Featherhall Tries to Curate a Cube

Featherhall

Featherhall

(Alternate title: Why you don't do game design when drunk)

Foreword

I have been on and off making my own personal cube for close to several months, but decided to stop procrastinating and finish the damn thing this fall. However, a lot of my problems and disgust with cube creation is that when looking for resources and information online, a lot of people have varying opinions on how to make a fun and balanced cube. I started by copying others cube creators sections, then adding or removing cards I liked or disliked respectively, but after some minor testing, it wouldn’t work well together, and I would go back to the drawing board.

I think some of my problem stems from the fact that a good half of cube curators create what would be a legacy cube (i.e.: Power 9 and stupidly powerful legacy cards) and the other half run a synergistic but low complexity/power cube (i.e.: Block cubes, Pauper cards, etc.). Resources in-between are scarce, and I suspect it would be hard to quantify or describe what power level that is being attempted to be achieved, as definitions will vary from curator to curator.

In short, the mess below is basically a scrap-pad of random thoughts and ideas as I attempt to piece together my cube going forward. I gotten most of my ideas and resources not only from here, but various other cube curators all over the Internet (MTG Cube, Usman Jamil of CoolStuffInc., and various r/mtgcube posts, as some examples).

Tick-Tock (Beta Phase - 17 October 2019 Update)

Link: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/featherhall_450
Cube Type: Unpowered 450 'Singleton' (15 x 3 packs, designed for 8 player draft, traditional Best-Of-3 Matches)
Balance/Limitations:
- 62 Cards per Color
- 5 Guild cards (4 Gold, 1 Hybrid)
- 48 Artifacts/Colorless (In Flux)
- 42 Non-Basic Lands (In Flux)
- Single of each available Planeswalker (exception the 'Flipwalker' Cycle)
Themes: I am aiming for a “moderately-high” strength cube, as my current playgroup are advanced enough to understand most rule interactions, and are not big on heavy, obtuse combos seen in vintage and legacy cubes (thus why I am attempting to stay away from Power 9 and similar cards). The backbone of the cube is heavily based on the idea laid out by Sam Black’s SCG Cube article back in 2015 – five similar archetypes spread out over three-color combinations, primarily focused on the Khan wedges - Sultai Graveyard, Mardu Tokens, Temur Ramp, Jeskai Spells, and Abzan Death & Taxes.

Thoughts:
  • In the future, should an overhaul be required, I need to remind myself that I don’t need to use wedges exclusively. I could go shards, or even a mix of shards and wedges, so as long as three colors are tied together by some theme, and no one specific color is neglected in this regard.
  • I’m also trying to focus on adding cards that have the new M15 Card Frame, though I recognize that this may not be possible for all wanted cards. I don’t know why I’m doing this – my brain just doesn’t like cards that don’t look like they belong with the rest of the cards… they look more uniformed and overall cleaner this way.
White: Tax Theme
Supporting Colors: Green & Black

God damn, I hate this color... So I decided everyone else should hate it too (or at least when you play against it). After fumbling around with some arguably narrow archetypes, I decided on a Death and Taxes style of white that attempts to keep any opponent in check without going too crazy. Between the Twin Thalia's, Vyrn's Wingmare, Ranger-Captain of Eos, and similar cards, white should provide the necessary tools to disrupt opponent's plays. Green support will provide a Hatebears style deck, utilizing it's utility creatures and various ways to tutor for more creatures to keep going, while Black support will provide additional disruption with recursive threats, targeted discard, and more premium removal.

Potential Add List

Potential Cut List


Thoughts:
  • Despite finally settling on a theme that better bleeds into the other support colors, I am still unsure how hard I need to push the whole tax theme. Some seem too excessively punishing, such as Ghostly Prison and Eidonlon of Rhetoric, punishing the white player, such as Hushwing Gryff (I say that as my White section has some incidental blink ETB effects), while others don't seem to have that huge of an impact, such as Aven Mindcensor (scratch that - this card screams "Counter target Green Ramp deck") or Containment Priest. This will probably need to be judged in playtesting, but I would like to still tweak the 2-3 drop section to better signpost the archetype.
  • Still have massive concerns about the White Non-Creature spells section, but at least now it's not a mish-mash of random cards I had laying aboot. I still want to add more support for White/Blue Control archetype, and at least one or two spot-removal or board-wipe removal spells, such as Shelter, Make a Stand, or Unbreakable Formation. Maybe too much spell support for tokens I suspect, but can be adjusted accordingly.
  • Still annoyed by some creatures as well - Archangel of Tithes looks awesome on both offense and defense, but that mana cost seems very rough. Archangel Avacyn, a card I adored and was looking to run immediately, is starting to look like a liability given how many creatures in white have 3 toughness or less. However the most pressing concern is the 3ccm creature section - so many cards I want to add, but I am restricting myself to ten slots. Otherwise, white's theme would be '3-drop Tribal'.
Blue: Spells Matter Theme
Supporting Colors: White & Red

Blue will rely on either casting spells to keep getting incremental hand and board advantage. This color’s primary role is support, as it has few true bombs or means to end games on its own. White can support this color further with its suite of board wipes and removal to either be a pure control deck or a midrange tempo-style deck. Otherwise, falling back on Red will allow players to play a counter-burn style deck with various Prowess creatures to keep the opponent off-kilter and constantly under pressure.

Potential Add List

Potential Cut List


Thoughts:
  • A reoccurring concern is that the Blue section is too draw/counterspell heavy. I concede that this is the identity of Blue, but I was hoping to add more interesting effects at least - perhaps more bounce and other tempo-oriented spells. Playtesting will define the future direction for this color.
  • There are a lot of instances/flash cards in this section. I’m not sure if the whole draw-go thing would get annoying to play against, but future considerations for this section may require me to look for more sorcery-speed spells.
Black: Graveyard Theme
Supporting Colors: Blue & Green

While not the most original, Black has traditionally been the color of choice of getting resources in the graveyard, and using it to their advantage, either through reanimation or towards fueling other spells. The support colors such as blue, will provide control elements and further cycling of the library, making use of cards in the graveyard. Green, on the other hand, will prefer to keep those cards in the graveyard to activate delirium and to make their spells better.

Potential Add List

Potential Cut List


Thoughts:
  • Black is starting to become weird for me - for a color that suppose to be good at everything, it sure doesn't look it. This requires a good hard look, particularly the 1-3 ccm creature and non-creature sections.
  • Rest in Peace, Whip of Erebos & Obzedat, Ghost Council loops… maybe there will be another cube where you will exist...
Red: Tokens Theme
Supporting Colors: Black & White

Red players will use various spells and creatures to swarm the board and overwhelm the opponent quickly. While the idea behind this color is to be quick and painful, Red creatures are small. To remedy, they can rely on Black to use those tokens that no longer size up as fuel to play bigger, more powerful spells in an Aristocrats-style deck, or they can rely on white’s methods of boosting the creatures with its mixture of pump spells and anthems.

Potential Add List

Potential Cut List


Thoughts:
  • During my creation of this red section, my favorite color, I fear this color will be too strong. Time will tell, but reducing burn spells going forward may be the plan.
  • I wonder if more token producing spells are needed? This may be a concern more for the Black/Red pairing, as they will need to rely on tokens and recursive creatures to do their thing.
  • As much as I love Rampaging Ferocidon, the card works counter-productively with red’s token creation theme. Likely will need to be cut soon for Seasoned Pyromancer, despite me still thinking the card is still overhyped (note: I’m clearly not a modern player).
  • More anthems likely needed for the White/Red option to be supported. I'm likely incorrect, but will need to look to the white section for assistance on this matter, as red's offerings are paltry.
Green: Ramp Theme
Supporting Colors: Red & Blue

Get mana either using dorks or ramp spells to slam down the big hitters - Go over the top faster than what the opponent can muster and win the game. Relying on red will get you more access to big monstrosities with the option of using wildfire effects to cripple the opponent to respond to the threat. Alternatively, using blue will allow for more of a tempo-y style ramp deck, using a combination of card draw and blue’s top end to keep your hand full and full of action.

Potential Add List

Potential Cut List


Thoughts:
  • Still need to beat the idea of completing the "cycle" of having an Adventure card in each color. Lovestruck Beast or any other green Adventure card from Throne of Eldraine do not seem strong enough with the rest of the cube...
  • Green's 4ccm offerings still look lame to me. Maybe Nullhide Ferox is more of a hindrance than a boon. Maybe even Goreclaw over Surrak? Is Vengevine even cube viable?
  • I've been toying with the idea of changing the ramp package from spells to auras - using cards like Wild Growth, Overgrowth, Utopia Sprawl, Fertile Ground, then using untappers such as Arbor Elf, Voyaging Satyr, Kiora's Follower,Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner and Vizier of Tumbling Sands, in conjunction with Garruk Wildspeaker, I think would really push the green/blue ramp strategy. However, is there any other land untappers in green or blue? Would doing this make green avoid the Delve blue draw spells, or hinder delirium in Golgari? Also,Tomik, Distinguished Advokist in the white section would then be a must to hinder ramp decks at that point.
Artifacts: Archetype Support
The artifact section has perhaps received the least amount of care when I initially began designing the cube, and because of it, may appear overall weak. I'm not a huge fan of making artifacts a central theme or archetype (though if I did, I would try to push towards making it supported in either mono-Blue or Izzet colors), and thus wanted to relegate it to a "toolbox" section of sort to help support or strengthen existing archetypes.
The blueprint I had for the artifact section was dividing up artifacts into 4 parts - Ramp, Support, Creatures and Equipment. I also have a fondness for vehicles, so I have added what I consider the five most potent ones in existence (in short, from Kaladesh block, surprise surprise...).

Potential Add List

Potential Cut List


Thoughts:
  • Gate to the Afterlife and God-Pharaoh's Gift may be me trying to be too cute - one of the few decks I did adore back in Hour of Devastation Standard was the Azorius God Pharaoh deck that milled themselves, returning the Gift from the grave to the battlefield, then making their small, dead dorks into big beaters. I added these two cards for support in Dimir, as I think Black's reanimation suite will be fought over. Thus I'm still looking to squeeze in Argivian Restoration and Beacon of Unrest, but the package may just get cut in the end - I don't know how competitive it will end up being.
  • Big dumb artifact creatures have also been giving me trouble. I fear adding in either Wurmcoil Engine or Sundering Titan would be too strong, but then again, other other top-end colorless beaters seem too weak. I've settled on the Myr Battlesphere and Scuttling Doom Engine for now, but I think this will change in due time.
  • Some reservations on the equipment package - I have ten colorless equipment, some of which could be improved upon. I refuse to add the 'Swords' or Jitte out of being too oppressive. However, some experimentation will need to be had.
 
Featherhall

Featherhall

PART 2: Gold Section & Lands:
As how resident Riptide user ravnic organizes his Gold card section I am adding 5 multicolor cards per guild combination: 4 Gold color cards, and one hybrid card.

White Pairings
Ally Pair: White/Green - Hatebears
Most of my inspiration from figuring out what to do with white came from two reddit threads, here and, more recently here, where some users promoted using low-cost disruptive creatures that were likely already in most cube environments in white and green and fill in the gaps. I also took the liberty for cutting down both the white and green sections from 62 to 61 cards, to add the two additional hybrid cards in the Selesnya section.



Thoughts:
  • Not sure about Gaddock Teeg and Dromoka's Command yet. The last reddit thread, a poster named RolyMac, advocated treating Selesnya as a creature toolbox, thus pushing more tutors. I'm not a huge fan of tutors, but I can sort of see where it may be necessary for the Selesnya pairing, as the need to get a specific answer to what an opponent is doing is paramount to the theme of this section. Maybe pushing more tutors in the green section will be more important to look at. Regardless, these are my current considerations to potentially replace the two cards in question:

  • Dramoka is probably wishful thinking - it's topend midrange card, but I don't think this archetype wants to get to 6 mana often (plus it sort of invalidates Voice of Resurgence). Sigarda seems more reasonable as a finisher versus Dramoka, but there is not many effects in the cube that ask opponents to sacrifice their permanents. Mirri I like more as she looks like another Archeangel of Tithes, making combat difficult to navigate, along with Glare of Subdual. Qasali Pridemage is considered, but since Knight of Autumn exists, I will likely have no need to add him. Again, this will be a work in progress
Enemy Pair: White/Black - Human Aggro
See shamizy's thread on his Orzhov Human's build for my inspiration on this section. Although my gold options differ quite a bit from his cube, and the fact I am running this cube strictly singleton, I think what I am pushing may be weaker overall, but potentially grindier. Sorin will be my replacement Whip of Erebos, being both a reainmator for the small creatures and providing Lifelink when swinging out with the team to effectively race better.



Thoughts:
  • Still haven't settled on a hybrid card yet. - I am not impressed with any of Orzhov's offerings. The closest is Start // Finish, which I consider fairly weak. I'm tempted just to make my own card that's basically a rip-off of Start // Finish, with the top portion being Midnight Haunting, and the Afterlife portion Severed Strands. At least until Wizards listens to me and makes a decent hybrid card.
Blue Pairings
Ally Pair: Blue/White - Pure Control
This section is based on Nick Nobody's breakdown article on this archetype. Not sure if there is much reason to elaborate further on this section - tempo and and permission spells are the name of the game, using either flash threats, Teferi, or ideally Approach of the Second Sun to win the game eventually. I can't tell if this section is too strong or not, but again, only playtesting will tell the tale.



Thoughts:
  • I am considering switching out Reflector Mage with Spell Queller, as he appears to signpost better what the ideal Azorius mage should be doing, but Reflector Mage seems better broadly if he was splashed in other aggressive archetypes, such as Orzhov, Izzet or Selesnya. Thus, I think I will leave it be for now.
Enemy Pair: Blue/Red - Prowess Tempo
Again from another breakdown article from Nick Nobody, the idea of this archetype is to leverage blue evasive creatures and red's suite of prowess bodies to hit fast and hard. Using counters to prevent opponents from answer the threats, and red for additional reach will be the primary goal of this archetype.



Thoughts:
  • May need more counters in blue to support archetype better. Observe during playtesting.
Black Pairings
Ally Pair: Black/Blue - Reanimator Control
Archetype loosely based my ideas of Reanimator from our forum admin's article from 2013. A shame, because some of my favorite animation cards are Animate Dead and Victimize. However, to balance play, his logic makes since. Both the Dimir and Golgari pairing are essentially both reanimator options - the Dimir side opting for more of a controlling style of play, while Golgari will be more focused on a more attrition style of play.
Since Dimir's hybrid options are fairly weak, I decided to use the new split cards from Guilds of Ravnica, to provide plenty of flexibility.



Thoughts:
Enemy Pair: Black/Green - Delirium/Rock Midrange
Again from the 2018 article from Nick Nobody's blog. Delirium was one of my favorite mechanics in recent memory, however, some of the payoffs are meager. My biggest concern however is hitting Delirium. In initial playtesting and sample drafts, I managed to consistently get the graveyard stocked with 3 different card types, then struggle to get the 4 card type in the bin to turn on the payoffs. Because of this, I ended up cutting all but the most potent of the delirium payoffs. However, given how Golgari decks typically play, I may be making a bigger deal out of this - delirium will be hit as long as you play the game, instead of trying to force it early.



Thoughts:
  • I've been between Assassin's Trophy and Maelstrom Pulse for the removal. I think the instant speed spell will win the day, but if token strategies become prevalent, then the switch may be required.
Red Pairings
Ally Pair: Red/Black - Aristocrats Aggro
This has been one of my favorite archetypes since I played a Magic League during Magic Origins, using Threaten effects to steal opponent creatures and sac them to Nantuko Husks and Bone Splinters. While I have less Threaten effects in this cube, I still think this may be the more potent archetypes I have going - aggressive and with plenty of reach using tokens and recursive bodies to burn out opponent's life totals. I have high hopes for this color combination.



Thoughts:

Enemy Pair: Red/White - "Go-Wide" Aggro
This pairing feels loose however - the main goal this archetype should achieve is to be aggressive and go wide, using token-creating spells, and various anthem effects (Spear of Heliod and Intangible Virtue in white, and Goblin Oriflamme and Hellrider in red). However, I suspect that opponents will stabilize, thus I added Lightning Helix and Boros Charm for defaulting to a Burn strategy when all else fails.



Thoughts:

Green Pairings
Ally Pair: Green/Red - Lands Matter/Wildfire Midrange
I'm excited that Wizards took notice that players have been clamoring for Gruul to have a "Lands-in-the-Grave" theme going, but I'm not sure there is still enough payoffs. Regardless, the strategy here is to ramp, land 5 toughness or planeswalker threats on the field, then Wildfire the board. After that, you should be able to have your way with the opponent. The concern here is though is how sound is this strategy?



Thoughts:
Enemy Pair: Green/Blue - Creature Ramp
Another section I am not sure on either, as originally I just copy-pasted MTGO cubes and used the standard Edric, Spymaster of Trest, Trygon Predator, Mystic Snake, and Simic Sky Swallower. I think this offering will be more fun, but I question its viability.



Thoughts:
  • Of note, I think Mystic Snake may not be a good fit, as ramp decks are more or less using all their mana every turn and do not typically have the time to leave up countermagic. However, the other option I have to replace the snake is Prophet of Kruphix. I should know better, but god damn I love that card.
Lands
Really don't have much to add here. My philosophy on lands are "If you want to have a greedy manabase, you need to pay in blood". Thus the use of Shocks and Fetches and none of the Alpha Duals. On the whole, I am content with my land section.

Potential Add List
-None- (for now)
Potential Cut List


Thoughts:
  • Dear Wizards of the Coast: when you create new dual lands, would you at least try to create a full cycle within a year or so of creating them? I would love to have either the full color pairing play set of either Horizon Lands, Bicycle Lands or the Battle Lands to have so we can use instead of the Checkland cycle, but no! Can't make those in any set... especially in the excessive amount of supplementary sets you pump out every year! Like come on, throw me a bone here...
 
Featherhall

Featherhall

Beta Update - 17 October 2019 - Preparations


So after much fighting, reworks, theorizing, then reading other people's theories because I'm awful at theorizing, I came to the conclusion that the only way I'll ultimately be satisfied with how well my cube is constructed is to run the damn thing. So I've set the date - I'm hoping on Sunday - 27 October 2019 - will be the first official run of this jumbled mess of cards I've called my cube.

Shame I haven't had the most time to work on this, but thanks to this flu I contracted last night (avoiding people who are sick at my work has become impossible), I have at least some time to organize my thoughts. While I still don't have all the cards yet (I'm effectively missing 10-15), at least now I can run it without fear that one color is strictly inferior/lacking depth compared to the other colors. However, I still have many concerns about overall balance. I think this is due to jamming in pet cards that I personally love to play with not having synergy with the remaining card pool, or are a powerband above or below the rest of the cube (for the record, I like to have my cube running at a Strix Scale between 7 to 8, is such a balance is possible). However, based on all advice I've seen online and among all forums, the only way to truly tell is to play the cards. I hope my players will provide appropriate feedback and thus I'll be able to adjust accordingly.

It would not be me, however, if I didn't openly complain about my current concerns:

Blue and Black all over (again)...
  • When I first started my cube, Red, Blue and Black were the first sections I got done - it was easy, they are pretty much my favorite colors. However, looking at the Grixis shard, I like them less and less. I literally cannot put my finger on it, but something about this section just screams out that it's the weakest of the bunch. While I believe I got red cleaned up the most (will elaborate later), Blue and Black has still raised my ire....
    • Blue
      • I've committed to reworking the non-creature section, adding some more cantrips to help the Blue-based control archetypes. However, after the cantrips, it's all draw and counter effects. While I do appreciate that Blue's identity in magic is this, I was at least hoping to squeeze in other effects, such as slow-tap effects (which would help tempo. See below on that rant). Still also want to run Argivian Restoration, but that's way too narrow I suspect (it's a reanimation spell). I have decided to take some recent advice and add Narset, Parter of Veils at least, but I'm really non-committal to her. Her passive is something I want White to have in truth. Maybe Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer would be a better fit overall.
      • I also decided to trim some of the 'fat' found in the creature section, as it had a fairly large glut of 4+ ccm creatures originally. It costed me a mixture Dream Eater, Vizier of Many Faces, Glyph Keeper (love these cards, but they maybe too low impact), Inkwell Leviathan, Tidespout Tyrant (may have been too oppressive in reanimator strategies), and Aetherling (nostalgia favorite, but may be too hard to kill). I got Elder Deep-Fiend as the single top end which given it's abilities may help Blue/X aggressive and midrange strategies. This trimming has allotted me to add 1 or 2 more creatures on the lower end of the curve to support Izzet Tempo, but...
      • Tempo cards. Damn... this one has got me stumped. I at least got it out of my head that I need Prowess creatures to exemplify the archetype (R.I.P. Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest and Elusive Spellfist), but now I need to add cards to help demonstrate that blue can be somewhat aggressive along with red (or Jeskai). I've added the Warkite Marauder to replace Augur of Bolas, and the new Brazen Barrower for Nimble Obstructionist (not a huge change). I was hoping to add one more 1 ccm creature and one 3 ccm creature. Currently considering Phantasmal Bear (eh... maybe), Cloudfin Raptor (awesome turn 1, horrible any other turn), Watertrap Weaver (wish it had flash), True-Name Nemesis (ugh, too oppressive?), Kira, Great Glass Spinner (also oppressive?), Wake Thrasher and Deceiver Exarch (both kinda uninteresting).
  • Black
    • I wish I had more clues as to what to in this section like I do with Blue, however, I have having some major concerns with Black. The worse problem is I know it doesn't look great, but I'm at a loss on how to fix it. Archetypes being pushed are Reanimator (major theme, Blue and Green), Delirium (Green), Stax and Aristrocrats (White and/or Red). I think this will be the final focus this weekend upcoming before we run the cube.
Too inoffensive...
  • I'm also concerned if I have effectively pushed aggro enough - as much as I love my midrange decks, aggro is gonna be needed to keep those who durdle in check. I've seen some lists add like eight to ten (if not more) 1 ccm creature cards in the respective aggro colors (White/Red), but that strikes me as overly excessive - it's one thing to push an archetype, but completely another to have that archetype so linear. Regardless, I've added an additional 1 ccm Red creature to the list in replacement of a niche non-creature spell (welcome aboard, Firedrinker Satyr), and now need to consider another one White 1 ccm creature that is preferably a 2/1 Human. However, since the White section is now tight (finally!), the cut will need to come from the 4+ ccm creatures white currently has.
  • Speaking of White, I think I need to add at least one more 2 ccm creature, and may need to cut something from the 3 ccm creature section. It's a shame, because my favorite White creatures usually cost 3 (I miss you, Benalish Marshal). A good, long, hard look will be required after some playtesting, but I can already sense this may be an issue.
Riptidian Conversion...
  • For the longest time, I have been hard-set against having duplicates in a cube - worse case scenario, Magic: The Gathering has been usually been pretty good at providing lesser or functional reprints of cards that we run in cubes. However, I'm starting to make a hard turn on this thought process, especially reading the forum posts in 'Current opinion on duplicates and other Riptidian/Waddellisms?' (Editor's Note: didn't finish reading this though, as Neocitrin cold medicine effectively knocked me out cold). While I been looking at my Orzhov section, and more specifically, Black, where I'm trying to emulate shamizy's Recursive Human Aggro archetype, it appears to be lacking some cards to provide consistency. Black has plenty of 1 ccm recursive creatures, but only one is human, and the others have tighter requirements to bring them back from the yard (looking at you specifically Dread Wanderer and Gutterbones). The thought was to add another Champion of the Parish and Bloodsoaked Champion in their respective sections, but a new problem has arisen - my compulsive need for symmetry!
  • To remedy my own mental problems (no, not by going to therapy!), I decided that in order for me to allow my cube to run some duplicates to help consistency, I need to add a 'pairing' to each color. I know it's not necessary, but I think I can break through my internal logic that cube is strictly singleton if I do this first. Problem is: what do I add to Red/Blue and Green?
Blue might be easy as I wanted more aggressive creatures to help Izzet tempo, which may be still too weak. Current considerations are either a pairing of Delver of Secrets or Pteramander, which preference going towards the former (I recognize that Delver is less consistent, but I still think the upside makes for potent starts).​
​
Red gets more interesting, as the section doesn't need more creatures. The only card I think I truly don't like in red currently is Kiln Fiend (and perhaps Rampaging Ferocidon, but I've been quietly warming back up to him recently). I think either a paring of the tried and true Young Pyromancer would be a good start. Otherwise, potentially replacing one of the 1 ccm Red creatures with another Monastery Swiftspear could also work, since it may alleviate my concerns about aggro being weak. Again though, preference may be going to the former.​
​
Green... (shrug), I just don't know. Incoming thought dump - I have been really reconsidering my ramp package from the "Tried, Tested and True" Sorcery-Speed ramp spells (e.g.: Rampant Growth, Nature's Lore, Farseek, Kodama's Reach, Cultivate, etc.) for enchantment-based ramp (e.g.: Wild Growth, Utopia Sprawl, Fertile Ground, Overgrowth, Dawn's Reflection, etc.). IF I was to do this, an Arbor Elf pairing would be done. However, some caveats:​
      • Since I'm running Garruk Wildspeaker and Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner, I suspect this could provide Green-Based Ramp decks with really explosive starts. However, isn't their ability to untap lands already potent enough without the enchantments?
      • I'm trying to push Wildfire as well in Gruul. It may help the archetype, but I can see scenarios where needing to sacrifice a land with 1+ auras on it feel really bad for players (opponents or self for that matter)
      • Doing this switch may help Delirium for Golgari decks, as there is not a lot of enchantments that incidentally end up in the graveyard. But again, is that really necessary?
      • By doing this, am I also hindering Ramp decks? If auras are used, then the deck-thinning provided by ramp cards become non-existent, and thus has the potential of Green never getting back into a game if they draw more lands than before? This may be the weakest argument, but one that still merits some consideration.
  • I suppose it doesn't have to be duplicates of creatures exclusively. I guess I could double-up on Collected Company. However, I think the only Green deck that wants that card is Selesnya. I think they may have enough support.
If you read this far, first off - I'm sorry if I'm rambling. But secondly, if you do have opinions, suggestions, or questions, drop a post. I'd welcome any help at this point.
Round two of Neocitrin is kickin' in. Time to nap - will work on this on the weekend.

(EDIT: GRRRRRR, FORMATTING - I'll NEVER USE LIST OPTION EVER AGAIN!!!)
 
Featherhall

Featherhall

Cube Update - 3 November 2019 - First Run - Going in Dry!

After we had a collective agreement last Sunday that doing back-to-back drafts was an exhausting idea (our little group is part of a League of sorts, where we draft Throne of Eldraine), we have postponed this draft until today, which we ran this afternoon. Despite my initial concerns about the how organized/balanced this cube actually is, we drafted it and - whattaknow, it was FUN.

I think keeping this a secret amongst my friends as about the contents of the cube helped alot, since most of us are more accustom to more limited cube environments (we have mostly played Block cubes), so there was initial shock when people opened their packs and exclaimed "There are 5 mythics in this pack, what the hell"! However, after some acclimatization to this mess, we collectively figured ourselves out and each constructed some potent and fun decks.

I'll show the decks created - unfortunately the below deck lists are inaccurate as when I packed up and came home today, a divider came loose in my cube box and some cards got mixed in with other cards. In addition, a player dropped after the second round, and his deck got lost amongst the pile of sideboard cards afterwards (I believe he was in some sort of Gruul Aggro/Burn style deck...). So what I will show below are the maindecks and no sideboard.

First off, oh boy....

Mono-Blue No's (3-0)









The enemy of the day - perhaps the strongest limited player at our LGS - left unscathed today going 3-0 with a Mono-Blue tempo/permission style deck. I sat beside him during the draft - I noted that there was tons of blue that was going around, and was kind of baffled why no one was picking any these cards. I think he nearly wheeled every blue card on the table, since absolutely no one else drafted blue today. He explained that while he did have some close games, he managed to usually stabilize off the backs of Jace, The Mind Sculptor and
Brazen Barrower. T'was funny, you know he was winning his match from the sounds of his opponent's either groaning or asking "May I cast this"?

Next up, the archetype I was unsure was strong enough apparently had a good showing, earning second place!

Boros Go-Wide (2-1)









I didn't get the chance to speak with buddy who piloted this deck, but this deck was effective in going wide and overwhelming the opponent. I think his deck would have benefited more with more burn and lower ccm creatures, but based on the mess of cards I have been cleaning up, the player who dropped in the 2nd Round cut him on the more aggressive cards/burn. However, happy to see this deck do it's thing.

Speaking of doing it's thing... Death and Taxes grabbed third place!

Orzhov Taxmen (2-0-1)









Have the fortune of playing against the pilot of this deck first round - she managed to survive a turn 5 Wildfire and beat me to death with endless Zombie tokens (damn you Curse of Shallow Graves). The usage of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Vryn Wingmare, & Aven Mindcensor were key of making my ramp cards pretty useless. And Charming Prince... god damn Charming Prince reusing Shriekmaw and Nekrataal ETBs were backbreaking after landing my beaters. Was well played and fun overall.

Of interesting note - she was not impressed with Archangel of Thune and Dusk // Dawn, explaining there was not enough life gain to make it great, and Dusk, while did protect her creatures, did nothing to remove opposing creatures that were also low powered. I will keep an eye on this, as this may be a card that get's swapped with a different wrath.

Below are the decks that didn't place:

Rakdos Stack-dos (1-1-1...???









I was jealous - THIS was the deck I wanted to play. I didn't get the chance to see most of his games, but near the end of day today, I did manage to catch his and the Orzhov Death & Taxes deck go to time - he had a Smokestack up with 3 counters on it and a bunch of lands, while his opponent had no lands, 2 creatures and a flipped Kytheon (heh, she was also pissed that this was the 2nd deck she encountered today that destroyed her lands). Despite still losing, he had a lot of fun with it, and ran the deck the way I expected the archetype should run. I was happy for him.

Orzhov-Innistrad Flavortown (2-1)









I had to laugh when my buddy explain that he created this deck just for the purposes of having both Archangel Avacyn and Griselbrand in the same deck. While this deck wasn't all in on the 'Death and Taxes' theme the other Orzhov player pushed for, it did enough to hold back opponents to land Griselbrand, which was usually enough to win the game.

He also managed to draft Balance. I'm working off the assumption that he ended up sideboarding it out after match 1, not due to it's effectiveness, but mostly due to watching the Mono-Blue player constantly returning it to his hand/top of library/countering. I still suspect Balance may not have a place in my cube, but a small sample size does not nearly provide the evidence I need to look elsewhere.

Golgari Delirium (0-3)









The Golgari pilot appeared to have some bad running today, though he managed to provide me the most data/feedback. I initially considered Golgari perhaps not being strong enough when I created the cube - while he did not necessarily believe that, he did express that there may need to have more variety in cards to fuel Delirium (examples given were Vessel of Nascency and Dead Weight, which were previous in the cube's earliest renditions). I think his deck was ultimately hampered by the fact 3 other black players were at the table cutting removal and recursion, 2 green players cutting the fatties, and just some bad luck overall (saw him Grapple with the Past in our game together missing, dumping Liliana, Maelstorm Pulse and another good card into the graveyard).

He also noted too that there was not enough incidental lifegain to make up for some of the more punishing, life-paying intensive cards. He explained that games he lost was due to Bitterblossom, Murderous Rider and Dark Confidant eating away his life total too fast. He also noted that while that Vraska, Golgari Queen did provide some incidental gains, it was usually at the cost of board position. I noted to him he had Course of Kruphix and Collected Brutality in his deck to help, but he never seen Brutality in any of his games, and the one game where Course hit the field, it was killed on-sight.

Ultimately, next time we draft, I'll watch and see if Golgari can come together. If not, then some effort may be needed to up it's power level.

As for my mess I drafted...

Gruul "{S}Fuck{/S} your cards, Andy" Wildfire (1-1-Drop)









I have never seen people so disgusted by simply casting Wildfire. Understand that we have never played with this card before - when I ended up casting it, the just thought '4 damage boardwipe.... fine', until we got to the Land Destruction part. I would have loved to play more, but I thought it be more fitting to drop when the other guy left, letting the others play so no one was stuck with the bye.

In summary, it was a good day. Everyone reported that the draft forced them into making difficult decisions, all games were pretty close and interactive, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Thoughts:
  • Golgari Delirium might be too cute overall, and may need to change the archetype to be more of a traditional grindy midrange deck. Again, I think the pilot of the archetype today just got shafted by the glut of black/green players cutting him on key cards, but going forward, if this actually gets drafted often, but fails to compete, a rework may be necessary.
  • Speaking of Black, half the players were in that color in one way or another. I'm curious to know if my Black cards, a section I had second thoughts about being any good recently, may now be too strong. Playtesting required.
  • There was concerns that Blue may be too controlling, with some players noting that most cards in the winning deck just fit the Control archetype and nothing else. The pilot of the deck disagreed - he explained that the reason the deck performed as well as it did was due to absolutely no one else touching the color. The Golgari player noted this scenario when his Pack 3, Pick 15 card was a Consecrated Sphinx. I doubt this will happen again, but it may be worth watching Blue going forward. Cutting one of the Delve cards may be required.
  • Edict-based effects may not be good enough - my Golgari player noted that where there is a strong token theme in nearly all colors, the card was simply not effective enough to get mileage out of it. He did admit that his games/deck may have not been the ideal place to cast it for great value, but after inspecting the lists, he may be correct. Black removal overall may been a new look-over...
  • Our LGS needs to have an open bar. I don't know how many times I've played in that store with friends, having a good time, then think to myself "Damn, I need a beer". I'll be forced to sneak booze into my waterbottle in the future...
I will be updating the cube in the future - I think after this run I can take it out of 'Beta' Mode. Some things still need to be smoothed out, but I was impressed how all decks/archetypes came together.
 
Featherhall

Featherhall

Cube Update - 17 November 2019 - Session 2: Finding the Cracks


So I was lucky enough to perform another run with the cube yesterday with friends, getting a full three games in each with no one dropping half-way through the session. We were originally aiming for four games, but when a game that goes to time while they are on time... well, you can only control so much.

I didn't really take the care to track records this time around - I guess I was just feeling lazy and just wanted to play rather than keeping notes and records. In this lazy haze, I never did ask for feedback from each player at the end of the session asking about standout cards, cards that felt bad to play, and cards that felt bad to play against. However, some elements are starting to appear that are making me realize that there may be some glaring issues, and we did sort of discuss them as a group before we got collectively kick-out of our LGS.

First, deck-list rundowns (never necessary but always enjoyable to observe afterwards). Starting with my list I drafted:



My Deck (2-1-0)











I always enjoy my Rakdos decks, and this one did not disappoint. I must say that the combination of Bloodsoaked Champion, Scrapheap Scrounger, Judith, the Scourge Diva, Bloodghast, and Priest of Forgotten Gods feels really potent in the matches I had. I also felt vindicated with the addition of Grafted Wargear; I always was concerned that the Equipment package was still far too weak to be warranted, however, this card felt good in a deck whose threats can keep coming back from the yard. Despite the results and what I was able to pick up, I didn't draft that well - I was forcing Gruul in the early picks, only to realize I was getting cut pretty hard in Green. Thus, I think I stiffed myself on removal, but overall, I was content with what I ended up with.

First matchup was against a very good drafter who was drafting my cube for the first time:


Mardu Bleeders (2-1)










Our first game was really good. I was able to go wide enough thanks to what I thought was a slow start, with him only having Cruel Celebrant and Liliana, Heretical Healer on the field, and me with Dark Confidant helping me get my beaters over the next several draw steps. I got through the Celebrant, a Zombie token, and a flipped Lili, and ended up with Scrapheap Scrounger, Goblin Guide, Nekrataal, and Kari Zev.

Then Living Death happened.

Game two wasn't really a game... sadly mana screw and a combination of my creatures not lining up with his (that extra toughness on Cruel Celebrant and Liliana are brutal sometimes) sealed the game in his favor - endlessly chump-blocking and recurring the "bleeders" with Liliana, Defiant Necromancer ensured my defeat. Good games all around, and I can honestly say I'm impressed that Orzhov can do things without taking the aggressive bend.


Izzet Prowess Tempo (1-2 ????)










Another new player to my cube, however, our games really... weren't. Sadly our first match was him mulliganing to 5 and still stuck on 1 land (my Goblin Guide attempted to help, but 4 attacks later we concluded he wasn't gonna get there). The second match there was some more resistance, however, he did not get the chance to hit the mana needed for Cryptic Command or Prognostic Sphinx.

Despite the tough losses, I think the Izzet Tempo deck does have some legs. I would like to add more flyers or evasive threats in Blue's 2 drop section to really push the archetype more. However, I think the presence of 2 other red aggro players and 2 blue control players prevented him from making his deck come together. I will keep brainstorming to try to improve this secotion - the potency was seen during his last game, where after a few spells he was swinging uncontested for 8-10 damage at a time... well, I shouldn't type 'Uncontested'.... Settle the Wreckage is a card (he did eventually win that game though).


Azorius Control (???)










I actually don't recall my first game against my friend here - I think he got stuck on the wrong color mana and it became a non-game. Our second match was a lot more interesting - both of us stuck on 3 lands each, all in the wrong color (I needed double black, he needed double white), bombs/removal in hand, in a stalled board state. After some careful maneuvering I was able to win just in time before he was able to land his Archangel Avacyn in time for it to matter.

I kinda wished to play again against him - his deck looked really good. He also had a Gideon Blackblade which was flipped in-and-out of his sideboard all day. I should have picked his brains on a few details on Azorius because I wasn't sure if Control was going to hold up on these colors. I shall have to take notes next time.

The remaining decks I didn't get the chance to play against:


Green ‘Tron’











That's where all my Green went... sonovabitch... regardless, big green made the rounds today and suitably stomped almost every deck it came across. I only walked by one of his matches, where I think one of his creatures got Path'd, and while searching, he realized he had all his basics out already, with the only card in deck was Westvale Abbey. From the sounds of things, both Titans were the all-stars in this deck.


Mono-Red Burn (???)










... and this is where my Red ended up! Regardless, the Golgari player from last week had a really explosive Red deck which apparently was very fun to play. I think the only weakness his deck had was the lack of Red early drops (me and the Izzet player denied him those critical 1 drops), and I could sort of argue he should have gone white. But that being said, his mana fixing was not great, and in truth he had enough good stuff in a single color where it ultimately didn't hurt him too much.


Azorius Superfriends (???)










The control player who left Mystic Confluence, Condescend and Remand in the sideboard because he doesn't like too many counters (I think I overheard him fight with another between rounds to at least jam in the Remand maindeck) - I think he did alright. I do recall seeing him at one point him having three planeswalkers on the field. I also do recall a moment where his own Thalia almost screwed him out of casting his instances, but thanks to Baral, Chief of Compliance, he was able to score a clutch Mana Tithe. That would have been hype if it wasn't on turns.


Golgari Stax (???)










Once upon a time, I considered adding Recurring Nightmare to my cube. I'm glad I didn't. This was the Golgari deck I wanted to see work, though the addition of Smokestack was nice in conjunction with Ishkanah, Grafwidow, Avenger of Zendikar, and Woodfall Primus. His deck was also considered a problem to play against yesterday, but I don't recall if he won all games yesterday. However... his deck showed a current problem with the cube, and I have been forced to do something earlier than expected...


FLAGGED

For the record - I love Smokestack: it's slow, but provides some inevitability for midrange decks up against Control decks, and it needs to be built around it in order to be at it's most effective. However, some players were against it saying it wasn't fun to play against. If there was a vocal majority on this, I think I would cut it, but there were some who were against the full-on removal of it from the cube, arguing that it wasn't completely unbeatable and noting it's relative slowness to the rest of the cube (it was noted as well that the Smokestack player last week lost with it on the battlefield against aggro and low-to-the-ground decks). So for now - I'm flagging it. I will be watch this cards performance to see if it's over-represented and to see if play patterns continue to degenerate. If the concerns for the card exasperate over time, then I may need to reconsider the cards place.
Click to expand...


As we were packing up for the night, we got into the discussion on why Smokestack was such a problem, and through some constructive criticism, the lack of removal for the card, let alone artifacts, became apparent. Now, going though just a few of the cards that didn't end up getting into packs, Abrade, Knight of Autumn, Nature's Chant, Thoughtseize, Duress, Goblin Cratermaker, Anguished Unmaking, Banishing Light all could have played a part in dealing with Smokestack, so I thought the card was well in-check. However, much to my surprise, the players thought the cube overall could use a little more removal, not just for artifacts and enchantments, but creatures as well.

I never did an as-fan of my cube on removal, only because the definition of 'Removal' seems to vary for cube curator to another (e.g.: some say Counterspell or Thoughtseize isn't real removal... sure, chief...), and I really don't know how to properly calculate it. Apparently, if I recall correctly, Innistrad and Zendikar were considered the best limited environments with as-fan removal of 2 [citation needed, idiot!]. Before I launched my cube, I did take some effort to reel back removal effects (especially in Black and White, which was near excessive at times). The concern is that by upping the amount of removal will lead to aggro being weaker and will result in endless grindy games where it boils down to "Who can stick a threat for longer than a turn wins". Perhaps ensuring that the removal is conditional would prevent that, but this will be explored as I take further feedback.

As for feedback:

What a Waste

Just after the draft, I was asked if Wasteland and Rishadan Port were real cards in my cube. We discussed - the primary thought process with Wasteland was to deny opponent's mana fixing, with some slight interaction with Titania, Protector of Argoth and The Gitrog Monster. Meanwhile, Rishadan Port could be utilized by both Control and Aggro decks by choking out mana opponents can't access during turns when they may have a key interaction they need to use to stabilize. However, after some determination, these two cards, in addition to Field of Ruin didn't add a whole lot to the cube - mana fixing is pretty sparse overall in order to promote two-three color decks, and during the drafts, players do not need to force drafting lands too hard as basics will usually be enough. Fixing is only a focus if they start going into 3+ colors, or have a fairly greedy curve (e.g.: double-Red and double-Black in the 2ccm slot). Thus, these cards were getting left to the sideboards unused as there was no purpose to running them.​
​
Typing this out now, I think I know what needs to be done to remedy this.​
​
Out:


In:

​
As I take this think out of its 'Beta' phase, and I do go forward upping the removal, then threat density will need to increase. Thus, these seems like fitting includes at this point, as it does allow players to sink mana into them during late phases of a game or on an empty board. My only hope is that they make a fixed/improved version of Lavaclaw Reaches in time (hey, new Zendikar block eventually????), but even the worse of these still has play overall. Now at least with this change Wasteland and Rishadan Port should now have more purpose than this narrow, corner-case purposes.​

While the cube is still in it's infancy, and there is perhaps way more to discover in terms of interaction, plays and deck archetype viability, I think I like the direction the cube is heading. Despite the singular blemish, I think I need to park my cube away for a bit, grab the remaining cards I need, tighten some spots up, then relaunch this mess next month (hopefully) and see if we can make this cube better.


Thoughts
  • The only 'Feel Bad' moment I ran into today was my first opponent who was near mono-black, turning off my removal in Nekrataal and Shriekmaw. Since the Human Aggro theme does not appear to be taking off in the Orzhov colors, I think it may be safe to switch Nekrataal for Ravenous Chupacabra, synergies be damned. Doom Blade may also need replacement. Will consider during update.
  • Black and white still strikes me as overdrafted, but I think this is just the results of players drafting what they want to draft. It's good to hear from players that they are still forced to make difficult decisions during the draft in as deep as Pack 3, so I don't think this is the result of 'railroading' my players into those colors. Still, I will need to keep an eye on this.
  • I think I need an editor - I will be re-writing my Primary/Secondary posts not only for the future cube update once changes are made, but because my grammar and paragraph structure is horrible! Cheese&Rice, I can only speak English - I certainly cannot write it!
  • Maybe more thoughts later... sleep now.... complain later...
 
Suicufnoc

Suicufnoc

Definitely would cut doom blade for Go For the Throat or Cast Down.

Or possibly Murderous Cut, though it is weaker.

I love Dismember, but its more of a black/colorless hybrid card...
 
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