General "Looking for a card"-Thread

[ravnic]

Yes, totally agree with Taamas and bootman. Counting cards like Figure of Destiny or Nightveil Specter as gold card seems very appropriate (as long as monocolor decks aren't relevant at least, at which point they become their own category).

 

[landofMordor]

: While I agree Time Wipe is the most replacable effect, it's still nice to be able to rebuy an etb effect or your big beater once your opponent rebuilds. I have no experience with Shorikai, Genesis Engine, but it looks a bit boring to me, despite having a million words. That would be my cut.
: I hate Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. It's just not a fun card to sit across from. I have cubed with Silumgar in the past, and the hexproof wasn't problematic because it's a 3-power six drop. It's fine that the card gets some extra resiliency.
: Needs no cut because Rakdos Cackler is not a gold card.
: I second (third? fourth?) cutting Xenagos, God of Revels, unless Wrenn and Six is causing problems.
: Needs no cuts because Kitchen Finks is not a gold card. I will say that this gold section is really underwhelming compared to the others. Neither Selesnya Charm nor Advent of the Wurm are pulling me into . Knight of Autumn, Conclave Mentor (if +1/+1 counters are a theme), Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist, Travel Preparations, Fleecemane Lion, or even good old Knight of the Reliquary all would appeal more to me than your current two.
: Similarly to hybrid cards, Damn isn't really a gold card. It's a split card with two good modes. I would cut a black or white card instead instead.
: So, you actually have two hybrid cards in this section, but Blistercoil Weird seems the most shaky of all five cards. I would cut that one, or replace it by an actual gold Izzet card.
: Neither Garruk, Cursed Huntsman, nor Grisly Salvage seem really worth it.
: Figure of Destiny is actually mana-intensive enough that it quickly starts to feel like a gold card instead of a hybrid card (starting at the activation cost). I'ld cut Warleader's Helix as the most underwhelming Boros card.
: As a counterpoint to alvoi's argument, I think thatBring to Light can be the perfect Simic card, if that color pair is usually the home of five color good stuff. I think Quandrix Command is the least exciting.

mind meld. These are my answers, roughly. I only diverge in thinking that W&6 is a too-strong cut if you have fetchlands and are also trying to play low-power stuff, and that Finks (all hybrid-ness aside) does cooler things than Selesnya Charm. I also like Garruk over Salvage.

Thanks for saving me some typing, Onderzeeboot

good luck @TrainmasterGT

 

[Velrun]

i think you wanna be on the bridges for this, and if you are, then it is a good card the way cleansing wildfire is a good card

Maybe throw in



on top of that

 

[Chris Taylor]

It's not often I put the call out here, but does anyone have any Incidental Graveyard Hate Cards? (tm)
Power Level Agnostic, I can custom up anything that doesn't really work for me.
Ideally things that can exile more than one card over the course of their lifespan, but not the whole ass graveyard at once (Eg: Angel of Finality)
Here's some ones I've got already:

 

[alvoi]

I really like Deathgorge Scavenger as a design

 

[landofMordor]

My favorite is Scrabbling Claws. Works well with Urza’s Saga, has a buyout clause of cantripping, can be sacrificed if you really need to remove that Uro and are willing to give up the consistent grave-eating. But it’s unlikely to randomly hose the Delirium thing that’s attacking you to shrink it mid-combat. That’s the range of outcomes I’m looking for in my non-creature grave hate.

 

[inscho]

My favorite is Scrabbling Claws. Works well with Urza’s Saga, has a buyout clause of cantripping, can be sacrificed if you really need to remove that Uro and are willing to give up the consistent grave-eating. But it’s unlikely to randomly hose the Delirium thing that’s attacking you to shrink it mid-combat. That’s the range of outcomes I’m looking for in my non-creature grave hate.

Scrabbling Claws is my favorite graveyard hate.

Other solid options:

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I don’t run that much graveyard hate apparently.



That's it!

 

[TrainmasterGT]

I wouldn't cut the hybrids. One can debate where hybrids should be put, but one thing I am personally a very firm believer of, is that they should under no circumstance be regarded as gold cards. E.g., when I look at your Rakdos section, I see only two gold cards. You're undoubtedly aware of this, but a gold card can be played in 1 out of 10 color pairs, and 3 out of 10 color trios. A hybrid, on the other hand, can be played in a whopping 7 out of 10 color pairs, and 9 out of 10 color trios. That is more than single color cards, which can be played in 4 out of 10 color pairs and 6 out of 10 color trios. In other words, gold card and hybrids operate in opposite ways of each other, as far as splashability is concerned.

Thanks for the reply! I only have the hybrids rolled in with the golds due to space budgeting reasons. There really aren't enough good hybrids to justify a dedicated hybrid section in this Cube, and most of the hybrids I'm running usually only go in decks that use both colors anyway. Obviously, Kitchen Finks is the big exception here, but Selesnya's offerings are so anemic that having a flexible white or green duder is a better use of space than bad midrange card number 12. I might be changing that in the future, though, since I really need more space for real U/R golds, spreadsheet be damned.

I'd cut:
Time Wipe for being so easily replaceable with a monocolor card
Silumgar because I dislike hexproof and it doesn't do anything special
Rakdos Cackler because it belongs in a hybrid (or mono) section
Xenagos I guess ..?
Finks because it's totally not a gold card as well
Ashen Rider because it isn't going to be hardcast anyway I guess?
Izzet -> one of the hybrids
Grist because I personally don't like it's design. Weirdly sometimes being a creature, insect tribal ...
Warleaders Helix because one Helix should be enough
Quandrix Command because it just doesn't spark joy when I read it

A lot of these comes down to personal preferences, here are mine!

Time Wipe, Grisly Salvage: You can find mono colored equivalents at the same rate.

Rakdos Cackler: You don't run Black aggro and Red has a ton of one drops already.

Advent of the Wurm: Your Green section already has a bunch of 4 drops, I don't think you need another (plus Resto, Emperor and Ambusher already fill the 4 drop slot for flash).

Damn: Very powerful, but you have the same effects in either White or Black. If you had it outside of multicolored, I would like it more.

Warleader's Helix: A lot worse than Lightning Helix which you also run.

Decisive Denial: Not a bad card, but I find it less interesting than Quandrix Command.

Blistercoil Weird: Unexciting compared to other spells matter payoffs.

Xenagos: I like cheap planeswalker and big dragon more, see personal preferences!

Silumgar: Seems like Black already has a lot of ways to clean up tokens, so the ability seems a bit lost on it? Hexproof is nice compared to Junji and Kairi who get hosed hard against White's exile effects. Still probably a little too slow to finish a game in a timely manner.

So, one card for each 2-colour combination:

Azorius: I agree with the others, Time Wipe is unnecessary if you could just play Wrath/DoJ/Doomskar/...
Dimir: I don't like Silumgar's hexproof, while Ojutai is interesting since if you want to attack you have to put his shield down, Silumgar is just there with his asymmetrical nausea effect and the opponent can't do much. Then, maybe I hate too much hexproof
Rakdos: yeah the Cackler is the one I would cut. KCommand is exactly what I want a multicoloured card to be, and Kroxa is a nice card
Gruul: Xenagos seems bad(?) Idk I never played with it, but Atarka and Wrenn are on two other levels
Selesnya: Advent of the Wurm could be anything else in just green, like Elephant Ambush or something
Orzhov: Damn? It's a nice split card, but I notice that usually when I draft it, it gets passed by players with white that don't notice that it's just a Wrath of God with upside...
Izzet: Blistercoil Weird unless you do strange combos with it
Golgari: Garruk is underwhelming with respect to the others. Also, you could cut Grisly Salvage for Mulch and add something like Pernicious Deed
Boros: Warleader's Helix is simply bad
Simic: is BtL really a Simic card? I would put it under 5-colour since well, usually you want to cast it for at least 3 or 4... paying 5 mana to tutor up a 2-drop is bad

: While I agree Time Wipe is the most replacable effect, it's still nice to be able to rebuy an etb effect or your big beater once your opponent rebuilds. I have no experience with Shorikai, Genesis Engine, but it looks a bit boring to me, despite having a million words. That would be my cut.
: I hate Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. It's just not a fun card to sit across from. I have cubed with Silumgar in the past, and the hexproof wasn't problematic because it's a 3-power six drop. It's fine that the card gets some extra resiliency.
: Needs no cut because Rakdos Cackler is not a gold card.
: I second (third? fourth?) cutting Xenagos, God of Revels, unless Wrenn and Six is causing problems.
: Needs no cuts because Kitchen Finks is not a gold card. I will say that this gold section is really underwhelming compared to the others. Neither Selesnya Charm nor Advent of the Wurm are pulling me into . Knight of Autumn, Conclave Mentor (if +1/+1 counters are a theme), Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist, Travel Preparations, Fleecemane Lion, or even good old Knight of the Reliquary all would appeal more to me than your current two.
: Similarly to hybrid cards, Damn isn't really a gold card. It's a split card with two good modes. I would cut a black or white card instead instead.
: So, you actually have two hybrid cards in this section, but Blistercoil Weird seems the most shaky of all five cards. I would cut that one, or replace it by an actual gold Izzet card.
: Neither Garruk, Cursed Huntsman, nor Grisly Salvage seem really worth it.
: Figure of Destiny is actually mana-intensive enough that it quickly starts to feel like a gold card instead of a hybrid card (starting at the activation cost). I'ld cut Warleader's Helix as the most underwhelming Boros card.
: As a counterpoint to alvoi's argument, I think thatBring to Light can be the perfect Simic card, if that color pair is usually the home of five color good stuff. I think Quandrix Command is the least exciting.

mind meld. These are my answers, roughly. I only diverge in thinking that W&6 is a too-strong cut if you have fetchlands and are also trying to play low-power stuff, and that Finks (all hybrid-ness aside) does cooler things than Selesnya Charm. I also like Garruk over Salvage.

Thanks for saving me some typing, Onderzeeboot

good luck @TrainmasterGT

Dragonlord Ojutai
Silumgar
Ashiok
Cackler
Xenagod
All Selesnya Suck
Blistercoil is Cuttable
Salvage+Binding could go
Boros Charm+Warleader’s Helix

UW: EVA is the most powerful but very texty and has lots of unique mechanics (pilot token, is a vehicle), ojutai is a cool dragon but probably the least powerful, wipe is the most replaceable but always solid UB: man silumgar just feels... really out of place here. what about the silumgar that ganks stuff? ashiok is very good but has a lot of funky stuff kinda like shorikai and will make people cry sometimes RB: cackler is a 2/2 for 1, do you need it real bad for aggro? RG: xenagos GW: these cards are all kinda the same in terms of power level, i personally hate charm and love finks but your goals may be different from me WB: toughie here... is ashen rider basically a black card for reanimator? it seems like WB is the reanimator pair so maybe verdict is the one to cut here?

Total Tally:
Time Wipe 5
Dragonlord Ojutai 2
Shorikai, Genesis Engine 1
Silumgar, the Drifting Death 5
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver 4
Rakdos Cackler 7
Xenagos, God of Revels 7
Wrenn and Six 2 assuming it's causing issues.
Selesnya Charm 3
Advent of the Wurm 4
Gerrard's Verdict 1
Blistercoil Wierd 5
Garruk, Cursed Huntsman 2
Binding the Old Gods 1
Grist, the Hunger Tide 1
Grisly Salvage 5
Boros Charm 1
Warleader's Helix 3
Quandrix Command 2
Decisive Denial 1

So this is some useful information. People definitely seem most split on the Golgari cards despite the general consensus being that Grisly Salvage is the most cuttable.

Xenagos can definitely go when a better G/R card gets printed, and Rakdos Cackler can get a nice Bloody or Anvil-Shaped Upgrad.

I'm a little surprised about the dislike of Blistercoil Wierd as that has always been a card I enjoyed. I think in comparison to Monastery Swiftspear and company, it is a lot worse. That extra point of toughness makes a big difference.

Selesnya can get thrown out the window and re-worked. It's a bit difficult because there just aren't really any Selesnya cards that do what I would want them to do. While Strixhaven gave us a lot of really pushed interactive spells for the enemy-color combos, the subsequent sets have not shown the ally color pairs the same love. We definitely need a Fleecemane Lion in here so that can replace one of the inferior golds.

 

[blacksmithy]

personally i find Gruul to be STACKED between BBE, W6, Perilous Iteration, Kavu, Heart Radha, BTE, Manamorphose, and Hamsterman, but i get those may not all be within the bounds of what your format wants to do

 

[Chris Taylor]

personally i find Gruul to be STACKED between BBE, W6, Perilous Iteration, Kavu, Heart Radha, BTE, Manamorphose, and Hamsterman, but i get those may not all be within the bounds of what your format wants to do

Oh that's kinda neat

 

[Nanonox]

Randomly drafted a deck from Brad's cube with this synergy



Are there other cards that would work to provide some redundancy (aside from more Affinity cards)? I really like the "combo" and am looking to include it in a project.
The only one I have is

 

[Mown]

Most of them are bad outside a degenerate context, like Energy Tap, Burnt Offering and Metamorphosis. There's Slobad, Iron Golem, and you could do things like Birthing Pod, Oswald Fiddlebender and Eldritch Evolution.

I try to support some similar gameplay patterns with Ascendant Packleader, Dodgy Jalopy, Ride the Avalanche, emerge eldrazi and some other jank, but it's pretty loose.

 

[safra]

Randomly drafted a deck from Brad's cube with this synergy



Are there other cards that would work to provide some redundancy (aside from more Affinity cards)? I really like the "combo" and am looking to include it in a project.
The only one I have is

There's a combo deck in Pauper that does some adjacent version of this. Cards that do what you want:



i think Delve is the best cost-reducer mechanic for this because unlike Affinity etc it's broadly playable in basically any deck, which lowers the opportunity cost of the 'magical christmasland' scenario. good luck!

 

[Modin]

I am looking for cute/interesting flicker targets in U or W. Something along the lines of Basri's Acolyte but a bit more powerful. Looking at my list though it's possible that the archetype just isn't as powerful/attractive as others in my environment. The cards below are seeing play, but UW Flicker decks don't really show up. Does anyone have experience with the archetype?

Spoiler: I already run:

 

[Onderzeeboot]

to really make it tick, I think you need payoffs other than etb creatures. Something like Soulherder worked really well in its format.

 

[ravnic]

I have o disagree with Ondee this time, I don't think you necessarily need cards that additionally reward you for blinking creatures. I think you just need a higher of density of EtB creatures than nine



Some Ideas

 

[TrainmasterGT]

I think blink decks end up feeling a little anemic in singleton environments. A lot of the good blink creatures have really weak bodies, so even though they can generate a lot of value, this is often squandered when they are forced to chump-block larger creatures. Additionally, a lot of the commonly played blink spells are kind of expensive for what they do, resulting in some blink plays feeling extremely awkward.

To make Blink a vibrant part of the environment, I would consider the following:
–Nonsingleton Ephemarate, the most versatile, playable, and interesting blink spell.
–Include repeatable blink on board like Soulherder in higher power environments and Displacer Kitten or Teleportation Circle in lower power environments.
–Include beefy creatures with ETB effects, like Basri's Lieutenant, Heliod, the Radiant Dawn, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Cavalier of Gales, Cloudgoat Ranger, Eternal Skylord, and Grey Knight Paragon.
–Remember that "the blink deck" is kind of parasitic despite the fact that it uses open-ended cards. You still need a lot of blink spells and good ETBs in order to make the deck work. Don't cut corners!

 

[Mown]

I don't think I would put Displacer Kitten next to Teleportation Circle. It requires some investment, but if you untap with it, it becomes extremely difficult to deal with extremely quickly, and its ability helps it get there.

I like Phantom Steed better personally though, as a kind of blue Restoration Angel.

 

[inscho]

Some other blink targets I like:

 

[LadyMapi]

Don't forget the nice interactions that blinking has with Morph and Unearth:

 

[Modin]

I have o disagree with Ondee this time, I don't think you necessarily need cards that additionally reward you for blinking creatures. I think you just need a higher of density of EtB creatures than nine

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll be considering them. It's not like I literally only run these ETB creatures in UW but they require the least synergy

I think blink decks end up feeling a little anemic in singleton environments. A lot of the good blink creatures have really weak bodies, so even though they can generate a lot of value, this is often squandered when they are forced to chump-block larger creatures. Additionally, a lot of the commonly played blink spells are kind of expensive for what they do, resulting in some blink plays feeling extremely awkward.

To make Blink a vibrant part of the environment, I would consider the following:
–Nonsingleton Ephemarate, the most versatile, playable, and interesting blink spell.
–Include repeatable blink on board like Soulherder in higher power environments and Displacer Kitten or Teleportation Circle in lower power environments.
–Include beefy creatures with ETB effects, like Basri's Lieutenant, Heliod, the Radiant Dawn, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Cavalier of Gales, Cloudgoat Ranger, Eternal Skylord, and Grey Knight Paragon.
–Remember that "the blink deck" is kind of parasitic despite the fact that it uses open-ended cards. You still need a lot of blink spells and good ETBs in order to make the deck work. Don't cut corners!

These are some interesting points. I'll definitely add Ephemerate and am running some blink spells/payoffs such as Oji, the Exquisite Blade , Teleportation Circle and Pegasus Guardian
Especially your last point does make me wonder if the archetype is acutally worth supporting in my environment. My drafters aren't the biggest fans of "good stuff" creatues so there's always a fine line in what to add.

Some other blink targets I like:

I really like the first two, and Epochrasite has been a main stay for some time, gotta love this small snyergy piece <3

 

[inscho]

Looking at your list some others worth considering

 

[Taamas]

Don't forget the nice interactions that blinking has with Morph and Unearth:

If you are referring to blinking an unearthed thing to avoid it being exiled, it does not work. Unearth says: "Exile it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield". Uncheatable!

 

[Mown]

If you are referring to blinking an unearthed thing to avoid it being exiled, it does not work. Unearth says: "Exile it at the beginning of the next end step or if it would leave the battlefield". Uncheatable!

And what do you suppose happens when Unearth forces you to you exile the creature instead of exiling it?

Answer is it changes nothing. Replacement modify events, they don't wholly supplant them. As a fun fact, most blink effects don't even require the card to actually go to exile. Before they changed the commander rule to be a state based effect instead of a replacement effect, Obzedat, Ghost Council could blink into and out of the command zone.