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I think reanimator does much better in slower cubes. It's one of the most powerful decks that can be assembled. When it comes together, it usually runs the table. But my cube plays more like a 2008 cube, and less like a modern one.

Cards that have alternate casting costs like Dread Return in my experience are always exceptionally good in cube. Getting value out of this card is not that hard even if you are only running a bunch of utility guys. GB is the easiest color to abuse this card with, but I've done it in UB...

In this vein, I actually like Dread Return better. It can't be used as a combat trick, but being able to flash it back for no mana opens up really explosive and broken plays. For those supporting reanimator, the best play I've ever done with this card is dread return a fattie on turn 4 and...

Holly crap. Mana Vortex is awesome. Damn why does it have to cost double blue??!!? Might still work though as Ux tempo can probably handle that cost.

Ux tempo is definitely powerful and fun, plus it's easy to support. I like it a lot and think everyone should consider supporting it as part of blue. Some cool cards (all enchantments interestingly enough) which provide really unique effects are the following: Mana Breach Parallax Tide...

If Vexing Sphinx had hexproof, it would be amazing IMO. That card is unplayable because if it gets bounced or exiled, you get two for one'd (or more depending on how far you push it). When this comes down and ends up beating face and then getting sacked for a bunch of cards, it's very strong...

Ravnica was an amazing block. Ah the memories...

I think this one is very good, especially because it can be transferred to dudes with shroud/hexproof. Prison Term

Blood Artist is great. I've been running that for awhile. I had Long Missionary in and I liked him, but he's coming out in my next update to make room for something else. Path of Bravery seems like it will either be amaze-balls or absolute rubbish. That card is going to be super...

Sounds cool. I'll check out the article. On the subject of Enchantments/Artifacts - I would probably leave the distinction for flavor and make enchantments provide a global or triggered effect while artifacts would have activated abilities (or something along those lines). But the game would...

Great post Jason. I agree with you. And for the record, I do make games as a hobby. What you describe is exactly how the process goes. You make something and it works but you see issues after awhile - things that no amount of development could have caught. If I try to bolt-on solutions, they...

Yup. That's totally fair. And I agree. It has come a long way. I just happen to think it peaked sometime around Ravnica while I think most would say it's still peaking and that walkers ushered in a golden age. Cards sales certainly seem to back that stance up. Again, I'm an old guy...

I don't disagree with any of this. Walkers were balanced to provide a reasonable amount of value before they were removed. And that dynamic works, but it altered the way the game is played. You can't just run creature-less decks anymore with wrath effects. The game is much more combat...

That's the other side of the coin, and it's a valid argument. As I mentioned in my last post above, walkers were cleverly integrated into the game and didn't destroy it. They just changed it (in much the way that Seafarer's of Catan changed the original game and made sheep more important - the...

Interestingly enough, this is the one thing I commend Wizards on. The game was not designed with a new card type in mind, and really this was an elegant way of introducing a new permanent type without totally wrecking the game. We have more cards today that interact directly with walkers...

Creatures are a lot easier to remove, and I think that is why they pose less of a problem. They can also be blocked (usually), which typically negates a good portion of their threat. In short, they are the easiest permanent to find answers for and they don't even need to be destroyed to be...

I suppose it's not that simple. Interestingly enough, those two cards types (enchantments/artifacts) are the closest things to planeswalkers. And they happen to be the most difficult to balance (coincidence?). :)

I wrote up a giant ranting wall of text about why I dislike walkers. But I opted to delete it after I wrote it because I know walkers are popular and there's little point in trying to convince people they suck. It's a futile argument. I'm simply going to point out that it seems to me there...

Upheaval is broken good. But it does require some planning to get the most out of it. And if your cube is light on mana rocks and/or fast mana (moxen, etc.), then it is harder to break (but still really strong). It's best when you can generate a ton of mana, upheaval and still drop something...

To be fair (and I didn't even get this right in my last post), Scrying sheets costs 3 mana (2 to activate, plus you must tap scrying sheets). Same with excavations (one mana plus you must tap the excavations which is 2 additional mana). Is Scry 1 worth 3 mana? What about "flip two coins...