FlowerSunRain
Contributor
Big question! Here we go:
Nautilus. Brand new, a little vulnerable in my cube with so many auras and combat tricks. On the plus side, that makes using him as removal much easier. Jury is still out.
Hour of Need. So far no takers. No idea what deck it goes in. It stays for now, but definitely watch list.
Distortion strike. Tricky card to evaluate. Helps turn the double strike deck from aggro to combo. I hate "go off" combo decks, but combos that happen naturally and interact with the natural flow of the game can be cool. It doesn't main deck that often, but it supports heroic and has a unique niche. Low tier, but a keeper.
Hidden Strings. Also hard to evaluate. Huge at triggering heroic. Huge with land auras. Extremely good would pingers, hilarious with Gelectrode. Great implications with Akroan Crusader and Young Pyromancer. Busts open stalls. Another low main deck percentage card that is really unique and when it makes a deck, its fun. Ties together red/blue aggro. Another keeper.
Curiosity. Uniquely blue heroic card (I realize Keen Sense exists). Usually strong, it only needs one hit to cantrip. Probably weaker to draw cards then just kill people (Wordmail and such), but its different and it makes deck lists. Strong in black/blue based aggro that doesn't get the huge power boost auras, but have strong disruption they want to draw into. Potenitally cuttable I guess, but good for now.
Mark of Eviction. Odd card, but supports enchantress (recast) and steals tempo. Works best when combined with group B, particularly mana vortex. I've considered switching it to mana chains. A little annoying to play against, potentially cuttable.
Unstable Mutation. Hits really hard for
. Feels slightly out of character in the color. Recently readded, goes in and out as my mood changes, but it fits the themes.Ordeal of Thasa. All star for aura-aggro. I don't think I've lost a game when this ordeal gets finished. Top ten card in my blue section.
Spectral Flight. Ultra-aggressive aura for aggressive decks that want islands. Unlike Ordeal of Thasa, you don't get a refund if your creature gets handled later, but the immediate +2/+2 and flying brings a lot of potential damage early. Cuttable, particularly if I up the amount of innately evasive creatures.
Equilibrium. Hopefully things like Riptide Chimera can bring some life into this card. My etb triggers are a little lower then most, taking the main use of the card targeting the opponent's stuff. Combos with man-o-war and Venser are the main draw. Extremely cuttable.
Group B. I moved much of my mana-denial into blue. Its a design shift from the typical cube, but it helps solidify the color's identity as unique and gives it an aggressive slant. Also, my counterspell suite uses mostly "pay more" counters, which mana disruption helps keep relevant. I like it. Annex can be an extremely stupid card though, I'm not sure its staying in. Sunder has won a decent share of games in its run so far. Parralax Wave ends the game, unless the game doesn't end, of course. Those two and mana vortex are my three armageddon replacements that lean people into aggressive blue because its the only color that gets those desirable effects. Of course, aggressive mono blue doesn't work because the small drops don't beat hard enough.
My favorite group B card is Mana Vortex. You sometimes get completely blown out playing with it, but its so powerful, its only fair! Mana Breach is the hardest to make work and I often think about giving up on it, but I have seen it do some quality work in green/blue and it can be an out of the sideboard allstar.
