You're absolutely right, I also want my cards to be playable in more than just 1 archetype. The thing is that I actually think the conscript might be a bit pushed for my cubes environment. Maybe that's not the case, we'll see I guess.
General Fight Club
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
There are many other options for this type of guy if you think conscript is too good, are you already running any of the other ones? I think Dread Wanderer is a pretty solid slightly less good one of these.
I run both, Reassembling Skeleton and the Conscript, and I don't feel like they can't hang along. Cult Conscript has the advantage of being playable in aggro decks not caring about sacrifice at all though, whereas the two mana version really only goes into these decks. For me this is okay, because sacrifice is black's main theme, so it isn't like a virtual rakdos card or something. And in those decks specifically, it is often better, because it's always online.
Sooo, why not both? You definitely can't support these decks with only one card as fodder anyway, right?
Sooo, why not both? You definitely can't support these decks with only one card as fodder anyway, right?
Reassembling Skeleton is narrow and plays much worse than it looks. Like others say, you are better off running any of the plethora of recursive aggro creatures. You can also just run token-makers or other options instead.
I'd like my players to pay for repeatable sac fodder that is no chump blocker every turn. I don't know if the conscript too often is just a 1 drop aggressive creature that gets replayed from time to time instead of being used for sacrifice shenanigans. On the other hand I don't see many other decks wanting ReSkel. Opinions?
Note that, while token spam is annoying, Aristocrats tend to fare poorly against aggro.
My initial thought was: 'Man, 2 damage per trigger is so much better than 1'.
However, I think I am leaning towards the Whelp for my own list. I support both Artifacts and Spell-slinging in my Red section and I like that Whelp has a noncreature trigger as opposed to Guttersnipe's instants & sorceries one.
Additionally, I feel like Whelps added 'flying' evasion is somewhat of a big deal. It can trigger off equipment and then actually carry them pretty well. I lean pretty heavily into the 'Fires' archetype, which includes some pump activators like:
Reckless Charge, Ardoz, Cobbler of War, Ogre Battledriver
A little Dragon packing a big punch overhead is an interesting axis to me and worth noting. I would be pretty scared to ever swing in with Guttersnipe.
The Whelp also curves well into Thunderbreak Regent who I do run. I support a higher density of Dragons than I think most lists do which gives a little boost. Shame how useless he is with Dragonstorm, though.
In a list focused more heavily in Spell-slinging, I think Guttersnipe easily wins out in most cases, although I am curious what others think.
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I think cards that work across archetypes but still shout out their most natural homes are always ideal in a "this vs. that" situation. You can make pretty novel decks that way and it really expands the replayability of your Cube alongside providing greater personalization of play.
Dragon all the way if a Dragon subtheme is on the table.
I’ve been eyeing Dragon spell velocity with Manaform Hellkite too. Would work nicely with the Fires archetype!
I’ve been eyeing Dragon spell velocity with Manaform Hellkite too. Would work nicely with the Fires archetype!
Totally agree with what the others said, cards that allow you to maximize them in more than one way are awesome for drafting and gameplay.
I also want to add something important: I would always try to keep the number of virtual gold cards as close to zero as possible, and Guttersnipe is one classic example. In many cubes it could cost just as well and end up in exactly the same decks. In those cases I would rather have either an actual gold card for a clearer signal or add something like the Dragon here.
I also want to add something important: I would always try to keep the number of virtual gold cards as close to zero as possible, and Guttersnipe is one classic example. In many cubes it could cost
just as well and end up in exactly the same decks. In those cases I would rather have either an actual gold card for a clearer signal or add something like the Dragon here.While I agree on your concerns with virtual gold cards (and it's something that doesn't get mentioned often enough) I find guttersnipe to be a bad example. RW and RG often are aggressive decks utilizing cheap removal or pump spells, and while a bear for 3 isn't impressive, a bear that is able to connect because of the nature of those decks burning opponent's face in the meantime actually can be really good. Those environments are on the lower powered side of the spectrum, though.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I'd personally prefer the whelp if only because its a lot less feast or famine