The Submission

One of the big advantages to having a singleton cube is that there is a lot of variety in the cards. However, without duplicates, sometimes it’s hard to support more niche, build-around strategies. Adding duplicates can create interesting new strategies that, while decreasing the variety in the cards, creates more variety in the deck archetypes. I like how including duplicates of Birthing Pod opens up a new archetype and also helps to give black more of an identity.

The color in most need of a refresh in standard cubes is red. Red is generally very focused on burn and aggressive creatures, and other aspects of the red color pie, for example, land destruction, aren’t robust enough to support a new archetype. My proposal then is to use duplicates to create a new archetype in red that doesn’t focus on attacking or burning and meshes well with other colors. The card that I think would best accomplish this is Splinter Twin.

Splinter Twin is an interesting choice because it would help diversify red and give cube something that people have been interested in, a viable combo deck. The main combo is Splinter Twin + Zealous Conscripts, but it can also pair with blue to combo with Pestermite. Like Birthing Pod, Splinter Twin is a versatile card that is good with almost every ETB creature. Constructed decks have used Wall of Omens to generate card advantage and other choices like Thragtusk can easily overwhelm the opponent as well. Something like Venser, Shaper Savant is a soft-lock

However, the Twin combos are easy to interact with because they are fundamentally creature-based, which creates an interesting tension and requires no additional hate to control; the cube already has a ton of answers. It’s a high risk, high reward option, which fits well into the red philosophy.

The Splinter Twin package I propose is as follows:

From Jason’s cube, I would cut:
Red:
–Smash to Smithereens
–Pillage
–Reckless Charge

+2 Splinter Twin
+1 Kiki Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Most of these cards are supporters for the aggressive decks, and the idea is to diversity red, so the weakest players are the ones to go.

Blue:
-1 Fettergeist
+1 Pestermite

Both cards are decent in blue tempo decks so this is a fairly even trade.

Here are some other options:
Tooth and Nail – creates a one card combo
Commune with the Gods – Finds either piece, synergizes with the graveyard
Siege-Gang Commander – a good twin target

Eric’s Critique

You won’t get any argument from me that red is the colour that could most use some sprucing up. There’s only so many decks you can include Hellspark Elemental in, after all. So colour me intrigued when you say you want to add some capacity for combo.

But then you say you want to go all-in on the Splinter Twin / Kiki-Jiki combo. Uh oh. My alarm bells are going off.

I like the idea of Splinter Twin as a value card, where it might create a couple additional copies of a body with ETB effects, and then hopefully lead to some interesting game states from there. I’m less interested in two card combos that immediately end the game in draft formats. Limited is not Constructed, and it’s not really reasonable to expect everyone to pack redundant copies of instant-speed, one-mana removal spells to deal with a combo that one drafter may or may not have assembled. Think about the drafter who’s predominantly in green, maybe with a splash of blue. Would they need to go out of their way to draft some bounce spells, ensure that they draw them, and then leave mana up once their opponent has three mana available? Unless you plan on going up to at least 4 Dismember effects – and then, even if you do – this kind of instant-win combo will lead to a net reduction in interesting gameplay.

Now, having said all that, I think there’s plenty of potential for Splinter Twin as a pure high-risk, moderate reward value spell. Maybe you get a pile of extra bodies from a Mogg War Marshal. Maybe that Ghitu Slinger keeps on slinging fire. Or that Avalanche Riders keeps eating land. Relatively harmless stuff like that. Even with those interactions, though, it may not be worth doubling down on Twin. While there’s a bevy of cute tricks to be had, I can’t say I’m on board with going heavy on the “Oops I Win” combo package.

Jason’s Critique

If you dig deep enough into the MTGS archives, you’ll find a certain poster by the name of Trunkers who started all sorts of threads on combo related topics, from Dream Halls to Reanimation to Splinter Twin. I was quite enthusiastic about this combo, and slotted the various combo pieces (including Restoration Angel) into my cube, and happily drafted the deck.

Then I played with the deck.

My opponent made some play on their third turn, and on their end step I killed them. Was it satisfying? Not particularly. Good Magic? Certainly not.

I don’t mind the combo in a constructed setting, but one thing to keep in mind is that in a constructed setting, all sorts of decks and matchups produce Bad Magic. It’s one thing to fight the deck when packing playsets of Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile and Lightning Helix. Although I’m sure the deck can and does “work” (in the sense that it wins), I don’t think the tools are there for making it a healthy part of a limited environment. Our instant speed removal density is naturally constrained by the strength of our aggressive decks. To me, this combo seems like one best left to the halls of constructed, where more decks are equipped with the tools to produce a tactical, interactive experience.

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The Submission

I would include four copies of Young Pyromancer. As a stand-alone inclusion, it is interesting because it naturally appeals to a variety of different decks. Not only is it decent in classic red aggro decks, as well as classic Xr control decks – it also supports red tokens, which have been getting more and more tempting with the introduction of new cards such as Tempt with Vengeance and Purphoros, God of the Forge (neither of which are bad in conventional decks). It also makes things like Goblin Bombardment a more salient inclusion, since before it was primarily aimed at recursion or token decks, which are commonly found in a non-red base.

Of course, a red token subtheme synergizes with the usual token crew; anthems, pox/stax, etc. Likewise, it synergizes positively with storm subthemes, which are commonly found lacking, and grants support to a potential “spells matter” archetype (e.g., Guttersnipe, Gelectrode & Talrand, or even Kiln Fiend, Nivix Cyclops & Spellheart Chimera, depending on your preferences. Likewise, this might be a time to reconsider Delver – perhaps even as a 4-of!).

Jason’s Critique

Recently when discussing black two drops, I bemoaned that I couldn’t find a splashable creature that both aggressive and controlling decks are both interested, and, while not black, Young Pyromancer certainly fits the bill. What’s most interesting about this proposal is how well Young Pyromancer intersects various supportable themes: spells matter, tokens, anthems, sacrifice effects.

The proposal here to supplement Young Pyromancer with various spells matters is perhaps a bit shakier. Many of the archetype’s reward cards are rather underpowered on their own, and I’m not terribly enthused with the idea of including a card like Kiln Fiend that at most one of the table’s drafters will be interested in. Ditto for the idea of storm cards.

Another problem with “spells matters” cards like Spellheart Chimera and Nivix Cyclops is that including them naturally cuts into our spell density. Izzet sections, prior to the printing of Ral Zarek, were usually completely filled with instants and sorceries. I think a quartet of Young Pyromancers (plus possible Delvers) is likely sufficient creature support for the archetype, so attention should likely be turned to finding ways to allow various deck types to play higher spell counts. Are we interested in more free spells like Gitaxian Probe and Manamorphose? Gut Shot? Flashback cards like Reckless Charge? Spell-based token creators?

Further, how do we handle red control, whose traditional route to victory relies on the use of efficient board wipes. Young Pyromancer sits on the board and is anti-synergistic with cards like Pyroclasm and Slagstorm. Perhaps we can emphasize other sweepers?

On the whole, Young Pyromancer is a card that captures my imagination, that I could legitimately see including in multiples in a tight cube environment, but I wish this submission had done a bit more of the legwork in fleshing out how to incorporate it into an environment.

Eric’s Critique

Young Pyromancer is like that basketball team’s first round draft pick. There’s clearly so much potential there, and you’re expecting a breakout performance somewhere down the line, when all its potential comes to fruition, and you can say “I told you so”. But as of yet, you’ve seen only mild results, nothing that would blow you away, and nobody’s quite sure what to expect.

I like most of the author’s suggestions, and teaming up Pyromancer with Purphoros seems like a spicy number. Fitting into multiple archetypes is another strong point raised that makes Pyromancer seem like a good build-around in multiples.

Like Jason, though, I’m a little more skeptical of going down the ‘spells matter’ path. Other than in cubes built entirely around the concept, people’s experiences with trying to get the Izzet spells theme to work in their own cubes has been rocky at best. Delver of Secrets is a notoriously fickle card to try and accommodate in cube, while most of the other suggestions require too much setup for too little payoff. I think Jason’s onto something with combining the free spells mechanic with Pyromancer, though, because if we’ve learned anything from Constructed, it’s that we want to be paid off immediately.

My overall impression of Young Pyromancer is that in cubes with enough dedicated support for some sort of spells-matter theme, it’s viable and justifiable to include multiple copies of her. Without stronger suggestions as to her supporting cast, though, I’m not convinced that a set of Pyromancers is the right fit for most cubes.

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