Chris Taylor
Contributor
Turn aside bear though could be good. That is the cost of mana leak, after allEhhh... it's hard to justify keeping mana up for conditional counterspells, and cards like Turn Aside have never been very good, even at.
General Fight Club
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
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Dom Harvey
Contributor
Plaxmanta and Herald are good, would rather have Sea Gate Oracle over Hussar, Patagia Viper might be fine?
Ehhh... it's hard to justify keeping mana up for conditional counterspells, and cards like Turn Aside have never been very good, even at
Conditional counterspells get much better in the presence of unconditional counterspells. Not sure the right environment exists outside of constructed though.
vs ?
I think collateral damage has the benefit of being a trick when your opponent tries to kill/steal one of your creatures, or cheating it with a convoke creature. Feels like you can abuse things more att instant speed.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
On the other hand, Lightning Bolt reminds us how bad Collateral Damage is, whereas Reckless Abandon really packs a serious punch at that casting cost. It allows aggro decks to sacrifice an attacker to clear out a big defender or deal the final points of damage. The difference between 1/5 of your opponent's life total or 1/7 is real. My vote goes to Reckless Abandon.
You can play Humble Defector, Tap him to draw two, then Collateral Damage him with the trigger on the stack. A bolt + 2 cards? Value.
I guess it all depends on the amount of coming back from the grave creatures you run and how durdley you want to become. I might've been convinced about reckless abandon, since it promises enough value to draw people into the steal and sac deck to begin with.
I like Reckless Abandon more than Altar's Reap because 4 damage for can easily help close out a game in which case losing a creature is a worthwhile cost, but if you're drawing cards presumably the game isn't necessarily going to be over right away and you might miss having that creature.
Basically what I mean is that Reckless Abandon can help give you a calculated attack that ends the game or at least puts your opp on the ropes, which softens the costs tremendously.
can easily help close out a game in which case losing a creature is a worthwhile cost, but if you're drawing cards presumably the game isn't necessarily going to be over right away and you might miss having that creature.Basically what I mean is that Reckless Abandon can help give you a calculated attack that ends the game or at least puts your opp on the ropes, which softens the costs tremendously.
Albeit in very differnt colors and using quiet different resources than board presence
vs. Cuz I forgot if we did this yet or not.
People on here have SWORN by distortion strike in cube. Plus, I've been slowly assembling a wedge cube, loosely inspired by KTK. So jeskai wants spells with recursion, temur wants fatties that go directly to the dome, and sultai probably wouldn't mind some evasion for some of its dudes. I'm just trying to figure out which of the two seems more suitable.
Laz
Developer
Based exclusively on this, I would go with Artful Dodge. I imagine that Sultai might be dumping cards more than a few cards into their yard...
CML
Contributor
i don't think turn aside is a thing? who knows.
hindering light?
the thing about conditional counters is sometimes you hold up exclude and get em but sometimes you hold it up and they play something else. it's high-variance but it does add an element of "playing around stuff" thats possibly desirable
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Attrition / value black threes
Urchins is meh and slow
Flesh Carver might be the best black 3 now
Grim Haruspex has been solid but not amazing
Strike Leader I like
Ophiomancer still makes me feel bad
Rager is sooooooooo bad
Necromancer is awesome if he works (and he should) in aggro decks with random humans.
Here's a similar comparison:
Fireblast is like the worst feeling in magic: all it does is cheat people out of playing games. Either it's 0 mana 4 damage that your opponent can't play around and they lose way before they should, or you fireblast an Obstinate Baloth and lose 10 turns later. Never run this card!
Gush never really felt fun to me either, but at least it doesn't actively make me want to quit magic
Cuz I forgot if we did this yet or not.
Distortion Strike for Prowess, Dodge for Self Mill. I never got mill to work, and distortion strike's small power bonus/mana efficiency make it a little more appealing in general, so if you just want a stallbreaker pick that one.
I think self mill in general works better if the power level is lower (since you have more time to grind things out)
I think I'm going with Artful Dodge. The power level is low enough in this cube & the self mill theme probably appreciates it. It's triggering Prowess regardless, and if you use it twice in the same turn, you could be pushing through +4 damage if you have 2 prowess guys in play.
cool, thanks!Urchins is meh and slow
Flesh Carver might be the best black 3 now
Grim Haruspex has been solid but not amazing
Strike Leader I like
Ophiomancer still makes me feel bad
Rager is sooooooooo bad
Necromancer is awesome if he works (and he should) in aggro decks with random humans.
i actually think Phyrexian Rager is fine in a control or attrition deck, but your other evaluations seem spot on. i haven't tried Ophiomancer yet because i'm also worried an indestructible 1/1 deathtouch could be annoying
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Ophiomancer has been fine here. Very cute with sac synergy like Goblin Bombardment, but still fragile. Most of the time it's just an expensive Pharika's Chosen!