General Fight Club

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Without personal experience with either, I prefer technique on paper. It’s clean and interesting. Demonstrate is a may ability so if it doesn’t make sense to copy it, you don’t have to. It’s nice to be able to play politics if you want. I like that it’s splashable too...although that is probably less of a concern in multiplayer.
I think I'm going to be playing Incarnation Technique in my next Cube update. The fact that it can help fuel itself, doesn't target, and can copy makes it a really appealing choice as a "value reanimation" card. You can technically even Bring it to Light if you're in 5-Color. The copying ability might even be worth doing from time to time, either because you have a 187 Creature, because you want to resolve a copy without getting countered, or because your opponent is playing an aggressive deck and doesn't have anything good to reanimate. My only reservation with this card is that it costs 5 mana, which is a little steep in some matchups.
 
Since I no longer try to make reanimator work, I am looking for a replacement for Striped Riverwinder. The main job of this card us to be a nice top end for {U}-based control strategies. Being a big monster with an etb is a sweet spot here at my power level, but do I go for the devotion payoff or the draw/selfmill attached?



Mass bounce can really help one to stabilize, but flying is nice.
 
I really like Scourge of Fleets as a card that has application both as a stop gap against midrange strategies in grindy games as control/as a sb card for those mirrors in midrange (assuming your cube is sufficiently slow), a finisher for big blue and a generally good ramp target to clear the board and allow for alpha strike. Not needing to have the board under your control for Scourge to work is very nice, and while the draw off Sphinx is nice I think generally control already has enough draw effects without needing it on your finisher.
 
I also prefer scourge of the two. But I would also challenge the notion that Riverwinder needs a supporting Reanimator component to be worth running. Cards like it and Waker of Waves have had a profoundly positive impact on my cube and peasant cube. I gushed about cycling last week in my cube primer:


Cycling:


(+ others)

Cycling is one of the most prevalent mechanics in the GCC. I could write a lot about the merits of cycling in this cube, but I’ll sum it to these points:
  • Cards with narrow windows of relevance remain relevant when drawn at the incorrect phase of the game (Decree of Justice and Waker of Waves in the early game, Censor and Migration Path in the late game, etc)
  • Smoothes the sequencing in the early turns. Spells that cycle help you hunt for mana when you are low on lands, Lands that cycle mitigate mana flood
  • Increases opportunities for decision-making
  • The draw and discard interact favorably with other cards in the cube
  • Cards that self-bin are useful for reanimation/recursion strategies as well as graveyard counting effects
  • Having built in cantrips is useful when hunting for combo pieces
  • Sideboard cards are always relevant (Forsake the Worldly, Wilt, etc)

Particularly the points of windows of relevance and smoothing sequencing are applicable to almost any cube imo. Just something to consider
 
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By no means, the Riverwinder is indeed a fine card and actually predates my reanimator experiment. I just wanted to try something more interactive and splashy, and I'll gladly go with the creepy Kraken :)

Another fight today. Both of these are good removal spells with lifegain attached. One has an artifact attached and kills basically everything, but the other only costs half the mana. Which do you peole like more?

 
Another fight today. Both of these are good removal spells with lifegain attached. One has an artifact attached and kills basically everything, but the other only costs half the mana. Which do you peole like more?


I like Moment more of the two. 4cmc and BB in the cost doesn't feel great to me. Then you have to pay an additional 2 mana to gain life. It's a bit more suited for a midrange or control deck...if you want to give slower decks another tool that may be the deciding factor. Or like sigh said if you want food to be a subtheme.

Moment should being equally valuable for any deck. Control wants to stem early bleeding, and then you also have a suite of small bodies that profit off of life gain like oathsworn vampire and bloodthirsty aerialist for which moment plays out much better in the early turns of the game.
 
I would say "why not both", but perhaps you can elaborate on what you're looking for out of the slot/section.

I’m not sure I need more than one soft ramp spell with a draw component. I’ve been running Edge of Autumn, but I’ve run Explore in the past. Edge has a little more play by being early turn hard ramp spell, sacrificing a land is valuable as is triggering discard and draw.

Ok nm, I answered my question. thanks :D
 
i agree with “why not both,” they both cantrip and ramp.
EDIT: i don’t run either one, but that’s because the most expensive creatures in my format are Thragtusk and Shriekmaw. If you want to get to 6 lands in green decks these are your best two options at 2 mana IMO
 

Need help cutting 1 or 2 of these for a midrangey environment that also plays Bonecrusher Giant and Laelia. My gut says the phoenix is the best, but all 3 may be way below the bar. Straight-up aggro is not supported, and fixing is better than any other cube maybe ever, if that helps you evaluate.
 
yeah i ended up taking out Subira and Alesha for Phoenix and Roil Eruption, “eating stuff in the yard” is something red doesn’t currently do a lot of and it might as well start doing it
 


Would like one more cheap discard outlet in green and these two seem to be the best options. I've had the mentor in for while and found it to be serviceable, but really nothing that pulls you into madness or dredge.
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
The problem with both of these, I think, is that they don't really fit the archetype well. Have you ever tried Stampede Driver? I think that one saw play way back when in someone's R/G Madness deck at our local Peasant tournaments. Deepwood Drummer is another option that costs more upfront, but has a lower activation cost.

I will say that the fun thing about Greenseeker is that it thins your deck while keeping discard fodder in your hand.
 
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