Nanonox's 1vs1 cube

[Nanonox]

White +1/+1 counters

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I tried finding another cut because I like the late game applications of Air Temple, but couldn't. Practiced Offense also means that the teamwide pump effect is still present. Flagstones is a low cost inclusion to any deck playing White and really pops with some specific cards.

I do like having anthem effects and I found some cuts to support this little package

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I counted and have 42 cards that have the +1/+1 counter text. Around 30 of those trigger multiple times. This makes Animation Module a nice token engine in the right deck. The servos being artifacts is one of the big upsides, I don't see the activated ability being used very often.

Where things become fun is alongside Squadron and a mana producing sacrifice outlet. Now when a creature token ETBs, you put a counter on it, triggering Module. You can sacrifice the token for mana and pay for a servo who will get a counter, and so on. Leads to infinite ETBs and sacrifice triggers.

Squadron is a decent card by itself, a scaling artifact anthem. Mishra's Workshop being able to pay for the Squad cost is a fun twist too.

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Blue card draw (another recurring subject!)

I have a ton of GY enablers in Blue, but relatively few cards that work from the GY, these two being the only two mono-Blue options



I wouldn't mind another one and frankly, there aren't a ton of options. I am looking at either



They serve similar roles, but have different incentives. Analysis's flashback cost makes you want to discard/mill it, whereas Plunder looks better on the first cast. I tend to favor cards that reward the synergies I want to push so I am leaning towards Deep Analysis. It is also a good card to go alongside the recently added Devastating Dreams as it's a great card to let you refill the hand in a resource light game state that you actively want to discard.
These are fairly low impact though and Blue is full of card draw already, so probably wishful thinking more than anything.

On the topic of Blue card draw, there is one I'd like to find a slot for



The soft interaction isn't really the point, it's more about having a colored artifact to give each color their own flair in the archetype. Card draw is perfect in Blue and the fact the trigger is leave the battlefield one means that blink is on as a synergy. Displacer Kitten, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Touch the Spirit Realm and Flickerwisp are the usual suspects. Of course sacrifice and recursion are live too so KCI, Welder and Sevinne's Reclamation all make great use of it. It's an unassuming slot that greases the synergy wheels nicely.

Relic offers a more scarce ressource, so that would be a priority add. For the life of me though, I cannot find a cut. I have so much Blue card draw and it all seems really important! I have two redundant types of card draw: cantrips and looters.



I can't imagine cutting any of these, and even if I did, it would be for a different one mana cantrip. These are so important for the spell velocity decks and I am already on the low end in terms of cantrip density I want to run. So let's look at looters



I am specifically looking at the two mana ones, because there is a glut of them at that mana value. I'm also not counting the one shot effects like Chart a Course and Occult Epiphany, they serve a different role.

Shredder and Malcolm are great aggressive/tempo threats and I don't want to touch them. That leaves JVP and Kitsa. Kitsa is probably the better card with a body able to attack and scale as well as a late game spells payoff. It also survives Devastating Dreams quite nicely for what it's worth. I'm not a fan of the vigilance though as that negates the whole looting is a cost and it lacks JVP's pedigree. Jace is fragile, but gives you a little dream to chase. It's fun to flip him and immediately recur an important spell. It also survives Dream in his PW state. Having no PW in Blue makes me want to keep JVP more than Kitsa.

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Boosting Selesnya

I wantto give my Selesnya decks a boost. Those decks don't come together quite as often as I would like, so I enjoy the idea of a targeted boost. I'm going to start with a big overhaul, but could easily remove some aspects of the package. It's just nicely intertwined so I want to give the whole thing a chance first

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Saffi + Lark + free sacrifice is infinite. This might be false signaling though where drafters expect a larger combo package with Karmic Guide, Renegade Rallier and friends. But these are just fine individually and have plenty of uses outside of the combo.

Now that I have Angel of the Ruins, Timeless Dragon feels redundant. It's still a great card, but maybe I can diversify what the cube does some more. Likewise, I know have a strong artifact suite at 2 mana in White and Lens feels like the most expendable even though it might be the most powerful.

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More persist combo pieces and I want to keep the enablers White based (hence no Metallic Mimic). To avoid another Selesnya slot, I could be running Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit or Solemnity, but I like this blunt approach first. As for Masticore vs Kitchen Finks, it's mostly a question of working with both Pod and Oswald by being an artifact and 2 drop vs 3 drop. This brings me to 3 enablers and 3 payoffs for the combo which is a healthy amount IMO.

Voice is a painful cut, but I don't want to be adding more combo only to have interaction negated by its effect. Hallowblade on the other hand is an easy one.

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Pod and Oswald offer a potent combo tutoring package that neatly branches into sacrifice. With the two sets of combo cards just added, it makes a lot of sense to have these as options. Masticore working with both is just perfect.

Shambler doesn't have to be a cut, but I have so much fodder that I can afford to lose it IMO. I do like the zombie and might find a home for it again. I am adding a couple of tutors and can ease up their density. Traverse is a fine card though, so it too might make it back.

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Second Sunrise is really good in this cube and legitimately works with creatures, artifacts and lands. This can lead to insane value, mana or damage. It was ok in previous iterations of the cube, but I think I've made the cube even more Sunrise friendly since then.

High Tide is a very cool mana engine, but it's quite narrow because of the strong Blue commitment it requires and the various untappers to make it shine.

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Other ideas

Package 1


This package came to me as a result of this deck. It's a synergistic mess of lands, artifacts and sacrifice.



What I didn't expect is just how much food incidental food tokens I had in the cube. In this deck they feed Tezzeret, kill with Cookie, give life for Citadel and can be sacrificed with Samwise or to boost Pursuit. They do a lot and are integrated nicely into the deck.

This deck reminded me of how powerful Stridehangar Automaton can be. I cut it because I wasn't excited about making a Servo and a Thopter as they kind of do the same thing. But every food bringing along a 2/2 body is another story (reminds me of Cookie, that weaponizes these tokens).

Bumi's Feast Lecture is a decent 2 drop, adjacent to Cookie, but with the potential to be a lot more. First of all, Earthbend opens up a lot of options with fetches and sacrifice, allowing you to ramp or landfall nicely. Then you have the food synergy that I underestimated. But just curving Gilded Goose into Lecture means you get a 4/4 land. Tough Cookie makes it a 6/6. It get's ugly really fast and the card is serviceable by itself.

Package 2


Forget about Selesnya for a second. I am cutting High Tide, but I still like mana generation. Importantly, these two candidates don't lock you into having specific types of lands making them a lot less narrow. Mana Flare would give Red a distinct combo card and force Blue to branch out rather than being self-contained with High Tide. The symmetry is very risky though and you need to break the symmetry.

Mana dumps

Shivan Devastator
Genesis Hydra
Nexus of Fate
Walking Ballista

Untap fun

Earthcraft
Garruk Wildspeaker

The biggest omission is Nissa, Who Shakes the World, but that one is too free for my tastes and incredibly powerful.
Wilderness Reclamation can be a wild one, but I don't have many instant speed cards that make it worthwhile. I am missing cards like Consult the Star Charts, Three Steps Ahead and so on. I do have mana sinks though with Ballista and friends and Tough Cookie + Urza, Lord High Artificer give you a reason to go artifacts. It's a little thin though, hence my hesitation.

Package 3


Not Selesnya related, but I've been thinking about Curio for a while as a cool engine for creature ETBs or landfall shenanigans. There are some niche enchantment synergies Stormchaser's Talent, Proft's Eidetic Memory, Parallax Wave, Chthonian Nightmare, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, which all have value replaying them. With lands, Fastbond is the obvious nuts, but sometimes getting back an Otawara can be a big game.

BTE + Cloud of Faeries you can chain together, but even less combo centric ETBs can be worthwhile. BTE is also a combo with Enduring Renewal for what it's worth and a solid aggressive beater.

This is where Mana Flare comes in, as another Cloud of Faeries (and the like) payoff. Red having big mana is quite rare and this could be an option to keeping High Tide adjacent cards.

I like that this one lets drafters get creative, but Curio is also a do nothing artifact the turn you play it. It also reinforces a part of the cube that is already relatively strong in blink. Mana Flare is also a big risk making this a somewhat dicey package.

So there you have it! A pretty big overhaul that aims to make White more interconnected with the sacrifice and artifact networks as well as adding some 3 card combos that can turn a game on their head. I'd love other suggestions or tweaks to what I am doing here if you have any ideas.

Edit:
Also swapped Foundation Breaker and Cankerbloom because Breaker is better with most of the adds in this update.

 

[Nanonox]

vs

I like both these cards a fair amount and yet I find myself consistently happy to include Sower and disappointed by Precursor. In my mind they are fairly similar, so I'm going to try and figure out what is happening here and why.

First, the similarities

- Both are 3/3s for 3 mana.
- Both produce 0/1 tokens*
- Both make tokens from sacrificing lands

*Spawns are obviously better since they can pay you off with mana even if you no token payoff.

The differences in cards and environment is where things get interesting.

Sower keys off lands, a huge part of Green's identity in my cube. Precursor needs sacrifice, one of Red's lesser supported themes.

Therefore Precursor needs to import key cards from another color before it can function at it's full potential.

Sower also works with mill and discard, whereas Precursor is stuck with sacrifice.

This is a big deal because for Precursor to trigger, you have to sacrifice board presence. You're then refunded with a little guy, but it's still a big cost. With Sower, you can passively get rewarded for milling at no cost or discarding excess lands. The discard is definitely a cost, but one that is easier to recoup via card draw or one of Green's many land recursion engines. The same argument could be made for Precursor, but once again, the recursion engines are in another color.

Precursor keys of nontokens which is sometimes in short supply. All decks have lands for Sower.

While limited in card type, Sower knows that every deck will have roughly 17 lands to trigger it. Depending on the deck, Precursor can also use those lands, but sometimes, it finds itself with little fodder.

All colors mill or discard, not all of them sacrifice

This is a lesser point because there are plenty of colorless sacrifice outlets, but even then, Blue for example doesn't really contribute to the sacrifice archetype, whereas it's a huge player in mill and discard. Even White is getting more discard than before, further increasing Sower's range.

Based off these observations, even though Sower is working only with lands, every deck has them and it is one of Green's main archetype. Every color works with mill and discard, giving it a full range of options. Precursor on the other hand, needs to import structure from another color to pop off (usually Black) and even then it's limited by the nontoken rider. This makes it more narrow than I initially thought even though the card says "whenever you sacrifice a permanent".

That's it! Just wanted to share this realization that was bothering me and why I'm way down on Precursor.

 

[Karshtakavaar]

I wasn't eyeing Thoracle, but I was actually eyeing a couple of win conditions.
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GrapeshotJace, Perfected Mind

Entirely agree with everything you said about both of those cards, and it's exactly what I mean with the Marie Kondo approach to cuts. On the Storm front, can recommend Sentinel Tower too - It works to stabilize the board while you draw and recur your way towards a big Storm turn then also wins the game, but like, you can play it in non storm decks that want to turn their spell velocity into board control - Can be cool with slower or less all-in Heroic/Prowess/etc decks.

 

[Nanonox]

Can't remember if it was Dom or Erik who proposed a White cheat package consisting of



I wasn't too keen on it before, but have been reconsidering it and actually coming around to it. The fact that White gets a more explosive plan is appealing and the opportunity cost is quite low. Heights is in your mana base and Cage distributes counters every turn, something I've come to appreciate given how few cards I want to run actually do so.

The potential cheat targets also fit extremely well into the cube's architecture. I'd likely start with these three and see how that goes.



The prototype cards are particularly dense in synergy because they have the 3 mana buyout clause and are artifacts. They work with Blink, Tinker, Goblin Welder and reanimation as well.

I especially like Henge here as it's not only a cheat target, but also an artifact that can be cast for cheap. It steps a little on the idea that White gets the only persist enablers, but I'm not too worried about this one.

If I wanted more support, I would consider these



Gearhulk is interesting as a redundant big Green artifact for the various artifact strategies and kind of works as an anthem. I worry about adding too many midrange artifacts though.

The MDFCs are also pretty neat because they are essentially free. They just sit in your mana base and increase the number of hits in your deck. Same idea with Chrome Mox, that doesn't hate having more hits. They also work with
+ when you play them as lands. This feels a bit like kind of a BS interaction though.

Do you have any other suggestions in regards to cheat targets or other cheat adjacent cards?

 

[Erik Twice]

It was me! Like you, I wasn't feeling the package for a while but then I felt my stocks in it go up again.

The key for me is that it has become a little easier to trigger Collector's Cage. While most of the time it just requires three creatures, there were a bunch of edge cases where your draws, the opponent's removal or proper sequencing got in the way. Most notably, go-wide decks tend to run out of steam and topdecking them in those situations feels really bad.

However, small changes to the card pool have made those cases less common. For example, Cosmogrand Zenith is great in these decks and can easily give you all three creatures by playing both cards on the same turn. I also run more power 4 cards, most notably Surrak, Elusive Hunter but also Exalted Sunborn or even Quantum Riddler.

As I see it, if you can trigger it, the quality of the target isn't that important. Hitting Flametongue Kavu or Serra Paragon isn't groundbreaking, but it's still an Impulse that recoups its mana and leaves a +1/+1 machine on the table.

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I ended up cutting both Steel Seraph and Phyrexian Fleshforger because they are a hair short of being synergetic, but they are good cards that play well. Out of the two, I actually feel Steel Seraph is the most playable one, I feel it's easier to justify than .

The Great Henge is one of the best cards for the package. It's extremely desirable on its own, works with all the sub-themes (go-wide, counters, etc.) and is expensive enough to be worth cheating out. I dislike its play patterns so I don't run it, but if you like the card, then it's a perfect fit here.

I really like Verdurous Gearhulk as both a target and in general. It's a beefy "keyword: big" creature that somehow hits all the right angles.

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Personally, I think that's enough to support the package. You already run a bunch of cards I like for it, I think the two big ones you are missing and might consider are:



You already run Brightglass Gearhulk and Showdown of the Skalds as well as a bunch of black stuff that works, too. You may want to consider Surrak instead of the Hulk, but 3 mana green creatures is a crowded spot. Nova Hellkite works, too, if you ever want to replace Shivan Devastator.

 

[Erik Twice]

The MDFCs are also pretty neat because they are essentially free. They just sit in your mana base and increase the number of hits in your deck. Same idea with Chrome Mox, that doesn't hate having more hits. They also work with
+ when you play them as lands. This feels a bit like kind of a BS interaction though.

I imagine you are talking about Badgermole Cub. I didn't think about this interaction and it does feel kind of bullshit.

That said, I think all these MDFCs are fantastic cards and I would run them if you don't mind the hassle. Both Pinnacle Monk and Disciple of Freyalise have very interesting effects and aren't just a free naturalize or whatever.

 

[Nanonox]

I imagine you are talking about Badgermole Cub. I didn't think about this interaction and it does feel kind of bullshit.

Oops! Yes Badgermole and Flickerwisp were the ones I had in mind. They do feel rather unique and open up lines normally not available to you because you wouldn't waste a deck slot on these effects. The real opportunity cost is finding a cube slot!

I ended up cutting both Steel Seraph and Phyrexian Fleshforger because they are a hair short of being synergetic, but they are good cards that play well.

I think my cube has enough synergies that they would play well, the thing holding me back is wanting to diversify my synergies. I already have a ton of artifact centric ones, I'd like to explore other avenues. Speaking of

Nova Hellkite works, too, if you ever want to replace Shivan Devastator.

I hadn't considered this swap, but I definitely like it. Devastator is a dud with Cage and Heights and this opens up more blink and reanimation possibilities. I just want a hasty dragon to slap someone in the face from time to time.

This brings me back to Warp, a great mechanic I haven't been able to justify until now? The cube has more creature cheat with Heights/Cage, can sacrifice warp creatures to Birthing Pod and I have more blink + weird sacrifice stuff to make them work.

I don't want Quantum Riddler, even though it would be perfect with Devastating Dreams and the like. It's too generically powerful, with a solid floor and high ceiling that asks very little. So in addition to Nova Hellkite I am liking this package



Sunborn has a unique effect and the 2 mana / 5 mana options for casting it are perfect. It feels fair to cheat out, but token doubling can get silly which I like in small quantities.

Culler is a weird one, but in a good way I think. The fact that you can cast it from the GY helps trigger Vengevine, Cori-Steal Cutter and Poxwalkers for instance. You can also set up some sacrifice loops by casting it for it's warp cost, sacrificing it and then repeating as many times as you have life and/or mana. In that sense, it's as efficient as Gravecrawler to recur, but the life loss will stop you a lot sooner. Aetherflux Reservoir works great

Poxwalkers is the big winner for me. There are already many ways to trigger it with flashback, escape, harmonize, madness, Gravecrawler, Brazen Borrower, Emry, Lurker of the Loch, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Shelldock Isle, Glimpse the Impossible, Bolas's Citadel and so on. If I add Cage/Heights and the warp cards, that is a lot of extra casts from exile, further triggering Poxwalkers.

Then there are a few extra warp cards that I really like



I remember @TrainmasterGT championing the Vestige at some point and I can see why now that I am seriously considering warp. You have all the usual blink things in White + Displacer Kitten giving you a big body, a card draw and a MV <= 4 permanent (or more with repeated triggers). Then you have some White sacrifice shenanigans with Luminous Broodmoth or Enduring Renewal. Green can take advantage of it with Birthing Pod (ish, because I only have Angel of the Ruins at 7 mana) or The Great Henge. It also counts the number of lands in play, so if you can ramp, you can cheat into play bigger permanents. The other colors aren't as well equipped at making the most of Vestige, though Red can setup sequences involving Anger or Voldaren Thrillseeker to sneak in some damage. Detective's Phoenix likes the high mana value. This is minor stuff, but it adds up on an already solid card. I'll try to find space, but not at the cost of a solid build around.

Voidborn is great at setting up combo turns for the aristocrats or KCI decks, but I don't know if that is really needed. Marionette Apprentice, The Meathook Massacre and Mayhem Devil kind of already have that effect on lockdown, so it seems a bit redundant.

Haliya is one I was high on from the start, but then cut my warp cards. I still think it's excellent at drawing cards, but I have real difficulty in finding cuts and it is slightly less exciting than some of these other cards. I also hate the art, so that definitely weighs in my decision (see Starfield Vocalist)

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Swaps

Down to the interesting part. One thing I will be trying to do in this update is lower the amount of lands cards. I feel that I have too many and while that deck is fun, it somewhat limits what Green does. So I am trying to keep the lands deck as barebones as possible.

White cheat enablers
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The stars of the update, a cheat package in White. These give creature decks another angle to exploit and importantly don't pigeonhole you into specific synergies. These feel like the kind of cards you can add if you are creature heavy and end up somewhere different based on what is opened.

First victim is Felidar Retreat, a rather big one! Rather than have a four mana engine that requires further land drops, I'd rather focus on White's contribution to the lands deck with sacrifice and mana denial. Balance, Cataclysm, Second Sunrise and Flagstones of Trokair give White a unique identity that gives you multiple avenues to build around.

I've talked about Precursor in a recent post, it doesn't do what I want enough of the times to be worth it.

Green cheat targets
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I'm not excited by Shelinda even though she is a decent Magic card. She was added as a persist combo piece, but The Great Henge does that too. Henge also gives Green and artifact decks a new target to cheat into play, works beautifully with Cage/Heights and has game in a regular creature deck.

Disciple does some cool things and might be the cleanest cheat target I could add in Green since not many 6+ drops can be played on turn 1 to smooth your draws (though Generous Ent does and is still here). It is a MDFC though, so if that bothers me too much, I'll probably swing to Verdurous Gearhulk as a second big artifact in Green.

Cutting Slogurk hurts, but it seems like one of the least essential lands cards. I don't love cutting a creature that can be huge for Henge, so it might come back down the line.

Warp
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Mentioned these earlier in the post, but unfortunately I cannot find a spot for Timeline Culler.

I don't see myself cutting the recursive artifact creatures since I just boosted artifact aggro. Putrid Goblin is a combo piece and Bloodghast is a unique bridge between lands and sacrifice. Gravecrawler is the best recursive creature and Nethergoyf has game and doesn't really count as a something a sacrifice deck wants.

Another recent set of adds being cut. White has a lot of recursion + sacrifice enablers and payoffs and I feel like having variety is more beneficial to the cube. Sunborn brings something a lot more unique than Reveillark though the elemental is a favorite for sure.

Red 2s
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I miss BTE as a free creature and what it does. It's fantastic with Cage/Heights giving you fodder. It helps trigger Vengevine, works with Earthcraft, Cori-Steel Cutter and increases storm count for "free". Then there is the Enduring Renewal combo in both WR and WG, so even though I lost a combo with Saffi + Lark, I gain a new one. I'm now eyeing Cloudstone Curio harder with both BTE and Cloud of Faeries in the cube, but feel like the engine isn't quite complete.

Relic Retriever has the same trigger as Gau, but where Gau is all out aggressive and snowballing, Retriever has game in decks of different speeds. A 2/1 first strike is a good attacker and can hold back opposing x/2s. The treasure also tends to favor slower decks who can go big, but that doesn't mean that aggro won't take it to double spell earlier. This also transitions nicely into the next adds.

Artifact tokens
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I miss Cookbook as a colorless way to get cards into the GY. Alongside Lesser Masticore, that gives all colors ways to benefit from all the discard and GY architecture in the cube. Automaton was cut hastily. I viewed it as an artifact -> artifact converter, which it is, but that is reductionist. Any incidental food, clue or treasure now comes with board pressure. Cage/Heights benefits, but so does Green in general. Lonis, Samwise, Tracker it's possible to really pop off.

Mycospawn takes a hike to reduce lands in Green, but with Automaton, we don't really lose an artifact card for Green. Saheeli is a rather big cut, which might not stay, but that I want to try. I have Third Path Iconoclast, Chromehost Seed Shark and Ravenous Robots all making artifact tokens. Autmaton and Animation Module do to. At some point, I want the cube to do other things than cast spell -> artifact creature token. I do miss losing a hybrid, so we'll see.

So there it is, a huge update that feels nicely interconnected with itself and what the rest of the cube is doing. I like that there are some new build arounds and support cards without losing anything too major. I am experimenting a lot with some flex slots, but the core of the cube stays the same, which is important.

Curious if you have cuts I missed or cards that should have been added!