Nanonox's 1vs1 cube

[IanGitax]

Oculus takes from your library; it just triggers on your opponent’s turn.

I also found myself cutting a few unnecessary tempo payoffs recently. The deck is often fine playing more generic threats; the critical density of cheap spells/interaction is usually the harder part to draft in most cubes I’ve tried. You could definitely shave iconoclast if necessary. Delve or pseudo-delve cards like the aforementioned Oculus can also serve as spell velocity payoffs that can be played in other decks more easily.

 

[MilesOfficial]

Like Miles, I've found Fire Nation Occupation to slot easily into various tempo or controlling Esper decks and has me asking do I have too many of this effect
...

S tier

Saheeli, Sublime Artificer: The hybrid mana, the artifact tokens, noncreature trigger and the potential nonsense you can pull off with her minus ability means she is a lock.

Monastery Mentor: Noncreature trigger and scaling tokens means you can close out the game real quick. Rare spell velocity payoff in White.

Stormchaser's Talent: Feels like cheating to have it in this category, but late game it technically works as a spell velocity payoff.

A tier

Third Path Iconoclast: This one shines because of the cheap mana value and the artifact tokens it makes.

Shark Typhoon: Also kind of cheating, but if you ever reach 6 mana you go off. Mostly played for the cantripping token though.

B tier

Young Pyromancer: Being restricted to instants and sorceries makes this one a much narrower payoff. The two mana and single color makes it a lot more appealing though.

Toph, Hardheaded Teacher: Two things holding Toph back are the 4 mana and the fact you have a finite amount of lands. However, it triggers off creatures unlike most of the others. It also animates lands for some landfall shenanigans. I think you need a sacrifice outlet to really go off with her since the lands return to the battlefield giving you landfall triggers and bodies to sacrifice.

Geralf, the Fleshwright Triggers off creatures too, but you need two spells to get going and hopefully considerably more.

Fire Nation Occupation: It's a noncreature itself which these decks value and asks you to play at instant speed for pretty big tokens. The restriction isn't too hard to get around and gives Black a unique take.

Right now I value having Saheeli + Young Pyromancer or Saheeli + Geralf to have a decent Red or Blue base for any color pair to latch onto. What that means though is that if you find yourself in Izzet, you have all of these + Third Path + Vivi + Steelcutter + DRC + Planisphere + Talent + Typhoon. At that point it feels overly supported! Not sure what the solution is. As crazy as it sounds, maybe Third Path Iconoclast isn't needed in Izzet because of all the mono-colored options.

Has anyone else felt this way?

I think Izzet is happy to have this "overly-supported", even in a tighter Cube. It's really a key focus of both of those colors, so I guess it's hard to feel bad about cards that instruct your drafters to make sensible decks, and that play out in a fun way.

Stormchaser's Talent is different enough that it doesn't make this feel oppressive.

Monastery Mentor and Fire Nation Occupation fall into a different category simply because of their color. They're fun expansions of the underlying theme.

By the way, one of the cool things about Toph is earthbending the same land over and over!

 

[Erik Twice]

No, you are not alone! I think Izzet spells is a far more difficult archetype to support than we give it credit for. It has this inherent weakness in that it needs a high density of both creatures and spells and the deck doesn't work without either.

My thoughts:

I tried Saheeli, Sublime Artificier once, but I never actually did anything with it. I don't think I truly get the card, you must rely on that second ability for it to be worth the slot, IMHO.

Stormchaser's Talent, Shark Typhoon. Both of these are good choices but you are right in that they are "cheating". They both slot in slower decks, not in the usual spellsingler deck. Stormchaser is weaker and mana-inefficient, but Shark Typhoon is solid enough that it opens up synergetic possibilities without forcing them. Note that both work well with Replenish if you ever want to run it.

Monastery Mentor is interesting in that it's off-colour but it would be too strong if it weren't. That creates an interesting dynamic and, frankly, it's a top-tier design. Its cost forcing you to tap-out, the lack of haste and trample in the tokens, the geometric damage scaling...it's all a great puzzle. The fact that it's in white keeps it a secondary card in my cube, though.

Third Path Iconoclast. This is what you want Young Pyromancer to be, but it's a UR card so it isn't. Noncreature Pyromancer is what we are all looking for. It goes in and out in my cube. I feel I don't want both and, if push comes to shove, I'll choose the original.

Young Pyromancer is the face of the entire archetype for better or worse. When it works, it's great. When you don't have enough spells or when it gets blown up, it's a waste of cardboard. But it's one of those cards that do work, unlike Third Path Iconoclast, it can feed a BR sacrifice deck, for example.

Haven't played with either Toph or Fire Nation Occupation.

Geralf the Fleshwright feels like a storm win condition, the kind that aren't fully parasitic but still not that useful. Theorically, it can work with creatures, creature Gravecrawler loops or abuse Earthcraft but...I haven't actually used it that way. It seems more of a theorical possibility than a real one.

I think the biggest payoffs you haven't mentioned are the following:



Arcanist is valuable, not just because it's a powerful spell-based card but because it gives you additional triggers for your other creatures. After all, if you run, say, 12 spells, that's only 12 triggers for the entire game! Arcanist gives you more, which is extremely valuable.



Like Arcanist, this is good because it lets you increase that spell density you often lack. It's a cheap creature, too and becomes a 3/3 flyer which is big enough to be a threat with some support.



The original is too weak, but this version is just fun. I like it because it's a pure spells-matter card and with a wholly unique effect, too. It's big enough to justify supporting it. It creates mind games, since it can turn any creature into a 3/3, making it a good early blocker to stave aggro (a bad matchup for Spellslinger decks) or push damage against midrange. It's also great with tokens, which the archetype tends to have around.

it does nothing without you casting spells left and right. But it gives you a unique, powerful payoff for that.

Personally, I think the archetype is increasingly expressed through creatures that invite you to pile up spells but aren't actual "spells matter" cards:

 

[Nanonox]

Oculus takes from your library; it just triggers on your opponent’s turn.

By the way, one of the cool things about Toph is earthbending the same land over and over!

Thanks for the corrections! Reading the card, explains the card still holds true.

I also found myself cutting a few unnecessary tempo payoffs recently. The deck is often fine playing more generic threats;

I’ve noticed this too. An Inti, Gau, Shredder, Kiora, Tersa and others do a good job as long as you have cantrips, removal and counterspells.

Geralf the Fleshwright feels like a storm win condition, the kind that aren't fully parasitic but still not that useful. Theorically, it can work with creatures, creature Gravecrawler loops or abuse Earthcraft but...I haven't actually used it that way. It seems more of a theorical possibility than a real one.

I tend to include Geralf in decks that would want Monastery Mentor. That could be a Storm deck, though that can sometimes be awkward because Geralf is one of your few creatures so is easy to remove. 6 spells in one turn is 20 power worth of zombies, so it can go pretty fast! It can also work in a tempo deck with cheap cantrips where it's basically super Flurry.

I didn’t intend to review all the noncreature payoffs, but Erik’s list looks good. I'm not an Alchemy believer myself, but the Mage is a sweet one if you are. I’ll add this duo of cards that go alongside Stormchaser’s Talent as noncreature threats that scale and trigger your other spells matters payoffs.



These are just perfect. 2 mana is where you want to be with these types of cards as you can easily cast them and follow up with a cheap spell to trigger them immediately. Being equipment goes well with White cards like Stoneforge Mystic, Warden of the Inner Sky, Ethersworn Canonist and Monastery Mentor for a strong tempo shell.

And if you are combo minded, you have to consider



These convert spells into other resources that the right deck/engine can abuse. I personally love these uncapped cards that allow drafters to go nuts in creative ways.

---

I am looking once again at my wrath suite in White

Balance
Cataclysm
Spectacular Pileup

While the first two cards are staple level, I am not in love with Pileup. I wanted a simple wrath you can run without having to build around it and the Cycling ability meant you could main deck it more freely. It's purely a control card though and 5 mana isn't always fast enough.

I am looking at these two "wraths" as replacements. Since they aren't hard wraths and have some appeal for aggro, I would like to slot both of them to slightly boost the density.



Avatar's Wrath is the shiny new toy and I think it looks great. In aggressive decks, you can clear blockers for your one big creature, like a worse Parallax Wave. You can also trigger your ETBs, like a worse Parallax Wave. For slower decks, it's either a way to get more ETB triggers or clear the board for a couple of turns. There is talk of combining this with Aven Interrupter in Standard. I was thinking Sphere of Resistance is much more my speed if I wanted to punish Airbending.

A big upside for my cube is the temporary nature of this wrath. I want to have interaction, but not always a Path or STP that exiles something forever. That way you can break up or delay engines getting online, but not permanently answer them.

Split Up is a card I've never played, but seems interesting as getting the most out of it probably takes some planning ahead and setup. It seems tough for the card to be a full wrath effect, but maybe you can surprise an opponent the first time. Barring vehicles/Earthcraft, it's likely a full wrath on a board stall. In a race, you can likely manage to get a one-sided wrath. It's also plenty fine as a cheap two for one in the early game.

Aggro can definitely use wraths (see Parallax Wave in the Vintage cube), but does it need them? I think it's nice to have ways to break board stalls personally, but could be convinced otherwise.

Has anyone tested Split Up?

---

Drafted a fun Sultai artifact + counters deck thanks to Proft's and the newly added Pursuit. Lonis and Tracker provide you with a bunch of clues which can fuel both enchantments nicely. Yawgmoth is also a card that helps you get both enchantments going leading to some potential explosive combats. I love these aggro-combo decks that now have new toys to play with.



Erik drafted this Obsessive Pursuit deck which can use Zuran Orb (+ Crucible) and Balance (!!) to sacrifice permanents and grow a creature. Having Nethergoyf, Bloodghast, Lingering Souls and Timeless Dragon as creatures that can "survive" a wrath and then receive the counters is perfect and find extremely cool. That hadn't occurred to me and I think it shows that the card lets drafters get creative in how they want to maximize it.

 

[Erik Twice]

Cori-Steel Cutter is fantastic, I tried it because you included it and it's a fantastic inclusion.

1) Triggers with any spell, not just instant or sorceries.
2) It has a great baseline as a 2/2 Haste, Prowess creature
3) It can trigger two turns in a row to attack with two monks, a 3/3 and a 2/2 with haste.
4) It's not a creature, so it doesn't die too easily. It stays on the table and can create more monks.
5) It has useful minor synergies: It's an artifact, a fetchable equipment,

I would rank it in the top tier over second rate cards like Monastery Swiftspear, Soul-Scar Mage, Harmonic Prodigy, Direfleet Daredevil or Abbot of Keral Keep. In fact, I think it's more solid than Young Pyromancer.

--

I also run Spectacular Pileup, but it is bland. Compared to cards like Cataclysm, Balance or Parallax Wave, it is a complete bore. Sure, it works, but I wonder if there's a better card for the slot.

Like you, I avoid Wrath of God because it's a touch too cheap and overly inconditional. We both run Balance and cheap interaction so it's not a good idea to give white another cheap wipe. But there are fewer options at 5 mana that I like. Many of them don't "work", are too weak or are just anti-synergetic in some way (Exiles creatures, destroys equipment etc.). Fumigate is fine, but it pushes control into safety a bit more often than I would like.

Avatar's Wrath seems awful, to be honest. It's a more complex, less versatile Parallax Wave. Against some decks it will be fine, but, against others, it will just feel terrible. Split Up will act like a Diabolic Edict way too often for my taste.

 

[Dom Harvey]

Split Up is interesting/unique to an extent but it doesn't reliably fill the role you want a sweeper to fill especially in a slow/control deck. I agree that Pileup is uninspiring but there are plenty of options at 5 mana - maybe What Must Be Done?

So many of the good spellslinger payoffs were printed recently and I agree that it's fine to have 'too many' of these since they all have their own quirks and other decks will want them too. I'll echo that any spell >> noncreature spell >>> instant/sorcery when it comes to how well these all coexist; Cutter and Cosmogrand Zenith are all-timers IMO, while Young Pyromancer is clean/iconic but is much harder to support than it looks these days.

 

[Erik Twice]

Wait, you AREN'T running Parallax Wave? You absolutely should, it's a banger. It's not a replacement for a normal wrath, but it's an absolute staple. It's good in aggro, midrange and control, it has a ton of synergies and is both fun to play against and with.

 

[N0oh]

If you don't Parallax your creatures and play Upheaval afterward, why are you even cubing ?

 

[Nanonox]

I also run Spectacular Pileup, but it is bland. [...] But there are fewer options at 5 mana that I like. Many of them don't "work", are too weak or are just anti-synergetic in some way (Exiles creatures, destroys equipment etc.). Fumigate is fine, but it pushes control into safety a bit more often than I would like.

I agree that Pileup is uninspiring but there are plenty of options at 5 mana - maybe What Must Be Done?

Alright, time to go digging for good 5+ mana wraths I guess?



This is actually a really cool suggestion, that I run in another project, but haven't considered for this cube for whatever reason. The actual wrath mode is tricky to maximize because many of the slower decks use artifacts themselves. So it's not just a thoughtless addition. At the same time, the other mode is perfect alongside a Tinker cheat package with stuff like Angel of the Ruins or Bolas's Citadel. The first place my mind went to though if I am being honest is Memory Jar for a White mill win condition.



Similar to the above, minus the artifact destruction. For decks that want a wrath, I think it's easier to have a creature in the GY than in play in the cube. It's also nice to be able to recur an noncreature artifact with What Must be Done.



These two are sweet wraths I'll be avoiding because of the aristocrats deck. Sacrifice is a big part of the cube and having these wipe the board only to die to their Mayhem Devil triggers or whatever is silly. Cataclysm and Balance already sacrifice a lot of permanents, I'd like this slot to avoid doing so if possible.



Removing recursive threats or the option to recur a creature is brutal, as most decks have some GY component. I think the aggro-control matchup is more fun with targeted exile removal and wraths that destroy creatures so there is some possible counterplay on both sides.



Clean wrath, but a little underwhelming.



Instant speed is really nice, but 6 mana isn’t reliable. The other modes aren't relevant enough that I am comfortable adding this.



A one mana sweeper that denies the GY is extremely potent. I love that it gives Scroll Rack and Top more uses. Costing one mana allows you to deploy a threat of your own, but it also risks invalidating aggressive decks too early for too little with no hope of rebuilding.

---

So I think Dom hit the nail on the head with his suggestion for a cool 5 mana wrath.

Wait, you AREN'T running Parallax Wave?

If you don't Parallax your creatures and play Upheaval afterward, why are you even cubing ?

I definitely was, but cut it because I think it’s too good. White aggressive decks are already among the best in the cube and Wave invalidates any sort of race. Like not even close (like a suped up Phelia). Then against control, you casually protect your board and nullify wraths or spot removal. I think it’s a sweet card outside of aggressive decks with stuff like Cataclysm and Upheaval as you mention, but aggro can just snowball to victory easily (which is why I was looking at Avatar’s Wrath as an alternative.

Maybe I am overvaluing it though. Or not, but it's fine to have non-threat power outliers to build around. Has the snowballing been an issue for any of you? If not, I'd love to slot it in again (even without the fading reminder text which bothers me).

 

[N0oh]

Well, I love the card but it's indeed either cute in deck that try to do stuff, or utterly broken in the already good wheenie white.

 

[Erik Twice]

No, I don't think you are overrating it. If your cube is anything like mine, and it is, then white-based aggro is already the best. Parallax Wave is not going to make or break the archetype, but it will provide it an extra tool you may not want it to have. It's a bit like Living Death, which will consistently give wins.

For me Terminus and Temporal Distortion would be a ton of fun, but the fun they add is not worth the cost of having them happen naturally without any setup. Terminus is also a pseudo-exile effect that I try to avoid in my wraths.

 

[Dom Harvey]

Granted that I've only drafted this Cube solitaire on CubeCobra, white aggro doesn't seem to be a big part of it at all let alone a dominant deck. White has some neat stuff going on here but in general struggles to find unique/standout things to do more than any other colour and Wave is a card that really makes you want to be white and lets you find cool and memorable stuff to do with it

 

[Nanonox]

You folks convinced me to add Parallax Wave back in, thanks for the feedback.

Cool >>> Balanced

---

Obsessive Pursuit's name is spot on, because it's all I've been thinking about recently.

Dom managed to draft an assertive Dimir deck that incidentally had a lot of counters, to the point that I think we can call it a subtheme. Check it out:



While the deck doesn't have to care about +1/+1 counters (and in this iteration, it doesn't), it's nice that it can use them.



Unfortunately there aren't a ton of payoffs that reward you for having counters on your creatures. The Ozolith, Agatha's Soul Cauldron and Rishkar, Peema Renegade are the main ones that I run.

So maybe I need to think about this from another angle, power matters. These won't work the above payoffs, but Proft's and Pursuit will do a great job enabling them. There are some great suggestions in the Looking for a Card thread.



Nested Shambler is already in. It's a zombie, makes fodder, it's a lock.

Drake Hatcher seems quite potent. It's a card I've considered in the past, but this new counter angle is probably what pushes it into the cube. Turn 2 Hatcher into Turn 3 Proft's, means you are attacking for at least 3 damage giving you a free drake. Same thing with Pursuit + fetchland, but that requires a bit more setup. Opponent could chump block your 3/5 vigilance, since it's player damage, but that seems like a losing proposition.

Animation Module is cheap enough both mana value and activation wise that it could be pretty good. Gives fodder for sacrifice and artifact decks alike.

The Aetherspark is a mystery to me. There is serious blowout potential in response to the uptick, but it seems easy to hit for 3+ damage and draw 2 card the turn after playing it. I could also see myself misplaying just to get to the 10 mana mode.

It's a shame Symbiote Spiderman is ... a Spiderman, because he hits all the right notes. Hybrid, scaling saboteur effect, card advantage, fills the GY and is relevant from the GY!

Another mechanic that goes in the same vein is Harmonize. I recently added Winternight Stories and it fits perfectly with what I am pushing for with the aggressive Dimir decks.

---

Badgermole Cub is another card that has surprised me. This time, it's Erik who drafted an ambitious Jeskai Ascendancy deck.



Outside of the land + artifact overlapping synergies, I wanted to highlight an interact which I find hilarious



Turn the Saga into a creature, untap it with every Ascendancy trigger and make a construct! You can also animate Cradle, Academy or Lotus Field for a lot of mana.

Loving the Avatar set, have you uncovered a hidden gem?

 

[Nanonox]

I've been looking at the cube more critically as I am on the lookout for cuts. This brings me to questioning some slots and wanting to try new cards or bring back some oldies.

->

I've been liking Glimpse as a 3 mana "draw 3". This slower draw spell in Red is a slot I want to have in the cube, but I am wondering if it can't be improved. I have a lot of token makers in Red with Saheeli, Third Path, Young Pyro and Steel Cutter, so I am thinking I could use this as an opportunity to diversify what the cube can do.

One effect I've been missing in Red is a repeatable card to cast from the GY. This allows you to discard the card early and get more cast triggers when you are setup late game. I think Embrace the Unknown is a great in that regard and has the added benefit of triggering your discard matters payoffs multiple times. While the rate isn't great, I think the late game inevitability and the GY synergies have merit. The other card to fit the bill (outside of How to Keep an Izzet Mage Busy) is Flame Jab. At one mana it's obviously much easier to chain, but the effect is lackluster. Zenith Festival with Harmonize is a neat one, but the base rate is even worse and you can only do it twice.

I think Embrace is a great plant for slower GY decks and alongside Firestorm and Devastating Dreams, making Red an appealing color to pair alongside Green, Blue or Black.

->

I am pushing +1/+1 counters and I love Agatha's Soul Cauldron. The Thrillseeker lets you sacrifice your board for massive damage if you can pull off that combo. It's a playable Fling which is a card that I would play if the power level was there. Having that extra reach matters with the Seal of Fire swap I am making.

The Precursor is a neat card that ties many themes together, but is often a bit clunky and doesn't always make it in the final lists.

Another reason for wanting the Thrillseeker is to further increase the amount of +1/+1 counter cards in Red. Dom drafted this masterpiece which has a strong counter theme in Izzet (!!).



Turns out that there is enough density between artifact matters, discard matters and random effects that a deck like this can exist, which is super exciting. Marauding Mako and Scrounging Skyray are obvious candidates to boost the discard-counter axis further, but they are narrow and I don't know that they are needed. Between my last post about Dimir counters and now Izzet counters, I am quite hyped.

If I lean into sacrifice a bit more with cards like the Thrillseeker, maybe a Rakdos counter deck can emerge too. Carrion Feeder, Obsessive Pursuit andYawgmoth, Thran Physician are currently in the cube, I could see adding Stalactite Stalker, Symaster's Vault, Razorlash Transmogrant and Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate to cement the strategy.

->

I initially cut Gamblebecause of the random discard, but I overreacted. First, getting any card in hand for a single mana is unequaled. Yes, you might lose it, but in this cube, you might also not care if it goes to the GY. It's a weird one mana looting effect with high highs and low lows.
This leads me to the second factor: story equity. Good or bad, Gamble leaves an impression when you cast it and can make or break a game on a coin flip sometimes. This is a part of the card I overlooked.
Third, it's almost a cheap cantrip in Red which needs a certain density of cheap instants and sorceries for Dreadhorde Arcanist and Young Pyromancer.

Spoiler: Red damage/burn

The above list are all my interactive Red cards that deal damage to creatures or players. There is a good spread of effects which is something I value as various shells can maximize certain effects and have synergistic interactions. There is a tough balance to maintain between needing artifact and instant/sorcery density for the various decks. Seal of Fire is in a no-man's land which doesn't work with either. That isn't to say the effect is out of place, as many cards can take advantage of it. From having one less card in hand for Balance, to recurring it with Six and Lurrus, to growing Nethergoyf or triggering Obsessive Pursuit. I currently value artifact/instant/sorcery density more than the specific synergies it enables as something like Pyrite Spellbomb does something similar. For that reason, I feel like it's the most expendable interaction piece. Voldaren Thrillseeker allows me to keep the same amount of interactive pieces, while pushing variety.

->

I've somewhat moved away from creature cheat and added this PW as a means to hit artifacts of all sorts, ranging from a Bolas's Citadel to a Myr Battlesphere. Looking at the past 30+ red drafts on Cubecobra by myself and others, it just never gets picked. I can definitely construct scenarios where you would want him, but they really don't happen all that often. He costs 4 mana and it takes some setup.

While it doesn't serve the same role, Specialist is definitely a push towards artifacts in a way that is better supported in the cube. I would like the effect in mono-Red, but the fixing is good enough in this cube that Temur, Jund or Naya decks could splash for it. This little critter can easily machine gun someone down and at 2 mana, it's at the perfect spot in the curve.

This leaves me with a lot of Gruul cards.



Druid and Manamorphose don't count in my books, but that still leaves 4 others. Rydia and W&6 aren't going anywhere, they are staples in my cube. That leaves Toph vs Specialist. I am leaning towards the Specialist because of how rare it is for Green to actually get a decent artifact payoff.

Thing is, I'm not sure what to swap in for Toph. The cards that speak to me the most right now



I am always on the verge of adding this one back in. It leads to some really cool and unique decks and opens lines of play that aren't possible without it. Bonus points for working with Obsessive Pursuit.



These are some great mana sinks, that I often consider. Ranger Class making a body makes it the likely better candidate.



If we are pushing the counters in Red a bit more, we need a card that either plays well with artifact counters or discard counters. This little guy makes great use of even a small amount of counters. Proft's and Pursuit really are game changers that weren't present before when I had the Lizard and it benefits from the artifact counters part of the strategy.



Or maybe we don't need to go cute, we can go brute. No real synergies, but scaling, hasty, evasive damage goes a long way to closing out a game!

If you have suggestions for the last slot (or others), I'd love to hear them!

 

[Nanonox]

Cuts



I've had this for a while in my cube and it's a great payoff for going heavy artifacts...sometimes. The classic Myr Retriever + Scrap Trawler loop makes for a game winning engine, but KCI doesn't see much play outside of that scenario.

One of its biggest appeals is the fact that it produces 2 colorless mana, allowing you to cast Myr Retriever and something of lesser mana value and be up on mana. It can also sacrifice itself which can come up sometimes too, but that is less common.

Maybe I can save a slot, by playing around with my sacrifice outlets.

->

Ashnod's Altar makes the critical 2 mana you need for the Scrap Trawler loops, but limits you to using <= 1 mana value artifact creatures. This is a big hit because
1. I have a single (!!) colorless artifact creature to loop at 1 mana
2. It removes card draw or mana making loops using Mox Opal or Chromatic Star.

You can still go off with Ashnod's Altar and another artifact specific sacrifice outlet and a 0 drop. You just get different effects rather than infinite mana.

I am also weakening the Gravecrawler combo by removing Phyrexian Altar. I don't feel too bad for this one though as I still have Earthcraft and Warren Soultrader that combo with the zombie and it still has plenty of play as regular sacrifice fodder.

The question becomes, do Scrap Trawler and Myr Retriever still warrant a slot and have play outside of that KCI shell or are they a trap? I think they are still fun cards with a variety of applications ranging from the obvious Goblin Welder to the less obvious Insidious Roots.

---

Counter package in White

As expected, Mikaeus, the Lunarch is out of place. Rate is too far below the rest of the cube to warrant a slot. There is another card that I am excited to try though



This is a neat card that protects against removal while growing your threat. It can also threaten activation on attack or defense, messing up combat. For him to shine though, it needs ways to get more counters or to reset him.



Proliferate is a very potent ability as it affects your whole board. What I like about the Evangel is that it is uncapped and it looks at ETB, not cast. Turns out White is quite good at blinking/returning to hand meaning this should naturally slot into decks.



I am considering this duo again because of the above cards, the Pixie especially as it enters with a counter.

---

Artifact targets

I've soured on the cheat archetype lately because not only are the payoffs narrow because of their mana value, but also because the play patterns are very polarizing. I still like Oath, Welder and Tinker alongside the Black reanimation spells, so some targets would be nice. I've liked Erik's and Dom's approach of having impactful artifacts to target lower down the curve. That said, I still like Myr Battlesphere as a rather unique go wide cheat target. The other cards I am looking at include



I'm already on Gearhulk and like what the Fleshgorger brings to the table. The Ward can be leveraged well in an aggressive deck that puts pressure on the opponent and/or grows the Wurm.

The Seraph is quite potent at 3 mana, but lackluster when cast for 6. The redeeming feature is that White is good at blinking making it a fun synergy to pursue.

Necron is definitely powerful, but it's kind of a better Gearhulk in a single color. I like the Gearhulk in Azorius because Prowess + Double strike is a sick combination, so going to avoid the 40k card for now.

---

Swaps

What does all this mean in practice?

->
->

I love Squandered Resources and seeing it in Dom's cube makes me happy seeing it in packs. I like being happy, so it's going back into my cube, multicolor balance be damned. I realize I am cutting a narrow card (KCI) for another, but I like Resources better.

->
->
->

This is an experiment to push counters in White a little more (with on-rate cards unlike Mikaeus).

Selfless Spirit is a fine card, but doesn't really push a specific theme. I view it as expendable even though it plays well.

Cutting the Inspector is surprising as it's a functional reprint of an all timer. However, for variety's sake, I like the idea a wide range of different effects.

->

My new artifact top end. I do worry that some people might view the Fleshgorger as a Black card exclusively, but it's still worth the risk.

 

[Nanonox]

In this update, I am trying to increase the density of free cards that allow you to do the broken stuff. For me, broken = fun!

Cutting Spiderman boosting the GY

I'm off Spiderman cards. The aesthetic is too jarring for me and there are so many good options outside of the set that I don't need to subject myself to them. The new Lorwyn set has a sweet looking new card

->
->

While Sandman and Speaker do not serve the same role, I am quite happy with a one time tutor effect. Gravecrawler, Master of Death, Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis and so on will love the effect.

Then the untap ability can be nuts with Grim Monolith, Tolarian Academy, Gaea's Cradle and Lotus Field to generate a lot of mana or reuse an activated ability such as Emry, Lurker of the Loch.

This swap makes me want to try out another card instead of Fauna Shaman who is similar to the Speaker, but also slow and vulnerable. I would like to have another Dredge card for the turbo-mill strategy and the Imp is the next best one after Golgari Grave-Troll IMO. It gets five cards in the GY and actually has a shot of being played in a slower deck as a roadblock.

->

This one kind of hurts as I love Spider-Woman's hate bear ability and hybrid mana cost. Still a spider though...

Wonder gives GY decks a more aggressive slant. In Izzet, jumping Inti or Ivora is huge. In Simic, giving Vengevine or Kiora easy attacks can close the game out quickly. You can also just splash it quite easily too and it's a great target to mill over with Imp or discard to Speaker.

To round out the GY/discard package, another free spell

->

Squee is fantastic with Bazaar, Survival and all the assorted looters/rummagers allowing you to go up on cards. Embercleave is a good card, but it doesn't really have a great home. It's just a big artifact for SFM or Welder.

---

Busted artifacts

I love artifacts and I am missing some of them that I've cut in the past. So I'm bringing them back, simple as that.

->
->
->


Lotus gives fun toys to the Welder/Engineer combo and helps set up for a big turn to cast a Citadel or storm off. What Must be Done is wrath #4 that I don't actually want now that I've added Parallax Wave back in. The recursion is a nice bonus, but not the main draw.

The Mox is a definite power outlier, but it goes into all sorts of decks and is the type of mana rock that I actively want to cast.

I regret cutting KCI. With the amount of sacrifice outlets in Black and Red, I think I can afford to go down a colorless one.

---

Only 7 cards being shuffled around, but I think the impact of this update will be huge. GY and artifact decks got some really fun tools to go off and the cards I added are classics (tbd for Formidable Speaker) which makes me happy.

 

[Nanonox]

Self-mill and discard overlap

I've been thinking about my aggressive self-mill and discard archetypes and think they would benefit from more overlap. What I mean by that is cards like Basking Rootwalla are great for the discard archetype, but do nothing for self-mill. I would like more cards similar to Anger, Wonder and Nethergoyf that can fit into both decks. This would lead to more competition during the draft and less narrow payoffs.

My aggressive discard payoffs are



I'm not including Inti for example as you would play that in any aggressive deck. Similarly, Tersa and Kiora are cards that the self-mill deck plays with the Threshold ability.

Rootwallas: While not very impactful on the board, being able to negate the card disadvantage of discarding is huge. These are fun to play with and a good signal that discard aggro is supported. It feels so good to pay 0 mana for a threat!

Asmo: I am lower on Asmo than previously as it's a discard card only, with the big downside of being uncastable in some situations. Add to that the fact that it's a chore to read and I don't currently run The Underworld Cookbook, making it a very narrow card. The hybrid mana certainly helps, but this is a candidate for a swap.

Ivora: Also pretty narrow, but she is a self-contained enabler and payoff. I think she is neat because the Blood tokens she makes can have other uses and she can be really explosive in the right deck.

Hollow One: Base rate sucks. After one discard a 3 mana 4/4 is not embarrassing, but not why you include it in your deck. For this to feel like you're getting ahead, you need to discard at least two cards in the same turn. I do like it for the discard artifact deck which comes together sometimes. Not as high as I once was on this one, also swappable.

Construct: This comes down early and offsets the card disadvantage of discarding. Being a creature is nice for the aggressive decks. Solid enough that I want to keep it especially because it is colorless and therefore accessible to all.

Converter/Monument: These are fantastic and a big part of why the discard archetype works. Staples.

tl;dr: Asmo's and Hollow One's slots are up for grabs.

---

Self-mill aggro?

Sultai has some decent self-mill options that could benefit from a bit more support IMO. I think a few more slots that work in that shell could help that deck come together more often. To give more archetype versatility, ideally the cards could go in both fast and slow self-mill decks. I don't want to go full turbo mill with Hooting Mandrils, Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Gurmag Angler as they aren't very exciting and pale compared to Hogaak and Titans.





There aren't a ton of options in Blue unfortunately. The Oculus is a beating though. One fear I had regarding the eye was the speed at which it killed. Thinking more about it, I realized that it isn't trivial to slam on turn 3, leaving more time for the game to breathe than I initially thought. Introducing Manifest Dread to the cube isn't ideal, but this dude is a compelling build around.





Unsurprisingly, Black has a ton of options and these are my favorite ones.

Moonstalker/Stalker: These can attack as 3/3s or bigger on turn 2 and both work with mill, discard and sacrifice. It's a tough choice between the two. Breaking it down.
1. I am wary of very aggressively statted one drops. They tend to snowball out of control fast and that isn't the gameplay I want. My big hitters come out on turn 2 and I'd like to keep it that way.
2. Stalker is capped at once per turn which goes against the spirit of the cube, Moonshadow isn't.
3. I actively want more +1/+1 counters in the cube. -1/-1 counters also tend to get confusing alongside their opposites.
4. Both have the same artist, but I like the Goblin's art better. The Elemental looks too digital for my tastes, though I love the colors.

I'm on team Goblin for now.

As an aside, Moonshadow pushes me towards considering Dress Down more seriously. The biggest synergy I have right now is with Uro and the other titans. I'd like a few more (that aren't Phyrexian Dreadnaught). Dress Down is also a disruptive cantrip that gives you an enchantment for Goyfs/Delirium. If you are on Persist combo, Melira, Sylvok Outcast goes well with the Elemental too.

Miner: Very solid beater that is easy to recur. Another one that ties sac, mill and discard.

Triarch: This one takes a big longer to get value from, but I do enjoy having a high density of cards playable from the GY and this is a good one. Bonus Welder synergy.

Zombie Fish: Just a big beater with a good type line. More difficult to cheat out in discard aggro and will compete with Oculus for GY food.





I'm not listing all available options, rather those I like the most. Call of the Herd is another fun one, but my threes are already a little bloated. Traverse the Ulvenwald is cool too though likely better in slower decks than aggressive ones.

Fanatic: I don't have anything I actively want to ramp towards, but the rate is there both on the front and on the Eternalize. This adds another big 4 toughness butt to Green and I am thinking I'd like to increase the amount of Red interaction that can remove it. Galvanic Blast is the most obvious choice. Though Mizzium Mortars and Mine Collapse have merit too.

Tarmogoyf: I might have been hasty in removing this classic. I'm probably over thinking having different GY requirements for this and Nethergoyf. This one is just a dumb beater, but sometimes that's all you need to get the job done.





The ooze has been in and out of the cube multiple times over the years. I was viewing it through the lens of a slower grindy card, but turns out having trample and +1/+1 counters means it can smack hard. It's limited to milling, discarding or sacrificing lands, but that is Green's strength.

---

Swaps

->
->
->

These three are my favorite includes, so I'll try this out and expand if I like what I am seeing. I'd love suggestions for Blue self-mill + discard payoffs if you have any. Champion of Wits is the type of card I want, but my cube has moved away from it being playable.

 

[N0oh]

Well, I guess you have the most common/powerfull sultai self-mill cards already.
The only notable omission I see is Search for Azcanta IMO.
Also, the warring tryad recently added by FF commander is okayish.

 

[Nanonox]

I've been pretty happy with my self-mill and discard swaps so far. In this deck, Squee and Stinkweed Imp shine as value and acceleration respectively.

---

Creature sacrifice

Currently my cube has a pretty broad sacrifice theme. In order of importance, it's mostly creatures getting sacrificed, then artifacts, then lands. This means you can go in many directions with decks looking nothing alike. Today I want to focus on creature sacrifice, expanding the theme and exploring various combos.

Currently, my creature sacrifice decks are almost exclusively anchored in Black. It's the color with the most sacrifice outlets as well as the best recursive creatures. Said creatures are aggressive and naturally fit with the discard aggro decks too, for some cross pollinisation.

Here is an example decklist if people are curious. This is missing a Blood Artist type effect, but still gives a good idea of what I mean.


While there are plenty of sacrifice engines, there are only two creature sacrifice combos I can think of currently in the cube



And



These are cool, but are 100% dependent on Gravecrawler. I'd like to find other cards that slot in with the current cube setup that can combo off, ideally in different colors to give sacrifice decks more options. I think Selesnya is the color combination with the greatest potential in that regard. Green has many tutors and White is fantastic at recurring cards.



First up, is Saffi. Alone she is a decent protection piece if you have a creature you need to keep alive. However, she can easily combo off with a sacrifice outlet and one of the following



This one seems very reasonable by itself and works great as blink target too. Even if the recurred creature can't engage in combat, some have very strong activated abilities which you can still use. Giver of Ruins, Goblin Welder, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Sakura-Tribe Elder for example all shine alongside it.



I don't have a Legendary matters theme and don't want to mislead drafters.



A lot of my flyers are 1/1 tokens, meaning there isn't a lot of synergy potential outside of Subtlety. It does trigger off itself however, so it seems reasonable to recur a 2 drop. Like Retainers, I don't love the signaling of a non-existant flyers deck.



Great cards, but my first thought is they are a tad too expensive for what I want this cube to be. Reveillark and Karmic Guide are a combo together, but not one I want to pursue. Karmic Guide alone though...Maybe!



This card is rock solid and extremely versatile. You can ramp with a fetch you just cracked, get back a creature that died in combat or trigger off a blink effect. The only strike against it is that it's in Selesnya. If I want to add Saffi, this means another guild slot taken.



Interesting, but tough on the mana with double Black pips. It does tie many themes together though thanks to the Connive. Threatens a 2 for 1 thanks to the Deathtouch and the Unearth ability. At 4 mana though, it's more of a midrange card than an aggressive one, which limits its uses. It also combos with Karmic Guide, giving some redundancy.



I'm a sucker for alternate costs so this one gives me pause. I don't mind Miracle on a conditional ability, though the Lifelink counter isn't great. Also a Karmic Guide combo card.



This is a four color combo. Pass (though the card is highly playable by itself!).

Bonus Saffi combo



Tap your creatures for mana with Earthcraft before looping Saffi and Lurrus.

Tl;dr: There is an Abzan midrange grindy combo deck that is easily supported with these four cards

Saffi Eriksdotter
Karmic Guide
Body Launderer
Metamorphosis Fanatic

This gets you
Saffi+Karmic
Saffi+Launderer
Saffi+Fanatic

And
Karmic+Fanatic
Karmic+Launderer

Extraction Specialist adds another Saffi combo and is a great card by itself.

---

Second, we have the classic Persist combos. You need one of the above Persist creatures, a free sacrifice outlet and an enabler (down below).

Thing is, I am not keen on these Persist creatures. The two drops are a little anemic, though the Goblin is also a Zombie which is relevant and the Masticore is a colorless discard outlet which has it's uses. Finks and Redcap are the cooler cards, but they are also higher up the curve than I like.

For enablers, the criteria they need to follow is for them to be generically playable. I don't want a hyper focused enabler that will not see play outside of the Persist combo.



Being a cheap artifact goes a long way. Distributing counters for various types can be randomly good (Spirits, Humans, Zombies, Soldiers, Servos, ...), but more often than not, this is likely to ride sideboards.



Not big on double White pips on a two drop. Decent card with blink is a bonus.



A cleaner Anafenza on a three drop. For one extra mana, you hit tokens and the ability to put more than one counter if you manage to grow Arwen. You also lose the Bolster text which is a plus. Have to be careful with threes though, the deck is heavy on them.



This needs to survive a turn or have a counter put on it somehow to work, making it more conditional. It also has Endure rules bagage that the other cards don't.



A little less clean than Arwen, but still does a great job. Trades a bigger butt and cleaner mana cost for the ability to work on tokens. The activated ability is no joke, though excluding tokens makes it a lot tougher to abuse.



Flashy card that I fear will not always come down at the appropriate time for the combo.



Don't really want to dedicate multicolored slots to this effect.



A fantastic recursion engine. It works in a regular deck, where you can also use it to give creatures evasion. 4 mana is on the higher side, but the explosive potential makes it worthwhile IMO.

Solemnity, Vizier of Remedies and Melira, Sylvok Outcast: These are very narrow combo cards. I am not big on including them as they will almost never get drafted outside of Persist combo (side note: Devoted Druid combos nicely with these).

There is also a new card that grants persist, but doesn't combo (afaik)



Like Saffi, Rhys is a protection spell that would go well in a grindy Abzan deck. Moonshadow sneaks up again here as a 1 mana 7/7 with Rhys, but that's not the synergy I am looking for.

Tl;dr: Not sure the Persist creatures are worth it, though Luminous Broodmoth is a slam dunk for Selesnya sacrifice. Metallic Mimic and Arwen, Weaver of Hope could be backup enablers.

---

This third piece I've talked about in a past post. It's very unique, but also pretty narrow and repetitive. Not my favorite option as I'd rather have individually strong pieces that combine into something stronger.

---

We've explored the creature combos, but there are also some great tutors in Selesnya to find the individual pieces. Since I am looking at this from a sacrifice angle, I prefer tutors that actually eat a creature here.



Gets Saffi and Guide. Weak body though.



Expensive at this power level, but a classic that is a lot of fun. Not always able to fetch what you want when you want though, because the curve sequence is rigid.



A more flexible tutor that is more inline with the cube's power level.



I like this guy as a big beater that puts a card onto the battlefield. You never get up on mana using the ability, so you can't be too greedy. Hybrid cards are cool too.



Awesome tutors that I need for my Green GY/discard decks.



Less essential. This one a nice mana sink, but often does nothing early as adding 2 mana to a creature's mana value is rough. Hitting the GY is what has kept it here so far, but other recursive options might push it out.



I think I would need to be more invested in the combo aspect than the grindy aspect for this to make the cut. Tapping down your team rather than attacking is a big sacrifice.



Great rate, but don't want to use a multicolored slot on a tutor effect I can get in either White or Green.

Tl;dr: Birthing Ritual and Fiend Artisan are solid tutors that would go well with the current cube list and complement Survival+Speaker.

---

Overall, there is definitely a creature sacrifice deck that can play a normal grindy gameplan, with a combo finish. The biggest issue is that this cube's power level is too high for most of the combo pieces. Kitchen Finks, Murderous Redcap, Reveillark, Karmic Guide and Sun Titan allow for a ton of combos, but are all a tad too slow!

The cleanest package for Selesnya creature combo would be

Saffi Eriksdotter
Extraction Specialist

They are good individually and combine for a little extra fun.

A bonus option of Luminous Broodmoth, Birthing Ritual and Rhys, the Evermore would add extra uses for sacrifice outlets and resilience to aggressive decks. Spawning Pit might be needed as another colorless sacrifice outlet to make Selesnya less dependent on Black. Caldeia Guardian might also be worth revisiting (combo with Hogaak and generally good card).

And finally, adding Body Launderer and/or Metamorphosis Fanatic could push Abzan sacrifice harder while being great cards on their own.

Tentative swaps

->
->
->
->
->
->

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these swaps and if I've missed some good pieces for the deck.

 

[EzPzJapanezy]

I feel ya about multicolor slots. Extending White into supporting creature combos, primarily through recursion loops, was 100% was pushed me past 720 over here, mostly due to the amount of 'junk' slots needed in multicolor to offer deep support. (Now that I have the space I actually kind of love having junk slots though lol)

I think pieces you picked for the Saffi combo in particular are all good. I don't know about Rhys though.

I include him primarily due to 'coolness' and the aforementioned space availability, but I also support Undying / Persist very heavily so having a method to reset creatures for additional value is pretty attractive. Right now the main interaction I see in your list is Emperor of Bones?

Regarding Persist, Melira being a 2cmc enabler is great but she is also complete junk. Solemnity enables enough unique combos to be more interesting, but it would be junk in your list. Unfortunately neither of them combo with Devoted Druid, only Vizier would. A pretty great green enabler that you missed is Railway Brawler, but even he might be too slow for what you are looking for.

But good post, I was recently thinking about bolstering support for Saffi too, will probably slot in Renegade Rallier (I think Extraction is better if not supporting Angelic Renewal) and Fiend Artisan to do so.

 

[Nanonox]

Appreciate the feedback, I missed the Brawler, but it is a tad too slow. I am considering an Occasional set up (like japahn and more recently ravnic adopted), to give me a bit more freedom with these more narrow cards. Your strategy of growing the cube is a good one too, but I feel strongly about seeing some cards every draft, so it kind of rules out that option.

---

Drafting Arena Powered Cube and wanted to share my impressions.



First draft I started with a Brain Freeze into Wheel of Fortune into Lotus Petal. I was 100% ready to go full combo, but never saw any more cards for it until late pack 2. Instead, I picked up Pyrokenisis and Currency Converter with some fixing lands. Red discard aggro was open and I got some nice splashable Green and Black cards and went that direction instead. Deck was really good and I had a lot of fun piloting it.

Here are the cards that stood out in a good way and have me reevaluating/confirming them for my own cube.



I don’t have a lot of reps with them but they were fun and powerful. Inti was amazing too, but closer to the GRBS range than the others.



I hadn’t played with her in a while and was pleasantly surprised! She was like a mix of Inti and Tersa rolled into one (haste, counters and value). The power level felt closer to the 2 drop than the 3 drop though, but not oppressive. Sequencing was tough with other haste cards, since you are losing either damage from the hasty beater or value from the exile draw.
Although I don’t want to include Tainted Pact to combo, Phlage, [CKroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger]Kroxa[/C], Scavenging Ooze, Scrapheap Scrounger and friends are a cool way to grow Laelia.



This one was a lot of fun. Drawing cards is obviously great, but what made things interesting was managing your life total and finding ways to not die to it. With Ancient Tomb in the deck and in aggressive mirrors, it was a risky card to activate multiple times. In my own cube, double fetch and double Shocklands means that you are likely to lose a lot of life from your man base, putting a cap on how busted it can be. Though getting rid of it here would be a lot easier with all the artifact sacrifice available. Not sure why I would include it, but I think it could hang with the rest of the cube.



Another one I hadn’t played with in a while and I enjoyed quite a bit. It was almost always a 2 mana 3/3 here (and never bigger, lacking other land types) and the attack trigger was fantastic at messing with a GY piece or getting discard triggers. I don’t have Triomes here, but I don’t think they are needed given the abundance of typed mana fixing.



Very mediocre at 4 mana, but having a free mode made up for it. It felt nice having a safety valve in case opponent popped off. Sacrificing a Mountain is a real cost especially early and led to interesting decisions.



Second draft I had the start to a great control deck with Mana Drain into Balance. I picked up some fixing a some cheap interaction in Esper colors, but the packs kept feeding me White aggressive cards. I flip-flopped a bit too long and had an unfocused deck. It's missing some of the more busted cards, but has great interaction and a solid clock. I went 5-2 losing to more broken decks and taking out decks that stumbled. The awkward curve cost me a few games, I need more ones and twos.

Lurrus was totally fine outside being a companion and with Serra Paragon, could set up nice recursion loops. Ajani and Barrowgoyf were mediocre as I had very few synergies to enable them properly.



Tough to slot in the curve as it takes up your whole turn leveling it. It was pretty hit or miss. It won games that were stalled, but felt like less than a card when curving out. Not my jam, especially because it’s just stats.



Stupid/fun story. Opponent and I are both at 3 life, my Comet is at 3 loyalty. If I roll a 4 or 5 I can dome them for exacties. I roll and 4 and opponent hits me with a GG with the trigger on the stack. I want to respond and click my avatar only to target and kill myself. I’d be pissed if it wasn’t so hilarious. Ended up 5-2 again.



Quite a fun card! It lets you go wide or tall depending on the board. Flurry means you need to think ahead and sequence right to get the most value which was an entertaining puzzle. The boards it produced were a bit too strong for my own cube though.



Similar go wide payoff, but more interactable since removing it takes care of the buff. It played really well as a scaling 2 drop, but doesn’t offer many synergistic hooks.

Notes during my matches

Got paired against a White deck that had Solitude into Ephemerate into Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd and it was obnoxious. Some mistakes cost them the match, but it felt oppressive.

Fury was able to clear a couple of threats/blockers for 0 mana and not go down on cards, which is bonkers. These pitch elementals are very good when ahead, but also a nice way to catch up when behind. I still like them, but they place a huge hurdle for aggressive decks.



This is a brutal card to face down. It can kill out of nowhere or stabilizes via tokens or counters. Too game warping for me.

Cheap removal was essential in the face of threats like Phelia, Bristly Bill, Emperor of Bones, Frog and so on. I had the same thought as the last time I drafted this cube, which is to reign in my threats to give time for synergy engines to get online. Bristly Bill was a terrifying turn 2 or 3 play against me every single time and is number two on my watch list after Frog for this cube.

 

[Nanonox]

I think I am hitting my card complexity saturation. For the first time in a long while, I am valuing flavor and nostalgia over synergy and gameplay. Arguably, this should always be at the forefront of my mind as a designer, and it was. It just didn't feel as important. As an example

vs

Same stat line, both have Flash and Flying. Restoration is a beloved and well known card that is relatively simple to grasp. Appa isn't exactly complicated, but introduces Airbending and new tokens. He hints at a from exile theme I do not have all for the ability to "blink" any number of different nonland permanent types.

Is it cool to Airbend your board and save yourself from a wrath? Yes! Is it fun to Airbend a Staff of the Storyteller, a Stormchaser's Talent and a Blade Splicer? Definitely! I just don't know if that is better than casting a classic card from Magic's history that still has plenty of play.

---

My lone colorless artifact fatty that remains. I've been unhappy with the cheat archetype's play patterns and cut some support a while back, a decision I still think is right today. However, the Battleball looks out of place without the rest of the support and sends the wrong signals. Instead, I am considering swapping it out for a noncreature Tinker/Welder target instead and that has several ramifications.



A spell velocity payoff is right at home here and this one has the benefit of stabilizing your life total. Rather than chip away damage, you will need to one shot the Endstone player, which turns the game on its head. Working with lands means that Green can jump in the combo action reminding me of Paradox Engine that makes use of mana dorks.

This leaves me with Angel of the Ruins and Phyrexian Fleshgorger as my last artifact fatties. While these are serviceable, they were included mostly to pad big artifact numbers that weren't too parasitic with their alternative mana costs, not because they were particularly exciting. I have no qualms cutting these and appreciate two more slots to tinker with. I would still like to have one more big artifact to cheat into play and these are the best in my eyes



The Great Henge can be an insane card advantage engine and can act as a second The Endstone more or less.

Mindslaver does nothing early, but can break a game wide open later on. Unique effect that leads to cool story moments.

Coveted Jewel gives you mana and cards, but comes with a big risk. To minimize it, you need to care about the board, which isn't always spell velocity's specialty.

Salvaging Station seems like a very fun one to break and would fit well with what the cube is doing. I have zero experience with it though, so not sure what to expect.

I've never seen Wondrous Crucible before, but it seems legit! Triggering at the end step is huge and the Ward seems strong too. Thing is, it's tough to actually build around. Sure you can Delve/Escape some cards away to increase the odds of hitting what you want, but I don't see much else.

I am not including Portal to Phyrexia as I think that card sucks to play against when cheated into play.



I love the idea of this card as a big ritual to fuel combo turns. Turn 2 Myr Battlesphere isn't very fun for me though and held the card back. Turn 2 The Endstone? Go nuts! In addition to fueling Scrap Trawler loops, the scariest thing Channel can do is cast mana creatures. Walking Ballista and friends can be 9/9s on turn 2, but that isn't exactly game ending. Stonecoil Serpent would be a 19/19 if you wanted to. On turn 3, Goldvein Hydra comes down for a hasty 19 damage which isn't great, honestly. So maybe that one has to go.

I need a bit more time to weigh all the considerations from removing all my artifact fatties, but first thought is that I like it?

I'd love feedback/insight/slap to the face, is he nuts? regarding these changes.

 

[inscho]

I think I am hitting my card complexity saturation. For the first time in a long while, I am valuing flavor and nostalgia over synergy and gameplay.

I hit my breaking point with complexity a few months ago with the GCC, and it is something I've wrestled over for years...I did a search my cube thread, and found this from 2017:

All in all I'm liking the direction this is heading. Although, a new concern of mine is the high degree of complexity of most of the cube. I may begin to look for simplified alternatives where possible.

LMAO...such a sweet summer child.....I had no clue that a complexity explosion was on the horizon...

I have two unfinished revisions languishing: one is a refresh with new cards, and the other is a "simple" version that manages the volume of unique mechanics as well as the wordiness of cards. Neither are exactly resonating with me, so I haven't gotten around to finalizing either.

That said, I still like Mindslaver, because it's a wincon if you can recur it, and it feels both substantial and exciting to build around, but maybe it's time to cut high mana value artifact cheat altogether? That where my mind has been trending.

You could make space to focus more on the artifact velocity/recursion loop side of things? Throw in a Junk Diver and Forensic Gadgeteer, etc?

 

[EzPzJapanezy]

I agree about Portal to Phyrexia (I also kinda just find it ugly as sin).

God-Pharaoh's Gift is much worse power-wise, the biggest disadvantage unfortunately being that it can only pull from your graveyard. However, 7cmc is a lot more achievable in ramp list and I like the art and zombie/embalm angle a lot more. Also the combat trigger technically does provide value a whole turn sooner than Portal.

I absolutely adore The Great Henge. A lot of simple green strategies bring it online such as +1/+1 counters & large creatures and its hilarious with Paradox Engine. Your list doesn't include a lot of high power creatures in mono-green which is the easiest way to build around it imo, but that isn't to say it isn't worth a shot. A novel strategy I'm seeing are cards that scale with the graveyard such as Tarmogoyf / Wight of the Reliquary / Knight of the Reliquary getting big -> casting a cheap Henge. Its also a really good Shifting Woodland target.

The Endstone caught my eye during the EoE portion of endless spoiler season but I never tested it (so take this with a big ol grain of salt). As a Big Storm Artifact it just seemed potentially super awkward with both Aetherflux Resevoir & Bolas's Citadel to the point of being annoying.

But yeah I don't think every cube running Tinker is required to run a creature bomb to get value out of it, if you hate being limited by Battlesphere I'd just give it the axe. Although it isn't exactly a 'clean' card, I think Extinguisher Battleship is one of the more fair colorless cheat targets that also has a great ETB when fetched with Tinker.

 

[Nanonox]

I hit my breaking point with complexity a few months ago with the GCC, and it is something I've wrestled over for years...I did a search my cube thread, and found this from 2017:

That said, I still like Mindslaver, because it's a wincon if you can recur it, and it feels both substantial and exciting to build around, but maybe it's time to cut high mana value artifact cheat altogether?

Mindslaver is a classic which brings it to the top of the list.
I have considered abandoning the artifact top end, but want to try the creatureless version first.

I like your emphasis on artifact velocity, could be a sweet avenue to expand on. I am trying to figure out if she is playable

I absolutely adore The Great Henge.

And I think you’ve sold me on it with the GY angle

GPG is cool, but not what I am looking for with this slot right now. Likewise, Battleship seems quite impactful, but does not feel like a real Magic card to me.

Regarding The Endstone, you are right that it is a nonbo with Citadel and Reservoir, hadn’t considered that. I think the life gain aspect can be important to stay alive, but at the same time it’s “just” giving you cards, which I feel is one of the easiest part of the Storm puzzle.

Will need more thought!