All cubes need high CC creatures, but they are hard to get right. Often unplayable, ocasionally game-winning, finding big creatures that are interesting and fun is proving a challenge.
Things also get harder when you include Sneak Attack, Reanimator or Oath in your cube. These cards are very fun, but result in bad games if the targets are overly strong. There's also the need to pair well in several archetypes, like Wildfire and yet still be castable for the average deck.
BIG CREATURES I'M HAPPY WITH:
This is a bit too strong. It's fine in GR decks but if you can cheat this into play with Oath of Druids then it's going to be a pain. Oath is kind of weak, though, so I'm fine with it.
Crater Hellion is a very well-designed card. It's a powerful boardwipe, but it foces you to spend two turns of mana on it if you want to keep the haste 6/6 body. It's also a red control card that supports other colours very well! You can play it in a UR counterburn deck or in a control Reanimator shell. I'm very fond of it.
It's also an iconic card and a friend of mine used to play 4 copies of it in his Extended Sneak Attack build.
This is a pushed card, but I've found it fairly "fair" in practice. Most of the time it brings back a bussiness spell and gets the control player a bit ahead, but it's less backbreaking than a board wipe. It also fits in all sorts of decks and provides consistency. It's also a Tinker/Welder target, which I appreciate.
Sometimes you do get to recur a Fact or Fiction and more or less in, but heh. Some broken stuff is ok from time to time.
This was one of the classic reanimation targets back in the day, but it's still a powerful card.
What I enjoy about Avatar of Woe is that it's not obvious what's the best play with her. Sometimes it's best to use her ability and block, sometimes it's best to attack. She takes a while to get going and is best paired with other creatures. Her discount ability has potential though I haven't found it overly relevant.
A classic. I dislike the fact that it's the only card with Morph in my cube but it fills everything I want in a white fattie: It's an angel, it's a classic, it survives Wildfire, it works in both midrange and control decks and it's not oppresive in its lifelink.
Other than the inelegant anti-reanimator clause, I think Darksteel Colossus is one of the best magic designs. It's huge, it's indestructible but it doesn't win the game on its own without taking at least three turns. You can actually cast it if you have some mana acceleration and I have some appreciation of him as a long-time Tooth and Nail player.
I hate that they made a strictly better version of him that is awfully designed.
I think this is the most versatile, best dragon. It's always useful, it survives wildfire, it can kill some annoying creatures. I know people are going to like this card quite a bit. It's also a good reanimation target (Haste, prevents blockers) while not being stupid.
I'm ok with this card. It's stupid and leads to stupid wins out of nowhere. But so far it's filling a role in my cube that no other card does. It helps the struggling green ramp/Survival decks close the game and makes Reanimator care about other creatures. It's in fact not great in control Reanimator, which I like.
I would look into other staple green fatties, like the bee but I'm told those are kind of unfun.
A low-rank control finisher that punches above its weight. Being able to cycle is nice and it works well in Reanimator decks because it's a 5/5 flyer.
BIG CREATURES I'M NOT HAPPY WITH
Pelakka Wurm has dissapointed me. It's too small and boring to be a good ramp and reanimation target but the life gain is high enough to put aggro out of contention. I'm just not fond of spending a lot of mana to put a 7/7 lifegain wall in play and the card draw almost never comes up.
I thought this card would be fin, but it has proven nasty. Aggro can recover from a board wipe, but it can't recover from a 6/5 creature that will kill them in two hits. Most of the time, Massacre Wurm hits play (often through Reanimation), wipes the board and then it either forces a stall or swings to victory.
This is another classic Reanimator target but I'm not too happy about it. He hasn't proven great in control, can't survive Wildfire and is often mediocre in Reanimator itself. Unlike constructed, you have a fairly limited amount of bombs and spending a pick in one that only draws cards
This is a bad card. Compare this to the four mana Nekraatal, even if you cheat it into play or use Welder to bring it back it's not worth it.
This should work, but doesn't. It's ok in so far it helps you find another reanimation spell, fills the graveyard and works in midrange decks but it feels kind of dull to me and I often feel I would rather run something else.
I love this card. It's a great design, fun and versatile due its artifact status. But I'm finding it somewhat of a luxury. If it could survive Wildfire, it would see more play in my cube, that's for sure.
CARDS I'M CONSIDERING
I wish this wasn't a multicoloured card. It's versatile, it's not too expensive for a control deck. It can be casted by Reanimator and is neither dumb nor weak in that case. It can potentially survive Wildfire. The problem is the WWBB cost. As much as I would like to push for WB Control, I'm not sure I can justify the slot over Sin Collector, Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Lingering Souls.
As you can see, my fatties are on the low mana side. I'm looking into some bigger creatures but I don't think I want Eldrazis in a cube with so many cheat effects.
Things also get harder when you include Sneak Attack, Reanimator or Oath in your cube. These cards are very fun, but result in bad games if the targets are overly strong. There's also the need to pair well in several archetypes, like Wildfire and yet still be castable for the average deck.
BIG CREATURES I'M HAPPY WITH:
This is a bit too strong. It's fine in GR decks but if you can cheat this into play with Oath of Druids then it's going to be a pain. Oath is kind of weak, though, so I'm fine with it.
Crater Hellion is a very well-designed card. It's a powerful boardwipe, but it foces you to spend two turns of mana on it if you want to keep the haste 6/6 body. It's also a red control card that supports other colours very well! You can play it in a UR counterburn deck or in a control Reanimator shell. I'm very fond of it.
It's also an iconic card and a friend of mine used to play 4 copies of it in his Extended Sneak Attack build.
This is a pushed card, but I've found it fairly "fair" in practice. Most of the time it brings back a bussiness spell and gets the control player a bit ahead, but it's less backbreaking than a board wipe. It also fits in all sorts of decks and provides consistency. It's also a Tinker/Welder target, which I appreciate.
Sometimes you do get to recur a Fact or Fiction and more or less in, but heh. Some broken stuff is ok from time to time.
This was one of the classic reanimation targets back in the day, but it's still a powerful card.
What I enjoy about Avatar of Woe is that it's not obvious what's the best play with her. Sometimes it's best to use her ability and block, sometimes it's best to attack. She takes a while to get going and is best paired with other creatures. Her discount ability has potential though I haven't found it overly relevant.
A classic. I dislike the fact that it's the only card with Morph in my cube but it fills everything I want in a white fattie: It's an angel, it's a classic, it survives Wildfire, it works in both midrange and control decks and it's not oppresive in its lifelink.
Other than the inelegant anti-reanimator clause, I think Darksteel Colossus is one of the best magic designs. It's huge, it's indestructible but it doesn't win the game on its own without taking at least three turns. You can actually cast it if you have some mana acceleration and I have some appreciation of him as a long-time Tooth and Nail player.
I hate that they made a strictly better version of him that is awfully designed.
I think this is the most versatile, best dragon. It's always useful, it survives wildfire, it can kill some annoying creatures. I know people are going to like this card quite a bit. It's also a good reanimation target (Haste, prevents blockers) while not being stupid.
I'm ok with this card. It's stupid and leads to stupid wins out of nowhere. But so far it's filling a role in my cube that no other card does. It helps the struggling green ramp/Survival decks close the game and makes Reanimator care about other creatures. It's in fact not great in control Reanimator, which I like.
I would look into other staple green fatties, like the bee but I'm told those are kind of unfun.
A low-rank control finisher that punches above its weight. Being able to cycle is nice and it works well in Reanimator decks because it's a 5/5 flyer.
BIG CREATURES I'M NOT HAPPY WITH
Pelakka Wurm has dissapointed me. It's too small and boring to be a good ramp and reanimation target but the life gain is high enough to put aggro out of contention. I'm just not fond of spending a lot of mana to put a 7/7 lifegain wall in play and the card draw almost never comes up.
I thought this card would be fin, but it has proven nasty. Aggro can recover from a board wipe, but it can't recover from a 6/5 creature that will kill them in two hits. Most of the time, Massacre Wurm hits play (often through Reanimation), wipes the board and then it either forces a stall or swings to victory.
This is another classic Reanimator target but I'm not too happy about it. He hasn't proven great in control, can't survive Wildfire and is often mediocre in Reanimator itself. Unlike constructed, you have a fairly limited amount of bombs and spending a pick in one that only draws cards
This is a bad card. Compare this to the four mana Nekraatal, even if you cheat it into play or use Welder to bring it back it's not worth it.
This should work, but doesn't. It's ok in so far it helps you find another reanimation spell, fills the graveyard and works in midrange decks but it feels kind of dull to me and I often feel I would rather run something else.
I love this card. It's a great design, fun and versatile due its artifact status. But I'm finding it somewhat of a luxury. If it could survive Wildfire, it would see more play in my cube, that's for sure.
CARDS I'M CONSIDERING
I wish this wasn't a multicoloured card. It's versatile, it's not too expensive for a control deck. It can be casted by Reanimator and is neither dumb nor weak in that case. It can potentially survive Wildfire. The problem is the WWBB cost. As much as I would like to push for WB Control, I'm not sure I can justify the slot over Sin Collector, Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Lingering Souls.
As you can see, my fatties are on the low mana side. I'm looking into some bigger creatures but I don't think I want Eldrazis in a cube with so many cheat effects.
