Recent content by MilesOfficial

I'm fine spending $50-$100 on a new set for singles (a little more in this case, since we also have Jumpstart), and then I try to trade for the rest, but getting time to trade at a store is always getting harder for me. I really gotta just bite the bullet and spend a few hours sorting things to...

I just took it off my list after I was getting my pre-orders set and saw the price. I'll probably pick one up when it inevitably comes down, but it's a more marginal upgrade from Diviner of Mist than merits $15 at this time, especially without an in-person draft planned for the next two weeks...

So I run more 2-drop mana generators than I'd like in Green. It's very important to me that green has a lot of ramp, because I try to limit artifact ramp, especially colored ramp, to maintain green's identity/role for fixing and big mana. I used to run very few 2MV dorks, because I wanted most...

I think Izzet is happy to have this "overly-supported", even in a tighter Cube. It's really a key focus of both of those colors, so I guess it's hard to feel bad about cards that instruct your drafters to make sensible decks, and that play out in a fun way. Stormchaser's Talent is different...

Had a great time at the pre-release yesterday. Got extremely lucky with pulls, and that's not considering the extra black-theme booster that I decided not to use since it'd give me an additional unfair advantage (besides my charm and good looks, that is). My top Cube card from the main set was...

I've recently seen some very new Cubers put Ringing Strike Mastery alongside what would otherwise be considered Vintage-level removal, and I've come to think of them as very savvy. It's not too far off from Swift Reconfiguration besides the flash, which is a pretty big difference, sure, but...

I've been following Usman's Cube writings for about 15 years and he's always been one of my favorite voices on the format, but I got the deepest pit in my stomach reading his latest article -- which was overall great and I broadly found myself nodding along with it, can't wait for him to share...

In short: it's a novelty. It's part of the "meta" of Cube, the built-in expectations of the format propagated by its biggest zealots. That's not inherently a good or bad thing, but it can be limiting. Restriction breeds creativity, but that doesn't mean it's the only source of creativity you...

I also read a lot of Redwall as a child, but if I'm at a bookstore asking for fantasy and they give me a book where every character is a talking animal, I'm going to feel like I'm getting punked. I dunno, it seems just as discordant for Magic as oops all detectives to me, but it's not that big...

Goodness this data have turned me off from considering Phelia again! Gut has the same GIH win-rate as Pyrogoyf once you segment it for just top players. But also, Boros is so dramatically good that you do get somewhat skewed data here. Nia, Skysail Storyteller is nearly at the same level as...

I appreciate the feedback -- I ended up leaving the country on a work trip and didn't get a chance to consider these changes, but I did swap out Pyrogoyf at your recommendation with my Avatar updates. I posted by Avatar inclusions in the includes & testing thread, but here are my specific...

Wowee, big set. My 720 card Cube normally tries out 15-20 new cards every set, so with 30 new includes, this expansion is mathematically 50% better suited for my environment than the typical release. Avatar's Wrath Aang's Iceberg Enter the Avatar State Abandoned Air Temple Suki, Courageous...

I'm honestly pretty convinced by this. I was struck by what you said, and on reflecting on this, I was more impressed with individual card designs from Avatar and Final Fantasy (and UB more generally) than with individual card designs from in-universe sets. I think they're more flavorful and...

Let's look through the premiere Magic sets of the last 4 years. Kaldheim Strixhaven: School of Mages Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Innistrad: Crimson Vow Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Streets of New Capenna Dominaria United The Brothers’ War Phyrexia...

Toph, Hardheaded Teacher Toph, Hardheaded Teacher is hella cool. A Gruul card that cares about spells and makes a bunch of creatures? I'm in!! The concern about the lessons is valid here, though. I'm only planning on including a handful of lessons at this point (Enter the Avatar State, Redirect...