CML's Cube (405, polychromatic)
- Thread starter CML
- Start date
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I like it. You should play it.
Lei'd
Lei'd
CML
Contributor
my ex is from hawaii; (pool) cue the jokes about lei'd / deflowered
today i learned these things:
fabled hero is boring and has stupid flavor text
spellheart chimera doesnt work without a gazillion cantrips and i have no idea how people propose to play it in standard
carven caryatid isnt quite as cool as i'd hoped
geist and upheaval are probably OK, otherwise wtf do those decks do to beat the good Green ones?
i'm kinda tossing more sweepers in these days (or at least not rotating many of the ones that are already in) so Damnation and Day and Terminus are always sticking around, waiting to be tutored up. Upheaval was surprisingly fun. anyone got suggestions for fun 'destroy all creature'-type sweepers at cmc=4 or 5 in various colors? adding Supreme Verdict sounds like a cop-out. my list feels like it has a bunch of sweepers (though obviously the concentration is weak compared to Modo and other Erwin- / MTGS-style potboilers). i am aware that i posted something that makes me a hypocrite in the 'removal that does other stuff' thread and i don't care enough to not ask!
today we also had our first 5cc deck feat. 8 walkers (60 cards tho) and some non-basics. it was not very good. but it was funny!
i am feeling an itch for Zombies. i don't think it's the kind of theme one can really half-ass though
cuts--
carven caryatid, fabled hero, gitaxian probe, sunforger, spellheart chimera
adds--
forbid, ponder, loam, lash out, knight of meadowgrain
maybe yawg will someday? varolz? samurai of the pale curtain?
as a general comment i've been enjoying raising the power cap of the cube each week. up to a certain point it will begin to slide into the edh-style slugfest-of-fucktards that is The Cube Establishment but i don't think we've quite reached there yet...
today i learned these things:
fabled hero is boring and has stupid flavor text
spellheart chimera doesnt work without a gazillion cantrips and i have no idea how people propose to play it in standard
carven caryatid isnt quite as cool as i'd hoped
geist and upheaval are probably OK, otherwise wtf do those decks do to beat the good Green ones?
i'm kinda tossing more sweepers in these days (or at least not rotating many of the ones that are already in) so Damnation and Day and Terminus are always sticking around, waiting to be tutored up. Upheaval was surprisingly fun. anyone got suggestions for fun 'destroy all creature'-type sweepers at cmc=4 or 5 in various colors? adding Supreme Verdict sounds like a cop-out. my list feels like it has a bunch of sweepers (though obviously the concentration is weak compared to Modo and other Erwin- / MTGS-style potboilers). i am aware that i posted something that makes me a hypocrite in the 'removal that does other stuff' thread and i don't care enough to not ask!
today we also had our first 5cc deck feat. 8 walkers (60 cards tho) and some non-basics. it was not very good. but it was funny!
i am feeling an itch for Zombies. i don't think it's the kind of theme one can really half-ass though
cuts--
carven caryatid, fabled hero, gitaxian probe, sunforger, spellheart chimera
adds--
forbid, ponder, loam, lash out, knight of meadowgrain
maybe yawg will someday? varolz? samurai of the pale curtain?
as a general comment i've been enjoying raising the power cap of the cube each week. up to a certain point it will begin to slide into the edh-style slugfest-of-fucktards that is The Cube Establishment but i don't think we've quite reached there yet...
CML
Contributor
i need some ideas for improving B and U, naya-colored decks with nice curves, some value guys, a planeswalker or two, and good finishers are just too strong right now. i've been having a great time increasing incrementally the power level of my cube, and with U it's not so hard to push it up, but with B ... i don't think zombies is the answer.
UB reanimator decks are strong, but a lack of consistently viable control archetypes is a source of spleen for me
UB reanimator decks are strong, but a lack of consistently viable control archetypes is a source of spleen for me
CML
Contributor
i am a big fan of effects like those. smokestack is one of my favorite cards, i wonder if i could reintroduce it and have it be playable?
did a major overhaul for the zombies, though! it's mostly modeled on jason's ideas, but i threw in a few ideas of my own:
creakwood liege, ashenmoor liege, hedron crab, intuition, sygg river cutthroat, doomed traveler, veteran explorer
the theme is a little smaller, and the cube a little bigger (especially now, with test-bloat -- but i don't think agonizing over cuts to bring it down to exactly 405 is a good use of time), so i hope it'll work. though i have a suspicion of themes that one cannot 'half-ass' as it were, ie the poison principle etc.
for me zombies brings back lovely memories of watching UW players wrath a standard season or two ago and giving exactly zero fucks
to help balance out the extra resilience though i threw in samurai of the pale curtain and hallowed burial.
http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/114
did a major overhaul for the zombies, though! it's mostly modeled on jason's ideas, but i threw in a few ideas of my own:
creakwood liege, ashenmoor liege, hedron crab, intuition, sygg river cutthroat, doomed traveler, veteran explorer
the theme is a little smaller, and the cube a little bigger (especially now, with test-bloat -- but i don't think agonizing over cuts to bring it down to exactly 405 is a good use of time), so i hope it'll work. though i have a suspicion of themes that one cannot 'half-ass' as it were, ie the poison principle etc.
for me zombies brings back lovely memories of watching UW players wrath a standard season or two ago and giving exactly zero fucks
to help balance out the extra resilience though i threw in samurai of the pale curtain and hallowed burial.http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/114
If your finishers are too strong you could try cutting Frost Titan, Grave Titan, and Batterskull. I don't play any of those because whenever they came out it was just like #ggSwagNoscopeNoob. Your other finishers looks fine, but you could add in Deadeye Navigator because he is really fun, exciting, and powerful but not imba. Your planeswalker count looks fine, im surprised you dont run Garruk Relentless. For us, zoo decks are rare simply because we value lands so highly, does your playgroup do the same? If so, that could be the problem since we have found you basically need to take the zoo fixers over everything and then just pick up the spells inbetween and on the wheel. A sweet value guy you could run is Elvish Visionary. It looks like trash but I have actually grown to love it.
I usually hate midrange, but even I have to make an exception for Creakwood Liege. That's a damn fine midrange card.
Zoo aggro never really picked up steam here either, because three months in, players have woken up to the value of fetchlands. I'm lucky to nab two fetches in any given draft these days.
I just added Elvish Visionary to my own list. I'm hoping its cheap body and ability to dig helps power out lethal Overruns.
Zoo aggro never really picked up steam here either, because three months in, players have woken up to the value of fetchlands. I'm lucky to nab two fetches in any given draft these days.
I just added Elvish Visionary to my own list. I'm hoping its cheap body and ability to dig helps power out lethal Overruns.
CML
Contributor
coiling oracle > elvish visionary yo
i like having all 5 titans. i should clarify -- the midgame presents an impossible challenge for U/B decks often, their removal either gets overloaded and they die immediately or have to blow it all and then get killed by like an Aurelia. I'd like to increase the power of U / B in the early and mid-game, as well as giving it more 'win-cons' such as the recent add Upheaval when the corner is turned.
i like having all 5 titans. i should clarify -- the midgame presents an impossible challenge for U/B decks often, their removal either gets overloaded and they die immediately or have to blow it all and then get killed by like an Aurelia. I'd like to increase the power of U / B in the early and mid-game, as well as giving it more 'win-cons' such as the recent add Upheaval when the corner is turned.
Coiling Oracle is harder to cast. We never play U/B decks that aren't reanimator, and I recently cut that for the gravecrawler suite. Honestly non-reanimator U/B just sucks in cube imo.
CML
Contributor
i strongly agree with you! that's why i'm trying to fix it. (funny, i used to be full of contempt and rage towards the conventional wisdom that 'black is bad in cube'; now, i totally agree.)
changes look fun so far though (even if i haven't had a chance to play it yet)! check it
http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/37473 -- Deadguy (BW)
http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/37477 -- Vegetables (BG)
http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/37479 -- Last Year's Best Standard Deck (BR)
http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/37482 -- Dickhead Control (UB)
these decks all look really fun and will be even more fun with real people, drafting instead of sealed, utility land draft, etc. somehow the first 3 decks appeared to me, with their gorgeous curves and everything, in the first 3 sealeds i tried. UB was a little tougher to find but not by much.
wadds, if this works i will call you a genius
changes look fun so far though (even if i haven't had a chance to play it yet)! check it
http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/37473 -- Deadguy (BW)
http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/37477 -- Vegetables (BG)
http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/37479 -- Last Year's Best Standard Deck (BR)
http://cubetutor.com/cubedeck/37482 -- Dickhead Control (UB)
these decks all look really fun and will be even more fun with real people, drafting instead of sealed, utility land draft, etc. somehow the first 3 decks appeared to me, with their gorgeous curves and everything, in the first 3 sealeds i tried. UB was a little tougher to find but not by much.
wadds, if this works i will call you a genius
Put up your cube list, yo! I'm also of the opinion that the best, most fun U/B decks are of the reanimator variety, though the much more common U/B deck is here is ho-hum garden variety attrition-base control. I need to figure out what knobs to tweak.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Watch him as he goes!
Chris Taylor
Contributor
HES INNOCENT! YOU DON'T NEED HIS BLOOD!
CML
Contributor
so i found some more fun cards worth considering within the Zombie theme, and for which there is likely no room:
Mindslicer
False Prophet
Tortured Existence
Soul Warden
Violent Eruption
Yawgmoth's Will
Dark Prophecy
Sprouting Thrinax
Young Wolf
Academy Rector
Body Snatcher
Cathodion
Body Snatcher
Epochrasite
Golgari Thug
etc
Mindslicer
False Prophet
Tortured Existence
Soul Warden
Violent Eruption
Yawgmoth's Will
Dark Prophecy
Sprouting Thrinax
Young Wolf
Academy Rector
Body Snatcher
Cathodion
Body Snatcher
Epochrasite
Golgari Thug
etc
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Dark Prophecy seems deep enough that I'd probably want messenger instead. Are you running him?
Chris Taylor
Contributor
don't get me wrong, mindslicer I can get behind, and he looks super sweet too.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Chris, why didn't you tell me Staying Power was in your list?