Ok, Christmas holidays. Now, rather than do the difficult things on my to-do list (I told my girlfriend I would build a corner-cabinet...), I think it is time to knock the 'update my cubes' off.
I don't really have a strict process for updating cubes, normally there are a bunch of cards that I haven't been happy with, and a bunch I want to try out, and then children's cartoon style they all go into a whirling brawl and some number are left standing at the end, retaining or obtaining a place in the list.
There has been an issue with a class of cards which cost too much for their impact. Mana cost is an interesting factor in this cube, as there are a number of effects that either provide options which keep cards relevant at different stages of the game, or alter the stage at which certain effects are accessible.
The primary cause of the latter effect is how colour intensive many of the cards are. The
Thoctars,
Genjus and
Reckoners of this cube require some quite significant drafting and/or deck building contortions to be cast on curve. I personally think these factors are really interesting, and enjoy how they play out. These types of cards cannot be too prevalent, but expensive colour intense cards do need to provide a pretty big impact. In this regard, the Invasion block dragons have been a mixed bag.
Rith has been insane,
Oros has been fine, and
Darigaaz has been mediocre. While a 6/6 flyer is fine, the effect is very marginal, since hands tend to be smaller by that time, and if the hands aren't small, then Darigaaz doesn't do a lot to break open the game.
Maelstrom Archangel likewise hasn't done a lot to impress.
Another class of cards which aim to be relevant at multiple stages of the game are those cards with Suspend and Bestow (also Kicker, but there is very little of that). I like these two mechanics a lot, although while Bestow is costed pretty much on the curve, Suspend seems to be a little over-costed for the flexibility. Suspending most of the spells is fantastic, but casting them is... underwhelming.
Ivory Giant may as well not have a casting cost, since paying 7 for a 3/4 pseudo-Falter is not an appealing proposition, while getting it on turn 5 with Haste and mana still up is fantastic. I just wish that there were more cards which interacted with Suspended cards, while not interacting with only Suspended cards. Maybe
Venser's Diffusion might be worth testing, but 3 mana Boomerang without a body is uninspiring.
The set of cards which do too little for their cost are mostly expensive cards which I saw linked to one theme or another, but really don't have the impact, even with much of the synergy. Cards which ought to be on the chopping block for this reason are cards like
Regal Force,
Draining Whelk and
Plaguemaw Beast.
There are a whole swathe of cards that I want to try out, as Khans added the Outlast mechanic to the Abzan clan which ought to play quite well with the +1/+1 counter theme.
Cards I want to test in this vain:
Disowned Ancestor is actually an interesting one in this list, as the others look to be about creating counter-based beatdown decks, but at present, counter-based decks often end up more controller-y than aggro, so having something that can block well is a big positive.
This is a card that I am pretty sure will be really bad, but is an interesting +1/+1 counter engine. Maybe he needs to be adjusted to be more like
High Sentinels of Arashin? Maybe be a bear with 'Fungal Behemoth's gets +1/+1 for each other creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it.'?
Another card I am excited to try is
Chasm Skulker. It likely takes the spot of
Draining Whelk, and makes the triple
Brainstorm a little terrifying as a combat trick.
Slight tweaks on existing cards.
