Chris Taylor
Contributor
Huh. I'm gonna try Vinecrasher 
General Fight Club
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
Vinecrasher has been sweet in my cube thus far. Great synergy with fetches, self-mill strategies, and creates cool tech-y plays where you can extract extra value off things like looting or discarding. It's normally a 4/4 on average which is just fine, the real value comes once you can bring it back a 2nd time or as a big body ahead of the curve. Triggering off of and counting lands in both graveyards is pretty big game, especially in a fetch-heavy environment like mine. I've seen a nasty recursion loop with the Gitrog Monster assembled that did some solid work in a match, just super grindy if you can power it out at a decent size which isn't too difficult. It's not exactly a build-around or a P1P1 caliber card, but it's a nice supplemental piece to a deck featuring self-mill or something like Life From the Loam. I just like that it's one of those cards that makes a drafter go huh, how can I abuse this?
vs. Did we do this already? We had to have done this one already, right?
Anyway, classic vs. cleaner design.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Actually, I prefer Nekrataal, precisely because it isn't such a bland, catch-all answer. I really dislike Chupacabra for its generic-ness.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
If I hadn't spent time and effort making all the etb murder guys in my cube have different conditions (nekkrataal, bone shredder, and shriekmaw all share targeting restrictions) I'd go chupacabra.
Doom blade v ultimate price v go for the throat is more interesting than doom blade x3, but we don't have quite the variety in etb guys that we do in spells.
(yes sure there's gilt-leaf winnower, but it's specifically weird)
Doom blade v ultimate price v go for the throat is more interesting than doom blade x3, but we don't have quite the variety in etb guys that we do in spells.
(yes sure there's gilt-leaf winnower, but it's specifically weird)
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Crypt Ghast lets you grind out games through extort, and propels you into your big plays earlier because of the mana boost.
Lashwrite is nothing more than a big beater. When combined with cards like Vampire Nighthawk and Gifted Aetherborn it has some additional benefits (muchos life gain), but the same is true for other, more widely playable equipments.
Abhorrent Overlord is a big finisher that rewards putting a lot of black pips into your deck. If you can generate six harpies, you're attacking for 11 next turn, through the air, which is a pretty good deal for seven mana. Seven mana is a lot though! It also interacts nicely with reanimation spells, as you can sacrifice the Overlord to its own trigger, then return it to the battlefield for even more harpies!
Bad Moon is two sided and benefits aggro decks the most.
I'ld say out of these the Overlord. There isn't exactly a lot of stuff worth accelerating into in your cube at the moment for the Crypt Ghast to matter, I feel. If you want to promote mono black a bit more, especially when you're going to utilize the devotion mechanic, I feel you want to include more permanents with two black pips in your two and three mana section, some that can survive the wrath effects would be especially nice. Stuff like...
Lashwrite is nothing more than a big beater. When combined with cards like Vampire Nighthawk and Gifted Aetherborn it has some additional benefits (muchos life gain), but the same is true for other, more widely playable equipments.
Abhorrent Overlord is a big finisher that rewards putting a lot of black pips into your deck. If you can generate six harpies, you're attacking for 11 next turn, through the air, which is a pretty good deal for seven mana. Seven mana is a lot though! It also interacts nicely with reanimation spells, as you can sacrifice the Overlord to its own trigger, then return it to the battlefield for even more harpies!
Bad Moon is two sided and benefits aggro decks the most.
I'ld say out of these the Overlord. There isn't exactly a lot of stuff worth accelerating into in your cube at the moment for the Crypt Ghast to matter, I feel. If you want to promote mono black a bit more, especially when you're going to utilize the devotion mechanic, I feel you want to include more permanents with two black pips in your two and three mana section, some that can survive the wrath effects would be especially nice. Stuff like...
I want another pay off card for the mono black deck. How would you rank those and why?:
The mono black decks in my cube consist of hand disruption, (mass)removal and value through creature resurrection, often more midrange than control.
Is Geralf's Messenger on your radar?
The one and only Phyrexian Obliterator
But I would also go with the two Shades, Cabal Coffers and Crypt Ghast because they can compliment your reanimation strategy.
But I would also go with the two Shades, Cabal Coffers and Crypt Ghast because they can compliment your reanimation strategy.
Wow, I didn't even consider the possibilities of saccing the overlord himself and bring him back again and again with cards like Oath of Ghouls, that's pretty nice. I feared, that he might be too awful on an empty board, but maybe this is not all that relevant on a 7-drop? Right now I am torn between him and Lashwrithe. Yes, it's just stats, but there are quite a few black creatures with evasion or lifelink where a bonus of something like +5/+5 or more could be game ending really quickly.
The cards you posted are cool, I'm considering a few of them already for future updates like the Shades, Assasin, Arena or Cennections. But my experience with Gary has shown, that we really don't need that much
-Symbols for these effects. He's easily draining for 6+, sometimes going big into double digits.Ii is, but I fear like he might a little too much in my meta. The same is even more true for Phyrexian Oblitarator, Velrun.
Yes, as an altered, stone cold for ever staple. Recurring him alone wins games on a regular base.
So, for the finals, on a pure power level base, which card would you guys pick rather, Lashwrithe or Abhorrent Overlord?
Oversold cemetery, for sure.
100% agree.
Are you guys, just, like, cool with Oversold + Shriekmaw loops? Or do you not run the two together?
Oath would be pure chaos in my cube. Maybe in a fun way? I cut Oona's Prowler because it was too likely to be taken advantage of by opponent's.
Hold on, doesn't Oath of Ghouls never return opponents creatures? Or is this an errata thing. ......Oh I see, yes it it.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
*Raises hand*
Look all these cards are awesome independently. It hasn't happened yet, but Oath of Ghouls would stop that lock from happening. Good idea
Maybe it's just my black section, but I think people are undervalueing Oath. Black decks tend to have bigger yards than öfter colors and way to keep the number high, so the drawback is not that big of a deal. But it's nice to get the effect online early with 2, 3 or sometimes even only one creature in the yard.