"Fast" multiplayer cube

[Nanonox]

I am always looking for ways to promote aggro decks in the cube and one thing I have been neglecting I think is protecting your win. Ideally, you deploy some early game pressure, but once you've established a board presence, you want to stop casting threats and squeeze as much as possible out of your board. That way you can come back from a sweeper.

Well how about these two (in addition to Grand Crescendo)



Avacyn being a DFC isn't a problem because my drafters know her well. The flash + indestructible is perfect for the play pattern I was describing above. It's actually even better since it adds an evasive body to the board.

Akroma's Will is essentially an overrun with flying acting as trample and double strike as the pump effect. However, it's even better since it's cheaper, has less colored pips and can even be played as an instant for maximum surprise. The nice thing about it though, is that it can be used defensively too.

This has me thinking that there is probably a "wrath protection" archetype lurking in the cube with these new additions plus the aforementioned Grand Crescendo, Luminous Broodmoth and Reveillark.
To see if that is the case, I'll be swapping an indestructible friendly wrath instead of By Invitation Only.

->

I don't know which wrath I want just yet, so as a place holder, DoJ gets the nod. I am considering a few mostly at around 5 mana.

Spoiler: Wraths

Cleansing Nova being able to hit artifacts is pretty big in this cube, so this is a nice modal spell. There aren't many enchantments, but the ones that are included are really powerful. This isn't exciting, but solid and reliable.

Vanquish the Horde is on the other side of the spectrum compared to Nova. You could play it for 2 mana, but you might also just have it stuck in your hand. This isn't a spot where I want variance, but I could be wrong.

Fumigate has less flexibility than other wraths, but it does the best at stabilizing the board IMO. With a MP board, you are bound to gain a lot of life. I am just unsure if sweeper + lots of life is too much for the aggro player to come back from or if it is needed for the control player to not get run over.

Cast off misses 5 giants in the cube so that isn't a big concern. The 7/7 is a bit bland, but a free card is a free card.

Slash the Ranks could be a nice way to reign in out of control Planeswalkers, but with 3 opponents, it's already tough to keep them alive. Probably unneeded.

I am leaning towards Cleansing Nova, Fumigate and Realm-Cloacked Giant, with Fumigate in the lead. What would you run?

---

As for cuts:



Liliana draws aggro and promotes small games which is against what I am trying to do here. It's fun in the GY aggro decks, but not an essential piece.

The Angel got outclassed by Grand Crescendo for me as a token maker since the instant can also play as board protection. It's a shame to lose some blink + artifact synergies, but I found that at 5 mana, it wasn't always being maindecked anyways.

 

[Nanonox]

I've been trying to fit



And I just had a sacrilegious idea. I could cut Mulldrifter for it!
It's cheaper and has a better body.
It's a great way to get a lot of artifacts onto the board for various strategies
It's easy to draw 2 cards a turn, meaning you can find yourself with a flying army relatively quickly.

The downside is obvious: you delay the card draw. I am not putting a lot of value on the invoke ability, because 3 mana to draw 2 is a mediocre rate and not affecting the board is a risky proposition in multiplayer.

I am also eyeing



It's one of those spell matter payoffs that is tough to get working since my density of 1 mana spells isn't as high as in a 1vs1 cube. You can boost it's power, but I've found that decks that have both spells and equipment are pretty rare. The saving grace is how cheap it is to cast.
I enjoy the card, but do you think it's a trap?

The replacement could be something like



Which is tough to flip, but the body is exactly what the spells decks want: a blocker. Any suggestions?

 

[Erik Twice]

It's tough. Sure, evoking Mulldrifter isn't the best ratio, but it is a possibility and it will give you the land drop you need.

I don't think Dreadhorde Arcanist is a trap. You do have quite a few 1-mana spells. I would try to see if you can change a few cards around so you have slighty more. I tried drafting around it a couple times but Cube Cobra has this problem for me where it gets stuck.

 

[Nanonox]

I don't think Dreadhorde Arcanist is a trap. You do have quite a few 1-mana spells. I would try to see if you can change a few cards around so you have slighty more.

I can see that.

I was considering doing this swap anyways:

->

And then I could see adding these potentially



I'd love to hear suggestions for supporting the Arcanist more (could be breaking singleton also).

It's tough. Sure, evoking Mulldrifter isn't the best ratio, but it is a possibility and it will give you the land drop you need.

That's why I am hesitant on pulling the trigger. Maybe I should just play both since they do play out quite differently and support different archetypes.

 

[safra]

I am also eyeing



It's one of those spell matter payoffs that is tough to get working since my density of 1 mana spells isn't as high as in a 1vs1 cube.

DHA isn't a spells-matter payoff. it's a mulldrifter that doesn't care what you feed it. I skimmed your list and while DHA does not have a ton of food available anyone with a faithless looting and dha in their deck is probably very likely to have DHA be the best card in their 40

e: this said, DHA is crying out for a friggin pump spell at cmc1

 

[Nanonox]

e: this said, DHA is crying out for a friggin pump spell at cmc1

I hear you! I have trouble getting behind stuff like Defiant Strike though, because of how unimpactful it is. At that point, I'd rather rely on equipments to boost power.

Some instants/sorceries that do look more interesting that I haven't played with yet



Might is kind of cheating, but it could set up some nice sequences. You can either pump the DHA and recur something bigger or target a fatty twice.
Fists on the other hand is more straightforward, but it has some sweet explosive potential with any and all card draw.

BTW @safra do you have a cube list on CubeCobra or something? I'd love to check out your designs.

 

[safra]

BTW @safra do you have a cube list on CubeCobra or something? I'd love to check out your designs.

Yes, sorry! my sig is super out of date, will fix this......

my cubecobra draft for Sharzad v3 is here:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/sharzad

and if you jump to the latest page of my RipLab thread it should date to at the very earliest 2020

xoxo

 

[inscho]

e: this said, DHA is crying out for a friggin pump spell at cmc1

two pump spells I’ve historically enjoyed with Arcanist:

 

[inscho]

oh, and how could I forget the most fun of all?



Obviously, needs to be in tandem with another pump spell or targeting another more sizable creature

 

[Nanonox]

Berserk is a staple in my cube! Either you surprise kill someone, or you ruin some combat you weren’t even a part of.



Might be good too actually. Allows you to get back some higher MV spells or can act as an overrun later. Does anyone play it?

 

[safra]

Berserk is a staple in my cube! Either you surprise kill someone, or you ruin some combat you weren’t even a part of.



Might be good too actually. Allows you to get back some higher MV spells or can act as an overrun later. Does anyone play it?

I play Berserk-Scale Up.dec constantly and it is one of the cooler things that Green in my cube gets to do. Scale Up in particular is very interesting and cool as a card. Being Sorcery-speed means you have to cast it before combat and that means casting it into Villain's open mana is a little more interesting and a little less reliable. Berserk by comparison can simply be cast once you receive priority in the "declare blockers" step, but unless you Scale Up a flier or trampler or some other evasive beastie then it's very possible that the Wurm just gets chump blocked - or that if you Overloaded it, several Wurms are getting chump blocked - but the sheer jump from 0-2 power to 6 power is utterly phenomenal and makes Scale Up a compelling and very exciting pump spell.

Also, Scale Up and Berserk are obviously BFFs 4 Lyfe

 

[Nanonox]

I didn't share my Dominaria United changes in the testing thread since this cube's setting is pretty unique and not very useful to many people. I am adding a few cards though which I am excited about.

Additions

->

Aether Channeler needs little explanation. Does great cube things at a decent point in the curve.
I am cutting Galvanic Blast as it is one of my weakest removal spells (sad Dreadhorde Arcanist).

My current stance on removal
- Not too plentiful: assembling synergies is that much more difficult when everyone has removal for everything. Threat assessment is a critical skill in multiplayer and having to pick and chose your targets is fun!
- Cheap: last I checked, this was the Fast MP cube, not the slow one!
- Instant: being able to react to threats coming your way is a great way to increase player agency and it also keeps players engaged during an opponent's turn.
- Powerful: it's easy to skimp on removal in favor of cool threats, so to entice players to actually run interaction, it has to be powerful and flashy.
- Synergistic: it's easy to skimp on removal in favor of cool threats, so to entice players to actually run interaction, it should be able to enhance or fit into the deck's strategy.

->

I am excited to try another scaling one drop in the cube. My players love them and they allow you to advance your board without committing too much. This doesn't get as big as a Figure of Destiny or a Warden of the First Tree, but it fills the hand nicely.

The zombie god is always decent, but redundant with Korvold, Fae-Cursed King. I have enough creature sacrifice effects and the sacrifice any permanent deck doesn't come together often enough to justify another similar 5 drop. Even though it is 3 colors, I like the evasion and scaling of Korvold. Plus I value dragons above zombie gods.

->

My players really enjoy Rabblemaster variants and I've been looking for a way to slot an extra one in. This one fits my themes and goals nicely since it has haste and recursion.

I haven't given Ox much of a chance, and it doesn't fill the same role as Squee obviously, but GY decks would still welcome a recurring threat. The fact it goes into more decks makes Squee a better include for now.

->

I really value X spells in my environment for their flexibility on the mana curve. The sorcery was another piece to bolster the token ramp decks I am fond of right now, but it felt more like a copy of a Selesnya card than a Red card. The dragon isn't as good in the ramp token deck, but it sure does hit hard! Haste, flying and simplicity are all amazing on this card and I am looking forward to more designs like it.

---

Not DMU related, but I just discovered a card that was lost amidst all the MH2 bangers.

->

I really like this zombie that provides more fodder the more work you put in. Grafted Wargear, Inspired Adversary and even the Scale Up I am meaning to add (looking for cut!) all drastically improve it's value.

The Zealot is also fodder but it smooths draws instead of providing more bodies. However, it is higher up on the curve and can't scale. It's definitely playable, but not as necessary as Spirited Companion is in White, which has little smoothing, lots of blink and recursion, making the dog a sought after piece.

---

I really like the flavor, art and style of DMU and there are other cards I will definitely keep an eye on and revisit. And again: looking for cut for Scale Up!

 

[Nanonox]

Looking and thinking more about DMU, I've decided to add a couple more cards:



Elas is a classic aristocrat/token payoff that would be replacing Corpse Knight. I like having my aggressive slanted cards hitting all players to give aggro a chance so this fits the bill. The big upgrade is the deathtouch body and the second power. You don't want to block with your Blood Artist cards, but here you at least have that option. Likewise your opponents won't want to attack into it making it a nice deterrent.

Balmor might be the missing token payoff I've been looking for in Izzet. It's at a great spot on the curve and has evasion. Plays really well with all the spell velocity I have built into the cube (even though I would have killed for a noncreature trigger instead of instant and sorcery). Granting teamwide pump and evasion is awesome and I think it will play well.
I'll be cutting Saheeli, Sublime Artificer. As I posted a few days ago on my CubeCobra blog, her open-endedness (hybrid mana and noncreature) are amazing, but the lack of immediate board presence and being a planeswalker is tough. She has played well in slower environments though.

---

Aether Channeler's printing has filled a gaping hole for my Blue section. It's a great blink target, it provides board presence and can be played as a disruptive piece for more aggressive decks.
Channeler can replace two cards now:



Which frees me up to run



I've had the opportunity to "go off" with the equipment in Arena Cube and it was a lot of fun and powerful. It should work similarly here but better hopefully thanks to more card drawing and Fastbond.

Including Balmor makes Ethereal Investigator even more appealing since it's an evasive token maker that should be able to push through a lot of damage. It also triggers off of cantrips like the Bird Wizard so they make sense in the same deck. On it's own, you still get an evasive body, 3 artifacts and maybe some tokens.

 

[Nanonox]

I went through a bunch of changes over the last month, here we go!

In



Welcoming Vampire should have been included sooner, but better late than never. Decent evasive body and card advantage for decks that need it the most, in the color with the least card draw. The best part is that you draw the cards without spending any mana, letting you curve out without disrupting your curve.

Blue is a little short on GY payoffs and Wonder is a fun one. Teamwide evasion for "free" can end games and it promotes attacking in Blue which is always a win in my book.

Royal Warden + Necron Deathmark are a nice addition to Black for the artifact deck. They synergize with one of the colors main archetype: GY. I don't like the huge board presence Grave Titan provides for 6 mana, but the Warden is perfect (except the tapped tokens). Deathmark having flash is great for MP and it makes Noxious Gearhulk look clunky. I haven't completely figured out my Black removal suite yet, but I'm not sure I'll be keeping both.

Scourge of Nel Toth is a cool beater for the B/URG discard/self-mill decks that exists. Sacrificing two creatures is not a big ask and a dragon is something that will inspire my drafters.

The Face-Breaker should also have been included sooner. It encourages attacking, and provides mana and cards to aggressive decks. Since there are quite a few treasures floating around, it isn't out of the question to fuel him even with a stalled board.

Storm-Kiln Artist has been in before, but I cut it because it's expensive with little board impact. It's still true, but I think having these explosive pieces are exciting. Oracle of Mul Daya is kind of similar, and it often survives for a bit to give some value. Hero of Bladehold type threats are much tougher to keep alive because of the perceived threat they represent.

I finally found a cut to add Scale Up. I think it's going to be a great addition as a way to push damage early or finish a game later.

Three Visits is a boring ramp spell, but I've felt that I was missing one to further help Green based control. The land entering untapped is why this spell edged out competitors. I am also considering adding/swapping Wayfarer's Bauble for a similar effect.

Urborg Lhurgoyf has been growing on me as a beefy payoff and enabler for the GY decks. The flexibility in the kicker cost is appealing and I chose to include it over Hermit Druid which is more explosive but has zero board presence.

Corpse Knight is the perfect aggro card in my format because it's low on the curve, has damage scaling to each opponent and works with some synergies. I had it cut to limit the amount of multicolored cards I run, but my Orzhov section has Lingering Souls and Lurrus of the Dream-Den which are closer to single colored or colorless than gold.

Finally, Mox Opal is my explosive mana option to replace Ancient Tomb. The Tomb is just too painful at 20 life and 3 opponents. The Mox is well supported in this cube and should be a high and exciting pick!

Out



Thalia didn't really fit with the play patterns I want to promote. Randomly hosing someone's mana is fine when it's a 2 player game IMO, but it can lead to a player getting killed quickly in MP, with no sense of agency. She also didn't fit into any archetypes besides aggro.

Looter is a tough cut to make, because it's a classic. However, it's also very vulnerable, cannot block, is the only instance of Shadow in the cube and doesn't really scale to MP games. I do not like the Day/Night mechanic, meaning I won't be playing Suspicious Stowaway, but I'll be on the lookout for a MP version of this card. Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator is super cool, but in 2 colors. Might still be worth it?

Vile Entomber and Magus of the Wheel were my 2 weakest GY enablers and I decided to cut them as they usually didn't end up making the cut. The Entomber in particular might come back as it performed well, but it's not really needed for now.

Dark Confidant and Ancient Tomb are cut for the same reason: it's unreasonable to pay so much life in a 20 life MP game and expect good things to happen. It's the reason I cut my pet card Bolas's Citadel. I've seen this across the years in my cube and in my friend's, but they are iconic and powerful cards that I am drawn to. I found a good replacement for the Tomb with Mox Opal, I have yet to find one for Dark Confidant (though Triarch Praetorian might be it, more later).

Lethal Scheme is a temporary cut as I try to figure out my Black removal suite. I think it's powerful and interesting enough that it should probably stay.

Ogre Battledriver was cut because I have too many Red 4 drops. The Battledriver almost never survived until the next turn because of the incredible damage potential it represents. I've also increased the number of haste enablers and hasty bodies in the cube, so I don't feel as bad for making the switch. Professional Face-Breaker is a fine token payoff to replace it.

Hermit Druid is an amazing self-mill enabler. It's also fragile and can be inconsistent. You need a ton of non-basics to make it work reliably and even then you can still be unlucky. I opted for the more sturdy Urborg Lhurgoyf which is a GY payoff and enabler.

Baba Lysaga, Night Witch and Soulfire Grand Master can be powerful cards, but the decks they pop up in don't come around often enough to warrant a multicolored slot. The fact I have a lot of Golgari cards already meant that I didn't want to skew that further still for a narrow, but powerful card.

Mishra's Factory is a card that I like to add if I have the room, but it's not essential by any means.

Eyeing
Would like to add, but don't have cuts



I miss Hallowed Spiritkeeper as a resilient threat that can offer some explosive returns depending on the deck.

The Praetorian not working with Emry and Lurrus is a heartbreaker, but I might still add it anyways. My group won't know they don't work together and it makes for a great value engine! It would be kind of like playing a customs of sorts.

The Inflitrator being a scaling artifact, drawing cards and making multiple bodies is really nice. I've thought about cutting Mulldrifter for it and I am still tempted to do it. The 3 mana mode on Mulldrifter is such a tempo loss in my format, that it's rare to actually cast it for the evoke cost.

Finally Ertai is a really cool interaction piece. It hits everything, has flash and leaves a body behind to be blinked or ninja'd back to hand.

I'd love to hear what you think of these changes or if you have any cuts to suggest.

 

[TrainmasterGT]

Corpse Knight is the perfect aggro card in my format because it's low on the curve, has damage scaling to each opponent and works with some synergies. I had it cut to limit the amount of multicolored cards I run, but my Orzhov section has Lingering Souls and Lurrus of the Dream-Den which are closer to single colored or colorless than gold.

You gotta get the 2/3 Misprint!

 

[Nanonox]

You gotta get the 2/3 Misprint!

Forgot about that one! I'm sure I could pull it off with minimal groan as my players won't know the base stats

Snowballing threats

I'm always on the lookout for threats that can snowball as it's a surefire way to help the game progress and gives a shot to the aggro player if the card in question is cheap enough.
I've been eyeing these two



Drana has a great aggressive stat line, and the damage trigger is a teamwide anthem usually, since she can get first strike damage in before your other creatures.
The gameplay is pretty good as well, since your opponents are encouraged to interact with it during combat, before the trigger. You can wreck someone's day with a well placed removal spell.
Lastly, she is actually a strong defender if that is what the situation calls for. First strike is plenty strong, as is the 3 toughness.

Next up, the Kraken rewards you for what you are already doing in Blue: drawing cards. The mana cost to grow it keeps it somewhat in check, but the interesting part is that it grows wide and tall. It is both appealing and scary for the proactive decks depending on whether you have it in your deck or if you are facing it.
And that is the main point of contention for me with this card: is it too good at stonewalling aggro or is that part of it's charm: it fits into a wide spectrum of decks?
I'd love some feedback if any of you have experience with it.

BRO spoiler additions

Spoiler: BRO spoilers

2 fake colorless cards that pack a serious punch!
The baseline for the Dragon Engine is a little weak for my cube, but it offers some serious damage potential combined with any buff. Then you have the Unearth ability that is exactly what an aggro deck needs later in the game. It even works off of Welder and company. This gives BR a great grindy artifact package with Black providing the creatures Scrapheap Scrounger, Triarch Praetorian, Royal Warden and Red complementing it with Welders.

The Surge Engine is scaling threat with evasion and card advantage built in. Having another proactive threat in Blue is perfect for my needs and based on the kind of similar cards, this will play well.

 

[inscho]

I briefly ran the Kraken in a lower powered iteration of my cube. I found it clunky in practice. But I could see this thriving in a multiplayer setting.

Drana seems good. I’ve never tested it, because it has never seemed sympathetic to the goals of my black section. It always seemed like a square peg in a round hole when black is often trying to profit off of the death of creatures. However, there’s a lot more depth available since this was first printed so it seems like a perfectly reasonable include in the right structure.

I’ve historically avoided the go-wide to attack angle of black, because I found it created a bit of a identity crisis in a way I didn’t like. I’ve preferred my version of black aggro to be based around the recursive weenie suite that persist through Stax effects, that are either dredged into in dimir or golgari, that get strapped with equipment in orzhov, or slotted into the Hellbent/Madness shell of Rakdos. But that has changed with the introduction of a viable black artifact Aggro deck, and three cards have really made that possible in my opinion:



particularly their intersection with stoneforge mystic which sets up the orzhov artifact aggro deck to go both big and wide.

If you slot Drana in, I think you should bring in Rishkar, Peema’s Renegade and Verdurous Gearhulk as well as any other autonomous +1/+1 sympathetic cards (Mikaeus, the Lunarch) you aren’t already running. Rishkar with Drana overlaps with earthcraft and allows you to dump mana into the trio of:



I still don’t particularly love Drana in Dimir or Rakdos. You can grow evasive creatures in dimir I suppose and red is good at making tokens….it’s just a bit linear and not particularly dynamic imo

I’m not saying anything you likely don’t already know…I’m just talking it out for myself

 

[Nanonox]

I’ve historically avoided the go-wide to attack angle of black, because I found it created a bit of a identity crisis in a way I didn’t like. I’ve preferred my version of black aggro to be based around the recursive weenie suite

Seeing you spell it out certainly helps understand where you are coming from and highlights the difference between our Black sections. I haven't been able to get a sufficient density of recursive creatures that I like for this cube. There are the odd ones that I run like Bloodghast and Scrapheap Scrounger, but I tend to rely on tokens to provide bodies for sacrifice.
This means that Drana should be able to fit into the environment pretty smoothly.

At the same time I added Drana to the maybeboard, I also included these payoffs:



Most Selesnya decks I draft are either token based (ramp or pump) or grindy aggro/midrange decks. So these two counters payoffs should slot right in. You nailed it with Rishkar being an Earthcraft adjacent card and the addition of Mikaeus + Gearhulk should add some fun play sequences.
I also think the Lieutenant will further cement White as a top tier sacrifice color, but also just add some resilience to aggro decks that can make use of counters.

After that, it's tough to know when to stop. I don't want the counter deck to be a trap, but at the same time, giving Selesnya a few more options at the cost of very few slots is nice.
I'll be fleshing out the minimal theme with these (spot on recommendations inscho!)



Anafenza could also be Luminarch Aspirant, a card I have tested and enjoyed in 1vs1 formats, but never in MP. I am afraid it doesn't scale quite as well as Anafenza.
Likewise, instead of Biophagus, Incubation Druid could be an option, but I rather like the idea of having the counter deck produce big bodies that require an answer.

As for cuts, well these are going to hurt. I am not sure this counter subtheme is worth it, but it's at least worth testing. I can always revert back.

Out



Wall: With Spirited Companion and Aether Channeler, I feel that my blink decks have enough card draw should they want it. Wall gets the cut as it's a pretty narrow card that only fits into control decks.

Hero: While super powerful and snowballing, the Hero never was able to attack much in my previous versions or in my friend's cube. He is just too menacing and people don't wait to remove it.

Mystic: Swapping 1 mana ramp for 2 mana ramp isn't ideal, but at the same time, Mystic really isn't very exciting.

Solemn: Unsure about this one. The 4 drop slot is stacked across all colors, but a colorless ramping and cantripping creature is still decent. It's cool because it's a neutral card that almost anyone can pick up. That's also what I dislike, it's pretty generic.

Map: Maybe it's a small biased sample size, but I haven't had great luck with Treasure Map. If I am curving out, I won't be activating it and if I play off curve, I fall behind. I could be playing this wrong, but Mazemind Tome plays a lot better IMO.

Explosives: I realized that the decks most likely to get hit by an Explosive are the aggressive decks I want to promote. This feels like a targeted aggro hate piece and not the play patterns I want to encourage. It is a sweet piece for grindy UB artifact control decks using Emry and Lurrus. Those don't pop up super often though.

I’m not saying anything you likely don’t already know…I’m just talking it out for myself

It is a huge help to have someone else's opinion and in this instance we are going in the same direction which is comforting. Many thanks for the help!

 

[Nanonox]

I'm unhappy with Pitiless Plunderer. In practice, it doesn't really fit into any decks. It's too slow for the low to the ground sacrifice decks and there is not enough fodder for the slower decks. The times it did work, were sweet, but for a 4 drop, it's too narrow.

Following Safra's post, I decided that I would try a small Stormlord package in my own cube instead. They made compelling points about how easy it is to trigger and can encourage your drafters to get creative.
Thanks to inscho for reinforcing that the Myr can take the artifact decks to a whole new level, as is hopefully showcased in the decklists below.



First a Sultai GY/artifact deck



I really like what this deck is doing, and it's doing a whole lot! It really showcases the range of abilities that Imotekh has. Delve, Escape, reanimation, artifact recursion all works very well at making bodies. But the deck also has a healthy dose of artifact creatures to naturally pump.

I also drafted a straight BG version of the deck.



This deck has less of an emphasis on self-mill and is more centered around having artifacts in play. Karn and Urza's Saga will make huge constructs that the Chariot can then copy. Giving those tokens menace via Imotekh is also very scary.
Green adds a lot of consistency to the deck, as Traverse and Reclaimer can go fetch the Saga, and Ooze can be a repeated source of 2/2 artifacts alongside the Stormlord.

I think this was the artifact payoff I was looking for in Black, to the point that I don't think that Marionette Master is still needed. At 6 mana it's a lot tougher to justify a card that needs additional setup. It's also a lot more linear than Imotekh, who can better use the different elements present in the cube.

Do you have a sweet Imotekh draft?

 

[Nanonox]

Before the main topics, another Imotekh draft:



A classic Rakdos Welder deck that Imotekh supercharges. Your small bodies can all of a sudden apply preasure and each Welder activation comes with a pair of 2/2s. The downside is that it can snowball so much, you won't be able to grind for very long

---

Cuts?

I have a few flex slots that I think I can improve on



The creature land is fine, but I already have Celestial Colonnade,Creeping Tar Pit and 2 other utility lands in Blue.

Wonder has high damage potential, but I've found that even when I am in a GY deck, I don't always want to play it, which makes it more narrow than I like. I would still like a GY payoff, but a more general one.

I have mixed feelings about the counter package, it feels a little forced. However, I really like the increased board presence it brings. These three especially



Curving out with these is a beating. Would it be a trap to keep Rishkar as the only payoff?

---

Adds

I’ll be bringing in a card that I’ve missed



Great glue card that can help control who I’ve left out a lot in favor of aggressive strategies. I am light on Black self-mill so this is a welcome addition.

Also adding



5 mana draw 5 in a non-Blue combination is premium. My hopes is that a Naya control deck with Rampant Growth effects, wraths and decent card draw can exist. I am starting to have a lot of Gruul cards, but I cannot think of a cut.

---

More singleton breaks

Also, after reading landofMordor’s post about singleton, it has me thinking that I could make a few optimizations. The 4 drop slot is often very crowded, but it doesn’t have to be!

->
->

No, these aren’t exactly one for one substitutions. You lose out on some gameplay variety, but at the same time, I don’t play often enough these days that I need that range of experiences.
The advantage of cutting 4 drops for 1 drops means I can use that 4 drop slot for more unique cards.
I remove cards with no synergies (Planeswalker and enchantment) for cards that meld better with what is already in the format.
Planeswalkers are also tough to keep alive in MP games and where Daretti was used more a second Sneak Attack, Welder fits equally well in small and big reanimator.
Ephemerate can also be used as a defensive spell to save a creature from removal and trigger prowess.

Curious about your thoughts on these singleton breaks. They look really appealing to me right now!

 

[Nanonox]

Looking at some tough cuts. I’d like to include



It’s a good aggro beater that fits with White’s main gameplans: blink and equipment.

I have a lot of 3 drops and some that are probably redundant. Looking at these 3 token makers as cuts



I’m having a real tough time deciding and could use input.

Hammers has the best casting cost with a single White pip.
It also offers the best offence since tapping down 3 blockers is huge.
It’s also the most narrow since it only fits into aggro or fast midrange.

Adeline is a beast of a blocker and attacker thanks to vigilance.
It can make multiple tokens that stick around per turn.
It can make tokens as early as turn 3 thanks to a 2 drop.

Spiritkeeper’s body is the worst, but vigilance shines once again.
The tokens it makes are evasive and the amount it can make can be ridiculous in the right deck.
It’s the only resilient creature in the face of removal or wraths.

I’m leaning on cutting Adeline, but I can also see an argument for the others. What’s your cut?

 

[blacksmithy]

hammers seems the easy cut here

 

[Erik Twice]

Hammers doesn't do anything other than being good. The others have more synergies and value for a variety of decks.

 

[Nanonox]

With Erik’s recent post and my 1vs1 cube experiment, I am in a combo(ish) mood and I'll be testing these two sexy beasts



Mana Vault? Really? Yes! It’s been my experience that these one shot ramp spells have a real cost in MP games. Getting whatever you cast answered leaves you down two cards effectively and with 3 opponents it’s more likely to happen.

That being said, this is still very strong. The best play is probably a turn 2 Smothering Tithe or a turn 3 Primeval Titan or Elspeth, Sun’s Champion.

It’s also a great enabler for Paradox Engine!
Speaking of, I’ve considered the card before, but now I think it’s got a real chance at shining as a versatile combo piece.

The easiest way to make mana are the classic mana rocks and dorks.



But then you also have the chance to turbo charge (not that they needed much help)



You also can go off with



The Priest is sketchy as hell as you would need quite the setup with something like Young Pyromancer, but seems like a fun goal to achieve.

The Engine can also slot into a lands package where you trigger it with Loam



It can go in a lot of directions which I love. My group hasn't liked Mesmeric Orb, but that's another one that can lead to some crazy plays.

Not 100% sure on the cuts, but at a glance



Commit is versatile, but it's also super expensive for a removal spell. It's nice in response to a fetch, but I play it more for the reshuffle ability than anything. I currently have [[Elixir of Immortality]] for that, so we'll see if I miss it.

Hive is really strong, but my drafters just ignore the card because of all the text. It's and it's probably coming back, but for now I need a cut.

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To further facilitate going off, I want at least one Bauble back instead of Star #4

->

 

[Nanonox]

So I tried Inscho’s starting from scratch experiment to see where there might be some bloat in the cube. I was able to painfully go down to 380 cards, without touching on the fixing, which probably brings it down to 370.
Since I intend to keep the cube in the 420-450 range, I stopped there, but it was enough to prompt me to make a big update.

1. When cutting down, I had to chose between keeping my micro archetypes or extra aggro support. Cards like Robber of the Rich or Knight of the Ebon Legion are really just there to have a high density of aggressive creatures and don't fit neatly into any themes. I am on the lookout for synergy substitutions down the line, but in the meantime they'll do.

2. I’ve also noticed that I’ve been considering recent card choices in the cube without taking my playgroup into account as much as before. Kind of like building towards my ideal format, instead of a collective ideal format. It’s not a problem when designing online, but I have a draft lined up this month!

3. Three color cards are among the first to go when space is tight. Not really a surprise as they are narrow, but I still felt that a few were unique enough or interesting enough to be worth it.

Spoiler: 3 color cards

Keeps

Queen Marchesa: I want cards that pull my drafters into aggressive decks and the combination of keywords and the Monarch mechanic is amazing at keeping the game dynamic.

Korvold, Fae-Cursed King: Apparently I’m into royalty?! Korvold is a dragon. It’s evasive. It grows. It’s a value engine. But most of all it’s an open-ended payoff triggering off of lands, creatures and artifacts.

Omnath, Locus of Creation: Not only is this very strong by itself (etb draw and 4 life a turn), but it’s also very fun to make mana amd have big turns. It’s a flashy piece to signal you could be drafting the lands deck.

Maybes

Kess, Dissident Mage is a decent value engine and has a respectable body, but it isn’t super exciting or powerful which feels like a shame for a 3 color card. However, I’ve had decks with displacer Kitten for example where each spell cast blinks Kess for a new cast and a ton of value.

Dakkon, Shadow Slayer is in a similar spot as Kess, it’s a good card that isn’t splashy. Card selection, removal and cheat with a potentially very high loyalty makes it a good choice for control.

Cuts

I really like Kykar, Wind's Fury, but with the new Third Path Iconoclast, I wonder if it’s still needed. The upside is that like the Iconoclast, it triggers off of noncreature spells and the tokens have evasion. It's a convoluted mana engine in some combo deck (with Occult Epiphany and Lingering Souls??), but I've never had that come up yet.
Weirdly, the mana cost is also a big draw. I am not fond of many Boros cards at all, and this one is kind of fills the role. It signals that you can go into a spell velocity deck with White and Red. Although Monastery Mentor, Young Pyromancer and Manaform Hellkite are pretty big hints already.

Jinnie Fay, Jetmir's Second is a fun token payoff. It's essentially an anthem for your 1/1s and can turn Food or Treasures into actual threats. The awkward part is that it’s two distinct tokens and that the 3 mana slot is packed in all colors already. It’s not really a 3 color card, but feels like a luxury more than essential.

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Concretely, I decided to remove the more fringe cards from certain archetypes for some bigger role players in others. I am really into combo right now so I wanted to give it a small boost.

Notable adds



Balance is a really cool build around in White, that is also probably the all time best catch up card. It’s iconic and creates memorable games.
What scares me is the land destruction aspect slowing down games, but when I’ve played with it in other iterations of my cube, it was rare to be totally mana screwed when you cast it.



The Field helps lower your land count for Balance, Land Tax, Weathered Wayfarer and puts lands in the GY to be recurred. You can get extra mana from Frantic Search or maybe score a few Korvold triggers.



I've been flirting with the idea of Brain Freeze for a while now, and the presence of Paradox Engine has helped increase the number and type of combo decks the cube can produce. The win condition aspect of the combo decks has always been a challenge and I find myself looking for one more. Brain Freeze is cool because you can mill yourself for victory (Thassa's Oracle or Nexus of Fate) or mill the others. Milling 3 opponents is definitely not a given, but stuff like Remand, Regrowth, Time Spiral and especially Underworld Breach can hopefully get you multiple casts for maximum Storm triggers.

Erik put it very well when they told me it would probably be the best way to improve my combo decks with one slot, and I agree.



Snap is a nice little piece of interaction that conveniently plays well with Lotus Field and Brain Freeze.



Gush is another free spell, because I really think that they allow for those crazy turns combo decks want to play. You can use it to once again to trigger Land Tax effects, hit a land drop if you missed it for the turn or enable some landfall shenanigans.



I've shied away from Kappa Cannoneer not because I thought the card was bad, but because I thought I was overdoing it on the artifacts (which I might be!). However, it fits so well with my goals that I cannot resist including it this update. It's castable on the cheap, it scales, it has protection and has evasion. Plus you can now live the meme in my cube by copying it with a Sakashima's Student to have your very own ninja turtle.



This card comes in and out of my cube frequently. What tipped the scales this time is that it is a well loved by my drafters and that is something I need to pay more attention to. I will be giving players a second copy for free when they draft it for redundancy.



I was using Elixir of Immortality as a safety valve for my self-mill decks, but it kind of sucked because you would destroy all of your hard work by shuffling your GY into your Library. Scroll Rack is a nice alternative as long as you have a card in hand. It is also a classic combo with Land Tax and Oath of Druids, cards that Enlightened Tutor can conveniently fetch alongside the artifact.



A bit more interaction for some noncreature types.

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Spoiler: Cuts

The cuts represent some of the worst options for each archetype and the aforementioned 3 color cards.

I am looking forward to trying some drafts and seeing what pops up. I've seen some crazy decks pop up from previous drafts and I hope the new build arounds provide even more craziness!