Inscho's Graveyard Combo Cube

[inscho]

For me, Selesnya is the most problematic of the guilds, and it's always good to see others struggle with it too. I can't put my finger on why it's such a problem, I wonder if it's because there's both so much overlap but also such a lack of interesting archetypal possibilities.

Oh it's absolutely the most difficult guild to resolve, and of all the guilds has historically necessitated the most design concessions. I think this version is the most successful I've been with it tbh.

I think your 4 card Selesyna solution is great, and you should certainly make the changes. I think it's really good. This might be too much for you, but geier reach sanitarium would help you slot the GW lands archetype into GW reanimator too?

Hmmm...that's an interesting suggestion. I shied away from it for the same reason I've shied away from Oona's Prowler. Giving your opponent access to discard is playing with fire a little bit. However, I think this would be much better since you control the discard. I would like a colorless discard outlet for reanimator. I need to see what it could replace. Thanks!

I've never been that impressed by turntimber sower, just feels like there's too many hoops to jump through, and not a lot of reward. Emeria Angel should be good with the new improved approach to Selesnya though. Though that reinforces the theme is 'landfall' rather than go wide powered by lands and graveyard, so might not be the direction you want to go, but does point the drafter in direction of GW.

Turntimber is primarily a combo piece and has a really high ceiling. It is a killer in stax in particular. I think I'm going to pass on the angel for now, because Trove Warden covers some ground I need from white more. Between Felidar Retreat, Battle Screech, and Elsepth Sun's Nemesis, I don't think I can afford another 4cmc token maker in white.

The Earthcraft route just makes me uncomfortable. I know you have a higher power level, but Earthcraft is real power. I think you could (and should?) certainly make room for Jolreal with all the cycling effects. Don't think it's living the dream, it's very achievable.

Yeah, it just instantly weaponizes any deck. I think I've avoided the need for it with this newest change. One day the card pool will have allowed for enough of an increase in power to consider it again, but I feel like we are a couple years from that.


You're probably right on Jorael. I'll look for a cut. I did want some kind of cheap token producer for the guild. It is pretty nutty in Simic in particular which could use a little more clarity with its token deck.

 

[inscho]

I'm having some difficulty finding a cut for Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse. I think I'm a little too deep into my list to tell the forest from the trees. Any suggestions?

 

[Alfonzo Bonzo]

I think you could make an argument to get rid of a green one drop (Chainweb Arachnir / Gnarlwood Dryad) but presume you want to keep those for curve reasons.

Honestly, I'd get rid of Resilient Khendra. I don't really rate it that much, and I don't think it does enough in your cube, it's just something else to flashback from the graveyard (and not at a good rate). Jolreal is much more interesting.

 

[inscho]

I think you could make an argument to get rid of a green one drop (Chainweb Arachnir / Gnarlwood Dryad) but presume you want to keep those for curve reasons.

Good suggestions. Aracnir is surprisingly solid as a recursive 4/5 which dodges wildfire and languish. I don't run any fight mechanics in green so it's nice as a bit of a roadblock with reach. I was just talking about the Dryad being barely serviceable in my cube in Erik's thread. I was keeping them in for curve reasons, with the dryad in particular being a placeholder for a future green one drop that is worth a damn.

Honestly, I'd get rid of Resilient Khendra. I don't really rate it that much, and I don't think it does enough in your cube, it's just something else to flashback from the graveyard (and not at a good rate). Jolreal is much more interesting.

Yeah, I keep considering that one. It's fairly low impact. I threw it in mostly to play off of white's blink to give a little crossover appeal to the berserkers archetype. It also solid with ferocious, and provides a body worth dredging into. I like replacing a 2 drop with a 2 drop, but I think it is better than the Dryad.

 

[inscho]

Made the resilient khenra for jolrael swap to the main list.

MH2 is already a lot to wrap my head around and there’s still more to come! but with the introduction of Dragon’s Rage Channeler and Blazing Rootwalla, I’m considering adding a few one drop Aggro pieces. DRC in particular opens up a lot of interesting angles to red Aggro. This is my testing ground:

https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/tlv

I’m sharing this half-baked draft just to get some outside perspective before I dig too deep into it, and to record what I’m thinking as I’m about to fall asleep

Even without running top-shelf one drops like goblin guide, there are still a lot of adjustments to make in the cube to compensate. I’m not sure if this is a road I really want to go down, but it’s a fun idea to play around with. It certainly feels less difficult to explore with all of the tier 2 removal available now.

The pieces I brought in are all pretty interesting and synergistic so it doesn’t feel like much texture is lost... as long as it doesn’t choke out any of the other strategies. My fear is that it’s a little too fast for my slower ramp package. If the ramp suite holds up, I think the idea could stick.

Neonate in the list is the new rootwalla.

Interested to hear your thoughts!

 

[dbs]

Making aggressive angles possible while keeping the texture is definitely interesting. At least in my own cube, I think I have this worked out on the drafting end; it comes together pretty naturally. But I think I have similar worries about the impact on gameplay patterns. Right now my plan is to hand-build pairs of decks explicitly for testing polarized match-ups of aggro vs other (something like Thalia aggro vs Breach combo, Aggro vs Oath, etc etc). I want to try out different volume and composition of disruption suites on both sides of the match with a testing partner to make sure everyone has the tools they need for interactive games.

As an aside, I'm wondering how few lands some of these decks can run. In my cube, with the amount of smoothing available, I kinda suspect it's much lower than I usually build decks. What do 12-13-14-15 land cube decks look like?

 

[Modin]

As an aside, I'm wondering how few lands some of these decks can run. In my cube, with the amount of smoothing available, I kinda suspect it's much lower than I usually build decks. What do 12-13-14-15 land cube decks look like?

This is easily answered looking at the penny pincer cube: 10 random lands + 4 bouncelands.

On a more serious note: you need 10+ sources to reliably have access to a colored mana source on turn 1 in a 40 card deck. Going down below, say 15 lands means that you want to be either playing a mono-colored deck or have a ton of fixing.

This might be useful (sauce):



DISCLAIMER: Karsten is assuming you play 17 lands here, so the numbers represented here are probably "better" than they would be in your scenario.

 

[Alfonzo Bonzo]

Dragon's Rage Channeler is a good and interesting card, I'm less convinced about Blazing Rootwalla, it's a bit of a feast or famine card and I think surprisingly format warping. I don't think including them both requires you to switch up a deck to make red aggro viable - is it not viable already? Don't you just compliment what already exists by choosing to maybe supplement it with the two new cards? It worries me when you start to slot Hazoret the Fervent into your list!

I don't think you'd play Blazing Rootwalla if it didn't have madness, so clearly we'd want to be looking at discard aggro options or cheap spell based aggro. This rules out white as a support pretty much. Players will see options in blue, but I think that is probably currently a trap, and not sure you'd want to change blue to make it viable. I don't think there are enough options in black (though it's probably fine) and there's a risk they look for a 'madness' deck. Then there's RG, where you have pretty much two mongrels? I just don't think it's worth it. Sometimes you'll turn one Faithless Looting + Walla, or turn two Bloodrage Brawler + Walla and it'll be a beating, but apart from that...

 

[inscho]

As an aside, I'm wondering how few lands some of these decks can run. In my cube, with the amount of smoothing available, I kinda suspect it's much lower than I usually build decks. What do 12-13-14-15 land cube decks look like?

I think 15 is the lowest I could really imagine getting away with outside of a deck that managed to draft every bauble. There are several decks that can live reasonably well on two land.

Don't you just compliment what already exists by choosing to maybe supplement it with the two new cards?

Yeah, the rich get richer with the rootwallas. Gruul aggro is already one of the nuttier aggro archetypes with access to things like Berserk and Wheel of Fortune.

I don't think you'd play Blazing Rootwalla if it didn't have madness, so clearly we'd want to be looking at discard aggro options or cheap spell based aggro. This rules out white as a support pretty much. Players will see options in blue, but I think that is probably currently a trap, and not sure you'd want to change blue to make it viable. I don't think there are enough options in black (though it's probably fine) and there's a risk they look for a 'madness' deck. Then there's RG, where you have pretty much two mongrels? I just don't think it's worth it. Sometimes you'll turn one Faithless Looting + Walla, or turn two Bloodrage Brawler + Walla and it'll be a beating, but apart from that...

All good points. Thanks for the reminder of why I've cut Basking in the past. I'm thinking more clearly this morning after a good night's sleep and a strong cup of coffee

I think DRC is a safe inclusion that slots into the existing architecture and does a lot of good things.....it's funny how quickly you can get into an arms race between your colors.

 

[inscho]

I drafted this fun 5c Kenrith deck with @Alfonzo Bonzo 's new list the other day, and it's been kicking around in the back of my mind as the new converge cards have spoiled.




It seems like a lot of fun to have a couple 5c strategies to unlock, and I'm trying to decide if it's worth committing design space to...In Alf's cube, Bring to Light + Kenrith fits like a glove and felt like an easter egg to me when drafting. It has me brainstorming what coherent and unique strategies I can enable through 5c in my cube. I think one area I could work on a bit more in my cube design (and drafting) is considering 3c+ decks...I try to maximize mechanical overlaps between all colors, but I almost exclusively think in terms of guilds.

As far as 5c support, right now I only have:


The MH2 card Prismatic Ending is very playable, and Kaleidoscorch is probably less good, but still interesting and could possibly slot in over another burn spell.

I know several folks here have explored 5c strategies (@Jason Waddell), could any of you lend me insight into some of your favorite payoffs/enablers or any other suggestions you might have?

I'm less interested in supporting a classic "domain" archetype as I am trying to find minimally invasive ways to thread in a 5c strategy. The 5c reanimator angle seems pretty viable in my cube with all of the cycling creatures in each color. I'm sure there are all sorts of absurd things I could with 5c, but I don't know where to start.

 

[Nanonox]

Ignoring Domain, here are a few angles (in addition to Kenrith and BTL)

Colored permanents



The Tender and Elder seem playable outside of the 5C deck which is a plus.

Recursion



Seems right at home in your GY focused cube.

Dragon!



Big ETB, but there aren't that many cards per guild that this seems too strong.

I think less is more for this kind of archetype. It can happen once every few drafts but not too often.

 

[sigh]

Can attest to Bloom Tender working extremely well even outside of a dedicated 5C deck. Even two or three mana on tap is really gassy! I would assume the Elder plays much the same (except comes in tapping for at least two off the bat!)

 

[blacksmithy]

i am working on fleshing out 5c as a “large archetype” in my own cube, here is what i’m currently running to support it:

20 fetches and 20 duals at 4player size, to me having the best possible fixing is step one of getting this to happen. it’s the “enabler” if you will. if you want to count other enablers besides lands, i run Abundant Growth, Unbridled Growth, BoP, and 5 Chromatic Stars to aid in fixing mana.

step two: larger guild section so there are more reasons to splash and more niv hits

step three: niv and golos as CLEAR signals that it’s a thing i want people to try. niv stands out like crazy in a pack.
i also run
as ways to dip a toe in and start picking lands higher even if you don’t go all in on the plan.

then i do have several payoffs for being 3+ color in the rest of the cube:
Hero of Precinct One
Prismatic Ending
Evasive Maneuvers
Painful Truths
Tribal Flames
Kaleidoscorch
Territorial Kavu
General Ferrous Rokiric
Engineered Explosives

For me it’s not just a micro archetype, the ability to easily be 3+ colors is an essential foundation of the environment and i run custom lands that are better than the traditional fetch/dual base to further emphasize this. but you can take what you will from the list haha, the number one thing in my mind is just that the fixing density is the enabler and everything else is a payoff.

 

[Alfonzo Bonzo]

Thanks for the deck feature, but I can’t believe you listed all the expensive creatures at full cost, you monster! It might be helpful for you to think about what you want to achieve, unless it’s just five colours are cool, which is fine too I guess?

It might be useful to talk about how I got to where I did and see if that helps. I think my design started with the mana base - I wanted it to be easy for players to draft lands which fitted in with the colours they are playing - jungle shrine is useful for players in three guilds, and so won’t circle round the table. Bouncelands and Temples are useful for you even if you’re only in one of the colours. This naturally leads to situations where you have duals which could conceivably let you splash one, two or three additional colours, especially when supported with things like chromatic star. The ‘five colour’ cards support that, but the design isn’t to have a five colour deck available, because my five colour cards don’t need all five colours to make them good.

Kenrith is good when you’re just in Orzhov, Bring to Light is still good when you can search Eternal Witness, and Chamber Sentry will still be fine. I would look for cards which scale up with more colours but are still useful with one or two, rather than looking for a full five colour archetype.

The other effect of this ease of splashing is that it allows decks to look for fixing and effects in colours they might not normally want to, hopefully leading to a wider variety of more creative decks. I honestly generally don’t think about guilds when I’m designing anymore. I think part of the appeal of the deck you shared wasn’t necessarily just about the five colour element but that you could play a deck that See’s the Unwritten into Eternal Dragon and Eternal Witness, returned Waker of Waves to hand with Vengeful Rebirth, and copied Crater Elemental copied tokens with Selesnya Eulogist. All powered by the mana base and greens ability to search basics.

(Also, a little shout out to Path to the World Tree for causing many a train wreck draft in Kaldheim when I would pivot to playing it midway through the draft because it’s such fun. Love how it fits with the self bounce in cube here too.)

Path to the World tree is a good 5 colour card, Golos obviously works too (but I still worry about him causing the player to draft an excessive number of duals). These two are probably too low power for you, and we’ve mentioned one of them before, but they would fit in with your themes:



Additionally you might want to explore some three colour options, rather than going all in with the five colours straight away? I do think the better approach is looking for easier to cast cards that scale rather than true five colours though.

I like Nannox’s suggestions of Bloom Tender, Faeburrow Elder and in particular, All Suns’ Dawn - a lot.

 

[inscho]

Recursion

Seems right at home in your GY focused cube.

I definitely think this in particular could have legs here.

For me it’s not just a micro archetype, the ability to easily be 3+ colors is an essential foundation of the environment

Some good suggestions, thanks! I probably don't want to venture too far down the 3+ color road with this project...but I really like the idea conceptually and your application of it.

It might be useful to talk about how I got to where I did and see if that helps. I think my design started with the mana base - I wanted it to be easy for players to draft lands which fitted in with the colours they are playing - jungle shrine is useful for players in three guilds, and so won’t circle round the table. Bouncelands and Temples are useful for you even if you’re only in one of the colours. This naturally leads to situations where you have duals which could conceivably let you splash one, two or three additional colours, especially when supported with things like chromatic star.

One of my favorite aspects of your cube is the use of the incidental splash. I really enjoy how many cards are playable as mono-colored cards, but have an added dimension with access to other colors like Mythos of Illuna.

Golos obviously works too (but I still worry about him causing the player to draft an excessive number of duals).

Golos is very useful as a colorless card, and I think the format is fast enough to maybe keep that aspect in check?

=====

I've been thinking about it some more, and I'm just spitballing here....not sure if this has legs.

Similar to the 5c Kenrith deck I posted, I run a pretty large suite of big cycling creatures across the colors that feel like a common point of leverage in a 5c context:



Timeless Dragon is the one not showing up. Krosan Tusker could easily join the mix although it's a little lower powered.

The ones that landcycle are particularly interesting to a 5c deck to fetch the Triomes and Shocklands.

One obvious path is to take this is 5c Living Death/Reanimator. All of the main pieces are in place, I would just need to find maybe 1-2 more cornerstone pieces to solidify the archetype as a 5c option. I would probably want a redundant Living Death like Twilight's Call or a comparable analogue. Grave Upheaval is nice here.

This should be good with all of the cycle fatties:



Another avenue I've considered which also blends into the 5c cycle deck, is a 5c mill combo deck with the addition of:



To complement things like:



Druid already wants to be in a multicolored deck with lots of nonbasics, but is completely serviceable in 2 color decks. The self-shuffling cards like Nexus of Fate and the suggested Legacy Weapon would have utility here. I love the weapon, but it probably doesn't have enough utility outside of mill-insurance in this environment.

The deck presumably already exists without any changes. The issue here is that this isn't all that distinct from what Simic and Dimir normally do, so what is the draw to 5c? Maybe All Suns' Dawn could be the pop that the consistency of a 2-color approach lacks? Reconstruct History could be interesting here as the primary mill colors are BUG so that's a real incentive to venture out of the wedge. I feel like there's a really obvious card here that I'm overlooking.

As far as Bring to Light goes, Golos is probably my best target. I'm not sure what else I'm running that would feel great as a payoff. What are some of your favorite BtL targets?

 

[blacksmithy]

living death would be a perfect 5c archetype for the gy combo cube!
EDIT: i think reconstruct history is pure gas if your format has 4 mana to spend at sorcery speed recurring stuff. it’s like a reverse cataclysm in how you build around it which is very fun.

 

[sigh]

All Suns' Dawn is a pretty gassy BtL target, so I guess add that to the reasons to run. Living Death as blacksmithy mentions is also a great BtL target.

 

[inscho]

Oh yeah, Living Death and All Suns' Dawn are 5cmc sorceries, huh? lol....right in front of my damn face.

 

[sigh]

Besides that, it just works really well in a tutoring role for a wide variety of build arounds or spells needed in the moment. Sometimes fetching out Murder or just some random beefcake (Timeless Dragon is 5 cmc!) is the correct play in that moment.

 

[inscho]

i think reconstruct history is pure gas if your format has 4 mana to spend at sorcery speed recurring stuff. it’s like a reverse cataclysm in how you build around it which is very fun.

Yeah, I don't think it would be much of a problem for my environment. It can get pretty fast, but it's not like it's consistently blistering. I'm sure I can make a couple substitutions to increase the variety in card type. I'm not married to any of the Boros guild cards at the moment: Lightning Helix, Venerable Warsinger, and Nahiri, the Harbinger

 

[Nanonox]

I also wanted to second @blacksmithy 's suggestion of Omnath, Locus of Creation.
While not technically a 5C card, I've found that it secretly kind of is. If you are able to get the fetches and ramp spells to trigger him, odds are, you can squeeze another color in there.

It makes Omnath a lodestone for a Green based 5 color landfall deck. Tatyova, Benthic Druid, The Gitrog Monster, Wrenn and Six, Knight of the Reliquary and more easily slot in. It's a more heavy handed approach that lacks some subtlety, but it is fun!

Also Dryad of the Ilysian Grove shines in the Omnath deck, but can serve as a 5C enabler elsewhere too (Chromatic Lantern to a lesser degree as well).

 

[inscho]

I also wanted to second @blacksmithy 's suggestion of Omnath, Locus of Creation.
While not technically a 5C card, I've found that it secretly kind of is. If you are able to get the fetches and ramp spells to trigger him, odds are, you can squeeze another color in there.

It makes Omnath a lodestone for a Green based 5 color landfall deck. Tatyova, Benthic Druid, The Gitrog Monster, Wrenn and Six, Knight of the Reliquary and more easily slot in. It's a more heavy handed approach that lacks some subtlety, but it is fun!

Also Dryad of the Ilysian Grove shines in the Omnath deck, but can serve as a 5C enabler elsewhere too (Chromatic Lantern to a lesser degree as well).

Omnath is really cool. I'm just a little gun shy of introducing explicit 3+ color cards. I appreciate the feedback. Lots for me to chew on.

I was looking at Chromatic Lantern....which seems like a perfectly reasonable mana rock in my environment. I like that it slots easily into a mono-color deck next to Golos, and lets you activate the ability. Could be a blue artifact control achievement unlocker with Tinker as help in assembling the duo.

The dryad is cool too, but I'm not sure I'd want to slot it in over Oracle of Mul Daya or Exploration.

 

[inscho]

After looking at it more, the 5c emphasis would have a larger impact on cube real estate than I'm willing to commit to right now. I'm going to shelve the idea for now, but it is something I'm still interested in. I thought I could just toss in a handful of cards like Prismatic Ending, Kaleidoscorch, and Bring to Light and call it day, but I think the package would actually need to be closer to 10-15 cards.

Update now that MH2 is fully spoiled:

Out:
Angel of Sanctions
Forsake the Worldly
The Birth of Meletis
Yahenni, Undying Partisan
Eat to Extinction
Bloodchief's Thirst
Inquisition of Kozilek
Beacon of Unrest
Staggershock
Reclamation Sage
Psychatog
Walking Ballista
Myr Retriever
Porcelain Legionnaire
Retrofitter Foundry
Izzet Boilerworks

In:
Timeless Dragon
Late to Dinner
Portable Hole
Grief
Viscera Seer
Bone Shards
Tragic Fall
Makeshift Mannequin
Mogg War Marshal
Goblin Sharpshooter
Foundation Breaker
Master of Death
Hangarback Walker
Liquimetal Torque
Silverbluff Bridge
Geier Reach Sanitarium

MH2 Cards Comments:
Timeless Dragon:
A little vanilla, but I'm excited about it. I've been in the market for a mid-game white creature that survives Wildfire/Languish. Cycle it, mill it, reanimate it.....it does a little bit of everything that my white sections wants. I've also learned from Curator of Mysteries that an on curve 4/4 flier has real value in my format.

Late to Dinner:
I have run Breath of Life and Miraculous Recovery at certain points, but both were underwhelming. Stapling a food token to BoL really ups its value for me. White's reanimator decks often exist in control shells where the life gain from the token can be relevant. The artifact token helps tie in white's reanimation package with the Welders in red. It also doesn't hurt to have another thing to sac for Marionette Master

Grief:
I love this card. I was skeptical of it being too strong, but it's getting some run after I talked it out with sigh and blacksmithy here.

Bone Shards:
I'm always looking for easy ways to add discard outlets to black. Undead Gladiator got squeezed out of the list recently for being a little too slow, but its absence has been noticeable. Probably one of my favorite cards in the set.

Tragic Fall:
I wanted another 2cmc black instant removal spell, and this has a solid baseline while also telegraphing that hellbent is as existing mechanic which is valuable to me.

Foundation Breaker:
It can't be recurred via Sevinne's Reclamation or Unearth, but this otherwise feels like a strong upgrade over Rec Sage.

Master of Death:
Debated between this or Lazotep Chancellor. Having another discard-matters payoff in Dimir would've been nice, but Master is relevant to every archetype Dimir supports. It's possibly even valuable in decks that can't reliably cast it.

Liquimetal Torque:
I've hunted for another 2 cmc mana rock, and I'm looking forward to trying this out. Turn 2 acceleration in this cube is pretty valuable to begin with, and I'm still unpacking all of the ways this can generate value in my cube. Making things artifacts to sacrifice is great for things like Scrap Trawler, Marionette Master, Goblin Welder, Tinker, etc. It's also really interesting in green to convert Wilt, Foundation Berserker, and Acidic Slime in to creature removal.

Silverbluff Bridge:
I'm a big fan of this cycle, and I still may include more of the blue ridges as time goes on. For now, I think I prefer the bouncelands in Dimir, Simic and Azorius, but it's an easy win in Izzet.

Comments on non-MH2 related changes:
- Retrofitter Foundry:
I decided that the ease and rate in which this generates tokens is not something I want. It has a similar feel to Pia and Kiran Nalaar in that it shows up some of the comparable cards that require a little more work like Shrine of Loyal Legions and Hidden Stockpile.

- Beacon of Unrest:
Love this card in theory, but double black, sorcery speed, and it tucking are all knocks against it. There aren't many non-creature artifacts worth reanimating, and while targeting your opponents graveyard is spicy, the instant speed of Mannequin really vibes with the color, and I prefer white to have more of the unconditional reanimation.

+ Hangarback Walker:
I didn't like how Walking Ballista outclassesd Lesser Masticore and Triskelion, both of which have more important design roles. I'm testing Walker knowing well that it was once at the top of my list of auto-picks (in a negative way). It covers some of the space from the Retrofitter Foundry cut. Every deck wants it. It's on thin ice. Not much else to say.

+ Mogg War Marshal & Goblin Sharpshooter:
I've noticed a significant drop off in the appeal of creature sacrifice strategies in red. These have always been favorites of mine. I cheated by categorizing Squee as colorless, so I was able to squeeze them both in. Yes, I wanted more Vesperlark targets. Yes, I want to kill you with Greater Gargadon + Turntimber Sower + Goblin Sharpshooter


MH2 cards hat didn't quite make this revision, but are still under consideration:
Esper Sentinel
Murktide Regent
Cabal Initiate
Dragon's Rage Channeler
Tireless Provisioner
Diamond Lion
Lazotep Chancellor
Razortide Bridge
Mistvault Bridge
Urza's Saga
Barbed Spike
Prismatic Ending
Break Ties
Suspend
Necrogoyf
Young Necromancer
Flametongue Yearling
Kaleidoscorch
Endurance
Bannerhide Krushok
Blessed Respite
Nettlecyst

 

[inscho]

Also going to test this:

In:


Out:


Easier to hardcast. Not necessarily as swingy for Sneak Attack but can make you a team of Wildlife surviving plants...or make one plant huge for Berserk or Heartpiercer Manticore. At 6 cmc it can be fetched via Protean Hulk

Am I right in thinking that if you sacrifice World Shaper to Eldritch Evolution to get Phylath you can stack the shaper’s death trigger bringing the lands back once Phylath is in play and has made its tokens? [edit: doesn’t work ]

 

[inscho]

In my ongoing attempts to push my cube's power level to the point just before everything falls to shit...I'm currently mulling these changes over:


Out:


In:


Speculative list with the above changes: https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/f7q

Putting it into a post helps me visualize the losses and gains that come with ratcheting the power up.

Two picks into the rectangle draft of the Mox Cube and I'm already craving a return to more broken interactions in my cube. Maybe the Mox Cube is inspiring my next Blazing Rootwalla fever dream of the week? Only time will tell.

Some of these changes would switch out more synergistic/delicate interactions with ones that have stronger archetype defining qualities and gravity.

My position on tutors has softened as I grow interested in making combo a little more intentional. I definitely enjoy incidental combo, but I'd also like for decks to have the resources for more streamlined plans of execution.

Would love to hear any thoughts you guys have.