General CBS
- Thread starter James Stevenson
- Start date
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I think you do. Once upgraded, a card stays upgraded, even between tournaments. So in that sense, upgraded cards do not refresh, no. The upgrade used to make that card better though, might be available again during the next tournament (I say might, because only 18 of the 40 core mods are available each tournament).
Okay I would advice you to make changes to your cube cards be temporary and not permanent. Even though it is against the Risk Legacy rules.
Having a player upgrade one of his cards for one tournament is fun and original. If the change is permanent or semi-permanent until the banhammer hits = no fun. It leads to entire unfair tournaments because some cards are on par with Power 9 and some cards are almost block constructed/draft level.
Having a player upgrade one of his cards for one tournament is fun and original. If the change is permanent or semi-permanent until the banhammer hits = no fun. It leads to entire unfair tournaments because some cards are on par with Power 9 and some cards are almost block constructed/draft level.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Politely, I am going to ignore that advice. That's not what we're here for, we're here for CHAOS!
Seriously though, the entire concept of this cube is permanent changes. It's literally why I created it, to have an ever evolving mess of cards. I am not going to make these changes temporary.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Haha, it's not bad advice, honestly, it's just advice that goes against the purpose of my cube
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Sometimes you gotta just lean in. I wouldn't run a 3/1 flying for 1, but I don't run moxen either and those are fun now and again
I do have a +1/+1 counters theme going on in my cube, including some proliferate stuff. Obviously, I want other counters to proliferate, too.
Which kinds of counters do you run in your lists? Obvious examples are +1/+1, -1/-1, loyalty, charge and lore counters (Sagas).
Personally, I don't run any planeswalkers, but some of the sagas and I also want to expand on the -1/-1 counters a bit.
Those are the cards I already run:
I obviously don't want to expand on it too much, its home is black obv. Skinrender is a bit too strong for my taste, a card I never tried and find to be very weird is Incremental Blight which also looks quite strong. Grim Poppet looks appropiatelyx costed, but I don't like it being an artifact creature (I don't want to have too many colourless spells). Merciless Javelineer COULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT if they made it
1BR
Creature - Minotaur Warrior
1, Discard a card: [...]
3/2 or 2/3
but they made it too expensive, which makes me sad.
Now, there are some cards I'd like to hear your opinions on, as I never played with them:
Slasher and Blast are in different colours, but they do look pretty playable. Punisher is 2BB destroy target creature while being easy to recur as a creature. Corrosive Mentor looks very interesting, although it's a shame that it only affects black creatures. Don't know if the Mummy is too weak, and what I'm not sure if I like about the Zenith that it's put back into the library after use.
Which kinds of counters do you run in your lists? Obvious examples are +1/+1, -1/-1, loyalty, charge and lore counters (Sagas).
Personally, I don't run any planeswalkers, but some of the sagas and I also want to expand on the -1/-1 counters a bit.
Those are the cards I already run:
I obviously don't want to expand on it too much, its home is black obv. Skinrender is a bit too strong for my taste, a card I never tried and find to be very weird is Incremental Blight which also looks quite strong. Grim Poppet looks appropiatelyx costed, but I don't like it being an artifact creature (I don't want to have too many colourless spells). Merciless Javelineer COULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT if they made it
1BR
Creature - Minotaur Warrior
1, Discard a card: [...]
3/2 or 2/3
but they made it too expensive, which makes me sad.
Now, there are some cards I'd like to hear your opinions on, as I never played with them:
Slasher and Blast are in different colours, but they do look pretty playable. Punisher is 2BB destroy target creature while being easy to recur as a creature. Corrosive Mentor looks very interesting, although it's a shame that it only affects black creatures. Don't know if the Mummy is too weak, and what I'm not sure if I like about the Zenith that it's put back into the library after use.
I have a minor "bad counters" theme, which synergizes with "+1/+1 counters".
The specific payoffs for bad counters. Generous Patron is good in +1/+1 counters as well, but it's amazing in this deck. Necroskitter is super exciting, but pretty narrow and only really good in this deck.
The enablers.
Banewhip Punisher is kind of a payoff too, and a great card in the archetype, while still a decent removal spell in any black deck.
Skinrender is very strong, not sure what else to say.
Cartouche of Ambition is risky, but ties into lifegain, heroic, and is great in fliers. Run only if you don't have much instant speed removal.
Stinging Shot is my janky response to fliers, since green is so bad at dealing with them. In this deck, it's really good, and hey, it's not like anyone else will pick it.
Grind // Dust is amazing here. It's ok in any WB card, but is Plague Wind in this deck.
Contagion Clasp is pretty slow, usually picks off a x/1. I haven't seen it do much, but since it's an enabler and a payoff, I'm still trying it out.
Serrated Arrows is awesome in my cube. Super solid in most decks, and feels so good to proliferate.
Proliferate is the other payoff for bad counters.
It would be pretty rare to see this deck come together as the main strategy, but as part of a +1/+1 counters deck (since there is a lot of overlap) it's felt really cool and exciting. That said, I think it is a deck somewhat limited in power level, since these cards would be bad in most cubes.
The specific payoffs for bad counters. Generous Patron is good in +1/+1 counters as well, but it's amazing in this deck. Necroskitter is super exciting, but pretty narrow and only really good in this deck.
The enablers.
Banewhip Punisher is kind of a payoff too, and a great card in the archetype, while still a decent removal spell in any black deck.
Skinrender is very strong, not sure what else to say.
Cartouche of Ambition is risky, but ties into lifegain, heroic, and is great in fliers. Run only if you don't have much instant speed removal.
Stinging Shot is my janky response to fliers, since green is so bad at dealing with them. In this deck, it's really good, and hey, it's not like anyone else will pick it.
Grind // Dust is amazing here. It's ok in any WB card, but is Plague Wind in this deck.
Contagion Clasp is pretty slow, usually picks off a x/1. I haven't seen it do much, but since it's an enabler and a payoff, I'm still trying it out.
Serrated Arrows is awesome in my cube. Super solid in most decks, and feels so good to proliferate.
Proliferate is the other payoff for bad counters.
It would be pretty rare to see this deck come together as the main strategy, but as part of a +1/+1 counters deck (since there is a lot of overlap) it's felt really cool and exciting. That said, I think it is a deck somewhat limited in power level, since these cards would be bad in most cubes.
Forgot to comment about these:
Black Sun's Zenith was too strong for my cube. It was better than a wrath since you could adjust it to not kill your creatures, and my large creatures aren't cheap. It oppresses aggro pretty badly.
Puncture Blast was fine, just not in the right colors.
Twinblade Slasher plays ok, the threat of activation is interesting, but it is a bit too weak.
thank you very muich. as I alrwady said, I play some proliferate stuff.
and Im very drunk right now so I'm going to sleep. thank you and good night
and Im very drunk right now so I'm going to sleep. thank you and good night
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
This has to be one of the worst rarity upshifts in Magic history. Holy crap what a do nothing card o_O (Yes, I'm aware it does something, it's just... imagine spending money on an 8th edition booster and pulling this...)
(Edit: Sorry, I was doing a very specific search for my Heritage Cube when I stumbled upon this piece of jank
)
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Sometimes I sharpie a yugioh card, but mostly I've been wood burning the proxies up. It's a little time consuming, but it looks really good
Wait hold on 'wood burning' a magic card? What does that look like?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
You troll :')
Those are all 4drops I like to play (didn't see every single one in action and I think about adding some of them).
My question is: would you consider them all to be roughly the same power level? The cube is very synergy-based, so some cards that can't come up with sheer power do have lots of cards that combine with them.
To me it is quite important to not have clear first picks because of power. I want picks to be done because people see all the synergies and think 'oh my gawd, so many possibilities, and I LOVE that card and the possible decks I could build with it!'
I'm quite a purist when it comes to that design, so I wanted to hear from people that might have some more experience with the listed cards, and even compare them. For example, I know that Aristocrats, Spellslingers, Selfmill, Saboteurs, Lands and Counters are common riptide archetypes, so I'd like to hear your opinions on this topic.
My question is: would you consider them all to be roughly the same power level? The cube is very synergy-based, so some cards that can't come up with sheer power do have lots of cards that combine with them.
To me it is quite important to not have clear first picks because of power. I want picks to be done because people see all the synergies and think 'oh my gawd, so many possibilities, and I LOVE that card and the possible decks I could build with it!'
I'm quite a purist when it comes to that design, so I wanted to hear from people that might have some more experience with the listed cards, and even compare them. For example, I know that Aristocrats, Spellslingers, Selfmill, Saboteurs, Lands and Counters are common riptide archetypes, so I'd like to hear your opinions on this topic.
All in all they seem pretty synergy encouraging. I think Yawgmoth, while especially sweet with sacrifice/proliferate stuff, is pretty strong in any deck. Especially if you do run planeswalkers.
Rankle also seems to me to be above the average powerlevel, clearly. He is hasty, evasive and undercosted and offers so much versatility, that he will always be useful in every deck and in almost every situation. I'm not a fan.
I run and really like Aristocrat and Mystic Snake. They can be super powerful, but without the right circumstances they are just decent.
I'd be curious to hear feedback to Squirrle Wrangler
Rankle also seems to me to be above the average powerlevel, clearly. He is hasty, evasive and undercosted and offers so much versatility, that he will always be useful in every deck and in almost every situation. I'm not a fan.
I run and really like Aristocrat and Mystic Snake. They can be super powerful, but without the right circumstances they are just decent.
I'd be curious to hear feedback to Squirrle Wrangler
Many of the cards are interesting but be careful about that Nightpack Ambusher because it is a powerhouse even without any synergies.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I've seen a hardcore spike, low cmc cube owner defend Nightpack Ambusher as a good green 4 drop. That should tell you something about its power level.
I support Aristocrats and Proliferate obv, but I do not run any planeswalkers (because they objectively suck very hard). I also think the costs are real and demand for synergy, but he's still pretty strong.
You might be right on this. I just love the design as a whole, and because you need to break the symmetry somewhat. Cube is not Limited, you meet synergy-driven decks that have their own tools to fight, and you still have to make the right decisions. Being hasty and evasive while also being a 3/3 might be a bit too good, though. Still, I'm going to test it because I love the design. If it's too good, I'll replace it with Braids, Cabal Minion and might consider Blazing Specter as I freaking love the Apocalypse multicoloured cards.
Absolutely! I'm still unsure if I want to run the Noble (I guess that's the card you're talking about
) over Blood Artist. The effect on a 2/2 flyer is definitely worth the 4 mana, I find Blood Artist to be a bit stronger (and actually pretty strong in the right deck) so I'm still testing which is the one I'd like to run.Haven't tested it yet, but I cut Goblin Trenches because I don't want too many uninteractive enchantments in my cube and W doesn't really bleed into the Lands.dec my cube has to offer, while a green four drop that builds tokens is a perfect fit for Lands AND Tokens.
I have to see if it's strong enough, though, as it's pretty slow and mana intensive.That's something I'm not too sure about. I think japahn was the one posting that the card doesn't always make the cut in his group, even if it fits the deck. I tried it in Standard/Limited and was impressed, in fact, it encourages me to implement Werewolves (see Instigator Gang) because they make the game so much heavier on decisions! That being said, I think I have to admit that it looks like one of the, if not the strongest of the listed cards, unfortunately. Compared to Pack Guardian, for example, which is a one-time shot, but brings the 2/2 directly to the table, while you'll have to play exactly nothing on your own turn for the Ambusher to give you value. I think the Ambusher needs a much more dedicated deck, which is something I'm fine with, and I don't believe that it actually proves to be too strong.
I guess another question there is: which ones aren't strong enough?
Mad Ratter for example. Red does have the biggest access to looting while every colour has some cantripping and cycling cards, so it's easy to trigger it at least once (which is pretty okay). Another card I play is Murmuring Mystic, which I think is easier to trigger, spits out evasive tokens and isn't killed as easily.
While writing this I'm sure that I'll cut the Ratter even before actually testing it lol
I'm also cutting Storrev and Firemane Avenger, Kessig Cagebreakers and Irencrag Pyromancer are just way more interesting, and monocoloured. Multicolour cards should be more exciting, and are allowed to be a bit stronger.