CML
Contributor
(Maybe we could turn this one into an article too, once I've synthesized all the smart things other people say with the better thoughts here...)
The original Mirrodin block had bad art, an ugly new card face with ugly gray mana symbols, bland flavor, bland flavor text, a cheesy plot, and development so thoughtless it led to bannings in Standard. And it was still pretty sweet! The draft environment MD5 -- with its zero- to five-color decks -- is a lot of fun, and a lot of the reason why is the new card (sub)type
EQUIPMENT
"Woof."
Equipment is the perfect fix to the whole "auras either lead to quick death or ruinous blowout" problem, and in fact the only buffing auras I run in my Cube (cubetutor.com/viewcube/114) are Rancor and Angelic Destiny, both designed with that issue in mind. Equipment is sweet for two main reasons: it makes aggro more resilient, and it makes aggro more difficult to play. "Equip" is, after all, an activated ability ... and considering the upshot of NWO, it's a surprise SOM block had so much equipment at common (one of the few things I liked about that draft environment).
As is often the case with metallic worlds from Led Zeppelin to Los Alamos, there was trouble in paradise ...
"I'm going to need to check your security credentials."
Skullclamp remains the best card printed since Mana Drain -- a raging adolescent boner, compared to the counterspell spit-up from the game's infancy.
In Mirrodin's checkered past Skullclamp is the felony. It is not something I would want to pass, be passed, or play with or against in Cube. Trying to fight the card advantage is like a tribe of Bushmen resisting a modern army -- you may kill one of their dudes, but there's always more ...
---
Traditional Cube design (720, singleton) has difficulty supporting aggro, as control operates naturally off a number of one-of's and has far greater raw power and any number of other reasons covered elsewhere on this site. The typical solution is to include cards like Sulfuric Vortex and Black Vise (http://riptidelab.com/top-8-most-oppressive-cube-cards/) to "bridge the power gap between Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Jackal Pup." Most equipment does basically the same thing, so it's not considered "cuttable" as doing so would disrupt the flawed and fragile balance of these environments.
"Respect the delicate ecology of your delusions."
All Cubes that maximize power level include the following "Power Eight" equipment (in descending order of unbeatable-ness):
Skullclamp
Umezawa's Jitte
Batterskull
Swords of X and Y
Umezawa's Jitte is banned in Modern and is making an annoying resurgence in Legacy, where the new legend rules now allow for dueling copies of the salad fork. Batterskull led to the other Modern-era Standard banning and is pure misery to play against. The Swords are very cool designs with bold flavors and beautiful art, but anyone who's played Modern Masters limited knows what a bummer it is to face one down.
"Whosoever pulleth this Sword from this Cube and Cube pack will be rightwise born King of the Nerds."
My main objection to the Swords is this. The other day I was bitching about hexproof in my pretentious, crotchety, correct way: "It's the worst mechanic ever," I said. "No," my friend replied. "Protection is much worse." And he was right. Nothing could be less interactive than shutting off your opponent's deck with a "problem permanent." There is a case for including Protection in Constructed, but I find it to be as unsubtle a balancing tool as Black Vise and Sulfuric Vortex. The thesis-novel aesthetic of Great Sable Stag and the vestigial Pro-Blue on Goblin Piledriver bear me out.
"I'm afraid I just blue myself."
---
This brings us to the issue at hand. What equipment is worth including? The difficulty is that the power level on equipment drops precipitously after the "Power Eight." Here's a comprehensive list of equipment I've considered for my Cube:
Bonesplitter
Empyrial Plate
Grafted Wargear
Sylvok Lifestaff
Bonehoard
Lightning Greaves
Runechanter's Pike
Mortarpod
Basilisk Collar
Cranial Plating
Loxodon Warhammer and Behemoth Sledge
Plating requires a big artifacts theme, those artifacts probably aren't mana rocks, and one of the few failings of MMA was the unplayable Affinity deck, so that's out. Bonesplitter was a great card in MMA and looks good in theory, but in practice nobody ever played it. Mortarpod was a powerful card in Mirrodin Besieged Standard but here does worse without as much one-toughness fodder and/or targets. Loxodon Warhammer and its more restrictive cousin Behemoth Sledge are experientially not fun, and anyone who remembers the blight Butcher's Cleaver was on the otherwise-great ISD format can imagine why.
That leaves Plate, Wargear, Lifestaff, Bonehoard, Greaves, Pike, Collar. I love all these cards:
Empyrial Plate is a sweet design that excels in Caw-style decks (especially with the four Squadron Hawks!)
Grafted Wargear is easily the most powerful of these cards, and the drawback is surprisingly complicated to manage correctly.
Sylvok Lifestaff and Basilisk Collar appear to hose aggro, but they also work well in aggro and overlap with the Trinket Mage package. Plus, you haven't really lived until you've skydived I mean cast Panglacial Wurm from your library I mean suited up an Inferno Titan with a Basilisk Collar.
Bonehoard is an old Wrath-proof favorite, also from MBS standard, and I feel the strongest design out of all the Living Weapon cards.
Lightning Greaves is a little non-interactive, but drafting around it is difficult enough that it's worth it.
Runechanter's Pike is another interesting "build-around-me" exercise, has provided moments of gratuitous overkill when the suited-up creature is stolen (http://www.starcitygames.com/articl...--Week-In-And-Week-Out--Top-8-In-Seattle.html), and goes especially well with extra cantrips (http://riptidelab.com/cantrippin-balls-doubling-up-on-cantrips/).
"Showtime."
Seven cards is a small theme, enough to support Stoneforge Mystic, but probably not a second tutor like Steelshaper's Gift. Though I wish they'd print equipment somewhere between Grafted Wargear and the Swords in power level, I'm proud of what excluding the "Power Eight" has compelled me to make of my aggro section. I've lowered the mana curve, removed chaff like Kor Skyfisher, eliminated M10 buddy-lands entirely, doubled up on Zendikar fetches and Ravnica shocklands, and even duplicated a few powerful one-drops. I like closely contested games that start on turn one, not "did he draw the Black Vise and/or does the Sword he drafted give Protection from all my spells and/or can I not cast spells until turn 4" lovefests. Don't you? And equipment can be a part of that, too.
The original Mirrodin block had bad art, an ugly new card face with ugly gray mana symbols, bland flavor, bland flavor text, a cheesy plot, and development so thoughtless it led to bannings in Standard. And it was still pretty sweet! The draft environment MD5 -- with its zero- to five-color decks -- is a lot of fun, and a lot of the reason why is the new card (sub)type
EQUIPMENT
"Woof."
Equipment is the perfect fix to the whole "auras either lead to quick death or ruinous blowout" problem, and in fact the only buffing auras I run in my Cube (cubetutor.com/viewcube/114) are Rancor and Angelic Destiny, both designed with that issue in mind. Equipment is sweet for two main reasons: it makes aggro more resilient, and it makes aggro more difficult to play. "Equip" is, after all, an activated ability ... and considering the upshot of NWO, it's a surprise SOM block had so much equipment at common (one of the few things I liked about that draft environment).
As is often the case with metallic worlds from Led Zeppelin to Los Alamos, there was trouble in paradise ...
"I'm going to need to check your security credentials."
Skullclamp remains the best card printed since Mana Drain -- a raging adolescent boner, compared to the counterspell spit-up from the game's infancy.
In Mirrodin's checkered past Skullclamp is the felony. It is not something I would want to pass, be passed, or play with or against in Cube. Trying to fight the card advantage is like a tribe of Bushmen resisting a modern army -- you may kill one of their dudes, but there's always more ...
---
Traditional Cube design (720, singleton) has difficulty supporting aggro, as control operates naturally off a number of one-of's and has far greater raw power and any number of other reasons covered elsewhere on this site. The typical solution is to include cards like Sulfuric Vortex and Black Vise (http://riptidelab.com/top-8-most-oppressive-cube-cards/) to "bridge the power gap between Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Jackal Pup." Most equipment does basically the same thing, so it's not considered "cuttable" as doing so would disrupt the flawed and fragile balance of these environments.
"Respect the delicate ecology of your delusions."
All Cubes that maximize power level include the following "Power Eight" equipment (in descending order of unbeatable-ness):
Skullclamp
Umezawa's Jitte
Batterskull
Swords of X and Y
Umezawa's Jitte is banned in Modern and is making an annoying resurgence in Legacy, where the new legend rules now allow for dueling copies of the salad fork. Batterskull led to the other Modern-era Standard banning and is pure misery to play against. The Swords are very cool designs with bold flavors and beautiful art, but anyone who's played Modern Masters limited knows what a bummer it is to face one down.
"Whosoever pulleth this Sword from this Cube and Cube pack will be rightwise born King of the Nerds."
My main objection to the Swords is this. The other day I was bitching about hexproof in my pretentious, crotchety, correct way: "It's the worst mechanic ever," I said. "No," my friend replied. "Protection is much worse." And he was right. Nothing could be less interactive than shutting off your opponent's deck with a "problem permanent." There is a case for including Protection in Constructed, but I find it to be as unsubtle a balancing tool as Black Vise and Sulfuric Vortex. The thesis-novel aesthetic of Great Sable Stag and the vestigial Pro-Blue on Goblin Piledriver bear me out.
"I'm afraid I just blue myself."
---
This brings us to the issue at hand. What equipment is worth including? The difficulty is that the power level on equipment drops precipitously after the "Power Eight." Here's a comprehensive list of equipment I've considered for my Cube:
Bonesplitter
Empyrial Plate
Grafted Wargear
Sylvok Lifestaff
Bonehoard
Lightning Greaves
Runechanter's Pike
Mortarpod
Basilisk Collar
Cranial Plating
Loxodon Warhammer and Behemoth Sledge
Plating requires a big artifacts theme, those artifacts probably aren't mana rocks, and one of the few failings of MMA was the unplayable Affinity deck, so that's out. Bonesplitter was a great card in MMA and looks good in theory, but in practice nobody ever played it. Mortarpod was a powerful card in Mirrodin Besieged Standard but here does worse without as much one-toughness fodder and/or targets. Loxodon Warhammer and its more restrictive cousin Behemoth Sledge are experientially not fun, and anyone who remembers the blight Butcher's Cleaver was on the otherwise-great ISD format can imagine why.
That leaves Plate, Wargear, Lifestaff, Bonehoard, Greaves, Pike, Collar. I love all these cards:
Empyrial Plate is a sweet design that excels in Caw-style decks (especially with the four Squadron Hawks!)
Grafted Wargear is easily the most powerful of these cards, and the drawback is surprisingly complicated to manage correctly.
Sylvok Lifestaff and Basilisk Collar appear to hose aggro, but they also work well in aggro and overlap with the Trinket Mage package. Plus, you haven't really lived until you've skydived I mean cast Panglacial Wurm from your library I mean suited up an Inferno Titan with a Basilisk Collar.
Bonehoard is an old Wrath-proof favorite, also from MBS standard, and I feel the strongest design out of all the Living Weapon cards.
Lightning Greaves is a little non-interactive, but drafting around it is difficult enough that it's worth it.
Runechanter's Pike is another interesting "build-around-me" exercise, has provided moments of gratuitous overkill when the suited-up creature is stolen (http://www.starcitygames.com/articl...--Week-In-And-Week-Out--Top-8-In-Seattle.html), and goes especially well with extra cantrips (http://riptidelab.com/cantrippin-balls-doubling-up-on-cantrips/).
"Showtime."
Seven cards is a small theme, enough to support Stoneforge Mystic, but probably not a second tutor like Steelshaper's Gift. Though I wish they'd print equipment somewhere between Grafted Wargear and the Swords in power level, I'm proud of what excluding the "Power Eight" has compelled me to make of my aggro section. I've lowered the mana curve, removed chaff like Kor Skyfisher, eliminated M10 buddy-lands entirely, doubled up on Zendikar fetches and Ravnica shocklands, and even duplicated a few powerful one-drops. I like closely contested games that start on turn one, not "did he draw the Black Vise and/or does the Sword he drafted give Protection from all my spells and/or can I not cast spells until turn 4" lovefests. Don't you? And equipment can be a part of that, too.