Article ChannelFireball: Utility Land Draft

InfinityBlack14

InfinityBlack14

Hi everyone! First time posting on RTL. I started my cube back in 2014 as a copy of the holiday (powered) cube from mtgo, and made it my own. It's now 630 in size and some card choices reflect that it's a utility land draft cube. I came here today to ask if anyone plays specific cards (That may not be good enough for a usual cube, but are insane for ULD Cubes) are in their main to compliment the utility lands. Some examples in mine:
Main--------------------------UL
Hanweir Garrison - Hanweir Land
Finks, Woodfall P - Oran-Rief
World Queller, Cataclysm, Boom // Bust - Flagstones of Trokair
Veteran Explorer - Phyrexian Tower, High Market
Crop Rotation
Titania
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Titania / Finks are definitely good in these environments, Titania moreso because most ULD users also run multiple cycles of Fetchlands.

I quite liked Expedition Map with ULD, even though it wasn't strictly necessary as a design inclusion.

There was a brief phase where I changed things quite a bit because of a Cloudpost package in the ULD. Hanweir seems like a perfect match for what you're looking for, even if it is likely very playable without the synergy.
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
I really liked Perilous Myr with Phyrexian Tower (and to a lesser extent High Market) when I still ran an ULD. It's great to play the Myr, have them skip their attack step, thensac it to Tower to remove one of their threats anyway and play four drop on turn three.
 
InfinityBlack14

InfinityBlack14

Jason Waddell said:
Titania / Finks are definitely good in these environments, Titania moreso because most ULD users also run multiple cycles of Fetchlands.

I quite liked Expedition Map with ULD, even though it wasn't strictly necessary as a design inclusion.

There was a brief phase where I changed things quite a bit because of a Cloudpost package in the ULD. Hanweir seems like a perfect match for what you're looking for, even if it is likely very playable without the synergy.
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I'm only Running 10 fetches currently, and will likely be taking out manlands from my ULD and placing them main. What's your current ULD setup?
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
InfinityBlack14 said:
Thanks for replying. What made you stop ULD?
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For one, my cube has a fairly heavy multicolor component, and I was looking for a way to entice people to play with three color cards. In earlier versions of my cube I had noticed cards like Karador, Ghost Chieftain often wheeled, despite being awesome and fun to play with, and the ULD didn't really solve that problem. My current solution is to hand out a free triland for each three color card you drafted. For example, if you draft Dark Intimations, you will get a Crumbling Necropolis for free. This is a rule that fights for draft complexity points with the ULD, and both are a way to get free nonbasics.

Second, the ULD simply takes a bit of time. Even if everything runs smooth, people need several minutes for their collective eight picks, and with four picks each that adds up to a lot of wasted time for everyone not currently picking a card. All that while you're in the middle of drafting, which is a taxing enough mental exercise without having to remember what you were doing after a few minutes of staring at nonbasics.

Third, I didn't really like the effect the nonbasics were having on the game. The lands in the ULD, and also the manlands in the main cube by the way, offer unique effects, true, but they're also pretty hard to remove for most colors. That means you need some colorless check to curb the power of these lands, which basically means you have to run some density of Wasteland effects. The problem is that Wastelands also are very good at keeping midrange / control off critical mana. I don't mind that aggro decks have ways to keep applying pressure, but I really dislike games where one player just doesn't get to develop his board because his lands are nuked.
 
InfinityBlack14

InfinityBlack14

I'm finding that most innistrad utility lands don't compete well in my cube because of the power level being so high for the cube. I'm thinking about making "powered" versions of whats available. Has anyone done this before? How well are custom cards received?
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
InfinityBlack14 said:
I'm finding that most innistrad utility lands don't compete well in my cube because of the power level being so high for the cube. I'm thinking about making "powered" versions of whats available. Has anyone done this before? How well are custom cards received?
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I'm playing with custom cards, and it has never been a problem. In fact, I've enjoyed the chance to add effects to my cube that simply aren't covered by the existing cards. For exampe, I've got a custom 3-mana reanimator spell, because I'm looking for something between the power level of Animate Dead and Zombify, and I want some variety over Necromancy. They've been well received by my players as well. I'm sure other posters here have the same experience, there's a lot more people out here that use customs.
 
Taamas

Taamas

I'm thinking about adding the UTL to my cube, but I have some doubts about it. I would like to give something to each color pair but not have fixing outside the main cube, and that seems impossible (for example, the only UB lands which do not provide colored mana have an activated ability which mills one (Ravnica) or three (Innistrad) cards from the opponent's library, and I don't support mill anymore). I also would like the ULD part of the draft to be minimal, at least for the first time(s). Right now I think I will go with four or five lands per colour, some colorless ones (no land disruption) and have each player pick three (0-1-2) or even two (0-1-1 or 0-0-2) lands, just to see how it goes.

My main concerns are the added complexity and the disponibility of powerful effects without the draft mechanic. Celestial Colonnade looks like a nice card for the WU section of the main cube, but I would rather not have it in the ULD.
 
InfinityBlack14

InfinityBlack14

Taamas said:
I'm thinking about adding the UTL to my cube, but I have some doubts about it. I would like to give something to each color pair but not have fixing outside the main cube, and that seems impossible (for example, the only UB lands which do not provide colored mana have an activated ability which mills one (Ravnica) or three (Innistrad) cards from the opponent's library, and I don't support mill anymore). I also would like the ULD part of the draft to be minimal, at least for the first time(s). Right now I think I will go with four or five lands per colour, some colorless ones (no land disruption) and have each player pick three (0-1-2) or even two (0-1-1 or 0-0-2) lands, just to see how it goes.

My main concerns are the added complexity and the disponibility of powerful effects without the draft mechanic. Celestial Colonnade looks like a nice card for the WU section of the main cube, but I would rather not have it in the ULD.
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I'm running Strip Mine and Wasteland in the ULD, and they always get picked in the first round. My play groups play quite aggressively on disruption, but I know most appreciate them in the ULD as an option to stop non-basics. I've also added Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, Boom // Bust, and others to stop Utilities from getting out of hand.
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Taamas said:
I'm thinking about adding the UTL to my cube, but I have some doubts about it. I would like to give something to each color pair but not have fixing outside the main cube, and that seems impossible (for example, the only UB lands which do not provide colored mana have an activated ability which mills one (Ravnica) or three (Innistrad) cards from the opponent's library, and I don't support mill anymore). I also would like the ULD part of the draft to be minimal, at least for the first time(s). Right now I think I will go with four or five lands per colour, some colorless ones (no land disruption) and have each player pick three (0-1-2) or even two (0-1-1 or 0-0-2) lands, just to see how it goes.

My main concerns are the added complexity and the disponibility of powerful effects without the draft mechanic. Celestial Colonnade looks like a nice card for the WU section of the main cube, but I would rather not have it in the ULD.
Click to expand...

I think the multicolor manlands should not be in the ULD, they're simply too good for that. Even the mediocre ones like Needle Spires still offer both fixing and a threat. That said, I've been happy with Treetop Village and Faerie Conclave when I still had an ULD. A friend of mine has an ULD where not all color pairs are represented by a utility land (for example, he cut Nephalia Drownyard because it murders opponents in the control mirror, yes, even without any other mill support), and that has never been a problem. If you make sure there is some "mediocre" fixing (like City of Brass and (multiple) Evolving Wilds) available, as well as enough monocolored options (4 or 5 per color should be enough) and a handful of colorless lands (like High Market, a number of Wasteland lookalikes, and Mishra's Factory) everyone will have enough options.
 
RavebornMuse

RavebornMuse

I currently give each player a triland of choice at the end of the draft; aside from that, I've stopped doing the rest of my ULD altogether for some time. I may get back to it at some point, though.
 
InfinityBlack14

InfinityBlack14

I've made some "improved" utility lands for my cube, replacing the innistrad utility lands. I'll post them up when I've got time. They were out already temporarily in place of man lands. The zen man lands are as onderzeeboot said "shouldn't be in the ULD". Color fixing and a sizeable (mostly) threat is way too good.
 
shamizy

shamizy

As far as the ULD is concerned, personally I try to avoid having any sources of explicit fixing. I find that they just end up being snap picks early and I'd rather have that decision to pick up good fixing be present during the main draft. As such my unofficial rule for ULD inclusions have been to avoid pure color-fixers, though I'm willing to fudge a bit for things that people have to work a little bit for like Cavern of Souls or the new Spire of Industry. Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse have been in and out of my main cube over the last three years, but I think they're firmly cemented in the ULD after we got the rest of the manlands during BFZ block.

I haven't had the chance to actually get a cube session going in a while, but last I checked this was my ULD pile:



We would usually just do 3 rounds of snake-drafting and I'd have them laid out in the middle of the table during the main draft so that people could plan their potential picks during downtime.
 
Boromir of Borg

Boromir of Borg

Onderzeeboot said:
Second, the ULD simply takes a bit of time. Even if everything runs smooth, people need several minutes for their collective eight picks, and with four picks each that adds up to a lot of wasted time for everyone not currently picking a card. All that while you're in the middle of drafting, which is a taxing enough mental exercise without having to remember what you were doing after a few minutes of staring at nonbasics..
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Ironically, this is exactly one of the main reasons I do the ULD. I have a method where I track all the picks for the cube, and do a post draft report (http://barnestorming.net/franks-draft-7/ for an example). This takes about 7-10 min to take pictures of the draft stacks, and the ULD fills in that time nicely. (for me.)
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Boromir of Borg said:
Ironically, this is exactly one of the main reasons I do the ULD. I have a method where I track all the picks for the cube, and do a post draft report (http://barnestorming.net/franks-draft-7/ for an example). This takes about 7-10 min to take pictures of the draft stacks, and the ULD fills in that time nicely. (for me.)
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Very valid reason, and jeez, my draft would have gone completely different with those packs, ending up in "WU" with Kalitas off Unexpected Potential; Tireless Tracker, Leovold, Ophiomancer, and others off Emissary's Ploy, and Arcane Savant with Baral's Expertise imprinted on it (bouncing two of your opponent's creatures and itself, and playing a cheaper card for free... every turn). Also, Swords and Path as removal!
 
shamizy

shamizy

Chris Taylor said:
I mean maybe I'm just inexperienced here, but Gavony Township and High Market are equal opportunity picks?
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Gavony is definitely pushing the higher end, but I think both fall along the same spectrum of not quite there as main cubeable. From the various ULDs I've run, however, I'd say that they've been picked around the same number of times surprisingly. The most consistent top picks have been Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse, Treetop Village and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
 
Grillo_Parlante

Grillo_Parlante

Contributor
Yeah, gavony is good enough for a gold slot in the main cube. Its a really hard permanent to answer, and if you have a board state with a couple turns it tends to just win the game. Treetop village is also deserving of a main cube slot.
 
ahadabans

ahadabans

My group has traditionally underdrafted GW. People just hate the color combination. So this is a case where Gavony in the ULD would probably be net positive in my meta. My group did not like ULD though, so it's moot but I think this is something that should be considered. If you have a color underrepresented, adding spicy options to the ULD that encourage that color could have a desirable effect.
 
InfinityBlack14

InfinityBlack14

ahadabans said:
My group has traditionally underdrafted GW. People just hate the color combination. So this is a case where Gavony in the ULD would probably be net positive in my meta. My group did not like ULD though, so it's moot but I think this is something that should be considered. If you have a color underrepresented, adding spicy options to the ULD that encourage that color could have a desirable effect.
Click to expand...

This is true for my drafts too. I've even switched gw entirely to make different archetypes.
 
Aston

Aston

I keep Gavony Township in the ULD as well, in no small part because the Green White gold section is one of (if not the) the most competitive colour pairs. I really want to try that new Rallier card but finding something to cut has me at a loss.

I'm thinking I might want to try just having a rotation of multicolour slots so that I get to play all the cool cards without clogging up packs with cards that people don't want.
 
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