General Fight Club

[DylanMorales]

Tromp is really really fun and it has the benefit of being a card that basically no one ever has picked. It gets you the highs of Overrun while asking for a little more out of the player. It also ends the game.

Yeah, this is basically where I land too. Tromp has a nice “clean finisher with a story” quality to it: it’s not just another Craterhoof/Overrun, but it still gives creature decks a real way to stop durdling and end the game. The splashability is a real warning though — the first time a midrange pile randomly produces lethal from an otherwise stable board, people will remember it.

All Suns' Dawn feels much more like a build-around reward than a generic value card. I like it most if the cube already has self-mill, discard, evoke/adventure-style play patterns, or reasons to be base green 4–5c. If not, it risks being either narrow or just “draw three-ish” in the decks that can cast it.

 

[ravnic]

Is the new guy interesting for a wider range of cube decks? Or are both just for dredge?

 

[KeithCubes]

Is the new guy interesting for a wider range of cube decks? Or are both just for dredge?

Some cubes like Supplier more since it's a Zombie, but creature types aside, I'm a fan of what Manipulator brings to the table.

While Supplier does a better job milling, its floor is much lower if drawn late, and I don't like my 1 drops to be dead draws unless played on curve.

I don't think dredge is necessary to make Manipulator work, but in a fetch-less environment its value is a little more sketchy. With a couple lands in the graveyard though, I think it will pretty routinely be a 3/2 that mills 3, which I'm happy with.

Since the power boost is conditional it also gives your grave hate more value as a way to blow him out of combat, which is more fun for both players, while Supplier has less play all around.

My only real gripe against manipulator is having to count your graveyard, but IMO threshold is way less of a nuisance to track than any mechanic that looks at both graveyards.

 

[KhitriyKrab]

Which of these pass the vibe check, power being sufficiently low? How many are you including, and does that number change based on the presence of explicit artifact support in Black?

 

[Zoss]

Bauble and maybe Scepter of Fugue. Tithing Blade is cool, but Craft is bogus. Quill falls into the same bucket.

My Precious seems weak. Bloodletter is fine but uninspiring to me. Relic is strong in that it's a modal card that's almost better than a sorcery-speed Murder.

 

[Nanonox]

Tithing Blade and Poet's Quill have too many things going on with learn and craft.

Barbed Bloodletter is ok, but wither isn't particularly enticing for me.

My Precious seems fine, but reads as a Village Rites first and artifact second.

Scepter of Fugue seems particularly low powered and kind of unfun unless you have a Pox/Stax deck in the format. If that's the case and you have some Voltaic Key nonsense, it goes way up in my estimation.

That leaves Bauble and Relic, but they are also the most powerful. If they fit your cube's power level I would go for one of these two. If they are too strong, I would go with the Bloodletter personally.

 

[Erik Twice]

Is the new guy interesting for a wider range of cube decks? Or are both just for dredge?

I think the appeal of Sticher is that it fills the graveyard twice. Dark Matter Manipulator doesn't do that, it just has a bit of a higher attack which it's not really what I want in the card.

Out of the cards on your list, I like Lich's Relic but I'm not sure it's something one actually needs. Grim Bauble is good if you want to boost artifact synergies but, if not, you can take any other card instead.

I like how Poet's Quill plays, but it's not a mechanic I like much.

 

[ravnic]

I think the appeal of Sticher is that it fills the graveyard twice. Dark Matter Manipulator doesn't do that, it just has a bit of a higher attack which it's not really what I want in the card

I think in a lower powered fair environment where creature stats are a bit more old school turning your 1-drop into a 3/2 or 5/2 can be quite relevant. In test drafting I've already ended up playing the Manipulator in a ub ninjutsu deck, even though I just had a little sprinkle of graveyard stuff. It essentially turns itself on once you got to replay it after ninjutsu-ing it back.

 

[ravnic]

I have a reanimator theme in my low- to mid-power cube. Now I am looking for 3-4 reanimation spells that I can add to my occasionals. For these explicitly, I want cards that are a little more splashy/swingy. Occasionals are not supposed to be better on average, like rares are, but I allow for both, slightly higher powered and slightly more ambitious cards.

I am currently looking at these:



The reanimator decks are usually happy when they can do their thing on turn four, so the core has stuff like Dread Return or Makeshift Mannequin primarily.

Which cards are the coolest/most enticing ones that are still in dialogue, power level-wise, with the core cube?

 

[Nanonox]

If you want swingy and splashy, I think the clear pick is Entreat the Dead. It scales and can completely surprise the opponent out of nowhere. Here are some other suggestions.

I have two reanimation cards I like for your power level, but both are blue! They follow the same A+B+C style of play that reanimator typically uses, so they might fit.



Hour of Eternity scales and can turn a random ninja or whatever into a monster! Body Double is a clone for the GY and interacts with low power matters if that's a thing you play. I wouldn't call it splashy though, unless you have some combos to go with it.



These two could be more splashy alongside your ninjas maybe?



This one is the most explosive of the bunch and ties many themes together. What is neat is that you can bring back artifact or enchantment creatures you sacrificed to it.

 

[TekLazar]

Twilight's Call is great, totally recommended, like a fairer, Living Death. I also like Ever After, but its quite fair, not very exciting. I think Aberrant Return would be better than it. I also recommend

These three are fun too, but I personally find Twilight's Call to just be better.

For another easy package to add, I really like the white mini reanimator

I used to play Return to the Ranks, which could be a good option if Raise the Past is a bit too explosive. Return to the Ranks is perfectly fine, but on a dead board, people tended to misplay it and keep it for when they had a fuller board, so they only used it when they were ahead. Whereas Raise the Past has been used when behind and ahead, but is almost always the better card.