omg totes
Card/Deck Making Gruul do more than stompy, or make stompy Gruul more interesting?
- Thread starter Rasmus Källqvist
- Start date
Aren't they called sideboards? Are we going have to have a punch out over this.
Huh
Huh?
Huh?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
When I first read safra's post, I read "side decks", maybe that happened to Rasmus as well? I really had to look twice.
But yeah, barely remembered sick decks are awesome. I used to run a Static Orb / Opposition deck in Invasion / Odyssey standard. Ran only 16 land, never any mana problems, because my mana producers doubled as tappers as well, I could run multiples. Chatter of the Squirrel made multiple bodies, Nimble Mongoose and Blurred Mongoose were untouchable. It was a blast to play, though not a blast to play against I imagine
Man, Wizards should print some mongooses again... mongeese... mongiis?
Oh, or how about that time I nearly won a large FNM with a
highlander deck I put together for shits and giggles. Turns out there were a few tutors in (once again) Invasion / Odyssey (Sterling Grove, Eladamri's Call, Living Wish) which made the deck a lot more consistent, and a lot of incidental hate cards that really tore unprepared decks to pieces (Spectral Lynx, Mystic Enforcer, Phantom Centaur, Aura Shards, Solitary Confinement, Lashknife Barrier, etc.). Lost the finals to Madness though, because I couldn't find an answer to his Wonder. So sad 
My first sixty card deck that I built all by myself was a Springjack Shepherd/Primal Surge deck. My second deck was a mono-blue Coalition Victory/High Tide brew (Amy Weber art, accept no imitators), and then I fell in love with Magic.
I absolutely read side deck not sick deck.
But yeah, barely remembered sick decks are awesome. I used to run a Static Orb / Opposition deck in Invasion / Odyssey standard. Ran only 16 land, never any mana problems, because my mana producers doubled as tappers as well, I could run multiples. Chatter of the Squirrel made multiple bodies, Nimble Mongoose and Blurred Mongoose were untouchable. It was a blast to play, though not a blast to play against I imagine
Man, Wizards should print some mongooses again... mongeese... mongiis?
That deck was so, so fun.
Prior to that archetype taking over, I remember the UG Madness / RG Madness arms race being super fun. UG had the upper hand with Wonder, until RG locked the game down with Ensnaring Bridge and Grim Lavamancer, until UG cast Turbulent Dreams, until RG played Spellbane Centaur...
Man that format was so sweet.
I saw Grillo mention it as well and I agree. It feels like the missing piece in green that makes it an actual Gruul thing. A package of Lightning Greaves, Lightning Mauler, Hammer of Purphoros, Fires of Yavimaya and Surrak sounds really nice. Red gives the quickness whereas Green supplies some really really beefy creatures to swing with.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Are you seriously dissing the first playable mono green addition ever to the "all my creatures have haste" theme? I mean, you don't have to like the theme, but given that it has been discussed extensively in this thread, new Surrak certainly needs to be mentioned.
I think Surrak even glues it together. Like, he is considerably better than people make him out to be. Elf, anything with power >1 and t3 surrak is a pretty hefty start and gives green a smarter feel I think than just ramping up to tapping out for a polukranos and passing? Surrak and another 3 power is not hard to either get during play or to plan for during draft since you're draftin green, but I think the easiest thing is just to try it out.
I think I'm going to swap out Vengevine for him. As much as I loved the card in constructed, and played it all manners of decks while it was legal, it hasn't had anywhere near the same punch in cube. Besides the four drop slot being crowded, leading to him being passed over by green attacking decks during the draft portion, it feels a lot harder to get value out of him than when Squadron Hawk was in the same format. Like others have said, Surrak, the Hunt Caller is at the very least a unique effect and worth a try.
Whatever makes people draft the pair I think maybe we can make it a bit more smart but depending on what we're aiming our cubes to be there are certain restraints, and with those maybe having Gruul just be honest face-smashing isn't too bad? Like, we've got some ideas for giving Gruul sub themes that are interesting, haste, lands, stuff like that.
I think maybe we can make it a bit more smart but depending on what we're aiming our cubes to be there are certain restraints, and with those maybe having Gruul just be honest face-smashing isn't too bad? Like, we've got some ideas for giving Gruul sub themes that are interesting, haste, lands, stuff like that.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Also, there's players who actually like the face-bashing approach and don't want to play "smart". Not every color pair needs to be complicated.
I agree that it doesn't have to be complicated. With that said, it can't really be simply "fair" either. Because that doesn't win often in cube.
R/G has had the most success in my cube as the wildfire deck focusing on ramp and LD. Secondary has been the BBE deck. I like the fires idea and have tried to make it a thing but haven't quite gotten there yet. Surrak might be the missing piece actually. So I'm excited to try him.
R/G has had the most success in my cube as the wildfire deck focusing on ramp and LD. Secondary has been the BBE deck. I like the fires idea and have tried to make it a thing but haven't quite gotten there yet. Surrak might be the missing piece actually. So I'm excited to try him.
The viability of fairness I think is a really hard and arbitrary thing to measure for its viability. RDW is a strong strategy in classic cube but it's super fair and really linear?
I don't think it is though. The version of RDW that you can assemble in cube (assuming the typical focus on aggro as seen in most cubes here) is not really fair. It's extremely efficient with a really short clock. Against a slow deck or one that durdles, it has the advantage of tempo.
Grull typically isn't that efficient because the support for that play style in Green is pretty much non-existent. So it ends up more midrange. And at that stage of the game, you have to be doing more than dropping a beefy creature or two. The deck ends up middle-of-the-road - stuck in no man's land - and not particularly good at any one thing. Decks the same speed are running busted cards or focusing on powerful synergies. While stompy is just doing a bad impression of BDW and losing.
My experience anyway.
Good point! I also said viable twice, so that's what typing on your cellphone does for you I like the point about Gruul possibly having the issue of ending up inbetween fast decks and slow decks. Is there any way to combat that?
I like the point about Gruul possibly having the issue of ending up inbetween fast decks and slow decks. Is there any way to combat that?Well there's nothing wrong with Gruul ending up midrange if you give it some tools to combat control decks. Haste, for one, certainly helps with that. Perhaps also some Caller of the Claw, Outpost Siege, Whisperwood Elemental, etc.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
How about:
Could R/G morphs be a thing?