General Fight Club

I think another good option for "Mellow Green Walker" would be:

Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury has a similar ultimate to Nissa, but isn't over-powering. Her negative ability is genuinely useful. Her +2 makes a great token as well.



I'm also considering either one of these two Nissa versions, since their untap abilities are more inline with my UG "super ramp" theme. These are the other planeswalkers I'm considering at the moment:

Ajani, Caller of the Pride
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted
Daretti, Scrap Savant
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
Nahiri, Storm of Stone
Domri, Chaos Bringer

Would either of those two Nissa's be at a matching level?
 
Agreed. I'd also point out that Empath is both pretty narrow (my guess is most cubes have around 10 cards it can target).

Here's one I'm wrestling with:

vs.

Pros for the Hound:
  • Bigger Butt is very relevant.
  • Trample means it can't just be held at bay by chump blockers as it grows.
Pros for the Weird:
  • Cheaper, which allows the spells-matter player to start cashing in spells for extra value a turn earlier.
  • Triggers off all noncreature spells, which lets it bleed into the artifact deck.
 
I'd go with Weird. The big thing you want for spells-matter type decks is to start chaining value as soon as you can. The earlier you can get something extra out of the spells you're casting, the better. Fits into more decks, cheaper to cast, and it triggers off more things than the Hound. I think you'll get way more out of it than Hound for most decks unless you have a lot of Flashback and graveyard type stuff or if the Trample really matters in your environment.
 
Do you like threats that keep coming back?

I prefer Bontu because it can sacrifice more permanents and that God-trigger will help your theme if you think about it from a consistency point of view.

I wish his God-clause didn't prevent exile though :(
 
Yawgmoth. But between those two, Bontu is the better aristocrats payoff. At the top end in aristocrats, I want something that will let me cash in all my spare dorks for value and/or triggers.
 
I like Sidisi, wish it would have a worse body. A tutoring 4/6 deathtoucher for 5 is pretty damn strong.
Bontu looks like the PERFECT aristocrats payoff but also has a veeeryyy big body, and keeping coming back is what makes it too strong for my cube, too.

I have to agree with psly4mne, Yawgmoth is such a beautifully designed card, black, cc4, aristocrats payoff and I even love the protection from humans clause. :D
 
What about



Reprocess gets better if your cube cares about sacrifing lands or artifacts as well as creatures. Torgaar might be another big body for Reanimator.
 
Guys, I want some removal on a stick but I don't want it to be as strong as Nekrataal or Flametongue Kavu (although I appreciate their original artworks). I also don't want to include stupidly strong cards like Overseer of the Damned or Noxious Gearhulk.

For reference, Dream Eater shouldn't be outclassed but also shouldn't be the clearly stronger card. I want the cards to be conditional but strong if played properly. For example, I happily include Warfire Javelineer as a FTK you need to put work in. Anyway, here are the fights:

vs vs vs

This is the one I find the most complicated. Dark Hatchling, which has a BEYUTIFULLLLL art btw, looks a bit weak compared to Dream Eater, which doesn't remove the creature entirely, but is also able to bounce other permanents, has +1 power, flash and surveils 4 which adds up to Dream Eater being a stronger card in my opinion (I would love to hear your opinion on these thoughts!). Gilt-Leaf Winnower looks like a stronger version (and therefore might be perfect) but is a bit tricky to evaluate: it costs 1 less but has a bigger body, menace is usually weaker than flying and it's removal is also conditional. The Banshee looks like the weakest of them all as Morbid can be difficult to trigger, but if you get the work done a 4/4 which gives -4/-4 definitely is no joke. The Rebel is triggered a bit more easily, as you could sacrifice Terramorphic Expanse and other non-creatures with sac-abilities. It might be a bit pushed, though, as a 3/2 for 3 which gives -3/-3 often is a very swingy play, especially in the early turns (Deadeye Harpooner is even worse). I could see myself adding Winnower and the Rebel, but I'm not sure if I evaluate both of them right as they might end up being too strong.

Next one:

vs

The ability etb->fight looks very green to me and I would like a mono green card to have that ability, but Foe-Razer also has flying which I somewhat dislike. Also, Ravager Wurm is able to destroy a nonbasic land which sometimes is relevant. I already thought about adding Ravager Wurm and Territorial Allosaurus so I have the effect in green, but I don't know if I like the dinosaur as a vanilla 5/5 for 4.
 

Winnower, easy. It's the only one of these that's anywhere close to the power level of Dream Eater, and it also has by far the weirdest condition, which I consider a plus.

Next one:

Ravager Wurm vs Foe-Razer Regent

The ability etb->fight looks very green to me and I would like a mono green card to have that ability, but Foe-Razer also has flying which I somewhat dislike. Also, Ravager Wurm is able to destroy a nonbasic land which sometimes is relevant. I already thought about adding Ravager Wurm and Territorial Allosaurus so I have the effect in green, but I don't know if I like the dinosaur as a vanilla 5/5 for 4.
voracioushydra1.jpg
 
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