I don't know if it works here, but in my Eldrazi cube I paired the ____blade Alara Reborn creatures with hybrid cards to great effect. Maybe that could work here?
Dom's Cube(s)
- Thread starter Dom Harvey
- Start date
CML
Contributor
quick hits (only one hour!)
-My god the ARB blades are perfect. Or they would be, uh, OK, how heavy of a multi-color commitment do you need for these to be good, though? I imagine to fit well in a typical Riptide Cube they'd have to be turned on close to 100% of the time, and, unlike ARB we don't have Borderposts (OR DO WE??)
-I do strongly agree that its non-profit model and joyless moderators in a game deliberately set up for nobody who plays it to profit are integral to making the culture of MTGS the opposite of a "marketplace of ideas." With working for WotC being the only real way to make money from MTG, and the only real salaries going to the designers themselves, the "lack of money" cultural problem can also be attributed to this stupid Leviathan, except Hasbro is making money hand-over-fist, and this kind of arrangement isn't too uncommon, so I should suggest that government / business have more of a "dichotomy" than a black-and-white distinction. (The funny thing is that there is only one game in the world that matches MTG in prestige, quality, cultural dysfunction, and a lack of any kind of money, and its 'governing head' is the autocrat of a small Russian state whose official religion is Buddhism. Fucking weird, huh? I couldn't make this up.)
-YET because you guys seldom draft I think this Cube exists in the theoretical realm a little too much, I was gonna make a big connection between how competitive Constructed has given me better (well, less terrible) card-evaluation skills but suffice it to say that I often know what works for a Cube's power level but also that this dogma can make me very wrong sometimes but this awareness of this dogma makes me more reliable but then that fucks me up sometimes ad infinitum. I will now bitch about more cards
-Balance: be careful!
-Land Tax: Could just be a matter of taste but I hate hate hate it. Plus you're a libertarian and fuck Taxes
-FoF: Possible you're right, though, oftentimes when I Carefully Considered things I could go for some Deep Anal
-Traum Vis: Ehhhhhhhhhhh I loved the card in MMA draft but ehhhhhhhhhh. If you wanna improve control why not toss in some stronger counters?
-Thoughtseize: I'm coming around to the whole "Black sucks in Cube" thing and though this does patch that up a little (even if you don't share my assessment) IoK and Duress are both fun enough. For some reason Despise is really bad though.
-Rec Night: strongly disagree on this one, nothing could be worse than playing against this card (which makes it miserable to play with too). It's so head-and-shoulders above the rest of the unpowered cards TBH (excepting maybe the Clamp and FUCKING FASTBOND, how did I forget this the first time around?) that seeing an opposing Jace or Elspeth is, really, much "more interesting."
-Empty: eh making 4 tokens for 4 off-curve is kinda lame, for tokens how about Furystoke Giant, Beetleback Chief, Goblin Assault?
-Hedonist: my good man here you are wrong. Not only are the G beasts in Theros quite good at even C/U (Nemesis of Mortals! Nessian Asp!) but there's also very very little removal that can fight them, especially on t3. You're right that G/R is a terrible guild in that set but mannnnnnn Hedonist is bad in practice. And I do agree it looked good when it first came out.
-BTE: It's true that you can handle a Frogmite but DO YOU WANT TO? I think BTE is pretty appropriate power-wise but somewhat hatable in other respects
-Tokens: Man, I kind of like Braids and really like Smokestack, I only took the latter out because it was too bad. Am I the only one to love these cards? (Smokin' Tokens also sounds cool)
What I'm saying is that I really want to know RIGHT NOW about the 4 Demigod thing so cease and desist this "theoretical exercise" and climb out of your Galt's Gulch hidey hole and get drafting
-My god the ARB blades are perfect. Or they would be, uh, OK, how heavy of a multi-color commitment do you need for these to be good, though? I imagine to fit well in a typical Riptide Cube they'd have to be turned on close to 100% of the time, and, unlike ARB we don't have Borderposts (OR DO WE??)
-I do strongly agree that its non-profit model and joyless moderators in a game deliberately set up for nobody who plays it to profit are integral to making the culture of MTGS the opposite of a "marketplace of ideas." With working for WotC being the only real way to make money from MTG, and the only real salaries going to the designers themselves, the "lack of money" cultural problem can also be attributed to this stupid Leviathan, except Hasbro is making money hand-over-fist, and this kind of arrangement isn't too uncommon, so I should suggest that government / business have more of a "dichotomy" than a black-and-white distinction. (The funny thing is that there is only one game in the world that matches MTG in prestige, quality, cultural dysfunction, and a lack of any kind of money, and its 'governing head' is the autocrat of a small Russian state whose official religion is Buddhism. Fucking weird, huh? I couldn't make this up.)
-YET because you guys seldom draft I think this Cube exists in the theoretical realm a little too much, I was gonna make a big connection between how competitive Constructed has given me better (well, less terrible) card-evaluation skills but suffice it to say that I often know what works for a Cube's power level but also that this dogma can make me very wrong sometimes but this awareness of this dogma makes me more reliable but then that fucks me up sometimes ad infinitum. I will now bitch about more cards
-Balance: be careful!
-Land Tax: Could just be a matter of taste but I hate hate hate it. Plus you're a libertarian and fuck Taxes
-FoF: Possible you're right, though, oftentimes when I Carefully Considered things I could go for some Deep Anal
-Traum Vis: Ehhhhhhhhhhh I loved the card in MMA draft but ehhhhhhhhhh. If you wanna improve control why not toss in some stronger counters?
-Thoughtseize: I'm coming around to the whole "Black sucks in Cube" thing and though this does patch that up a little (even if you don't share my assessment) IoK and Duress are both fun enough. For some reason Despise is really bad though.
-Rec Night: strongly disagree on this one, nothing could be worse than playing against this card (which makes it miserable to play with too). It's so head-and-shoulders above the rest of the unpowered cards TBH (excepting maybe the Clamp and FUCKING FASTBOND, how did I forget this the first time around?) that seeing an opposing Jace or Elspeth is, really, much "more interesting."
-Empty: eh making 4 tokens for 4 off-curve is kinda lame, for tokens how about Furystoke Giant, Beetleback Chief, Goblin Assault?
-Hedonist: my good man here you are wrong. Not only are the G beasts in Theros quite good at even C/U (Nemesis of Mortals! Nessian Asp!) but there's also very very little removal that can fight them, especially on t3. You're right that G/R is a terrible guild in that set but mannnnnnn Hedonist is bad in practice. And I do agree it looked good when it first came out.
-BTE: It's true that you can handle a Frogmite but DO YOU WANT TO? I think BTE is pretty appropriate power-wise but somewhat hatable in other respects
-Tokens: Man, I kind of like Braids and really like Smokestack, I only took the latter out because it was too bad. Am I the only one to love these cards? (Smokin' Tokens also sounds cool)
What I'm saying is that I really want to know RIGHT NOW about the 4 Demigod thing so cease and desist this "theoretical exercise" and climb out of your Galt's Gulch hidey hole and get drafting
There are so many good playable hybrids now (thanks RTR block) that you don't even need Borderposts. Burning Tree Emissary into Jund Hackblade is a real thing. Deathrite Shaman into whatever, hell, pick any of the RTR hybrid 1-drops and you're pretty golden. But maybe not Slitherhead. Because..... slitherhead...
Chris Taylor
Contributor
FWIW, inherently signets are broken because splashing is so easy, not because 2 mana acceleration is broken. Strong sure, but controlled like any other effect they're fine.
Also CML, if you have 0-2 2 drop accelerates in your cube, how do ramp decks exist? Are there just a million rampant growths instead?
I've had great success with the talisman cycle (Link) which work way better since they don;t allow simic to splash vindicate. (in theory)
While I find that splashs that strechy don't happen often, the talismans just play better most of the time, so I've given them the not.
RE:Thoughtseize, have people tried Addle? it's fun play if nothing else. I've got a custom one mana version in my cube and it's been somewhere between duress and thoughtsize in power level, depending on opponent's deck composition and individual hamhandedness.
RE: BTE (LOLOMGWTFBBQ YMBA) you can probably handle frogmite. The only time you can handle multiple frogmites is when you have pyroclaysm. Nobody ALWAYS has pyroclaysm
Also CML, if you have 0-2 2 drop accelerates in your cube, how do ramp decks exist? Are there just a million rampant growths instead?
I've had great success with the talisman cycle (Link) which work way better since they don;t allow simic to splash vindicate. (in theory)
While I find that splashs that strechy don't happen often, the talismans just play better most of the time, so I've given them the not.
RE:Thoughtseize, have people tried Addle? it's fun play if nothing else. I've got a custom one mana version in my cube and it's been somewhere between duress and thoughtsize in power level, depending on opponent's deck composition and individual hamhandedness.
RE: BTE (LOLOMGWTFBBQ YMBA) you can probably handle frogmite. The only time you can handle multiple frogmites is when you have pyroclaysm. Nobody ALWAYS has pyroclaysm
Chris Taylor
Contributor
storm (kinda)
Dom Harvey
Contributor
just look at how sexy these decks are (admittedly using an untrained Cubetutor AI, but I try to weight for intelligent opponents during the draft):
and this beauty:
getting a decent-looking W or G devotion deck has been difficult so far
and this beauty:
getting a decent-looking W or G devotion deck has been difficult so far
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Yeah, Puca and Crackleburr are the two cards in any of those decks that I wouldn't feel comfortable playing in Cube except in very specific archetypes. Honestly, it might be best to just abandon the green and white devotion support altogether and slot the good devotion stuff into the main Cube, at least for now.
I do like a lot of what devotion accomplishes, though. There are more cool things going on in the red deck above than you would expect from mono-red: Pyromancer tokens with Liege/Gargadon/Purphoros, Hellspark Elemental with Purphoros, and so on. Fanatic and Purphoros are just more interesting in general than your standard red 4-drops.
I do like a lot of what devotion accomplishes, though. There are more cool things going on in the red deck above than you would expect from mono-red: Pyromancer tokens with Liege/Gargadon/Purphoros, Hellspark Elemental with Purphoros, and so on. Fanatic and Purphoros are just more interesting in general than your standard red 4-drops.
CML
Contributor
as a self-proclaimed authority on Eventide, the best devotion set ever, i feel compelled to say that Crag Puca and Crackleburr are 1. totally awesome 2. totally unplayable
those decks look sweet there is no doubt. jesus though Recurring Nightmare.
anyone else tried manamorphose?
those decks look sweet there is no doubt. jesus though Recurring Nightmare.
anyone else tried manamorphose?
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Gray Merchants waltzing between zones is the stuff dreams are made of.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
BRIEF INTERLUDE: 27 uses for a Soldevi Adnate
T2 Adnate
T3 Messenger, sac, Metamorph on Messenger
T1 Gravecrawler
T2 Adnate
T3 sac Crawler, Zombie, Crawler
T2 Adnate
T3 Bloodghast, sac, land, 3-drop
T1 Putrid Imp
T2 Adnate
T3 discard Bloodghast, land, sac, 5-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Butcher Ghoul, sac, 3-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Priest of Gix, sac, 6-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Stinkweed Imp, sac, 3-drop
T1 Vault Skirge
T2 Adnate
T3 sac, 5-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Legionnaire/Thopter, sac, 4-drop
T2 Adnate
T4 Solemn Simulacrum, sac, 4-drop
T2 Adnate
T5 Precursor Golem, sac, 5-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Perilous Myr, sac, 3-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Sculler, sac, 3-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Frogmite, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
T3 Metamorph, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
T3 evoke Shriekmaw, sac, 6-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Bone Shredder, sac, 3-drop
T2 Adnate
Tx delve Tombstalker, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
Tx unearth Extractor Demon, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
Tx reanimate Griselbrand, draw, sac, go berserk
T2 Adnate
T4 Redcap, sac, kill things, 4-drop
T2 Adnate
T4 Mindslicer, sac, realize you have nothing to play any more
T2 Adnate
T3 cycle Viscera Dragger
T4 unearth, sac, 6-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Dross Golem, sac, 6-drop
T2 Adnate
Tx Salvage Titan, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
T3 morph + unmorph Zombie Cutthroat, sac, 5-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 sac, 5-drop
T3 Messenger, sac, Metamorph on Messenger
T1 Gravecrawler
T2 Adnate
T3 sac Crawler, Zombie, Crawler
T2 Adnate
T3 Bloodghast, sac, land, 3-drop
T1 Putrid Imp
T2 Adnate
T3 discard Bloodghast, land, sac, 5-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Butcher Ghoul, sac, 3-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Priest of Gix, sac, 6-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Stinkweed Imp, sac, 3-drop
T1 Vault Skirge
T2 Adnate
T3 sac, 5-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Legionnaire/Thopter, sac, 4-drop
T2 Adnate
T4 Solemn Simulacrum, sac, 4-drop
T2 Adnate
T5 Precursor Golem, sac, 5-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Perilous Myr, sac, 3-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Sculler, sac, 3-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Frogmite, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
T3 Metamorph, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
T3 evoke Shriekmaw, sac, 6-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Bone Shredder, sac, 3-drop
T2 Adnate
Tx delve Tombstalker, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
Tx unearth Extractor Demon, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
Tx reanimate Griselbrand, draw, sac, go berserk
T2 Adnate
T4 Redcap, sac, kill things, 4-drop
T2 Adnate
T4 Mindslicer, sac, realize you have nothing to play any more
T2 Adnate
T3 cycle Viscera Dragger
T4 unearth, sac, 6-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 Dross Golem, sac, 6-drop
T2 Adnate
Tx Salvage Titan, sac, go nuts
T2 Adnate
T3 morph + unmorph Zombie Cutthroat, sac, 5-drop
T2 Adnate
T3 sac, 5-drop
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Wow, he just gives you mana... no weird restrictions on when/where you have to spend it.
That's an interesting sac outlet you found there Dom
That's an interesting sac outlet you found there Dom
Soldevi Adnate is an all-star in my Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker EDH deck. Definitely approve.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Jason/Eric: Can you rename this to 'Dom's Cubes' or sth similar?
Built this to play with to showcase some of the cooler things going on:
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Epochrasite
1 Tidebinder Mage
1 Cloud of Faeries
1 Shardless Agent
1 Trinket Mage
1 Pestermite
1 Grand Architect
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Master of Waves
1 Riftwing Cloudskate
1 Mulldrifter
1 Changeling Titan
1 Primeval Titan
1 Brainstorm
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mana Leak
1 Birthing Pod
1 Sigil of Distinction
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Breeding Pool
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
5 Forest
8 Island
Highlights:
- Attacking with a 29/29 Primeval Titan
- T2 Shardless Agent into a 4/4 Epochrasite
- Podding an unsuspended Riftwing Cloudskate into Primeval Titan
- Using Changeling Titan to flicker Phyrexian Metamorph and Master of Waves
Built this to play with to showcase some of the cooler things going on:
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Epochrasite
1 Tidebinder Mage
1 Cloud of Faeries
1 Shardless Agent
1 Trinket Mage
1 Pestermite
1 Grand Architect
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Master of Waves
1 Riftwing Cloudskate
1 Mulldrifter
1 Changeling Titan
1 Primeval Titan
1 Brainstorm
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mana Leak
1 Birthing Pod
1 Sigil of Distinction
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Breeding Pool
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
5 Forest
8 Island
Highlights:
- Attacking with a 29/29 Primeval Titan
- T2 Shardless Agent into a 4/4 Epochrasite
- Podding an unsuspended Riftwing Cloudskate into Primeval Titan
- Using Changeling Titan to flicker Phyrexian Metamorph and Master of Waves
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Ok, redesign time! I know I do this a lot, but with actual drafting a rarity (though this hopefully will change in the New Year) the fun of Cubing is in the design atm.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I've been impressed by devotion. It seems like people need convincing that it's worthwhile, so I'll try to write something up, but in short I'm satisfied with what it does to make monocoloured decks more interesting without compromising the overall balance of the Cube. The hybrid cards, which were fantastic before, are even better now that they bridge the gap between colours in another way. To make sure other interesting things were happening, I decided to push an artifact theme. Some of the individual cards were interesting but mostly it just ended up being a boost to blue, the owner of all the good 'artifacts matter' cards. Part of it can carry over to this iteration, but I had to look elsewhere.
I loved Rise of the Eldrazi. Flavour-wise it hit every right note for me, and the mechanics appealed to my aesthetic and gameplay preferences - I like things becoming better and more powerful over time, and Level Up gives players a way to use their mana while ensuring that early-game cards aren't irrelevant if drawn late. I love the idea of gods and beings central to a world, which might explain why I was drawn to the Theros Gods and the devotion mechanic originally. When Jason made his Eldrazi Domain Cube, I loved following along even though it wasn't relevant to my Cube at the time. I don't want to go as deep as he did, but there's a lot of good stuff to draw on there. In particular, with devotion slanting the Cube towards midrange decks, I hope that ramp and Eldrazi decks can offer a way of going 'over the top'.
- Level Up:
- Additions here are Student of Warfare, Kargan Dragonlord, Guul Draz Assassin, Coralhelm Commander, and Transcendent Master (which probably isn't good enough, but I have an unhealthy love for this card), as well as fake leveler Ludevic's Test Subject, joining Figure of Destiny, Lighthouse Chronologist and Joraga's Treespeaker.
- I added more planeswalkers in a recent update, and with levelers in the picture there's enough incentive to add profilerate cards (Volt Charge, Tezzeret's Gambit, Contagion Clasp?) and other things that interact with counters (Vampire Hexmage)
- Glimmerpoint Stag! There are already lots of ETB creatures for it to abuse, and the ability to reset a planeswalker/opposing leveler or get extra value from a scryland is nice.
- Artifacts:
- Phyrexian mana artifacts like Porcelain Legionnaire, Spined Thopter, Birthing Pod, and Moltensteel Dragon can go in any deck while also contributing to devotion. Borderposts (Mistvein/Veinfire here) do the same.
- We want both colourless ramp (the usual Signets, Monolith, Powerstone, Dynamo, Gilded Lotus) as well as things to ramp into (Sigil of Distinction and Chimeric Mass stand out here, but also Wurmcoil, Battlesphere, and the like). Tolarian Academy and Metalworker appear as reasons to look for artifacts in general; Academy should be reasonably 'fair' here.
- Certain artifacts get a lot better with this set of changes. Tangle Wire and Smokestack are both very happy to see Eldrazi Spawn tokens, for example.
- Phyrexian Metamorph, yo
- It's a little weird seeing Trading Post, Student of Warfare, and Varolz all in the same pack, and I do worry that I'm adding too many niche cards. That's something I can only really determine via testing though.
- Eldrazi:
- For actual Eldrazi, I think I want Kozilek and Ulamog, not Emrakul. Emrakul is so expensive that it only gets into play by unfair means, at which point it's too difficult to answer. I really like Artisan of Kozilek as well; I have fond memories of going Primeval Titan into Artisan returning Titan in Standard.
- Speaking of which, I think I want a 2nd Primeval Titan. I haven't really considered doubling up on finishers before, as I've always maintained that any given finisher is largely replaceable and so it's worth using less popular options for variety. That said, Titan is more of a mid-game card in these high-end ramp decks, and there are enough powerful lands (Academy/Cradle/Nykthos, manlands, Wasteland etc.) that it's a build-around-me card rather than just a dumb animal.
- I don't know how many Spawn producers I want; a few Nest Invaders, a Kozilek's Predator, possibly an Awakening Zone, but it's hard to justify Emrakul's Hatcher when it's competing with Zealous Conscripts, Siege-Gang, and cards currently on the bench. I'd have to commit to the theme as hard as Jason for it to be on an equal footing. Windbrisk Heights comes in as a nice Titan target, Spawn enabler, and Eldrazi cheater.
- Show and Tell scares me more because it's blue than because I think it would be too good here; Sneak Attack and Eureka seem a little more 'fair' (as fair as cards like this can be, at least) and give red and green something fun to do, though I don't think effects like these are necessary.
- Ramp:
- Just as I want the Cube's cheap creatures to be important outside of the early game, the spells need to be broadly usable. This obviously isn't an issue with cards like Path to Exile or Counterspell, but it leads me to opt for Cyclonic Rift over Capsize or w/e.
- The Monstrosity mechanic happens to be great for this. So far only Polukranos and Ember Swallower make the cut, but hopefully the next two sets give us more where that came from.
- The decision to support expensive spells determines certain other choices e.g. Xenagos gets a spot that might otherwise go to Sarkhan Vol.
- Other themes/notes:
- With the Eldrazi back in, I think it's time to reintroduce the library manipulation subtheme I had going a while back. Maybe I won't go as far as Riddle of Lightning this time, but I think its failure then was a result of the Cube trying to do too much rather than a problem with the theme itself.
- This version of the Cube will be the most permanent-heavy I've tried, afaict. When it comes to Cube I've generally embraced the shift in Magic in recent years towards playing over the board, but this might be excessive.
Haven't converted these thoughts into a list yet, just something I'm mulling over.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I've been impressed by devotion. It seems like people need convincing that it's worthwhile, so I'll try to write something up, but in short I'm satisfied with what it does to make monocoloured decks more interesting without compromising the overall balance of the Cube. The hybrid cards, which were fantastic before, are even better now that they bridge the gap between colours in another way. To make sure other interesting things were happening, I decided to push an artifact theme. Some of the individual cards were interesting but mostly it just ended up being a boost to blue, the owner of all the good 'artifacts matter' cards. Part of it can carry over to this iteration, but I had to look elsewhere.
I loved Rise of the Eldrazi. Flavour-wise it hit every right note for me, and the mechanics appealed to my aesthetic and gameplay preferences - I like things becoming better and more powerful over time, and Level Up gives players a way to use their mana while ensuring that early-game cards aren't irrelevant if drawn late. I love the idea of gods and beings central to a world, which might explain why I was drawn to the Theros Gods and the devotion mechanic originally. When Jason made his Eldrazi Domain Cube, I loved following along even though it wasn't relevant to my Cube at the time. I don't want to go as deep as he did, but there's a lot of good stuff to draw on there. In particular, with devotion slanting the Cube towards midrange decks, I hope that ramp and Eldrazi decks can offer a way of going 'over the top'.
- Level Up:
- Additions here are Student of Warfare, Kargan Dragonlord, Guul Draz Assassin, Coralhelm Commander, and Transcendent Master (which probably isn't good enough, but I have an unhealthy love for this card), as well as fake leveler Ludevic's Test Subject, joining Figure of Destiny, Lighthouse Chronologist and Joraga's Treespeaker.
- I added more planeswalkers in a recent update, and with levelers in the picture there's enough incentive to add profilerate cards (Volt Charge, Tezzeret's Gambit, Contagion Clasp?) and other things that interact with counters (Vampire Hexmage)
- Glimmerpoint Stag! There are already lots of ETB creatures for it to abuse, and the ability to reset a planeswalker/opposing leveler or get extra value from a scryland is nice.
- Artifacts:
- Phyrexian mana artifacts like Porcelain Legionnaire, Spined Thopter, Birthing Pod, and Moltensteel Dragon can go in any deck while also contributing to devotion. Borderposts (Mistvein/Veinfire here) do the same.
- We want both colourless ramp (the usual Signets, Monolith, Powerstone, Dynamo, Gilded Lotus) as well as things to ramp into (Sigil of Distinction and Chimeric Mass stand out here, but also Wurmcoil, Battlesphere, and the like). Tolarian Academy and Metalworker appear as reasons to look for artifacts in general; Academy should be reasonably 'fair' here.
- Certain artifacts get a lot better with this set of changes. Tangle Wire and Smokestack are both very happy to see Eldrazi Spawn tokens, for example.
- Phyrexian Metamorph, yo
- It's a little weird seeing Trading Post, Student of Warfare, and Varolz all in the same pack, and I do worry that I'm adding too many niche cards. That's something I can only really determine via testing though.
- Eldrazi:
- For actual Eldrazi, I think I want Kozilek and Ulamog, not Emrakul. Emrakul is so expensive that it only gets into play by unfair means, at which point it's too difficult to answer. I really like Artisan of Kozilek as well; I have fond memories of going Primeval Titan into Artisan returning Titan in Standard.
- Speaking of which, I think I want a 2nd Primeval Titan. I haven't really considered doubling up on finishers before, as I've always maintained that any given finisher is largely replaceable and so it's worth using less popular options for variety. That said, Titan is more of a mid-game card in these high-end ramp decks, and there are enough powerful lands (Academy/Cradle/Nykthos, manlands, Wasteland etc.) that it's a build-around-me card rather than just a dumb animal.
- I don't know how many Spawn producers I want; a few Nest Invaders, a Kozilek's Predator, possibly an Awakening Zone, but it's hard to justify Emrakul's Hatcher when it's competing with Zealous Conscripts, Siege-Gang, and cards currently on the bench. I'd have to commit to the theme as hard as Jason for it to be on an equal footing. Windbrisk Heights comes in as a nice Titan target, Spawn enabler, and Eldrazi cheater.
- Show and Tell scares me more because it's blue than because I think it would be too good here; Sneak Attack and Eureka seem a little more 'fair' (as fair as cards like this can be, at least) and give red and green something fun to do, though I don't think effects like these are necessary.
- Ramp:
- Just as I want the Cube's cheap creatures to be important outside of the early game, the spells need to be broadly usable. This obviously isn't an issue with cards like Path to Exile or Counterspell, but it leads me to opt for Cyclonic Rift over Capsize or w/e.
- The Monstrosity mechanic happens to be great for this. So far only Polukranos and Ember Swallower make the cut, but hopefully the next two sets give us more where that came from.
- The decision to support expensive spells determines certain other choices e.g. Xenagos gets a spot that might otherwise go to Sarkhan Vol.
- Other themes/notes:
- With the Eldrazi back in, I think it's time to reintroduce the library manipulation subtheme I had going a while back. Maybe I won't go as far as Riddle of Lightning this time, but I think its failure then was a result of the Cube trying to do too much rather than a problem with the theme itself.
- This version of the Cube will be the most permanent-heavy I've tried, afaict. When it comes to Cube I've generally embraced the shift in Magic in recent years towards playing over the board, but this might be excessive.
Haven't converted these thoughts into a list yet, just something I'm mulling over.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Current list is in the OP. I'm adding some of Jason's lifegain stuff and a utility land draft without having pruned the existing list, so there are some strange bedfellows in there atm.
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Utility land draft:
Ok, so I'm very excited to try this. Preliminary roster:
- 5 fetchlands: supports Steppe Lynx, DRS, Brainstorm/Top, and all manner of other things. Not sure if these should be ally/enemy fetchlands or a mixture.
- Nykthos: pushes devotion, what more could I ask for?
- Gaea's Cradle/Tolarian Academy: Academy's in a weird spot where there aren't nearly enough artifacts to justify including it in the Cube, but having consistent access to it probably means you don't need many more.
- Mutavault: supports incidental tribal synergy - Gravecrawler, Kalastria Highborn, Pack Rat (lol), Spellstutter Sprite/Mistbind Clique (probably not going this far...) as well as random things like battalion, Standstill
- Windbrisk Heights/Mosswort Bridge: pretty much the perfect cards for a land draft. I think Shelldock Isle is strong enough to stay in the main Cube, but it could easily end up here too
- cycling lands/Cephalid Coliseum: for Loam
- Karakas
- Dryad Arbor: for fetches and 2x GSZ
- Halimar Depths
- Riptide Laboratory
- Volrath's Stronghold/Academy Ruins
- Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
- Kessig Wolf Run/Desolate Lighthouse/Vault of the Archangel/Nephalia Drownyard/Gavony Township/Slayer's Stronghold/Moorland Haunt
- 3x Glimmerpost: Cloudposts are in main draft
- Wasteland
Ok, so I'm very excited to try this. Preliminary roster:
- 5 fetchlands: supports Steppe Lynx, DRS, Brainstorm/Top, and all manner of other things. Not sure if these should be ally/enemy fetchlands or a mixture.
- Nykthos: pushes devotion, what more could I ask for?
- Gaea's Cradle/Tolarian Academy: Academy's in a weird spot where there aren't nearly enough artifacts to justify including it in the Cube, but having consistent access to it probably means you don't need many more.
- Mutavault: supports incidental tribal synergy - Gravecrawler, Kalastria Highborn, Pack Rat (lol), Spellstutter Sprite/Mistbind Clique (probably not going this far...) as well as random things like battalion, Standstill
- Windbrisk Heights/Mosswort Bridge: pretty much the perfect cards for a land draft. I think Shelldock Isle is strong enough to stay in the main Cube, but it could easily end up here too
- cycling lands/Cephalid Coliseum: for Loam
- Karakas
- Dryad Arbor: for fetches and 2x GSZ
- Halimar Depths
- Riptide Laboratory
- Volrath's Stronghold/Academy Ruins
- Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
- Kessig Wolf Run/Desolate Lighthouse/Vault of the Archangel/Nephalia Drownyard/Gavony Township/Slayer's Stronghold/Moorland Haunt
- 3x Glimmerpost: Cloudposts are in main draft
- Wasteland
- fetchlands in the utility pile..? you crazy.. they seem so much better than anything else i would ever want
- let us know how Mosswort Bridge works out, that's a card i want to be good but am pretty sure is win more over here
- yes to Shelldock staying in the main list
- really cool idea splitting out Cloudpost and Glimmerpost
Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds are the perfect power level for utility pile, in my experience. Landfall for aggro, fixing for multicolor control, what's not to love.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
If your willing, check my cube and add some brass cave (untapped, but you pay 1 life)
I Love some evolving wilds, but aggro doesn't.
witc needs to print that card damnit
(untapped, but you pay 1 life)I Love some evolving wilds, but aggro doesn't.
witc needs to print that card damnit
Dom Harvey
Contributor
I think it's hard for fetchlands to be too good, I could see Expanse/Wilds being perfect but I like that the utility of a given shockland increases significantly.
Random way to spice up white:
+
+
did I mention I love Boros Reckoner?
Random way to spice up white:
+
+
did I mention I love Boros Reckoner?
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Updated link in the OP because I'm a donkey and didn't do it right the first time. It's starting to take shape, but has a shocking lack of green cards (paging CML)
These guys are in the land draft:
What tribal stuff is there that works nicely with them, beyond these?
These guys are in the land draft:
What tribal stuff is there that works nicely with them, beyond these?