General Fight Club

[wahoopride]

Really like stun counters and the fact that it’s any land for grappling kraken. But tazeem seems like a better finisher with the flying and it comes out a turn earlier

 

[wahoopride]

Maybe it’s a more interesting mini-game to solve if the tap power isn’t on a creature who also has evasion. Obviously cooler that it works with proliferate

 

[Brad]

Lower MV card will give more play options. Plus it has flying.

 

[ravnic]

Yeah, but be aware that the Guardian will probably get played by any blue deck (can be upside or downside) whereas the kraken will most likely only make certain deck lists (again, up- or downside, depending on what you want).

 

[Nemo]

I think Kayla is fine and interesting for occasionals. This is where it needs the italics rules/flavor text that I usually hate.

"Draft Weenies - 4, T, Discard all the cards in your hand...."

On the Blue stun creatures, I would be ok with the Kraken in my cube but wouldn't want a 4/5 flier for 5 with the stun ability on top of that. Some cubes would be the opposite and the Kraken would be too weak. I think the big ground creature results in a more interactive game, but only control and ramp decks would want it.

 

[LadyMapi]

Yeah, the choice between Guardian and Kraken is going to be almost entirely based on the power level of your format. An evasive 4/5 for is so much stronger than a 5/6 for that the comparison isn't really fair.

So it really comes down to "what do your other 5/6 drops look like?"

 

[Onderzeeboot]

In general, a 4/5 flyer for five is vastly superior to a 5/6 nonflyer for six. I don’t think the fact that the Kraken stuns on any land is going to make up for that difference.

 

[wahoopride]

But which makes for a better cube experience?

 

[wahoopride]

Sorry I definitely know that Tazeem is a more powerful card. I was more asking if I’m going to put one in my cube which promotes a better cube experience

 

[Zoss]

I prefer the Kraken because I figure that if a big flier (i.e. >3 power) Does The Thing, the Thing that it Does is going to be attacking and really nothing else.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I prefer the Kraken because I figure that if a big flier (i.e. >3 power) Does The Thing, the Thing that it Does is going to be attacking and really nothing else.

In this case, “the thing” is actually relevant though, because it either keeps potential blockers tapped, or (if you have islands) stuns the creature that would be able to race the sphinx.

Power-wise, I’ld say it’s on the level of Serra Angel. If you could comfortably run that in your cube, the Sphinx is also fair game, I think.

The kraken is a big old do-nothing. It requires at least a seventh land to do something, and that something might not even let you connect with the sttack if they have multiple blockers. I think it’s probably passable only in a lower power GU Ramp deck.

 

[Brad]

But which makes for a better cube experience?

Depends on your cube and your goals.

 

[ravnic]

It might surprise people that I say this, but I'd go with the more powerful card first. It is more likely to see play and if it turns out to be too much then, you can still replace it with the weaker card. If you add a card that's too strong, you will notice much faster than with a card that's too weak, since that might not see play until you force it.

 

[Chris Taylor]

100% pitch high and then nerf if you can
Its true for custom cards it's true for you too

 

[ravnic]

Looking for an aggro 1-drop that's a goblin.



Red themes are goblins, madness ×2, sacrifice and prowess (and wildfire).
Already running Frenzied Goblin, Foundry Street Denizen, Mogg Raider and Tattermunge Maniac.

I am excluding on purpose one mana 2/1s with upside only, so e.g. Greasewrench Goblin is out.

 

[TekLazar]

Instead of mogg fanatic, I actually quite like

or

if you want to go a little bit higher on the power level.
of these, I like fireblade the most for your list

 

[Nanonox]

Tarfire?

I like Fanatic and Bannaret best from your choices.



I like this one for your power level. Fragile, but with a high ceiling if you can build around it. Prowess and Goblins can probably pump it and so can equipment.

 

[Brad]

Mogg Fanatic was cool when damage used the stack. I like it more with haste these days.

Spikeshot, Scamp, and Charger all work in Equipment/Bogles.

 

[Seeker]

If you don't need it to exist in paper because you're okay with proxying it, they made a red Garrison Cat but never printed it outside Arena starter decks:


(technically it's even better because it might get blocked and not die, but it's way worse because if it dies to wrath you don't get the 1/1, so... red.)

 

[LadyMapi]

More seriously,

 

[Brad]

Is Blast-Runner good with a lot of fetches around? Anyone running it?

 

[ravnic]

For a loam deck that wants cycling lands for repeatable card draw, how much worse is cycling than cycling ?



I considered, blasphemously, to cut my onslaught cycle lands, bring back the bicycle duals instead (at least five of them) and free some cube real estate - because I'd get that interaction from fixing slots. But I'm not sure.

 

[TekLazar]

These cards are not exactly comparable in my experience, different decks want them. Loam will take bicycles if that's all they have access to, but they really want tranquil thicket and the like because the 2 mana is a lot. It barely exists when it is one to one, but if it's three bicycles compared to three unicycles, then the first is going to have to spread their draws over multiple turns rather than being able to loam and draw three with five mana.

Any GB deck will take festering thicket, especially if they can farseek into them.

So it really depends on how much you want to support loam.

My design decision was that I didn't want any 1 mana repeatable draw cards in the cube. So I cut the unicycles, but that's mostly just because loam is in my occasionals (I don't have any other dredge in the cube) and bicycles are not.

EDIT: re-reading and relooking at your cube, it would be quite hard for your cube to be able to do the five mana loam unicycle thing, so take that part with a spilled salt-shaker.

 

[Karshtakavaar]

I had this exact experience when the EOC bicycles got spoiled, because the ONS cyclers felt so narrow to me. I ended up cutting them, but I've missed them - The Loam decks can't really do 'the thing' off 2-mana cyclers at all, it's harder to squeak in an Astral Slide trigger, etc. The Ux control and flash decks don't seem to care as much about the loss of Lonely Sandbar. I suspect the more controlling Red decks would benefit from Cave coming back for the 'draw second card' and 'on discard' stuff, and maybe the Mako/Jackal decks would like an extra cheap way to pitch a card at low opportunity cost. Haven't noticed the loss of Barren Moor at all outside Loam decks.

Over the past little bit I've been trying to come up with a custom cycle of lands that do the job. Been toying with giving them Retrace (So cycling it turns any future land into a psuedo-MDFC dual), giving them the appropriate basic land type, or having them both cycle for a coloured pip or (type)cycle for (Giving Steppe Swampcycling, Sandbar Mountaincycling, Moor Forestcycling, Cave Plainscycling and Thicket Islandcycling).
Just something to make them exciting to drafters other than me.

 

[Erik Twice]

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