FlowerSunRain's Cube

[FlowerSunRain]

Root-kin just never seems to have the impact. Decks with lots of counters come up all the time, so he seems a shoe in, but 4/4 for 4 really isn't a good body. The rest of the counter lords work better because they give bonuses even if you get the counters later, Root-Kin only works if you have them on the table immediately. It asks more and in exchange it doesn't give that much I guess?

Yeah, the days when spike feeder was good are long past, but it does have lots of incidental synergy that brindle boar only dreams about. I think it would see play in some maindecks. Thragtusk is a bit generic value, but no where near as strong as Titania who, although requiring some very minor set up, is just stupid out of the 5 spot. Thrags doesn't seem out of line.

Tithe and Gift of Estates are one shot land taxes that grab white duals. If you've ever played with land tax you know how miserable it is, specifically because it is repeatable. "If I ever go one land over them, I need to be able to beat a 9 card advantage". So dumb. These cards guarantee land drops, feed discard engines and have fun bouncelands. It lets white do something different. I wanted to run both to be a little more consistent, but maybe its the wrong direction. Don't know, its a new add, I'm just worried its not useful. Sorcery speed might be a big deal. It might not. Are these decks holding open mana?

My different Sages of Fables:

Change "Wizard" to "Blue creature": the devotion support version.

Change to , remove the top section of text: the draw engine version.

Change to : the draw engine with incidental wizard support version.

As written: the maybe the card is actually fine version.

I'm not sure its bad, its just been completely unplayed even though bant counters is drafted all the time.

 

[blacksmithy]

If you're still trying to decide between Evacuation and Cyclonic Rift, I come down heavily on the Rift side after playing it a few times. Evacuation can really only go in control decks, but Cyclonic Rift is better in control decks because of its modality, and can also go into lots of other decks that just need a versatile targeted bounce effect. Also, resolving its overload in control at opponent's EOT is pretty much like resolving a high-fives-given post-about-this-later Upheaval, except the match is less likely to go to time. Rift is real good mate.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Maybe sage of fables would be better served by being a proper size Novijen Sages, like a 4/4 for 4, or something.

Actually, if it's removing 2 counters, maybe the isn't necessary at all. That could be cool, and it gives it the hidden mode of being like 2UU: divination

 

[Dom Harvey]

Tithe is a better card in general IMO, being able to play it for just 1 mana is so much better for that effect; also neat with Prowess, Snapcaster, etc

 

[FlowerSunRain]

Yeah, tithe is sweet, I'm pretty sure its going to have an impact while Gift of Estates probably won't. Speaking of prowess I was thinking about going to 4 brainstorms, blue doesn't have much going on so why not milk the whole support color thing and give predict more play? Maybe thats' a swap.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

Basically everyone I play with loves fungus decks. We've got strong Fallen Empires nostalgia and Time Spiral was probably our favorite limited environments. Might this rule work? I think I (or someone else) may have mentioned it before, but it integrates into my cube much better after the Tarkir block:

"All effects that refer to +1/+1 counters also refer to spore counters".

So, now all of the +1/+1 counter lords work on thallids. Hardened Scales works on them. Inspiring call works on them. Its a non-obtrusive rule, simple rule to remember and probably no weird interactions. The support is in the right colors too.

 

[Kuldahar]

Basically everyone I play with loves fungus decks. We've got strong Fallen Empires nostalgia and Time Spiral was probably our favorite limited environments. Might this rule work? I think I (or someone else) may have mentioned it before, but it integrates into my cube much better after the Tarkir block:

"All effects that refer to +1/+1 counters also refer to spore counters".

So, now all of the +1/+1 counter lords work on thallids. Hardened Scales works on them. Inspiring call works on them. Its a non-obtrusive rule, simple rule to remember and probably no weird interactions. The support is in the right colors too.

Oooooo that's an awesome idea. Let me know if it works!

 

[FlowerSunRain]

I just need to hack about a dozen slots to make it work, that won't be hard I swear. . . .

 

[Diakonov]

How do your drafters feel about Flickering Ward? It has never been oppressive?

 

[FlowerSunRain]

Flickering Ward is great, we like it. I wouldn't call it oppressive. I mean, its powerful and has been the deciding factor in games, but it doesn't completely outclass or obsolete anything.

 

[Diakonov]

Flickering Ward is great, we like it. I wouldn't call it oppressive. I mean, its powerful and has been the deciding factor in games, but it doesn't completely outclass or obsolete anything.

Good to know. I'd like to add it since it seems ideal for supporting constellation and prowess. I'm planning to add Moldervine Cloak and Darkblast for similar reasons.

What are your favorite cards for that theme in green, white, and black?

 

[FlowerSunRain]

Flickering Ward is definitely the best of the bunch. Mana Bloom is playable. Its 1 mana to trigger constellation once a turn, but it also can ramp you early game. Black is the trickiest. I tried some narrow stuff with it like Glistening Oil and some custom. . . . that I can't remember, but either way they both sucked. As of right now the closest thing I have is Diabolic Servitude.

The payoff cards I look for when drafting are Kor Spiritdancer (total beast), Replenish, Enchantress's Presence, and (custom) Oakheart Dryad. Black has great cards for the theme, but its more of a support color. Though Daxos's torment is looking beastly, so maybe that will change?

 

[Chris Taylor]

?

 

[Diakonov]

How does Dead Weight compare to Paralyze? Dead Weight is easier to recur since it's more likely to end up in the grave, but Paralyze can take down mid-range sized beasts.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

Dead Weight has been good to me. I remember paralyze being pretty good a long time ago, but that was when utility creatures mostly didn't exist. Maybe I'll give it another try.

 

[safra]

dead weight is wayy better i think.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I actually run a custom enchantment for with "Sacrifice an enchantment: Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn." Don't know if it's crazy good yet, though... I just realized it's obviously completely nuts with Rancor. Hmm... Maybe I should watch that combo or prevent it from happening. Probably a good idea to work on the wording there so that can't happen.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

So, I need my cube at 576 cards for next week, just in case we actually have a 12 person draft, which looks possible.

I'm at 573, but I'm a bit heavy on red and green cards and I'm pretty sure I'm ready to give up on Enduring Renewal.

After trying the experiment that Ahadabans suggested, I found that the removal chokepoint is a bit worse then I thought it was, so I added a couple of pieces. I'm thinking about adding a piece of black removal, or possibly multicolor black removal to go with Lucre's "wheel to the right deck theory". Dreadbore looks good, but so does Maelstorm Pulse. I kinda want to add Grizzly Salvage too. That leaves a couple of spots left for tech or giving cut cards a final runback. Not sure what to do here yet.

Is buffed Tibalt (crossed out "random") too good? Hasty looter that threatens Stormseeker/Insurrection? I mean, I thought it might be, but then they printed 2 mana Jace, so maybe not?

 

[Ferritovore]

Wow, with 12 people there's only 3 leftover cards per pack... would that make it impossible to read signals? When your pack gets back to you all it tells you is "yep, people took most of the cards."

Do you split up into two groups of 6 or something?

 

[whydirt]

I'm pretty sure Tibalt would be fine with your change. Either they have creatures, in which case his loyalty should be threatened, or they won't and the insurrection effect won't matter much.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

So, my last draft was kinda shitty and I did some cube composition analysis to see if it was just a bad split or if there might be a problem. It turns out that I'm running way too much removal. Like, not even close to where I'm looking to be. At some point, I wasn't running enough removal, so apparently I addressed to issue, forgot I had addressed the issue, then addressed it two or three more times. This isn't really where I want to be, so removal is going to be aggressively cut as I update. There certainly is such a thing as too much interaction.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

I'm gutting my list again, probably be down to around 400-420 cards not including lands. Will probably try to bring it to 450 when all is said and done. Still going to draft lands separately and have new ideas on the issue inspired by an idea my friend came up with, will expand upon in a couple of weeks when this all comes together.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

Changed my mind on this. Getting a little burnt out on decks with ridiculous mana. Going to try a 540 with lands straight in Probably going to be 100-110 lands in the list, so mana will still be great. Speeding up the draft process is also a big consideration here. Should be playing on Saturday.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

I haven't curated my cube in a while and I probably won't at least until the next set comes out. Apologizes to anyone who follows it.

 

[FlowerSunRain]

http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/96403

Started redesigning after a long absence. IT will basically cover the same ground as the old cube, just better refined. It will finally include Thallids (a fan favorite here) with a special rule to help them be competitive.

Black is the color I'm most confident in so that's all I have so far, with these cards plus Oathsworn Vampire, Twilight Regent, and Moment of Craving from the new set. The plan is to shoot for 540 or 576, so 90 black cards is too many and some number of cards will need to be cut.

There's probably too much removal. Bile Blight, Moment of Craving, or Ghastly Demise is likely to get axed.
There's probably too many one drops, tormented hero is likely the weak link. Its a desired effect, but not "black's thing" and with so many one drops most decks that would want it would probably be just as happy to make do with two-shields or whatever.
There's probably too many sac outlets, Vampiric Rites or Krovikan Horror is likely to be cut.
Braids, Kalitas, Whip of Erebos, and Daxos Torment might be stifling to the desired play experience.
I'll probably just marker over morph on Haruspex for simplicity or alternatively replace with ruin raider.
Haakan fits the themes well, but something about his design pisses me off.