General Iconic big creatures
- Thread starter kryss
- Start date
curve toppers you say?
My super low powered starter sets runs the dragons from Dungeons and dragons. The uncommon ones.
They not only remind me and half the play group of Heroes of Might and Magic. They also go perfectly with our D&D/Middle Earth setting the entire cube has. And we even have a dragon and reanimator theme on the low power which they all five fit perfectly.
They not only remind me and half the play group of Heroes of Might and Magic. They also go perfectly with our D&D/Middle Earth setting the entire cube has. And we even have a dragon and reanimator theme on the low power which they all five fit perfectly.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I think Shivan Dragon and Colossal Dreadmaw are power outliers here, with the dragon being much more impactful (especially compared to Mahamoti Djinn), and the dinosaur being a lot less impactful. Mahamoti Djinn is a bit boring imho, but it certainly gets the job doneI've been thinking for a while in what would be the best creatures for a cycle of curve toppers in each color that are iconic and somewhat balanced between them and I thought it would be fun to see what would be your candidates. Here are mines:
Here's five "uncommons" that I like!
@Onderzeeboot
Sentinel of the Eternal Watch Dark Souls vibe. Maybe I should find room for this gem.
Pelakka Wurm is an excellent choice too. Very interesting and pulls a player in.
@Nanonox
I really like your choice of Eternal Dragon. I bet a lot of control players would like to ride this dream again.
Sentinel of the Eternal Watch Dark Souls vibe. Maybe I should find room for this gem.
Pelakka Wurm is an excellent choice too. Very interesting and pulls a player in.
@Nanonox
I really like your choice of Eternal Dragon. I bet a lot of control players would like to ride this dream again.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I cube and love both, and they really tie a Wx control deck together! The Sentinel is a bomb uncommon if you have a format where getting to 6 mana is the norm, and the Dragon has early game utility and late game stickiness!
I love that four of the five cards in the OP were very frequently featured in the 30 card "Sample Decks" and "Welcome decks" Wizards used at conventions and such. And then there's Dreadmaw for green - especially funny as from memory the green "Iconic" creature in those decks changed every single year, where the others would cycle in and out.
Using those decks as a reference point, consider Sphinx of Magosi and Terra Stomper over the Djinn and Dino respectively. Aggressive Mammoth is the most recent green rare from those decks but boy is it a step up from Terra Stomper, wins the turn it resolves at that power level.
Edit: Scryfall link for the commons and uncommons from the sample decks - can't do it for welcome decks as they're included as part of their parent core set rather their own numbering system, and it's missing the cards that were in other standard-legal sets at the time of their respective welcome deck as they just used that printing instead. Still might be useful for balanced low power options.
Using those decks as a reference point, consider Sphinx of Magosi and Terra Stomper over the Djinn and Dino respectively. Aggressive Mammoth is the most recent green rare from those decks but boy is it a step up from Terra Stomper, wins the turn it resolves at that power level.
Edit: Scryfall link for the commons and uncommons from the sample decks - can't do it for welcome decks as they're included as part of their parent core set rather their own numbering system, and it's missing the cards that were in other standard-legal sets at the time of their respective welcome deck as they just used that printing instead. Still might be useful for balanced low power options.
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I priorized being iconic (imo) over "somewhat balanced" in my initial list, I just can't think of anything more iconic for red and green than the og big dragon and the meme lord. Terra Stomper doesn't do it for me, so maybe if I wanted to reformulate the list to be more balanced I would go the other way around, using Volcanic Dragon in red and working from there.
I totally get it, its the lack of "iconic 6(ish) drop creature" at that power level that reminded me of the Welcome Decks battle to find a decent green creature to represent the colour, and how absurd it is that green is the colour without an iconic creature. I mean, they used Acidic Slime one year. I love that card, but it's not as instantly memorable as Serra Angel.
Trying to think of iconic green creatures from ages past without resorting to scryfall. Verdant Force, as mentioned. Silvos, Rogue Elemental? Blastoderm? Ravenous Baloth? Uhh... Wood Elemental? Kinda feel like I'm unintentionally proving a point here...
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I feel like hornet queen is the opposite of iconic TBH
It's practically the only green card like itself
It's practically the only green card like itself
"Iconic" in the sense that it's a memorable card that was relevant during its day in constructed.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
The iconic cards do not need to be balanced compared to each other, but balanced in your cube.
What do you mean these are just my favorite top-end creatures in my cube
finally someone else gets it XD
What do you mean these are just my favorite top-end creatures in my cube
This feels about right to me! They are probably too new to be iconic for the game broadly, but I've been cubing with them a long time, so it counts for me. The Herald is probably the least iconic, so you could swap it with Noxious Gearhulk or, weirdly, Carnifex Demon (try Cloning it!).
Sometimes each of them "just win", but more often than not they generate a big swing without totally clinching it. They also each suggest certain deckbuilding decisions, which is not always the case for big creatures.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Harold is really sweet, can confirm! I'm not sure how reliant on synergy you want this slot to be, but I've found him to be excellent gameplay
