General Breaking Singleton

[FlowerSunRain]

I run

Customized:
Goblin Chirugeon (1/2), Mogg Maniac (2/1), Knucklebone Witch ("a Goblin Card is put into a graveyard"), Tattermunge Maniac (Bloodthirst 1)

Incentive:
Goblin Recruiter, Sparksmith, Goblin Rabblemaster, Goblin Matron, Krenko, Mob Boss, Goblin Grenade, Warren Instigator, Siege Gang Commander

Incidental et al:
Mogg Fanatic, Legion Loyalist, Goblin Guide, Spikeshot Elder, Mogg War Marshal (Squad of 2), Goblin Sharpshooter, Guttersnipe, Squee, Tuktuk, Goblin Heelcutter, Goblin Settler, Tarfire, Hordeling Outburst, Marsh Flitter, Murderous Redcap, Grenzo, Blast from the Past (but not really)

The deck is tight enough that making grenade and bombardment tutorable was just plain overkill.

I was considering an X spell that made goblins, like Goblin Offensive, but costed reasonably like Tempt with Vengeance. Probably just put X goblins into play without haste and the pointless extra text of vengeance.

I was also considering a volanic hammer with goblin tribal line.

I have Mardu Scout, Skirk Ridge Prospector, Gempalm Incinerator, Mad Auntie, Ember Hauler, a second Knucklebone witch and a 2/1 Goblin Digging Team in my on deck pile if needed.

 

[Laz]

I was considering an X spell that made goblins, like Goblin Offensive, but costed reasonably like Tempt with Vengeance. Probably just put X goblins into play without haste in the pointless extra text of vengeance.

Incidental Soldier tribal!

 

[Chris Taylor]

I always thought one day I'd get around to sharpie-ing Kithkin on every white weenie in my list, but Innistrad's introduction of human tribal has more than sated my tastes for the time being, especially because the support naturally bleeds into all five colours. I've always wondered if a human Wizened Cenn might be fun, but because that's both linear and hard to cast, I'm holding off on that for now.


FSR, what does your goblin tribe look like, including your buffed cards? For some reason, I have an unnatural attachment to Goblin Grenade, and want to get to the point where that's cubeable.

Protip: If you double sleeve your cube, put the erratta on the inner sleeve. Makes it easy to change, and doesn't ruin the card

 

[FlowerSunRain]

I should post pics of my custom cards, you'd have a laugh.

I considered rise of the hobgoblins, but never pulled the trigger on it. I mean, its an enchantment (awesome), hybrid (double awesome), it gives a combat ability (very cool), but being XCC just seems like it'll but too low impact. Maybe I'll give it a go some time soon.

 

[DreamPaint]

What do you guys think of running a bunch of these? I've always wanted more discard and I think it's critical to successful black decks. There is a lot of play to this card and it rewards players for paying attention to the draft pool. I don't run the gravecrawler package fyi. What do you guys think?

 

[Jason Waddell]

What do you guys think of running a bunch of these? I've always wanted more discard and I think it's critical to successful black decks. There is a lot of play to this card and it rewards players for paying attention to the draft pool. I don't run the gravecrawler package fyi. What do you guys think?

I think it's difficult to expect your players to actually maindeck Cabal Therapy without a lot of explicit synergy. I really maxed out on interactions, and still a lot of times you felt kind of dumb casting it.

I'm not saying don't run it, but I would consider ways to maximize:
- other cards that look at the hand (other discard, Vendillion, Gitaxian) / reveal parts of hand (think Augur of Bolas, uh... Murmuring Bosk?)
- things that sacrifice advantageously (threaten effects, tokens, recursive guys)

 

[Chris Taylor]

What do you guys think of running a bunch of these? I've always wanted more discard and I think it's critical to successful black decks. There is a lot of play to this card and it rewards players for paying attention to the draft pool. I don't run the gravecrawler package fyi. What do you guys think?

This has been great. I don't think cabal therapy is likely to get a card out of someone's hand

 

[Laz]

Mmmm... Black reverse Fact or Fiction... (Except that the black card in that cycle was Do or Die, which isn't quite as cool)

 

[Jason Waddell]

Do or Die

Imagine if it was face down piles instead.

 

[Chris Taylor]

It actually gained the flashback which makes it similar to cabal therapy as an after thought, I just brainstormed a card that duressed thier second best card, then thought of the name

Imagine if it was face down piles instead.

I don't know if that takes all the fun out of the card or makes it amazing

 

[Mondschwein]

My English is quite rusty now I'm in the middle of an apprenticeship where little to no English is spoken, so please forgive me I'm not the arsonist of linguistic fireworks I am when speaking German and am well-known for, especially in this forums. hihi

Those are the cards I doubled up on:








Gear: I've actually got a landfall theme in my cube. Personally, I don't like Steppe Lynx, so I doubled up on this card to make it more appealing. We're drafting with 20 fetches.
Scepter: Spells matter is a thing and there's quite some artifact hate around. Didn't test it since doubling up on this so I'm not able to say if the second copy should stay.
Mimic Vat: I don't like poisonous blink effects, I'm only running Flickerwisp and Galepowder Mage besides this so I decided to double up as it's quite versatile and there are ETB effects in every colour.
Gravecrawler and Bloodsoaked Champion are the main sac outlets. Don't know how many I should run of either, I don't think I want cards to be in my cube more often than two times as long as there's no really convincing argument which I couldn't bring up to date.
Zulaport Cutthroat: I don't run Blood Artist which could be a bit too strong as a 2-off, Zulaport also supports the human/warrior theme everbody SHOULD have in their cubes because it's so lascivious.
Champion of the Parish and Mardu Woe-Reaper are there for the human and warrior tribal theme.
Vryn Wingmare: I like it more than Thalia which I don't run and it gives White Weenie the extra turn it might need to run over control decks with sweepers. All my wrath effects are cmc5 btw.
Delver of Secrets: Spells matter respectively Ux tempo.
Ponder: the not-so-broken Brainstorm. I don't run the latter because I think it's a tad too strong in our environment (didn't actually test it, though). maybe I should go up in numbers as I see riptide.cubes often use three, four or even six copies of BS.
Preordain: I really learned to love this card.
Counterspell, gAry oberkil! and Stromkirk Noble are there to push mono variants, namely MUC, die Eintracht (as some people call Mono Black Devotion in Germany) and RDW. Yes, they're rarely drafted, but I like to have the opportunity as all three of those decks are really enjoyable if you're able to get it together. Vryn Wingmare comes up to a similar role in White Weenie.
Experiment One, Quirion Dryad: both cards are there to push Gx-aggro. I love it.
Swift Reckoning: premium white removal. I even thought about doubling up on Journey to Nowhere.

What I'm considering to raise in numbers:


Incinerate is strictly better so I don't run it. The alternative would be to just double up on Magma Jet, although I want to raise the cc2 for burning 3 spells as I'm currently running only the named ones.


Same as above, every red deck loves burn and I don't want to double up on Firebolt.


Spells matter, Delver, Spellheart Chimera and Isochron Scepter (which might get cut by one anyway) may not be enough. Maybe I'll just cut the Guttersnipe and add another Pyro?


I don't run Path or StP as I find them to be too strong.


Good blink targets. I don't like Omenspeaker and I find Sea Gate Oracle to be a bit worse than the Augur which comes down on turn 2.

 

[Mondschwein]

I forgot
I don't even run a single copy of it but I think I want one to have lifegain semi-viable.

E: oops. Zulaport is no Warrior. still love it as it is.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Why don't you wanna double up on firebolt? Seems like young pyromancer would love it
Also double pyromancer is amazing and you should try it

I've tried double blade splicer, and it's reaaaaal strong. Give it a shot, and if it seems like it needs nerfing, swap one out for this guy:

(Which is where I ended up)

 

[Mondschwein]

I'm already running him but you made clear to me that my cc3 white section really doesn't need a buff. That's worth something I think. Harrrrr.

I'm not doubling up on Firebolt because it's Sorcery and I don't want to break the grixis symmetry between it, Silent Departure and Chainer's Edict.

 

[blacksmithy]

Just double up on those too
Especially silent departure that card is awesome

 

[Mondschwein]

I often think about doubling up on cards a lot of decks really want.



Especially black could need another 2drop while red could need more cards in general.
Concerning Snapcaster I'm not sure if he's too strong. What about Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, could one call it a slightly weaker version of Snapcaster Mage? I find him a tad more interesting, too.

 

[safra]

I often think about doubling up on cards a lot of decks really want.



Especially black could need another 2drop while red could need more cards in general.
Concerning Snapcaster I'm not sure if he's too strong. What about Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, could one call it a slightly weaker version of Snapcaster Mage? I find him a tad more interesting, too.

I think I'm happy with running Snapcaster and JVP together, but doubled Abbot of Keral Keep and Dark Confidant have been tried and loved here.

 

[Eric Chan]

Is anyone here running more than one Remand? I really like the tempo it can provide to blue decks with a proactive plan, but I'm a little worried that two copies might be a hair too good. On the other hand, Lucas recommended a few years ago that I double up on each of Condescend, Compulsive Research, and Remand in order to help blue. I didn't implement his suggestions at the time, when blue was arguably the strongest colour; as other colours have leapfrogged it, though, I've now come around on the first two, and can confirm that Lucas was on the money with both.

Anyone have any recommendations, either for or against?

 

[safra]

Is anyone here running more than one Remand?

RavebornMuse does and I keep meaning to. I had two copies in briefly before I added the Voidmage Prodigy custom(1) and I think double Remand is probably healthy for an environment.

1: (1u 2/1 flash human wizard with etb delve x, counterspell unless they pay x)

 

[Aoret]

I run two Memory Lapses and a Remand currently. I could easily see it being a 1/2 split in the other direction. I think I ran a 2/2 split before Wishra's Light got printed by one of those neural nets, and I cut a remand for it because it felt like the most similar card. It's probably also worth noting that I'm running Dazeand two Force of Wills as well as some of the standard countermagic.

As far as what it does to environments, yes, it certainly enables blue decks with a proactive plan. You should be careful that this is something your playgroup will be accepting of. Currently I've been having a blast 2-1'ing drafts with aggro control archetypes, but my playgroup gets reeeeeal whiny about losing to an incidental 2/1 guy or anime vendilion clique while I counter or bounce everything they do. Important to note that they're griping about this while other archetypes are winning the draft. In my case, I'm going to leave the archetype in and continue forcing it because it creates metagame pressures that my playgroup needs(1).

I guess another important consideration is that my format is a lot weirder than standard riptide fare because of the pressure that abundant wastelands put on mana curves. With that pressure in place, it becomes a lot more viable to run archetypes that are inherently low curve like blue based aggro control. This is because you increase the number of turns spent at four or less mana and the archetype consists of one/two mana spells with optional cost increases. This style of deck plays really great off of 1, 2, 3, and 4 mana and becomes weaker from there. In spite of this, these decks are still really hard to win with in my environment. I have to put in way, way more work to win with aggro control than anything else in my format. The games I win are always close and incredibly dicey, even if my opponents are never aware of that.

So I guess ultimately I'd say toy with this if you want to, but here be dragons. It's a difficult thing to get right (I still have no idea if I'm there) and it may be for minimal gain anyway unless you really love the archetype like I do.



1. Nobody in my playgroup ever plays blue except for myself. Occasionally someone will endeavor to add a few blue cards, do poorly, and swear off ever trying again. This isn't because blue sucks, it's probably somewhere in the middle of the pack, it's just that people are afraid because they don't understand how to play correctly at instant speed and they have difficulty evaluating what is worth spending counter magic on. The best motivator I can think of is to take advantage as a drafter by continuing to pick the (very) open color and do the best I can with it. I hesitate to make the color broken because then I'm just including cards for a pet color so I can stomp kitchen table players. It's a bit of a delicate balance, but the fact that I'm going 2-1 over and over seems to indicate I've struck it somewhere close to the right place.

 

[RavebornMuse]

Double Remand is the best; it's the most fun and fair counterspell available, in my opinion. Let's review the points in its favour:
1) Remand costs ; this makes it a more comfortable play in decks that aren't base-, and an easier splash pick
2) No conditions keeps it relevant throughout the entire game, unlike, say, Miscalculation
3) The opponent gets to keep the card in-hand; this hugely mitigates the feel-bads of counterspells.
4) The control player gets to draw a card; the hugely balances the bummer that is a counterspell not being more definitive (like, say, Counterspell)
5) The spell is most painful in the early-game, where it will often cost the opponent a turn. This helps blue decks reach the late game faster, which is where they usually want to be.
6) The spell is less painful for the opponent in the late-game, especially in low-CC environs, where it often only chips away at a fraction of a turn, if it does much at all, which is balanced by the card draw, which can help the blue player get to their own win-cons
7) Sometimes, it's fun to Remand something of your own for the card draw, or as protection from an opponent's counterspell! Neat-o, right?

For these reasons, Remand has earned a likely-permanent doubling.

While we're on the note of doubling up on counterspells, I personally found Condescend far, far too strong for my own environment. A deck with 2 Condescends and some cantrips was such a well-oiled machine it rarely lost, and the ability to scale into the late-game with relative ease made it really nasty in my environment. After cutting back to 1 Condescend, I immediately found blue control decks to be much less brutal, and I think it was honestly the most dramatic, yet simple change in my environment, color pie balance-wise. But of course, YMMV. (I see nothing wrong with double Compulsive Research aside from the neglect of my good pal Frantic Search)

 

[Aoret]

7) Sometimes, it's fun to Remand something of your own for the card draw, or as protection from an opponent's counterspell! Neat-o, right?

mind blown. I'll be trying this in a prowess deck very soon and will likely switch up my aforementioned 1/2 split to go the other direction.

 

[psly4mne]

If you run conspiracies, Double Stroke on Remand is hilarious. It completely changes the functionality from a tempo counterspell into a pure draw engine.

 

[Meltyman]

Spoiler

What I'm considering to raise in numbers:


Incinerate is strictly better so I don't run it. The alternative would be to just double up on Magma Jet, although I want to raise the cc2 for burning 3 spells as I'm currently running only the named ones.


Same as above, every red deck loves burn and I don't want to double up on Firebolt.

Chain Lightning, Searing Blaze, Arc Trail, Avacyn's Judgment, Blast from the Past, Staggershock, Char, Chaos Warp(?), Brimstone Volley, Stoke the Flames, Rift Bolt, Volt Charge, Flames of the Firebrand. There are enough options out there


Spells matter, Delver, Spellheart Chimera and Isochron Scepter (which might get cut by one anyway) may not be enough. Maybe I'll just cut the Guttersnipe and add another Pyro?

Guttersnipe really gives your cube signals that you can have a spells matter kind of deck, why would you want to cut it really. It acts as a good finisher and also can hit planeswalkers without attacking
Double Young Pyromancer seems a bit too strong in my opinion, but then again i don't know the size of your cube...
I tried 2 and 3 Isochron Scepters and it was too much, Isochron Scepter works as a one-of, it doesn't make a strategy work per se, it's just powerful enough to work on its own in any deck basically in my opinion.


I don't run Path or StP as I find them to be too strong.

This is a good idea, but why do you have to double on these cards?
Declaration in Stone, Council's Judgment, Crib Swap are cards also


Good blink targets. I don't like Omenspeaker and I find Sea Gate Oracle to be a bit worse than the Augur which comes down on turn 2.

Out of context 2x Blade Splicer seems pretty nuts, even more if you consider Path and StP too good in your environment.
Augur of Bolas is worse than Omenspeaker 3/4 times in my experience. Most of the time i'm putting 3 cards on the bottom with it.
Thing in the Ice is something you have to test also...

EDIT: and on my humble opinion i think Sea Gate Oracle is miles better than Omenspeaker or Augur of Bolas

 

[Rasmus Källqvist]

EDIT: and on my humble opinion i think Sea Gate Oracle is miles better than Omenspeaker or Augur of Bolas

For the sake of discussion would like to tell us why?