General Fight Club



Network might be a little bit too "good" for my environment. It is super easy to turn on and then just gives you value turn after turn – almost like a planeswalker (ew). So, my question is, could Emry be actually weaker in a fair environment where you're never cheating out 6+ drops and where there aren't many baubles?

https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/nightmare

The most dangerous thing to "combo" here would probably be Silver Bolt?
 


Network might be a little bit too "good" for my environment. It is super easy to turn on and then just gives you value turn after turn – almost like a planeswalker (ew). So, my question is, could Emry be actually weaker in a fair environment where you're never cheating out 6+ drops and where there aren't many baubles?

https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/nightmare

The most dangerous thing to "combo" here would probably be Silver Bolt?
I think Network is a bit boring. It can definitely win a game of limited, but it's more fun when it's a niche card instead of something you're building a deck around. Emry, by contrast, leads to some really fun divergent play patterns depending on what's in the Cube with her.

I like Emry more in this context.
 
Just so you know, there's an Excecutioner's Capsule in your cube.

Oh boy, I forgot about that lol.

I still kinda like the idea of Emry, but if I go with her, I'll probably replace the capsule with some other removal.

My one concern with Emry is the repetiveness. When she's just bringing back artifact creatures that died or randomly milled equipment, that's great. But as soon as you have something that sacs for enough value (Gingerbrute's fine) that becomes annoying and hard to balance.
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
Oh boy, I forgot about that lol.

I still kinda like the idea of Emry, but if I go with her, I'll probably replace the capsule with some other removal.

My one concern with Emry is the repetiveness. When she's just bringing back artifact creatures that died or randomly milled equipment, that's great. But as soon as you have something that sacs for enough value (Gingerbrute's fine) that becomes annoying and hard to balance.
I will say I think that is a nice goal to have as a drafter. People will play emry without capsule and recur whatever, and having the ceiling of build your own visara is nice.

It's easier to balance than you'd think, she is a 1/2 after all and you can gy hate to undo things as well (occasionally)
 
Oh boy, I forgot about that lol.

I still kinda like the idea of Emry, but if I go with her, I'll probably replace the capsule with some other removal.

My one concern with Emry is the repetiveness. When she's just bringing back artifact creatures that died or randomly milled equipment, that's great. But as soon as you have something that sacs for enough value (Gingerbrute's fine) that becomes annoying and hard to balance.
I understand this concern, although I don't think it's something you have to worry too much about. Emry is very frail, to the point where a stiff breeze is a formidable opponent for her to face. I think if a player is able to assemble some sort of value loop with her, it should be easy enough to disrupt to keep it from being un-fun. Instead, it's going to be a cool aspirational thing for one lucky drafter to try and assemble!
 
I am looking for a bit more diversity in my card draw effects by adding Faerie Mastermind which should be fun in a MP format.

Please cut 2:



I have some thoughts on all of these, but would rather read other comments to not influence. But just so you have complete information, I tend to have 3 opponents, so the Investigator makes 3 Clues usually.
 
Channeler has no MP interactions. I'd consider a cut.
Wits is a nice mana dump later, which I'm suspecting is relevant in MP.
Same with the Squad guy, but I personally have a distaste for Squad. Not sold on the dude. Still, Flash is nice.
I like Investigator.
Mulldrifter I'd only keep if there's cute tricks with Evoke. It's excessively generic if there's no tricks.
 
I'm with you guys with the Investigator, wasn't really looking at cutting him, he is a great glue card that scales.

The biggest difference on opinions is about Sicarian Infiltrator. I saw it as a pretty nice card and you both are down on it. What I like:
- Scales. Doesn't matter if you are tight on mana or not, you can cast it for 3,5,7 or more.
- Artifact type. Being an artifact is actually pretty clutch to trigger Sai, Master Thopterist, recur with Goblin Engineer and company, count towards buffing Constructs, receiving Arcbound Ravager counters and so on.
- Flash. Flash is especially valuable in Blue and lets you cast it at an opportune time.
- Creates tokens. Esika's Chariot and Mondrak, Glory Dominous are the nuts, but even a lowly Impact Tremors can optimize the card further.

The squad is inelegant, but it's essentially multikicker 2, make a copy of it.
 
I am looking for a bit more diversity in my card draw effects by adding Faerie Mastermind which should be fun in a MP format.

Please cut 2:



I have some thoughts on all of these, but would rather read other comments to not influence. But just so you have complete information, I tend to have 3 opponents, so the Investigator makes 3 Clues usually.
i would cut Channeler for sure, i think it scales horribly to multiplayer compared to the others. gun to my head the second cut is probably champion but it's a lot closer
Agree with Blacksmithy about Channeler. I would agree Champion is a fine cut as well, although I think Mulldrifter is also pretty dopey in multiplayer. The one card I wouldn't cut here is Ethereal Investigator because this is a Cube where it can actually provide its full value.
 


Time to pointlessly debate one-drops! These two seem to fill the same role of lategame mana sink for an aggro deck that's otherwise stalled out. I like Herald because it goes both wide and tall, but I like the Officer because she starts bigger and has more deckbuilding constraints. I dislike the Herald because I have no other cards with outlast and I dislike how the Officer because she feels very 2022 Magic in that she's pushed on a lot of angles.

Unfortunately, I don't think that Elite Vanguard would work in my cube, as much as I like the simplicity.



Bonus: which combat-interrupting white one-drop has the most interesting implications?

 
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Time to pointlessly debate one-drops! These two seem to fill the same role of lategame mana sink for an aggro deck that's otherwise stalled out. I like Herald because it goes both wide and tall, but I like the Officer because she starts bigger and has more deckbuilding constraints. I dislike the Herald because I have no other cards with outlast and I dislike how the Officer because she feels very 2022 Magic in that she's pushed on a lot of angles.
I like them both; I'd actually pick playing these two over the following three.

I think the recruitment officer costing 4 to activate makes it feel fine; it definitely does not a "2022 pushed card" when you're playing with it for anything except the fact that it is a Savannah Lions with an ability.
 
I prefer Recruitment Officer's instant speed activation by significant margin. I think it is a pretty reasonable card....4 mana feels like a lot more in practice than on paper.

I like Bodyguard the best of the other 3. The fact that it is a threat by itself outweighs the trickiness of the other two for me. The ability has come in handy at times, but it's very much a secondary feature in my experience.
 


Time to pointlessly debate one-drops! These two seem to fill the same role of lategame mana sink for an aggro deck that's otherwise stalled out. I like Herald because it goes both wide and tall, but I like the Officer because she starts bigger and has more deckbuilding constraints. I dislike the Herald because I have no other cards with outlast and I dislike how the Officer because she feels very 2022 Magic in that she's pushed on a lot of angles.

Unfortunately, I don't think that Elite Vanguard would work in my cube, as much as I like the simplicity.



Bonus: which combat-interrupting white one-drop has the most interesting implications?


I'm not a fan of Herald at all. Ran it for a brief period when it was first released but it's clunky, slow, and Outlast didn't really work well outside of an environment similar to KTK Limited. 3 mana at sorcery speed is an investment in a lower curve W/x Aggro deck that I often can't find an opening for while trying to develop the board. Making Warriors rather than Human tokens is also a miss for me.

Officer is way better in that it's a potential mana sink later in the game while being just an Elite Vanguard otherwise which is a serviceable aggressive card. I don't feel like it's all that pushed as 4 mana is a pretty decent investment for the decks that would want a 2/1 for 1.

As for the other 3 I'd go with Bodyguard all day. It opens up lines of play with pseudo-protection that make combat and types of spot removal way more engaging than usual. Being able to protect a relevant card like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or a Luminarch Aspirant is big game.
 
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Thanks all for helping me clarify this! Agreed that instant speed and up-front power is huge. I'll probably make the following changes:

Herald of Anafenza -> Recruitment Officer
Infantry Veteran -> Dauntless Bodyguard
+ Icatian Javelineers as a mediocre yet tolerable blink/reanimation target.
Zoss, can I try to sell you on Deftblade Elite? I loved this card in my Peasant Cube back in the day, and I think it's a really cool aggressive//weird removal creature that has interesting play patterns in a variety of strategies.
 
I'm willing to try it! I had thought it might be a bit too clunky, but didn't realize that it could be a single-target fog on defense as well. Thanks Train and LadyMapi!
 
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