After drafting my cube a bunch and having some anonymous user on CubeCobra do a lot of drafts (thanks random stranger!), I am thinking there is some fat to trim. Not that there are any bad cards, but probably some unnecessary ones. The 540 podcast also had an episode on diminishing cube sizes and that was the final straw that motivated me.
Here are cuts I can make that aren't too painful along with an explanation.
I don't have enough spells for the Leoning Lightscribe to be consistent enough and I usually end up playing some dubious or off theme ones to make it work.
Maul of the Skyclave is just too expensive to equip. When 2-4 other players are here to mess you up, you don't have time to pay 4 mana to attach it to another threat.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant might actually not be a cut, but right now I have too many 4 mana token makers in White! I don't love losing the evasive ability here though.
Cast Out is a sweet one, but it was mostly cycled because of how expensive of a removal spell it is. Plus it doesn't fit any theme in particular. Also, with the fact that we play with fewer than 8 players, I can afford to be picky with my removal since there is more than enough to go around.
I don't have a great reason to cut Archangel Avacyn, but I don't really have a great reason to keep it in other than it is powerful. Not sure what to do.
Not a lot of cuts to be had in Blue IMO. The Cyptologist will probably be replaced by the new cantrip Consider. Meloku on the other hand is a little slow and clunky as well as being fragile for 5 mana. It does enable sweet plays, but it's a luxury more than a necessity.
With the addition of Ophiomancer, I have a decent amount of recursive dudes and this one is an ok blocker, but I dislike the play patterns that accompany it. Hold up 2 mana, chump a dude and repeat. I'd rather have Scrapheap Scrounger that is meant to get in and won't be an infinite road block.
Liliana, Rankle and Whisperer are GY filling cards with various upsides. None are essential, but Black needs some amount of self-mill to function. So a few will need to come back. Not sure which.
I just added Marionette Master as well as some extra treasure generators, but I am still conflicted on the card. For 6 mana it is narrow payoff in a color that doesn't have much synergy with artifacts. It does win games though and is a great build around.
Dragonkin Berserker is a filler 2 drop. It's actually pretty good, as first strike and a late game mana sink are exactly what an aggressive MP deck wants. However, it's the only Boast card and it doesn't do anything for micro archetypes. This cut might be reversed if I want more 2 drops.
Feldon is a complement to the Sneak Attack, Goblin Welder and Daretti, Scrap Savant cheat package in Red. However, it is slower than these because of summoning sickness and has
in the cost making it tougher to splash.
I included the saga because I think threaten effects play very well and help mesh a few archetypes together (spells + sacrifice or blink depending on the enabler). However, I find that they aren't very competitively costed or have some pretty big restrictions. Except Zealous Conscripts, I haven't found another threaten effect that I want to run. I could run the saga, but it's at the awkward 4 drop slot, doesn't untap or give haste and has a bunch of text that is likely to get you attacked. I'd love a 3 mana threaten that cantripped or something!
Anger doesn't fit into many decks which is why I chose to exclude it from this downsize. I do love a free haste enabler though as that can win games out of nowhere.
Cavalier of Flames is a tough one. It does a lot of things: fill the GY, mass anthem and lands payoff. However, I don't know if I want another Red 5 drop. He will come back in if I can find another cut.
I hate cutting 2 drops and Jolrael is one of the more interesting ones. Encourages you to go after cantrips and has a late game impact. It doesn't fit in many decks though.
Greater Good is 4 mana and requires a board and big creatures. It has its place in some decks, but not the majority.
Birthing Pod is another conditional one, but it is well loved in our group. It's probably reason enough to keep it, but when space is tight it is tough to justify keeping a narrow build around that doesn't always come together. Food for thought.
Gearhulk is just there as a way to get Green into the artifact game. I can live without it until there is more Green artifact support.
See the Unwritten is a clumsy way to bring Green into the cheat archetype. One card isn't enough and at 6 mana, it's too late.
I doubled on Lingering Souls to get more White spells for the likes of Leonin Lightscribe, turns out it's probably just better to cut the cat.
Soulherder is a rough cut, but it's a very fragile value engine. White already has a ton of blink effects and blue has Yorion and Thassa.
The Kavu is a strong beater, but I dislike how wordy it is. That being said, I may still play it as it does a lot of things RG decks want.
Just like with Soulherder, Panharmonicon is a clunky value engine. The upside here is that it is colorless and theoretically it could enable some deck with Terror of the Peaks or something. That's the thing with downsizing though, you lose out on some possibilities.
GPG follows the trend of removing these high mana value engine cards. This one has potential with Welder/Daretti and has served me well in the past, but in this iteration of my cube, lower mana costs is what I am experimenting with.
Finally Factory is out because my cube has more and more 3+ colored decks and this makes it tough to justify the colorless creature land. Plus, with AFR Red and White got 2 new ones, meaning aggressive decks still have access to these threats.
Whew, that was quite the write up! Cutting 30+ cards isn't easy, but writing out the reasoning for each cut helped me reconsider some. If I can't clearly explain why I am making this choice, then it's time to think some more.
I tried a few drafts with the new list, here are some quick pros and cons:
+ Drafting feels smoother and less all over the place which will be good for my less experienced drafters.
+ Archetypes feel stronger as there is less "chaff".
- I've isolated Green more since I've cut some bridge cards.
- I cut a bunch of cards that pushed through damage. Will need to playtest to see if I went too far.
Time to playtest more
Here are cuts I can make that aren't too painful along with an explanation.
I don't have enough spells for the Leoning Lightscribe to be consistent enough and I usually end up playing some dubious or off theme ones to make it work.
Maul of the Skyclave is just too expensive to equip. When 2-4 other players are here to mess you up, you don't have time to pay 4 mana to attach it to another threat.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant might actually not be a cut, but right now I have too many 4 mana token makers in White! I don't love losing the evasive ability here though.
Cast Out is a sweet one, but it was mostly cycled because of how expensive of a removal spell it is. Plus it doesn't fit any theme in particular. Also, with the fact that we play with fewer than 8 players, I can afford to be picky with my removal since there is more than enough to go around.
I don't have a great reason to cut Archangel Avacyn, but I don't really have a great reason to keep it in other than it is powerful. Not sure what to do.
Not a lot of cuts to be had in Blue IMO. The Cyptologist will probably be replaced by the new cantrip Consider. Meloku on the other hand is a little slow and clunky as well as being fragile for 5 mana. It does enable sweet plays, but it's a luxury more than a necessity.
With the addition of Ophiomancer, I have a decent amount of recursive dudes and this one is an ok blocker, but I dislike the play patterns that accompany it. Hold up 2 mana, chump a dude and repeat. I'd rather have Scrapheap Scrounger that is meant to get in and won't be an infinite road block.
Liliana, Rankle and Whisperer are GY filling cards with various upsides. None are essential, but Black needs some amount of self-mill to function. So a few will need to come back. Not sure which.
I just added Marionette Master as well as some extra treasure generators, but I am still conflicted on the card. For 6 mana it is narrow payoff in a color that doesn't have much synergy with artifacts. It does win games though and is a great build around.
Dragonkin Berserker is a filler 2 drop. It's actually pretty good, as first strike and a late game mana sink are exactly what an aggressive MP deck wants. However, it's the only Boast card and it doesn't do anything for micro archetypes. This cut might be reversed if I want more 2 drops.
Feldon is a complement to the Sneak Attack, Goblin Welder and Daretti, Scrap Savant cheat package in Red. However, it is slower than these because of summoning sickness and has
in the cost making it tougher to splash.I included the saga because I think threaten effects play very well and help mesh a few archetypes together (spells + sacrifice or blink depending on the enabler). However, I find that they aren't very competitively costed or have some pretty big restrictions. Except Zealous Conscripts, I haven't found another threaten effect that I want to run. I could run the saga, but it's at the awkward 4 drop slot, doesn't untap or give haste and has a bunch of text that is likely to get you attacked. I'd love a 3 mana threaten that cantripped or something!
Anger doesn't fit into many decks which is why I chose to exclude it from this downsize. I do love a free haste enabler though as that can win games out of nowhere.
Cavalier of Flames is a tough one. It does a lot of things: fill the GY, mass anthem and lands payoff. However, I don't know if I want another Red 5 drop. He will come back in if I can find another cut.
I hate cutting 2 drops and Jolrael is one of the more interesting ones. Encourages you to go after cantrips and has a late game impact. It doesn't fit in many decks though.
Greater Good is 4 mana and requires a board and big creatures. It has its place in some decks, but not the majority.
Birthing Pod is another conditional one, but it is well loved in our group. It's probably reason enough to keep it, but when space is tight it is tough to justify keeping a narrow build around that doesn't always come together. Food for thought.
Gearhulk is just there as a way to get Green into the artifact game. I can live without it until there is more Green artifact support.
See the Unwritten is a clumsy way to bring Green into the cheat archetype. One card isn't enough and at 6 mana, it's too late.
I doubled on Lingering Souls to get more White spells for the likes of Leonin Lightscribe, turns out it's probably just better to cut the cat.
Soulherder is a rough cut, but it's a very fragile value engine. White already has a ton of blink effects and blue has Yorion and Thassa.
The Kavu is a strong beater, but I dislike how wordy it is. That being said, I may still play it as it does a lot of things RG decks want.
Just like with Soulherder, Panharmonicon is a clunky value engine. The upside here is that it is colorless and theoretically it could enable some deck with Terror of the Peaks or something. That's the thing with downsizing though, you lose out on some possibilities.
GPG follows the trend of removing these high mana value engine cards. This one has potential with Welder/Daretti and has served me well in the past, but in this iteration of my cube, lower mana costs is what I am experimenting with.
Finally Factory is out because my cube has more and more 3+ colored decks and this makes it tough to justify the colorless creature land. Plus, with AFR Red and White got 2 new ones, meaning aggressive decks still have access to these threats.
Whew, that was quite the write up! Cutting 30+ cards isn't easy, but writing out the reasoning for each cut helped me reconsider some. If I can't clearly explain why I am making this choice, then it's time to think some more.
I tried a few drafts with the new list, here are some quick pros and cons:
+ Drafting feels smoother and less all over the place which will be good for my less experienced drafters.
+ Archetypes feel stronger as there is less "chaff".
- I've isolated Green more since I've cut some bridge cards.
- I cut a bunch of cards that pushed through damage. Will need to playtest to see if I went too far.
Time to playtest more
