature, where X is its power.
Complete guide
Heroes' Bane is a formidable Hydra that exemplifies the growth potential of green creatures. It enters the battlefield as a modest 4/4 but possesses the unique ability to double its own strength repeatedly, turning it into a massive threat in just a few turns.
Scaling Power
The core of Heroes' Bane is its activated ability, which allows you to spend four mana to add a number of +1/+1 counters equal to its current power. Because it enters with four counters and starts as a 0/0 base, its initial power is typically 4. Each time you activate the ability, you effectively double its current power and toughness by adding more counters.
Step-by-Step Resolution
When you activate the ability, you pay the mana cost of two colorless and two green. Upon resolution, the game checks the creature's current power. If Heroes' Bane is a 4/4, X equals 4, and you place four +1/+1 counters on it, making it an 8/8. If you activate it again, the game checks the new power, and X becomes 8. The value of X is determined only at the moment the ability resolves, not when it is put on the stack.
Strategic Timing
Since the ability does not require the creature to tap, you can use it multiple times in a single turn if you have the mana. It is best used at the end of your opponent's turn or after blockers have been declared to surprise your opponent with massive damage. However, be wary of power-reducing effects; if the Hydra's power is 0 or less when the ability resolves, no counters are added.
Interaction examples
You cast Heroes' Bane for five mana. It enters the battlefield with four +1/+1 counters. During your next turn, you spend four mana to activate its ability. The game checks its power (4), and you add four more +1/+1 counters, resulting in an 8/8 creature.
Solemn SimulacrumYou use Solemn Simulacrum to fetch a Forest, increasing your mana pool. With the extra land, you can cast Heroes' Bane and still have mana available sooner to activate its doubling ability. If Heroes' Bane is destroyed, the card draw from Solemn Simulacrum helps you find more threats.
Roaming ThroneYou control Roaming Throne with 'Hydra' chosen as the creature type. When Heroes' Bane enters the battlefield, the Throne does not grant extra counters because the Hydra's first ability is a replacement effect, not a triggered ability. Similarly, the doubling ability is an activated ability (indicated by a colon), so Roaming Throne's triggered ability multiplier does not affect it.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Heroes' Bane
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
The value of X is calculated only once, as Heroes' Bane's last ability resolves.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
If Heroes' Bane's power is less than 0 when its second ability resolves, X is considered to be 0.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Agatha's Soul Cauldron + Heroes' Bane + Crystalline Crawler
- 1Activate Crystalline Crawler using Heroes' Bane's ability by paying
, putting a number of +1/+1 counters on Crystalline Crawler equal to its power. - 2Activate Crystalline Crawler's first ability four times by removing four +1/+1 counters from it, adding .
- 3Repeat.
Necrotic Ooze + Heroes' Bane + Crystalline Crawler
- 1Activate Necrotic Ooze using Heroes' Bane's ability by paying , putting at least five +1/+1 counters on it.
- 2Activate Necrotic Ooze using Crystalline Crawler's first ability four times by removing four +1/+1 counters from it, adding .
- 3Repeat
Mimeoplasm, Revered One + Ramos, Dragon Engine + Heroes' Bane
- 1Cast Mimeoplasm by paying
- 2As Mimeoplasm enters, exile Ramos, Heroes' Bane, and two additional creature cards from your graveyard, causing Mimeoplasm to enter with twelve +1/+1 counters on it.
- 3Activate Mimeoplasm by paying , causing it to become a copy of Ramos with this ability.
- 4Activate Mimeoplasm using Ramos's ability by removing five +1/+1 counters from it, adding
. - 5Activate Mimeoplasm by paying , causing it to become a copy of Heroes' Bane with this ability.
- 6Activate Mimeoplasm using Heroes' Bane's ability by paying , doubling the number of +1/+1 counters on it.
- 7Repeat from step 3.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Heroes' Bane
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.