Eric Chan's Modern cube (405)
- Thread starter Eric Chan
- Start date
Couple more thoughts:
- Double up on thirst or research to fill the graveyard nitch and have fewer folks fighting over the hand filling.
- I really like the Whip but it isn't actually a reanimation spell and relying on it or command feel supes clunky if you are leaning heavy on your graveyard. Love both cards though
- I'm terrified of ooze and DRS
- That being said put any thought into 2x DRS and 2x Nobel?
- Hawks ain't humans, lots of lame critters ain't humans.
I have no idea what to do with white aggro. It's boring as heck right now, and jamming in more efficient small creatures doesn't seem to do much to change the texture one way or another. Sigh.
Should I push all-in on humans? Does that create an interesting dynamic, or does it just cause people to fight over the small handful of anchors?
Should I push all-in on humans? Does that create an interesting dynamic, or does it just cause people to fight over the small handful of anchors?
I like humans and I like zombies and I like things like wildspeaker, station, bigger survivable guys like strangle root and avenger and reckoner, I don't hate stoneforge (why aren't you a human?) and I think delver needs help. I wana see delver work and I'm excited about LD routes being useful.
Make UB less about Oonas and more about duskmantles? I don't have a problem with double confidant or double xathrid yet (yet lol).
How many 2 power one drops do people tend to be able to hold on to consistently. Is student of warfare being used in mindranged too often? Did denix's UW deck count as an attacking deck? Did mine last week? Venser is like my favourite card.
Make UB less about Oonas and more about duskmantles? I don't have a problem with double confidant or double xathrid yet (yet lol).
How many 2 power one drops do people tend to be able to hold on to consistently. Is student of warfare being used in mindranged too often? Did denix's UW deck count as an attacking deck? Did mine last week? Venser is like my favourite card.
Have you thought about making your drafters worse?
Have you considered trying the rebel errata?
My problem is I'm shy to jump into the aggro strategies because if someone starts putting their foot in the water or realizes how important a hawk, champion or blood artist are to me I feel like I'm playing with an arm behind my back or going to need to have invested in more colour flexibility two picks back lol.
Are the Squadron Hawks any good? I'm not even sure which deck wants them anymore, now that all the Swords have been excised. Back then, you could build a reasonable facsimile of UW Caw-Blade, and the birds were nice warm bodies to have around to pick up the equipment. Now... not so much.
I've thought about the Rebel errata, though I was actually thinking more along the lines of fusing my favourite white tribes together. The gains in doing so feel so marginal, though, that I've never actually pulled the trigger. I feel like I could accomplish something similar by just doubling or quadrupling up on key cards in existing cards.
Is the best answer just to go completely overboard with humans? Four Champions to start? Narrower tribe lords like Riders of Gavony as build-arounds?
I've thought about the Rebel errata, though I was actually thinking more along the lines of fusing my favourite white tribes together. The gains in doing so feel so marginal, though, that I've never actually pulled the trigger. I feel like I could accomplish something similar by just doubling or quadrupling up on key cards in existing cards.
Is the best answer just to go completely overboard with humans? Four Champions to start? Narrower tribe lords like Riders of Gavony as build-arounds?
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Rebels need to be blue. People always just combined them with brainstorm and counterspell anyways.
Hmmm... To the Custom Card
Real Talk: White Weenie has a bunch of side angles to it: You can go lifegain with Ajani's Pridemate, you can get your double strike on with fencing ace and silverblade paladin, you can token up the place with some honor of the pure and spectral procession (and my personal favorite: Windbrisk heights), you can ride the tempo angle with stuff like lapse of certainty and orim's chant, there's lot of fun stuff to do
The best part is that most of these overlap, since grafted wargear is great with tokens and double strike (and stoneforge mystic, natch), Glorious Anthem is good (assuming you think it's good) with tokens and double strike, path of bravery is great with tokens, double strike and lifegain, Kitchen Finks has lots of cross archetype support, etc.
I have a feeling you might be worrying too much about trying to introduce all this diversity because "All the white drafters are doing is attacking!"
Yeah no shit! Are the red ones casting burn spells? Perhaps the blue ones draw cards? Heaven forbid!
Taking an actual solid look at your white section, I think you might not be jamming hard enough. I see a single pridemate, and you seem to have contracted out having to think of good 2 drops to play because squadron hawk is easy and boring.
Suggustions
Remove:
- Gideon's Lawkeeper
- Doomed Traveller
- Squadron Hawks
- Seraph of Dawn
- Reciprocate (Look, I know you want removal to be worse, but jesus! At least give me pacifism!)
Add:
- Another Themed Anchor 3 drop (Silverblade Paladin, Blade Splicer, Soltari Champion, Pianna Nomad Captain, Kitchen Finks, something)
- Some beefy 2 drops. Something with a meaty P/T ratio, perferably a 3/3. I think we want more cards like daring skyjek because so little in the 2 drop slot right now is at or above curve power level, but I'm unsure of the specific card to fix that. Pridemate would work, and this is a great place for more anchor cards (Fencing Ace, Gather the Townsfolk, Double Thalia or Imposing Sovereign for the tempo build maybe?)
- Some better removal. I know you like it bad, but reciprocate is too far kid (also yes I'm aware you're much older than I am, shut it) The key is less removal being horrible and unwieldly, but less common, or slower (this can mean sorcery as well as just being more expensive)
- Consider swapping which OP cards you have in. Maybe mother of runes can make a comeback? She's certainly possible to beat (I mean, assuming she can't just not attack to be safe hurr durr). She can be frustrating, but it's the satisfying kind of frustrating where the interplay is interesting, not the "oh I just lose" kind of frustrating.
Resort:
Common, no way porcelain legionnaire is really a white 3 drop. Don't kid yourself.
You know, double Silverblade Paladin is one of the better ideas I've heard in a long time. He'll go well with the fourth Champion that I just replaced Tiramisu with!
That sounds like some sort of weird delicacy.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
presumably 
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Yeah I think eric's got it
Yeah I think eric's got it
The trample makes blocking extremely unprofitable.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Hey eric, You like Shock right? And you like volcanic hammer too, right?
Can we make the shock/burst lightning in your cube Firebolts?
Edit: Plus, Dat Flavor Text
Can we make the shock/burst lightning in your cube Firebolts?
Edit: Plus, Dat Flavor Text
Chris, you are 110% right on this. After drawing a late game Reciprocate while at five, and looking at my opponent's Falkenrath Aristocrat with a +1/+1 counter on it, I can confirm this card is hot garbage. I think I'll give Oust another shot!
Squadron Hawks were something else, though. So many synergies with them. Cast three on the board, leave the fourth in hand, wait for the board to fill up, Terminus to send all the peons back home, cast the last Hawk, start the cycle anew. Or Mind Sculpt two Hawks back to the top of the deck, cast a third Hawk, draw them all, set yourself up for a fresh batch of new cards next turn. These birds have earned their keep.
Not to harp too much on this debate again, but I don't see a need to bundle them together into Squadron-style picks, either. I happily spent four picks on them - nabbing the first three when they tabled - and they were well worth both a slot in my deck and a pick during the draft.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I'll say 2 things:
1) If they're so good, why are they tabling?
2) Clearly they're not for every deck! What does the pressure light aggro deck get in the white 2 drop slot?
1) If they're so good, why are they tabling?
2) Clearly they're not for every deck! What does the pressure light aggro deck get in the white 2 drop slot?