Grillo_Parlante
Contributor
Added from page 2, original post below:
...So, based on the number of times I've been asked in the thread, "why would someone do this" it would seem I've done a very poor job explaining myself. Thankfully, CML just provided this fantastic article, about tribal archetypes, which can hopefully help illuminate the topic.
So, key points for a tribal theme to work:
1. The tribal pieces not to be poisonous
2. Incentive synergy for having a lot of these cards.
Any confusion is pretty much entirely my fault, since I labeled the post "tribal" and not "golems are a sweet card type" and most people posting here are running cubes at power levels, where its unlikely that splicers could ever act as the basis of a true tribe.
So, let me make a more condensed, focused case, for where you might do this, and why it has worked as amazingly well as it has, in a low power pauper/peasentish cube
You have these cards:
Uniquely, if these cards are independently reasonable picks in my cube, I have an instant tribal theme. This is because:
1. The individual splicers, in this scenario, are not poisonous. 5 power for 4 mana, for example, would be something that my drafters would be interested in on its own.
2. The splicers themselves bring incentive synergy for having a lot of them. Every splicer or golem I add to the board, makes all of the other golem tokens better. This is how lord cards work, which we normally can never run in cube, because lords are poisonous. Splicers get around this problem even before we start talking about incidental synergy with other golems, other themes, or cards that care about artifacts.
This is the most compact, consistent tribal theme you can get for a cube i.m.o. Splicers are unique in that they provide, in a single card, both a lord to reward you for drafting more of them, but also provide solid value on their own.
Now, pursuant to this, the less splicers our power level allows, the less this becomes a real tribe. In my own cube, I run all of them accept for blade splicer, and its great. The deck comes together, regularly, as a splicer deck, built on splicer synergies. However, clearly, once we go up to a power level where all of the other splicers are terrible accept for blade splicer, you now lack the ability to reward someone for drafting a bunch of splicers, because you can only run two of them.
At that point, you don't have a tribal theme, you have some incidental synergy, which is still fun, and you can capitalize on a little bit by running a second blade splicer, and any other reasonable golem at your power level.
I hope that helps to clarify.
Original Post:
Golems, the accidental tribe. Choose your power level:
The Lords/golem army
Sweet Incidental Support
The Blink
Other Golems
...So, based on the number of times I've been asked in the thread, "why would someone do this" it would seem I've done a very poor job explaining myself. Thankfully, CML just provided this fantastic article, about tribal archetypes, which can hopefully help illuminate the topic.
So, key points for a tribal theme to work:
1. The tribal pieces not to be poisonous
2. Incentive synergy for having a lot of these cards.
Any confusion is pretty much entirely my fault, since I labeled the post "tribal" and not "golems are a sweet card type" and most people posting here are running cubes at power levels, where its unlikely that splicers could ever act as the basis of a true tribe.
So, let me make a more condensed, focused case, for where you might do this, and why it has worked as amazingly well as it has, in a low power pauper/peasentish cube
You have these cards:
Uniquely, if these cards are independently reasonable picks in my cube, I have an instant tribal theme. This is because:
1. The individual splicers, in this scenario, are not poisonous. 5 power for 4 mana, for example, would be something that my drafters would be interested in on its own.
2. The splicers themselves bring incentive synergy for having a lot of them. Every splicer or golem I add to the board, makes all of the other golem tokens better. This is how lord cards work, which we normally can never run in cube, because lords are poisonous. Splicers get around this problem even before we start talking about incidental synergy with other golems, other themes, or cards that care about artifacts.
This is the most compact, consistent tribal theme you can get for a cube i.m.o. Splicers are unique in that they provide, in a single card, both a lord to reward you for drafting more of them, but also provide solid value on their own.
Now, pursuant to this, the less splicers our power level allows, the less this becomes a real tribe. In my own cube, I run all of them accept for blade splicer, and its great. The deck comes together, regularly, as a splicer deck, built on splicer synergies. However, clearly, once we go up to a power level where all of the other splicers are terrible accept for blade splicer, you now lack the ability to reward someone for drafting a bunch of splicers, because you can only run two of them.
At that point, you don't have a tribal theme, you have some incidental synergy, which is still fun, and you can capitalize on a little bit by running a second blade splicer, and any other reasonable golem at your power level.
I hope that helps to clarify.
Original Post:
Golems, the accidental tribe. Choose your power level:
The Lords/golem army
Sweet Incidental Support
The Blink
Other Golems
