Jason Waddell's Cube

[Jason Waddell]

http://www.cubetutor.com/viewcube/40807

Tear my list up. Does Catacomb Sifter deserve a slot? Should I cut something for Lightning Berserker? Other changes?

 

[Suicufnoc]

Plow Under is definitely the objectively stronger card. Just need to see how Primal Command fares, especially with all these Gravecrawlers running around. Half a Plow Under + tutor a creature isn't too shabby either.

Primal Command has been plenty good, I much prefer it to Plow for being more decision intensive/flexible/fun/less feel bad

oops that was page one

I had almost the ideal draft pool to pick up Catacomb Sifter and passed it for something that was still better, for what thats worth. dont remember what.

 

[vennythekid]

This is kinda disgusting...

RUG Puke from CubeTutor.com

 

[Jason Waddell]

I updated the OP, which was way out of date. Not sure what I should do about CubeTutor, sample a random iteration of the cube and throw it up on there?

 

[shamizy]

Cubetutor has a sideboard option now where you can store other stuff you're working with/planning to work with. You'd have some random iteration out, but the rest would be in the sideboard which we could look at whenever.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Updated this thread's OP with a visual spoiler.

 

[Chriskool]

No slot "5 of 10" for fetches? ZEN fetches are *only* 135ish a fiver on MTGO...

 

[Jason Waddell]

No slot "5 of 10" for fetches? ZEN fetches are *only* 135ish a fiver on MTGO...

Exactly. Uh, yeah, if somebody wants to donate them, I will gladly run them. The functional difference between running 3 allied / 2 enemy cycles and ~2.5/~2.5 is so insignificant.

Mostly I'm thinking manlands will make a greater impact at the moment. Been missing the occasional Raging Ravine or Tar Pit rumbling into the red zone.

 

[Chriskool]

Moved post to polycube and packages discussion

 

[B8R]

Jason ever tested Mana Drain in your cube or is that just out of the question busted? Just brainstorming ways to bump up control decks...

 

[Jason Waddell]

I'm not sure if control really needs the help explicitly at the moment, but I did run a proxy mana drain way back in the day. Often times it was just Counterspell, but when it does it was always kind of a "feel bad" effect. I'm not surprised that the next time they printed it, they did so at .

 

[B8R]

Yeah, sounds about right. I can't remember which thread it was in but there was talk about how to support control without also helping midrange and such.

 

[B8R]

Hi Jason,
Since I have no creative achievement (cube) of my own design yet and am currently short on free time, I have been using your list to cube with my friends lately. I have 95% of your main list and about 66% of your consider/buylist. It has worked out well so far and the games have been fun!

I have some questions and comments that I am interested in getting some feedback on if you are willing!

Blue:

Squelch- Is this just a replacement for Stifle that can cycle when it's not relevant?

Dissipate- I hate the double blue for a 3 CMC Counterspell here. Have you tried Syncopate, which is easier to cast and can sometimes hit something on x=1?

Scatter to the Winds- feels like cancel 98% of the time. My favorite 3 CMC Counterspells in your list are Complicate, Spell Shrivel, and Exclude. I feel like they should all be single blue and either exile (or bottom) or draw a card. Maybe trim down to 2 slots instead of 3 as well?

Pestermite- I'm just very surprised that this versatile and interesting card is missing.

Waterfront Bouncer- ever played this guy?

Black:

Toxic Deluge- was this cut for Languish?

Red:

Pia and Kiran Nalaar- I think I've read somewhere before about your distaste for army-in-a-can cards, but this one makes flyers so it doesn't contribute to board stalls as much, plus it has an interesting activated ability. This could help open up the Tezzeret deck into Grixis colors, too, which might be a cool thing.

Act of Agression- have you tried this? The instant speed mode just gives some sweet options.

Green:

Curse of Predation- this was one of those hooks for going into green aggro that I thought was particularly good. Thoughts?

Boon Satyr- I just love this card. Thoughts and experiences with this? Bant Doublestrike deck? Simic Tempo? I'm always looking for solid combat tricks for cube, too.

Artifact:

Hangarback Walker- see Pia and Kiran. Too resilient? Too universal?

Hybrid:

Figure of Destiny/Warden of the First Tree- surprised these are missing as they seem like strong 1 drops to support multicolored aggro. Opinion?

Tricolor:

Villainous Wealth- Maybe a cool option for a big mana Sultai control deck?

I feel like your 3 color cards should be special and have some direction associated with them. The modal utility spells like Sultai and Esper Charm seem kinda boring. Cards like Jeskai Ascendancy and Rafiq of the Many are awesome and have wow appeal to someone opening a pack.

Gold:

Dragonlord Ojutai
Sagu Mauler
Dack's Duplicate

Thoughts? I just really like these cards.

Xenagos the Reveler/Dragonlord Atarka- have you ever thought about making your Gruul about rampy things?


Lands:

Creature Lands- have you figured out how and if you want to include these?

Thanks in advance for any opinions or feedback!

 

[Suicufnoc]

I'll comment on a few of those.
Dissipate: Cut it. Best 1UU counters are Hinder and Dissolve.
Scatter to the Winds: I awaken maybe 30% of the time, not too bad.
Toxic Deluge: Never cut it ever
Pia and Kiran: If you're gonna run an army in a can, this is my favorite one. I run it.
Curse of Predation: Probably too good.
Hangarback Walker: A little too generically good and annoying for some.


Dragonlord Ojutai, Sagu Mauler: Meh, boring
Dacks Duplicate: Good and fun.

 

[Jason Waddell]

I feel like my cube's in a pretty good spot, but I want some more cool interactions. Open for all sorts of suggestions!

 

[Jason Waddell]

Hi Jason,
Since I have no creative achievement (cube) of my own design yet and am currently short on free time, I have been using your list to cube with my friends lately. I have 95% of your main list and about 66% of your consider/buylist. It has worked out well so far and the games have been fun!

I have some questions and comments that I am interested in getting some feedback on if you are willing!

Blue:

Squelch- Is this just a replacement for Stifle that can cycle when it's not relevant?

Dissipate- I hate the double blue for a 3 CMC Counterspell here. Have you tried Syncopate, which is easier to cast and can sometimes hit something on x=1?

Scatter to the Winds- feels like cancel 98% of the time. My favorite 3 CMC Counterspells in your list are Complicate, Spell Shrivel, and Exclude. I feel like they should all be single blue and either exile (or bottom) or draw a card. Maybe trim down to 2 slots instead of 3 as well?

Pestermite- I'm just very surprised that this versatile and interesting card is missing.

Waterfront Bouncer- ever played this guy?

Black:

Toxic Deluge- was this cut for Languish?

Red:

Pia and Kiran Nalaar- I think I've read somewhere before about your distaste for army-in-a-can cards, but this one makes flyers so it doesn't contribute to board stalls as much, plus it has an interesting activated ability. This could help open up the Tezzeret deck into Grixis colors, too, which might be a cool thing.

Act of Agression- have you tried this? The instant speed mode just gives some sweet options.

Green:

Curse of Predation- this was one of those hooks for going into green aggro that I thought was particularly good. Thoughts?

Boon Satyr- I just love this card. Thoughts and experiences with this? Bant Doublestrike deck? Simic Tempo? I'm always looking for solid combat tricks for cube, too.

Artifact:

Hangarback Walker- see Pia and Kiran. Too resilient? Too universal?

Hybrid:

Figure of Destiny/Warden of the First Tree- surprised these are missing as they seem like strong 1 drops to support multicolored aggro. Opinion?

Tricolor:

Villainous Wealth- Maybe a cool option for a big mana Sultai control deck?

I feel like your 3 color cards should be special and have some direction associated with them. The modal utility spells like Sultai and Esper Charm seem kinda boring. Cards like Jeskai Ascendancy and Rafiq of the Many are awesome and have wow appeal to someone opening a pack.

Gold:

Dragonlord Ojutai
Sagu Mauler
Dack's Duplicate

Thoughts? I just really like these cards.

Xenagos the Reveler/Dragonlord Atarka- have you ever thought about making your Gruul about rampy things?


Lands:

Creature Lands- have you figured out how and if you want to include these?

Thanks in advance for any opinions or feedback!

Oh man, I don't think I ever saw this post. This is great!

 

[Jason Waddell]

Cards from the other thread:

 

[Jason Waddell]

Blue:
Squelch- Is this just a replacement for Stifle that can cycle when it's not relevant?
Dissipate- I hate the double blue for a 3 CMC Counterspell here. Have you tried Syncopate, which is easier to cast and can sometimes hit something on x=1?
Scatter to the Winds- feels like cancel 98% of the time. My favorite 3 CMC Counterspells in your list are Complicate, Spell Shrivel, and Exclude. I feel like they should all be single blue and either exile (or bottom) or draw a card. Maybe trim down to 2 slots instead of 3 as well?

Pestermite- I'm just very surprised that this versatile and interesting card is missing.

Waterfront Bouncer- ever played this guy?

Black:

Toxic Deluge- was this cut for Languish?

Red:
Act of Agression- have you tried this? The instant speed mode just gives some sweet options.

Green:

Curse of Predation- this was one of those hooks for going into green aggro that I thought was particularly good. Thoughts?
Boon Satyr- I just love this card. Thoughts and experiences with this? Bant Doublestrike deck? Simic Tempo? I'm always looking for solid combat tricks for cube, too.

Artifact:

Hangarback Walker- see Pia and Kiran. Too resilient? Too universal?

Gold:


Dragonlord Ojutai
Sagu Mauler
Dack's Duplicate



Xenagos the Reveler/Dragonlord Atarka- have you ever thought about making your Gruul about rampy things?

Lands: creature Lands- have you figured out how and if you want to include these?

So. Squelch. Yes, this is a stifle replacement. I found that the cantrip was well worth the extra mana, since my cube isn't suuuuuper tight on mana usually.
I have tried Syncopate, but I'm not a huge fan of X counterspells, and I already run Condescend.
Scatter to the Winds probably is just that a lot of the times, but I don't think Cancel is terrible. I like the option. The 3 CMC counters you mention are cool. If you trimmed to 2, what would you suggest to do with the slot?

Good call on Pestermite, probably deserves a slot.
I played with Bouncer back in the day, but haven't in a long time. Sell me on it?

Toxic Deluge was cut for Languish. I really love Languish actually, the more I play with it. But the real reason Deluge was gone was because the price was super high on MODO. I guess I could get it now?

Used to run Act of Agression, but the instant speed never did all that much. At least, the spells that wanted a threaten usually weren't using it to block.

Curse of Predation was good before. Maybe even too good. Worth a revisit.
Boon Satyr was pretty average here, and didn't really lead to the plays I was looking for.

Hangarback Walker may be too good. The more I've seen it, the less fun it seems.

Will check out those gold cards.

I would love a "creature land of choice" slot in the ULD, but the manlands are so expensive for such a marginal gain.

 

[Jason Waddell]

 

[Karn Cuberated]

*cough*
Oof, so much dust here So many years have passed. But I'm sure this thread can live. So.
Hi, Jason! Are you still running Bonfire of the Damned in your primary list? I've heard many people complain about it being immensely powerful, and, with your quintet of Brainstorms + some other top-deck setting spells, isn't it consistently game-ruining for the opposing player? I'm curious since I'm also thinking about introducing some "miraculous" cards into my list, and while things like Terminus and Temporal Mastery seem more or less fair, Entreat the Angels and/or Bonefire for me are doubtful because of how powerful they potentially are even in cubes with high power band.
On the other topic

Good call on Pestermite, probably deserves a slot.

So, since then have you had any experience with Pestermite? Is it worth cubing outside of Kiki/Twin combo?

 

[Jason Waddell]

*cough*
Oof, so much dust here So many years have passed. But I'm sure this thread can live. So.
Hi, Jason! Are you still running Bonfire of the Damned in your primary list? I've heard many people complain about it being immensely powerful, and, with your quintet of Brainstorms + some other top-deck setting spells, isn't it consistently game-ruining for the opposing player? I'm curious since I'm also thinking about introducing some "miraculous" cards into my list, and while things like Terminus and Temporal Mastery seem more or less fair, Entreat the Angels and/or Bonefire for me are doubtful because of how powerful they potentially are even in cubes with high power band.
On the other topic

So, since then have you had any experience with Pestermite? Is it worth cubing outside of Kiki/Twin combo?

Hey, good questions. Yeah, Bonfire turned out to be too powerful, it's kind of a feel-bad blowout without much the opponent can do about it.

Pestermite isn't bad, I tend to really like flying 3-drops as my beaters in Ux tempo decks. Even just tapping an opposing permanent can provide a key opening, to get a hit in on a Planeswalker or something like that. It's not super integral as a card, but I think it's fun and flexible enough to play with.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Working on the utility land draft. This post is just so I can see the card images.

Spoiler

 

[Jason Waddell]

Current issues with my cube:

I think there are too many slots in black dedicated to dumb Zombie support.
Some of the Commander cards really annoy me.
White needs something to make it more exciting. I don't think there are enough synergies there.

Some cards I'm looking at:

Spoiler

 

[Jason Waddell]

Contested Warzone, City of Brass, Yavimaya Hollow out.
Terramorphic Expanse, Evolving Wilds, Green Castle in.

Bicycle lands out, triomes in

Maybe Murmuring Bosk out

 

[Karn Cuberated]

So, you're on fixing lands now? It seems to me you wrote somewhere that you were not going to put them into UL part of your cube. Just curious, because I love your idea of ULD and run fixing in this section.
Also I wanted to ask, do you still run Grave Titan? I'm thinking about trying Reanimator in my cube, and this fellow could be a card that's wanted not exclusively by this kind of strategies, but by all slower black decks. But many people call it oppressive. How has it been for you and your players?
Speaking of Reanimator, I remember you had it in your cube in the past, right? Is it possible to normally support this shell at 360? It seems to require a lot of precious slots to be devoted to reanimation spells and fatties, considering you want to have 6-8 of each in your deck. There are some reanimation spells that also can be used in any black midrange deck (Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, Necromancy, Life // Death), but I feel I still could run something of higher demand in their places.