General "Looking for a card"-Thread

[Erik Twice]

I am looking for mono green token payoffs, so anything that excels when you make a bunch of 1/1s instead of playing beefy guys. Currently I only have Prosperous Innkeeper my core cube.

You can power down the effect and use Cryptolith Rite, but there's no need to, Earthcraft is already limited enough.



Fantastic, widely useful card. It's a tutor, it's instant-speed, not too expensive and allows decks to have more variety by combining go-wide with higher mana costs. Highly recommended.

Third is currently Questing Druid but I'd like to replace it.

Questing Druid is a red card, like Tormenting Voice or Faithless Looting. The creature is almost always a splash, since it doesn't trigger off green spells, I would say it leans more into blue than it actually does into green.

 

[Tetrinity]

I'm looking for cards that explicitly help other player(s) in a multiplayer game, for my Ultimate Usurper cube. In particular I need cards in blue and in red, which are currently lacking options compared to the other colours, but I'm interested to hear about anything you've got. Bonus points if they work well within the themes of those colours but that's often proving tricky to achieve.

Cards currently in the cube that have an assist component

Ideally, the card can assist a specific player:



...perhaps with a caveat of some kind:



...but I'll also take cards that help multiple players:



Obviously there are plenty of cards that can be used in this "player assist" manner, so it's a bit of a grey area. I haven't been counting instant-speed creature removal even though it can protect somebody from an incoming attack, but I did count the fog effects (Respite and Winds of Qal Sisma), and Cauldron Haze doesn't explicitly say "hey, I'm helping player B" on the card. It's kind of a gut feeling thing I guess.

Some cards I've already considered and discounted:

Volcanic Offering - don't want the land destruction as not running any land-based threats
Fervent Mastery - maybe I'm just not evaluating the card properly, but surely even a graveyard deck doesn't want to discard randomly?
Creative Technique - none of the Techniques except maybe Incarnation are especially strong, but this is just unplayably bad

 

[Nanonox]

Does stuff like this do it for you?

 

[Tetrinity]

Oh Generous Plunderer is a good call, that's definitely finding a slot.

Cheering Crowd... is it bad that I think it's a great suggestion but the one thing putting me off is the flavourtext? :') maybe I'll just make a custom version!

 

[Nanonox]

The Monarch mechanic could be assist adjacent and help the game move along in a MP setting.

 

[LadyMapi]

You can do stuff with gifts:

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On a similar note, there's also the Hunted cycle:

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If you're willing to include the opposite (cards that are really good if you can get an "opponent" to collude with you), Red also has some other interesting options:

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EDIT:

Fun fact: they made another red Technique because Creative Technique kinda sucks:

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which seems pretty interesting?

Some other cards I like personally that might be nice in the list:

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[Tetrinity]

Some really cool ideas here, thanks both quite a few cards I'm keen to add.

Monarch is great. There are currently 8 cards in the cube that grant it, wouldn't mind pumping those numbers a bit.

Loran and Kibo both definitely deserve slots; I'm always looking for more ways to get artifact/enchantment removal on maindeckable cards and those two do it well. Tataru is also great, and Kami of the Crescent Moon (and by extension, Howling Mine - how'd I forget about that?!) seem like good inclusions too.

I'd previously included Long River's Pull but identified a somewhat awkward play pattern specific to Usurper - there isn't a plausible reason to ever not gift the card, even when countering a creature spell, because otherwise you're pretty much outing yourself as an Assassin. At one point I was considering a custom version where gifting the card lets you counter target noncreature spell which would fix that problem, but ended up switching to Familiar's Ruse anyway so stopped thinking about it. Looking through the other gift spells, many run into the same issue, but there are some viable options that I'll look for spaces for:



I suspect Harmless Offering would fall into the trap of never making the final cut of a deck, but Wrong Turn might manage it as a more flexible version of the effect. I reckon it's worth a shot

The Hunted cycle is cool. I worry Hunted Horror risks being GRBS (play it turn two as Assassin and give a random non-Leader the centaurs, game comes down to a removal check and/or lucking into giving the other Assassin the centaurs) but Hunted Dragon comes down late enough to be reasonable I think.

The collusion cards are an interesting angle that I hadn't considered. Pia's Revolution in particular seems like a slam dunk include! Risk Factor is also tempting.

I'm already running Transforming Flourish, it's probably my favourite of the Demonstrate spells TBH. I do love a Chaos Warp, why not get three for the price of one?

I might be missing something about Narset's Reversal, is the intention to use it to redirect targeted card draw effects and the like?

 

[Seeker]

Asking about gold cards has gone well for me in the past, so I'm trying again! Izzet this time.

Cube link here.
My current 3 UR cards are Third Path Iconoclast, Saheeli, Sublime Artisan, and Prismari Command.

All three of these are fine.. but the first two feel redundant, and Commands are my go-to when I don't have more interesting things to be doing.

Ideally, non-Universes Beyond cards (I'm actually testing out how a 450 would look with no UB cards) but I'm flexible.

Things I've mostly ruled out:
Izzet Charm is basically Prismari Command. I like "+1 mana, +1 Treasure" better in general, so the Spell Pierce mode is the only attraction, and it comes at the cost of a maindeckable Shatter.
Vivi Ornitier is out for power level. It's not fun to play against even if it's fun to play with.
Flame of Anor because I hate "creature type matters", largely because you can't guarantee a printed version is accurate.
Wandering Mind is the platonic ideal of "meh, cantrip".

Things I haven't ruled out:
Ral, Crackling Wit
Glacial Dragonhunt (I really liked it in the Jeskai Abhorrent Oculus Standard deck...)
Slick Sequence (look at my mana curve, you can see how much I love cheap value)
Expressive Iteration (it will take very little convincing for me to put this one back in over all the crap above this)

And if I do cut one of the 1/1 makers, which one?

 

[LadyMapi]

I might be missing something about Narset's Reversal, is the intention to use it to redirect targeted card draw effects and the like?

That's one way to use it, but it's also usable as a support-y counterspell. You could, for example, Reversal a Baleful Mastery but leave the target the same, letting the original caster keep the spell.

My current 3 UR cards are Third Path Iconoclast, Saheeli, Sublime Artisan, and Prismari Command.

All three of these are fine.. but the first two feel redundant, and Commands are my go-to when I don't have more interesting things to be doing.

I'd cut Iconoclast over Saheeli, simply because Saheeli is a far more exciting card.

Clearly you need to add Crackleburr. Everything is better with Crackleburr.

More seriously, some UR cards that I kinda like:

 

[Tetrinity]

That's one way to use it, but it's also usable as a support-y counterspell. You could, for example, Reversal a Baleful Mastery but leave the target the same, letting the original caster keep the spell.

Aha, that makes sense. Too used to seeing it used as a Remand I guess

And if I do cut one of the 1/1 makers, which one?

They're both good cards but in your cube I think Saheeli is the better fit, as it has incidental synergy with a lot of what your Blue and Red sections are doing (delirium, prowess, and historic all like her more than Iconoclast).

Mapi's suggestions are all solid, especially Scalding Viper; that ability can deal a lot of damage very quickly if left unchecked.



You have a lot of cycling and discard-matters, and Rielle slots right into that. There's a Rielle EDH deck in my group and while the truly explosive sequences rely on wheel effects it still gets a ton of value from something as simple as a Faithless Looting.



Essentially a permanent prowess.



I've not actually got any experience playing this one, so I don't know how easy it is to get the full discount in practice, but it'd certainly help shape a draft by increasing the priority of cards like This Town Ain't Big Enough.

Some other random suggestions that might appeal, of varying power levels:

 

[Seeker]

Clearly you need to add Crackleburr. Everything is better with Crackleburr.

look, I know I shouldn't add "one card that gives you both Riverfall Mimic and Clout of the Dominus" but...

...

I'm definitely tempted by both of these at least a little - Eris more than Rielle - so screw it. let's put the eight drop in. What's the worst that can happen, I flip it off Dark Confidant and die? It even triggers Up the Beanstalk!

 

[Tetrinity]

I'm definitely tempted by both of these at least a little - Eris more than Rielle - so screw it. let's put the eight drop in. What's the worst that can happen, I flip it off Dark Confidant and die? It even triggers Up the Beanstalk!

Ten drop, in fact. But if running a ten drop in a deck with Dark Confidant and doming yourself for half your life total is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

 

[Zoss]

Yes, he's yet another noncreature spells payoff, but he's

A) more explosive than the rest and
B) requires you to construct the deck a little differently.

Adeliz is a little too specific/low-powered for you, but always plays a lot better than one might think!

 

[Seeker]

Ten drop, in fact. But if running a ten drop in a deck with Dark Confidant and doming yourself for half your life total is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

yeah, I was thinking Hit/Run but should have been thinking Greater Gargadon (you know I played that deck with both and Bob back in the day)

 

[MilesOfficial]

I'm trying out Malcolm, the Eyes again and I think it's totally fine.

I saw Dom looking into Captain Howler, Sea Scourge and I've bumped it up to my on-deck binder myself. I love the discard-matters theme, and since you're also on the Scrounging Skyray / Marauding Mako plan, it's not terrible to signpost it, even if it feels a little more on-rails than the other two.

I used to play Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain and while it's rough these days to run a Hill Giant, it's not hard to draw a lot of cards off it.

The Royal Scions always grab my attention when I'm browsing the on-deck binder. They're completely different from Saheeli, Sublime Artisan and play in a much different set of decks so even in a smaller list, it won't feel weird to have to 3MV walkers in the guild.

I'm sure you have some power-level concerns about him, but the greatest thief in the multiverse, Dack Fayden, is still my favorite Izzet card. Being able to + him for a Faithless Looting is exquisite. The "gain control of target artifact" is a bit too swingy and powerful, I admit, but it's fine to have some final bosses in Cube, and the ability can be played around in game 2.

Magma Opus only recently left my Cube and may make its way back in soon. It's a great reward to the UR spells deck, and while it's best with Mizzix's Mastery and Torrential Gearhulk after cycling it, the amount of value it gets on cast is so satisfying it's worth twisting your deck around it (and you're already playing one of those cards).

Bohn, Beguiling Balladeer is also benched at the moment, but I had a lot of fun with him. If your players haven't played with foretell, it can be cognitively a lot to assess during draft, but players who give it a chance will have a ton of fun with him. It's really annoying that the goad text is almost useless (but not 100%) in 1v1, such that you'd be making the card worse to just cover it up, but again adds to that cognitive load. It's why I took him out, but the gameplay he enables is super fun once you're past the grokability of the card. Lemme put it this way: I wish I was still running him.

Baral and Kari Zev is a brick of text but a funky and fun spells-matter card. I noticed my players had to read it like 3 times and then didn't end up playing it the first time I tried it, so I took it out, but if you're already running a Ragavan token for Kari Zev, Skyship Raider, it's good (and not a non-bo because they technically have different names so they don't kill each other).

I like Etherium-Horn Sorcerer. What a weird card.

Speaking of weird! Red Herring!! Love Magic: the Gathering.

 

[Seeker]

I am already running a Ravagan token! But not a First Mate Ragavan token. My main complaint about that card is that it feels like the Ragavan should go away, but it doesn't, and in general I want something that relatively experienced players can get right on first read.

Jhoira: Great when she gets going, but Hill Giant is not a rate I think can hang with the dirtiest dudes in town. (says the only man on earth who thinks Bloodbraid Elf is better than Bloodbraid Challenger...)
Magma Opus: implies Mizzix's Mastery in a way I don't like (which in turn would imply Time Warp and yada yada) - I don't want any possible fifteen-card p1p1 to trick people!
Bohn: dear god no it's hideous and a nightmare to play against
Etherium-Horn Sorcerer: haha yesssss but not at my current power level. if I ever do build the Durdle Cube I keep threatening, yes, it's optimal durdle. it can go in right next to Rootha, Mercurial Artist who I also love dearly.
Captain Howler: You're right. Far too linear-feeling even if it's really just about as linear as Marauding Mako.
Royal Scions: ...maybe. I'd rather not have 2/3 of the UR section be walkers (and Saheeli's staying over Third Path Iconoclast), in general at least, but it's kind of like a Dack. I think I'd honestly play Dack instead.
Dack: Same planeswalker argument. He's obviously more powerful, but I think he's closer to the right power level - if slightly high - than Scions are (they're too low), but I'm not sure. Broadly, I like Eris enough to not swap.
Malcolm: Love him. Definitely over Royal Scions/Dack. Right now I think I'm fine with Eris... but Malcolm's cheap, makes Clues, tempting.