General The Draft Exchange
- Thread starter Kirblinx
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Dom Harvey
Contributor
I don't know what that means but I assume it's shitposting so I liked it
drafted Gift's cube! Definitely higher power than mine 
. Seems like the bots need some work on their pick orders, y'all should go help them out .
Anyways, Drafted a mean looking UW tempo deck, with a definite Blink Subtheme. First picked Baby Jace, and followed it up with a Venser, shaper Savant. Probably didn't optimally deckbuild, because gottagofast (like snappy + 2? targets? woops), but it still looks like a blast to play. I know it's a deck I've pulled together before in my environ, just, ya know, sans Mana Crypt, among others. Have the wicked mean Strip Mine/Crucible combo built in, and Relic Seeker'ing for a Sword of Feast and Famine seems like gas.
On a side note, it's obviously YMMV, but I strongly dislike Upheaval. Card slows the game down soooo much, and those are just games that I personally don't find attractive. Still loved the drafting though, and at one point had to choose between Mana Drain and Mana Vault! This was like.... 7th or 8th pick, btw, hence the call to arms for drafting.
. Seems like the bots need some work on their pick orders, y'all should go help them out .Anyways, Drafted a mean looking UW tempo deck, with a definite Blink Subtheme. First picked Baby Jace, and followed it up with a Venser, shaper Savant. Probably didn't optimally deckbuild, because gottagofast (like snappy + 2? targets? woops), but it still looks like a blast to play. I know it's a deck I've pulled together before in my environ, just, ya know, sans Mana Crypt, among others
. Have the wicked mean Strip Mine/Crucible combo built in, and Relic Seeker'ing for a Sword of Feast and Famine seems like gas.On a side note, it's obviously YMMV, but I strongly dislike Upheaval. Card slows the game down soooo much, and those are just games that I personally don't find attractive. Still loved the drafting though, and at one point had to choose between Mana Drain and Mana Vault! This was like.... 7th or 8th pick, btw, hence the call to arms for drafting
.Sigh's UW Tempo Blink Beatdown from CubeTutor.com
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drafted Gift's cube! Definitely higher power than mine
Anyways, Drafted a mean looking UW tempo deck, with a definite Blink Subtheme. First picked Baby Jace, and followed it up with a Venser, shaper Savant. Probably didn't optimally deckbuild, because gottagofast (like snappy + 2? targets? woops), but it still looks like a blast to play. I know it's a deck I've pulled together before in my environ, just, ya know, sans Mana Crypt, among others
On a side note, it's obviously YMMV, but I strongly dislike Upheaval. Card slows the game down soooo much, and those are just games that I personally don't find attractive. Still loved the drafting though, and at one point had to choose between Mana Drain and Mana Vault! This was like.... 7th or 8th pick, btw, hence the call to arms for drafting
Yeah, my cube has really turned into a powerful one. I'm not entirely displeased with that, sometimes you just want to jam some of the best cards ever printed.
I actually agree with you on Upheaval, and am still trying to find a suitable replacement for the slot: Blue needs a reasonably costed win condition that isn't a creature, and I swear that this is the only one that exists, for some reason. If you have another suggestion for me, please let me know! I'm dying to find one.
The deck looks like good fun! I originally cut strip mine from my cube when I added mana crypt (see cube blog), but peeps actually wanted me to add it back in, and I haven't seen someone jam the wombo combo yet, so... hey, whatever people have fun with, right?
One of the main issues I'm having with the cube atm is that I just don't know what to -do- with B/G. The gold slot for that is a bit of a mess, and I'm just scratching my head for solutions.
Drafted your cube as well. FP Goggles and decided to go HAM on it after several decent targets appeared. I had a really good GY thing going, but I never really saw the big artifact payoff cards (goggles aside) to really make it work. It still looks like a blast to play though, and there are enough great value targets (Outburst for 6, anyone?) that I don't feel uncomfortable running the goggles themselves. It's good good burn interaction early, and KO potential late with a copied devil's play, so... yeah! I like it!
U/R Goggles from CubeTutor.com
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I took a crack at GiftsForgiven's, and jeeze, you were not kidding about the power level.
I also think the bots need tuning, because I third picked Jace, the Mind Sculptor, which would never happen in real life. I think I first picked a Chrome Mox and second picked a land to keep myself open. Took Jace 3rd, obviously, snagged Gideon 5th or 6th, and snapped up every sweeper I saw, which were a lot.
UW all the sweepers from CubeTutor.com
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I also think the bots need tuning, because I third picked Jace, the Mind Sculptor, which would never happen in real life. I think I first picked a Chrome Mox and second picked a land to keep myself open. Took Jace 3rd, obviously, snagged Gideon 5th or 6th, and snapped up every sweeper I saw, which were a lot.
I had a draft of Gifts' cube too
Looks like a lot of fun. Also how cool is it/how long has it been that CubeTutor has a dedicated Riptide Lab export feature?
Aston's draft of Current Iteration on 13/08/2016 from CubeTutor.com
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Looks like a lot of fun. Also how cool is it/how long has it been that CubeTutor has a dedicated Riptide Lab export feature?
Dom Harvey
Contributor
As long as I can remember. I wonder how much traffic we've had from that feature alone.
Drafted Peter's cube.
First-picked a Finks to stay open, then Venser for mad value plays. I aimed at a blink/flash deck, I think it didn't really happen but the results are quite good anyway. Shard does a lot of work in this deck, I think. Elspeth came (incredibly) late in pack 2 and it slots very well in the list. Thune and Rev were also late picks. Those bots...
I really like the deck! Lotsa synergies.
To be honest, this is my second attempt. The first one involved a P1P1 Gravecrawler followed by, like, 4 zombies max in the entire draft - most of which were not really aggro-oriented. I think the Crawler is a real trap in your list!
I didn't get to test it yet, but I have high hopes for Crush of Tentacles. I saw the standard deck and fell in love with the card. It's another card that slots very well in a UG build, I think.
First-picked a Finks to stay open, then Venser for mad value plays. I aimed at a blink/flash deck, I think it didn't really happen but the results are quite good anyway. Shard does a lot of work in this deck, I think. Elspeth came (incredibly) late in pack 2 and it slots very well in the list. Thune and Rev were also late picks. Those bots...
Bant aggrocontrol from CubeTutor.com
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I really like the deck! Lotsa synergies.
To be honest, this is my second attempt. The first one involved a P1P1 Gravecrawler followed by, like, 4 zombies max in the entire draft - most of which were not really aggro-oriented. I think the Crawler is a real trap in your list!
I didn't get to test it yet, but I have high hopes for Crush of Tentacles. I saw the standard deck and fell in love with the card. It's another card that slots very well in a UG build, I think.
I can't find the post anymore, but Ben & I worked this out sometime in the summer of 2013; I made a casual suggestion to him for Riptide support, and he had it working within a day or two. The guy is awesome to work with and just a pleasure to talk to all round. I agree, I think it's super sweet that we're right up there with MTGO .dec exports!
edit: okay, it wasn't until Septmber 2013, I was slightly off!
The bots def. need work, not sure how to train them though. The cube is still a bit of a balancing act, but IRL I've seen quite a few archetypes surface and win, so I'm overall pleased with it. I think I may just go full 'value removal' for BG like the MTGO vintage cube does and leave it at that.
Drafted your cube as well. First picked Mystic Confluence, for obvious reasons. Second picked a Gilded Lotus, and tried to go for a UwR build when both welder and Daretti wheeled. Wound up a little light on win-cons, but the additions of Think Twice and Deep Analysis make looting for value very good in this deck. I like it a fair bit!
URR welder from CubeTutor.com
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Drafted Aston's "My Cube" as well.
Had an extremely tough choice between Young Pyromancer, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Lotus Cobra P1P1. I tend to always err towards blue when I draft, so I decided to pick Cobra for something a little different. Then I picked Consecrated Sphinx because, well... I like winning. I'm not entirely pleased with how I drafted this, as I didn't prioritize fixing as much as I normally do. I wound up with too many playables, so going for more fixing would def. have been the better option in hindsight. Decided to splash Wanderer regardless, off of decent card selection, birds, farseek and cobra. Not entirely sure if Rancor is appropriate for this deck, but it seemed nice with birds/Edric/Selkie.
slovakattack's draft of Aston's Cube on 14/08/2016 from CubeTutor.com
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The big difference is not hitting lands, of course. It makes it a bit less of a win button... which may be exactly what I'm looking for. Maybe I'll try it out, it does look cool and isn't expensive.
Drafted GiftsForgiven's project.
I started out with a strong pack, choosing between JVP, Baneslayer, Batterskull, and Sword of FaF. I went with Batterskull. I then got passed Treachery and Consecrated Sphinx, but it turned out blue wasn't actually open. Green looked like the open color after I went in for Garruk Relentless. I made sure to prioritize fixing so I could splash the UU spells. I'm not sure if I made the right choices for ramp targets, there were some hard calls there.
I started out with a strong pack, choosing between JVP, Baneslayer, Batterskull, and Sword of FaF. I went with Batterskull. I then got passed Treachery and Consecrated Sphinx, but it turned out blue wasn't actually open. Green looked like the open color after I went in for Garruk Relentless. I made sure to prioritize fixing so I could splash the UU spells. I'm not sure if I made the right choices for ramp targets, there were some hard calls there.
Gu Ramp from CubeTutor.com
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Drafted the KYOOB.
First picked JTMS. Realistically, it was probably not the correct pick (a disciplined drafter would have taken the wurmcoil engine), but hey, who doesn't like Jace? I second picked a hero of bladehold as a very strong midgame card that often ends games by herself. U/W Opposition is a deck that I highly enjoy playing, and I was hoping for the payoff. I found it in pack two. Overall, I'm not entirely pleased with how I drafted. I didn't wind up seeing a lot of fixing, and I would have liked to splash for bitterblossom and lingering souls. Unfortunately, I did not feel I could do that off a single delta, and so I moved over to more of a brago bent. It kind of made my curve super wonky though. Still not sure what would have been correct in the end.
First picked JTMS. Realistically, it was probably not the correct pick (a disciplined drafter would have taken the wurmcoil engine), but hey, who doesn't like Jace? I second picked a hero of bladehold as a very strong midgame card that often ends games by herself. U/W Opposition is a deck that I highly enjoy playing, and I was hoping for the payoff. I found it in pack two. Overall, I'm not entirely pleased with how I drafted. I didn't wind up seeing a lot of fixing, and I would have liked to splash for bitterblossom and lingering souls. Unfortunately, I did not feel I could do that off a single delta, and so I moved over to more of a brago bent. It kind of made my curve super wonky though. Still not sure what would have been correct in the end.
slovakattack's draft of Adam's cube on 15/08/2016 from CubeTutor.com
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Wrath and Day tend to jank up Opposition style decks. That being said, it's very possible it would have been better just as a pure control deck. I think I kinda pulled myself in two directions and didn't quite make it work.
Here's my second try: U/G Opposition. P1 P1 was Opposition, I felt I needed a redemption.
slovakattack's draft of Adam's cube on 15/08/2016 from CubeTutor.com
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Drafted GiftsForgiven's current cube project.
Started out with Elesh Norn because she's cool and also because you don't see her in many Riptide cubes because she's crazy powerful. I took her over Sun Titan, which may not have been right, but the bots are dumb and the titan wheeled anyway. Second picked Kalitas because he's a really good value engine and I knew I wanted to be in black for reanimator stuff for Elesh Norn. Third picked an Arid Mesa. Picked up Assemble the Legion near the end of the first pack, and grabbed Nahiri midway through the second.
Deck looks fun as hell to play, Pack Rat the Gathering notwithstanding. I even cut a sweeper to make room for an 18th land because my curve is pretty high.
Mardu Reanimator Control from CubeTutor.com
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Started out with Elesh Norn because she's cool and also because you don't see her in many Riptide cubes because she's crazy powerful. I took her over Sun Titan, which may not have been right, but the bots are dumb and the titan wheeled anyway. Second picked Kalitas because he's a really good value engine and I knew I wanted to be in black for reanimator stuff for Elesh Norn. Third picked an Arid Mesa. Picked up Assemble the Legion near the end of the first pack, and grabbed Nahiri midway through the second.
Deck looks fun as hell to play, Pack Rat the Gathering notwithstanding. I even cut a sweeper to make room for an 18th land because my curve is pretty high.
First-picked JAOT, pivoted very quickly into a Master Transmuter control strategy. Looks fun, but the Pyromancer / welder themes are tearing each other apart.
Nicole of the Steel Wind from CubeTutor.com
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Chris Taylor
Contributor
I think what we can take away is that the KYOOB has too many 4 drops
I did some work on the KYOOB's curve recently, and 4 is a low point on the curve for every color except blue (and blue still has more 2 costs than 4 costs), though the multicolor cards also are focused at 2 and 4 mana. When I draft, I tend to end up with too many 3 drops if I don't pay attention to my curve. Do you think I still need to reduce blue's 4 drops? It is a possibility.
Do you mean just in this deck or in the cube in general?
Oh, just in my deck! I always forget that Transmuter can return herself, so I probably would've run maybe 2 fewer artifacts for some spells out of the sideboard.
Thanks. Had me worried there for a second.
Drafting safra's Sharzad cube.
I immediately feel compelled to mention that fetchlands should not have color indicators. I first pick Dig Through Time, get passed Snapcaster, then take Gifts because surely that does something with those cards. I then take Lab Man since I feel like I'm setting up for a combo. I take some speculative black and green cards. Kiora 2.0 seems to fit my developing theme. Early pack 2, I take Veteran Chronarch over Augur of Meletis since it probably makes a Gifts pile. Veteran Explorer seems good here because it thins the deck and gets to the Gifts game faster. P3P1 I snag Eternal Witness (over Garruk Wildspeaker) for Gifts and GSZ purposes. Archmage Prodigy seems insane if you have any cheap spells or fetchlands. Woodland Bellowest is there just for Lab Man and Witness, though at this point I don't think I have the support for Lab Man unless Loam and Kiora can get there.
This may have ended up as a combo support deck in search of a combo. Still should be capable of doing some fun things with Witness and Gifts. I don't know, Gifts is hard.
(Note Prohibit, Archaeomancer, and Woodland Bellower are customs)
I immediately feel compelled to mention that fetchlands should not have color indicators. I first pick Dig Through Time, get passed Snapcaster, then take Gifts because surely that does something with those cards. I then take Lab Man since I feel like I'm setting up for a combo. I take some speculative black and green cards. Kiora 2.0 seems to fit my developing theme. Early pack 2, I take Veteran Chronarch over Augur of Meletis since it probably makes a Gifts pile. Veteran Explorer seems good here because it thins the deck and gets to the Gifts game faster. P3P1 I snag Eternal Witness (over Garruk Wildspeaker) for Gifts and GSZ purposes. Archmage Prodigy seems insane if you have any cheap spells or fetchlands. Woodland Bellowest is there just for Lab Man and Witness, though at this point I don't think I have the support for Lab Man unless Loam and Kiora can get there.
This may have ended up as a combo support deck in search of a combo. Still should be capable of doing some fun things with Witness and Gifts. I don't know, Gifts is hard.
UG Lab Man? from CubeTutor.com
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(Note Prohibit, Archaeomancer, and Woodland Bellower are customs)
This was originally so that people could know which colours they fetch while they're fanned out in your hand, they're still colourless in case I cube Ancient Stirrings again for some reason. I play with a fairly casual playgroup who don't seem to care either way, though I wanted to make it easier at a glance (similarly, duals and basics are full-art and anything with a spell effect is half-art so you can identify lands across the table or while fetching). It was also the only way to get the 2-color frame on the fetchlands in MSE, iirc. I was inspired by this Jesse Mason article about full art lands, though I don't remember where I picked up the colour indicator bit (he doesn't mention them). I definitely saw them somewhere and cribbed it though, unless that was a dream maybe! EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: it was in someone's MSE dump on these very forums.
It's a case where the in-game logic (this is a colour indicator, lands are supposed to be colourless) is up against 'I think this will make fetchlands more intuitive for new players and reduce card flicking'.
I've thought about making Prodigy a 3-drop a few times, and this isn't the first time I've gotten that feedback. I think I'll either make it a
1/3 or bring back my Spiketail Drake custom that had Flash. I might even just make it Prohibit again now that Spell Queller is another playable counterspell for creature decks/Pod. I'll make a post in The Lab about it.The deck itself looks fun but a little more tempo-focused than other UG decks have been in my cube; Ruinator and Polukranos are surprising exclusions imo.
Here are some fun Gifts piles:
-Witness, Chronarch, Snapcaster Mage, any spell
-Loam, 3 lands
-Kiora, Garruk, Bellowest, EWit
-anything that lets you delve Eternal Scourge and then re-cast it (dig, ruinator, scourge, e-wit?)