Eric Chan's Modern cube (405)

CML

CML

Contributor
we should talk about how a nimiety of gold cards can make a format that is the midrangiest. (i'm having trouble coming up with ways to accelerate the speed of my cube, watching the Huey vids on SCG re-inspired me to find a way to get stuff like WW at the top again)

anyway the black aggro section is a good start but I cannot reasonably quad up on Goblin Guides. OR CAN I?
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
CML said:
we should talk about how a nimiety of gold cards can make a format that is the midrangiest. (i'm having trouble coming up with ways to accelerate the speed of my cube, watching the Huey vids on SCG re-inspired me to find a way to get stuff like WW at the top again)

anyway the black aggro section is a good start but I cannot reasonably quad up on Goblin Guides. OR CAN I?
Click to expand...

You can do anything, but, multiGuide doesn't really tickle my fancy in any way and it's not like anybody is having trouble with their red aggro sections. Except Hannes.
 
CML

CML

Contributor
ok seriously though the curves are getting a little high and it makes sense since every gold card costs 3 (sometimes 4) -- blue aggro may be a lost cause but more R/W 1's might be a good idea. anyone tried

benevolent bodyguard
(bloodhall ooze)
boros elite
champ of the parish #2
elite vanguard
goblin fireslinger
goblin welder
hopeful eidolon
gift of orzhova
spikeshot elder
steppe lynx (1 and 2?) -- i am still skeptical these really work with a density of fetches 20/450 instead of, uh, 12/60
war falcon

weathered wayfarer
 
Jonas

Jonas

I am running gift of orzhova, extra champ, and soldiers of the pantheon of those. R/w aggro has never been a problem in my cube, but haven't drafted it after the latest changes.
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
CML said:
ok seriously though the curves are getting a little high and it makes sense since every gold card costs 3 (sometimes 4) -- blue aggro may be a lost cause but more R/W 1's might be a good idea. anyone tried

benevolent bodyguard
(bloodhall ooze)
boros elite
champ of the parish #2
elite vanguard
goblin fireslinger
goblin welder
hopeful eidolon
gift of orzhova
spikeshot elder
steppe lynx (1 and 2?) -- i am still skeptical these really work with a density of fetches 20/450 instead of, uh, 12/60
war falcon

weathered wayfarer
Click to expand...

For reference, our PT player frequently complains that Steppe Lynx is OP in my cube.
 
FlowerSunRain

FlowerSunRain

Contributor
CML said:
ok seriously though the curves are getting a little high and it makes sense since every gold card costs 3 (sometimes 4) -- blue aggro may be a lost cause but more R/W 1's might be a good idea. anyone tried

benevolent bodyguard
(bloodhall ooze)
boros elite
champ of the parish #2
elite vanguard
goblin fireslinger
goblin welder
hopeful eidolon
gift of orzhova
spikeshot elder
steppe lynx (1 and 2?) -- i am still skeptical these really work with a density of fetches 20/450 instead of, uh, 12/60
war falcon

weathered wayfarer
Click to expand...


Hopeful Eidolon is pretty pathetic. Its two effects that are pretty awful and the fact that it is both of them isn't much consolation.

Gift of Orzhova has been much less pathetic. Flying is key here.

Spikeshot has been good, but it doesn't do much as a 1 drop.

Benevolent Bodyguard isn't bad too bad, but he's sort of a feel bad card when compared to mother of runes.

Elite Vanguard is obsolete, just run more of the better 1 drops. Soldier of the Pantheon, Steppe Lynx, Champion of the Parish, Soul Warden, whatever.

Everyone told me Boros Elite sucks and I generally believe them.

Bloodhall Ooze seems decent if you promote multicolor decks. Red Champion of the Parish in his own way?

Weathered Wayfairer is so marginal, I don't know why I play him anymore. I probably won't very soon.

I have nothing to say about war falcon or goblin fireslinger.
 
Eric Chan

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
Chris Taylor said:
20/360 is slightly higher than what eric has, right?
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm at roughly 20 / 380. I think playgroups has as much to do with the viability of landfall aggro as anything else, though. Even with twenty fetches, that still comes out to only 2.5 per player, so if you're routinely getting more than that, people are probably undervaluing them. Here you have to fight your darnedest if you want to amass, say, four fetches.

I had Goblin Fireslinger in way back when, and it was about as bad as you think it would be.
 
CML

CML

Contributor
yeah i hate scrabbling about for these crappy one-drops. wayfarer is a good card (any land!) but you're right nobody played it for a while and even if they did it isn't really a 1-drop

war falcon is probably good enough with 26 knights and soldiers and a smattering of other tokens (there are much fewer zombies for gravecrawler), though it gets crippled far worse than gravecrawler by being 'turned off'

i only brought up elite because (though it seems sucky) people are playing her in Standard now and the deck looks sweet.
 
Jonas

Jonas

It feels like batallion is easier to turn on in standard though. I even ended cutting windbrisk heights since people had a hard time turning it on.
 
D

DreamPaint

What about playing more Figures rather than things like Jackal Pu(m)p, Elite Vanguard, Goblin Guide? They can be played in more decks on average and are more interesting and give aggro decks a good endgame.
 
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

Contributor
In defense of spikeshot elder: he's a pump with the double strike deck. him into rancor or bonesplitter can be hard to beat. he's most of the way I've tied red to that deck.

also keep windbrisk heights in. it's practically free, so even if it doesn't get activated all that often, it can still be good.
 
CML

CML

Contributor
Jonas said:
It feels like batallion is easier to turn on in standard though. I even ended cutting windbrisk heights since people had a hard time turning it on.
Click to expand...


tokens mah cracka

chris all this talk of "the double strike deck" is making me think it's a dumb theme

i cannot answer for everyone's cube but in mine when i put two Figures in they and i were the subject of much abuse as they rotated, in adjacent packs, around and around until uniting two drafters with identical last picks
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
I wonder where Figure of Destiny ranks in power level among the cube's one-drops. As my cube has increased in speed the card has gotten worse and worse.
 
Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

Contributor
CML said:
tokens mah cracka

chris all this talk of "the double strike deck" is making me think it's a dumb theme

i cannot answer for everyone's cube but in mine when i put two Figures in they and i were the subject of much abuse as they rotated, in adjacent packs, around and around until uniting two drafters with identical last picks
Click to expand...

Am I just using the wrong terminology or do you ligit not enjoy activating Spikeshot Elder for 5 point burn spells? :p
 
Lucre

Lucre

That was totes fun, I'll have to muck about on your cube tutor sometime soon!
Just been swamped with work and present shopping of late!
 
Lucre

Lucre

Insights:
Humans lose a lot of their incentive without champion plays and feeling automatically entitled to the windbrusk. The little benefits weren't showing up too often.
I love that many other colours outclass white and blacks weenie strategies but you still have ways to play around the relevant size difference!
I need to stop playing 3 colour aggro
Strix is really good but not broken
It's really rare stoneforge feels good in your cube
Vampire + Blastingstation is one of the hardest things to overcome in a creature matchup
I will never stop loving wargear
Peter consistently commits to 3+ colours worth of double colour commitments and seems to do alright kinda
 
Eric Chan

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
Thanks for your feedback, Lucas, as always!
  • The previous draft's winner is actually the best humans deck I've seen assembled so far. Ironically, it was the green and black humans that were the key components.
  • I'm gonna keep a watchful eye on Baleful Strix. It wasn't optimal for your blistering aggro deck, but I've seen it do a lot more work in grindy, attrition-based control decks.
  • Three-colour aggro? I wouldn't know what you're talking about. ;)
  • Yeah, you correctly identified Blood Artist as the MVP of the above deck, with Blasting Station and Gravecrawler trailing closely behind. Blood Artist is the real kill-on-sight creature of that archetype; I was usually happy when people blew away my Oona's Prowler or Ninja of the Deep Hours and ignored the 'innocent' 0/1 vampire.
  • With my equipment line-up as meager as it is, Stoneforge actually might not clear the bar for power level. I saw Brian do some good things with it a month back, when he picked up three pieces of gear, but I admit that's a rare circumstance.
  • White aggro has taken a back seat lately to red and black-based aggro, and I'm trying to figure out why. On a somewhat related note, I was considering reinserting the playset of Squadron Hawks - do you think that would help the cause any?
  • Peter had sixteen non-basic lands before the utility draft portion. Sixteen. That's commitment to an archetype!
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Last draft a player committed so hard to the "take all the fixing" route I had to play a *gasp* two-color deck.
 
CML

CML

Contributor
CT -- nah, just 'poison-principle' i.e. if nobody else wants fencing ace then bleh. i love Double Strike and all but i'm suspicious that throwing in cards that are bad in any other deck is the way to go.

what do yall use for mass pump? i like Tromp the Domains (edit: i just realized you might have been talking about 'anthems,' i'm really hung-over)
 
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