Horn of Greed + Fastbond. Play a land, draw a card, rinse and repeat. That can be plugged into some sort of Simic shell to just get a huge early lead. Or you can run it in storm for pure combo. Maybe there's a Selesnya landfall version too? I don't know.
Retro Combo Cube
- Thread starter ahadabans
- Start date
Two more quick swaps to again add a little more to control.
OUT >> IN
Hymn to Tourach >> Inquisition of Kozilek
Kjeldoran Outpost >> Solemn Simulacrum
Hymn is more powerful certainly, but it's double black, more prone to random hosing. T1 disruption is really good and I want a high density of it in this cube because of all the combo running around. This slot could end up go for the throat or something like disfigure but for now it's a more discard. Outpost is a tad slow and sets back control with the land sac. Solemn does the opposite and it's colorless so goes in any color control. Control needs more ramp options as my mana rock suite is highly contested and thin.
OUT >> IN
Hymn to Tourach >> Inquisition of Kozilek
Kjeldoran Outpost >> Solemn Simulacrum
Hymn is more powerful certainly, but it's double black, more prone to random hosing. T1 disruption is really good and I want a high density of it in this cube because of all the combo running around. This slot could end up go for the throat or something like disfigure but for now it's a more discard. Outpost is a tad slow and sets back control with the land sac. Solemn does the opposite and it's colorless so goes in any color control. Control needs more ramp options as my mana rock suite is highly contested and thin.
Ester Tinker and Tell vs Naya Zoo
Game 1: Esper keeps shaky hand on the play. Land then Azorius Chancery, into T3 Overflowing Chalice. Not stellar. Naya with a super sweet start of Wild Nacatl into Kird Ape into Call of the Herd. 6 damage dealt before Esper Supreme Verdict to reset the board. Naya missing plains so call of the herd flashback. Esper land and holds 5 mana. Naya rips Wasteland of the top, play and destroy chancery. Ouch. Esper Gifts Ungiven in response, Unburial Rites plus Inkwell Leviathan both to the yard. Naya swing for 3. Esper flashback Inky. Naya hosed plays Wild Mongrel. Esper with 11 life and Sphinx’s Revelation in hand opts to play Mindslaver instead. Naya in trouble drops Bloodbriad Elf flipping Fauna Shaman, swing for the fences. If Naya discards their hand, mongrel drops them to 2 so I feel like I have to kill it with ink. That sucks because I slavered thinking mongrel would ruin them on the slaver turn. Esper takes 6 down to 5. Esper not in a great spot gambles on the slaver anyway. Naya’s controlled turn they draw Zuran Orb! OMG. LOL. Play orb. Use Shaman, discard Thornscape Battlemage to get… orcish lumberjack? That was probably stupid. I was hoping there was an ETB creature I could find to kill something. Suicide Bloodbraid, sac all lands to orb. Good as it’s getting but pretty sure it’s enough. Esper Batterskull go. Naya… scoop. Man, that was actually pretty close. Naya with a plain and this is a completely different outcome. Hand was full of really good stuff.
Game 2: Goes pretty long. Naya with a little of a slow start, Hellspark Elemental draws first blood. Esper Everflowing Chalice. Naya too many lands, cycles Sheltered Thicket. Should have played call of the herd here I think. Esper with Tolarian Academy in hand Trinket Mage for Seat of the Synod. Naya call of the herd. Esper Batterskull. Naya Masticore. Esper land go waits for discard then Swords to Plowshares. Naya drops Thundermaw hellkite. Esper not so confident now. We have a bit of a Mexican standoff. Esper holding Wing Shards passes. Naya Zuran Orb into cataclysm (opts not to sac lands since they are not sure if there’s a counter). Batterskull and the germ token survive but chalice is gone along with a ton of lands. Standoff continues. Esper Tolarian Academy (synod was kept), so that’s an advantage. Still, nothing to play. Naya undiscovered paradise play Wild Nacatl with sacred foundry in play. Tasty. Still, Batterskull really gumming things up here. Naya stuck on 2 land with Crucible of Worlds in hand too. So close yet so far. Esper land play Icy Manipulator. Naya Steppe Lynx and second land (not paradise). A fetch and we have liftoff offensively. Icy lock down land during upkeep to keep them off 3 lands. Still not enough offense to make swinging worth it given Batterskull’s lifelink. Esper signet. Now Tolarian Academy is tapping for 4 which is enough for Austere Command killing all creatures. Icy still locking down a land for Naya. They don’t draw more. Esper in full control at this point. Plenty of choices and Naya just with no way back now. Game, set, match.
Esper wins 2-0!
That first game came down to mana. A plain and we are playing a game 3. Game 2 I maybe kept a weak hand for Naya and the cataclysm seemed good at first but ended up not working out very well. So hindsight it might have been the wrong play. I don’t know. Esper with just so much top end brokenness, taking land away had to be better for Naya. Tolarian Academy is kind of silly in an artifact deck. That is what made the race one sided in the end. Batterskull too just kept the offense neutered when it came down. As always very solid against aggro. If aggro was struggling in these tests, I’d cut this for being obtuse honestly. It's a pretty stupid card. But control needs some help and it combos with stoneforge so I don’t feel it’s totally out of place in this cube.
Game 1: Esper keeps shaky hand on the play. Land then Azorius Chancery, into T3 Overflowing Chalice. Not stellar. Naya with a super sweet start of Wild Nacatl into Kird Ape into Call of the Herd. 6 damage dealt before Esper Supreme Verdict to reset the board. Naya missing plains so call of the herd flashback. Esper land and holds 5 mana. Naya rips Wasteland of the top, play and destroy chancery. Ouch. Esper Gifts Ungiven in response, Unburial Rites plus Inkwell Leviathan both to the yard. Naya swing for 3. Esper flashback Inky. Naya hosed plays Wild Mongrel. Esper with 11 life and Sphinx’s Revelation in hand opts to play Mindslaver instead. Naya in trouble drops Bloodbriad Elf flipping Fauna Shaman, swing for the fences. If Naya discards their hand, mongrel drops them to 2 so I feel like I have to kill it with ink. That sucks because I slavered thinking mongrel would ruin them on the slaver turn. Esper takes 6 down to 5. Esper not in a great spot gambles on the slaver anyway. Naya’s controlled turn they draw Zuran Orb! OMG. LOL. Play orb. Use Shaman, discard Thornscape Battlemage to get… orcish lumberjack? That was probably stupid. I was hoping there was an ETB creature I could find to kill something. Suicide Bloodbraid, sac all lands to orb. Good as it’s getting but pretty sure it’s enough. Esper Batterskull go. Naya… scoop. Man, that was actually pretty close. Naya with a plain and this is a completely different outcome. Hand was full of really good stuff.
Game 2: Goes pretty long. Naya with a little of a slow start, Hellspark Elemental draws first blood. Esper Everflowing Chalice. Naya too many lands, cycles Sheltered Thicket. Should have played call of the herd here I think. Esper with Tolarian Academy in hand Trinket Mage for Seat of the Synod. Naya call of the herd. Esper Batterskull. Naya Masticore. Esper land go waits for discard then Swords to Plowshares. Naya drops Thundermaw hellkite. Esper not so confident now. We have a bit of a Mexican standoff. Esper holding Wing Shards passes. Naya Zuran Orb into cataclysm (opts not to sac lands since they are not sure if there’s a counter). Batterskull and the germ token survive but chalice is gone along with a ton of lands. Standoff continues. Esper Tolarian Academy (synod was kept), so that’s an advantage. Still, nothing to play. Naya undiscovered paradise play Wild Nacatl with sacred foundry in play. Tasty. Still, Batterskull really gumming things up here. Naya stuck on 2 land with Crucible of Worlds in hand too. So close yet so far. Esper land play Icy Manipulator. Naya Steppe Lynx and second land (not paradise). A fetch and we have liftoff offensively. Icy lock down land during upkeep to keep them off 3 lands. Still not enough offense to make swinging worth it given Batterskull’s lifelink. Esper signet. Now Tolarian Academy is tapping for 4 which is enough for Austere Command killing all creatures. Icy still locking down a land for Naya. They don’t draw more. Esper in full control at this point. Plenty of choices and Naya just with no way back now. Game, set, match.
Esper wins 2-0!
That first game came down to mana. A plain and we are playing a game 3. Game 2 I maybe kept a weak hand for Naya and the cataclysm seemed good at first but ended up not working out very well. So hindsight it might have been the wrong play. I don’t know. Esper with just so much top end brokenness, taking land away had to be better for Naya. Tolarian Academy is kind of silly in an artifact deck. That is what made the race one sided in the end. Batterskull too just kept the offense neutered when it came down. As always very solid against aggro. If aggro was struggling in these tests, I’d cut this for being obtuse honestly. It's a pretty stupid card. But control needs some help and it combos with stoneforge so I don’t feel it’s totally out of place in this cube.
Ester Tinker and Tell vs BUG Reanimator
Both combo decks so should be pretty wild I’m guessing.
Game 1: BUG on the play is missing blue but has a T1 entomb, Bogardan Hellkite and Frantic Search in hand. Esper tapped land go, BUG entomb Borborygmos Enraged. BUG no island T2, land go. Esper signet. BUG T3 no island… uh oh. Buried Alive, dumping 3 fatties into the yard. Can I get a living death just one time pretty please? Esper, Tolarian Academy into Everflowing Chalice for 2. I did not like chalice much when I first played with it, but the card is pretty good in slower metas since it scales (also fetchable with trinket mage). BUG finally gets the island, Frantic search and finds Exhume. Discard helkite into exhume. In response Esper Thirst for Knowledge, discard Inkwell Leviathan. Oh that felt good. BUG reanimate hellkite and domes for 5, Esper gets Inky. Exhume is just a great card for cube IMO, so much play to it on both sides of the table. BUG swing hellhite, dread return Simic Sky Swallower. Esper with a million mana, land go. BUG swing, Esper gifts ungiven into wing shards, BUG sac both big creatures. That was brutal. Esper gets Mindslaver, Academy Ruins, Sphinx’s Revelation and counterspell with gifts. BUG dumps slaver and ruins to prevent any of that nonsense. Esper tapped so BUG one turn to do something good. Draw step reveals? Living Death! And "top deck of the year" award goes to… BUG wins on resolution from hellkite and Bobo land discard trigger. Nasty. Living Death is another really sweet cube card. You can’t just slam it in any black deck, but the ceiling on it is absurd. It’s reanimator's version of Craterhoof Behemoth.
Game 2: Amazing game. Esper with chalice. Bug T1 Entomb Bobo, T2 Oath of Druids. Oath creates a bit of a standoff. Esper with a baleful strix in hand that is clearly not a good play and a bunch of land. BUG stuck on two lands though gets Esper a big mana lead. Eventually, Austere Command by Esper deals with oath and stuff starts coming down. BUG finally lands dread return hellkite killing strix and dome for 4. Esper swords to plowshares on hellkite. BUG gets a Frantic Search, find some fatties into Corpse Dance with buyback. Oh boy, that could get ugly. Esper Inkwell shuts down at least Bobo. Esper gambles on Show and Tell to get Mindslaver in play with Academy Ruins with immediate activation. This pays off as BUG has nothing but a land to play and no way to stop this. Slaver turn is outrageous too. Play land, Living Wish for rubbish, Dark Petition for careful study (with island still untapped), play study, discard reanimate and exhume, Play Corpse Dance without buyback on Bobo, discard 2 lands to dome BUG for 6 and then let Bobo exile. BUG left with a creature they can’t play in hand and only Sundering Titan left in the yard. Esper swings with inky, gives them a turn to make something happen (BUG draws nothing), then Esper with ruins into slaver to lock the game. On to the rubber…
Game 3: Ends up being a quick one. BUG T1 Overgrown Tomb untapped. Esper, Inquisition of Kozilek. BUG entombs in response but loses Corpse Dance. Ouch. BUG with putrid imp, Dimir Aqueduct. Esper Signet. BUG draws exhume for Hellkite. Lucky. Esper Seat of the Synod, Tinker for Inkwell. Race is on? BUG with an ace though holding Moment’s Peace. BUG swing, still stuck on 3 mana. Esper Tolarian Academy, Chalice for 3 holding a Darksteel Colossus. That could get hardcasted! BUG swinging away still stuck on two lands, but Inky damage is nulled for 2 turns because of Moment’s Peace. That card is really brutal. Esper with no wrath and no way to block the dragon is dying quickly to it. BUG Frantic Search, finally finds another land, discard Sundering Titan into Dread Return on Titan. That completely destroys Esper’s mana base and they draw nothing that can save them on the next turn. Hellkite swings for lethal shortly after.
BUG wins 2-1!
Sweet match. These decks are very competitive and feel of similar power level which makes me happy. I especially like the top end creatures here. They are powerful but not overwhelming. You have time to react and find answers without getting too far behind. It’s matches like this that remind me how great this game plays with a blunted top end. My meta is still very degenerate compared to a lower powered cube obviously, but it’s tame compared to a powered cube.
Both combo decks so should be pretty wild I’m guessing.
Game 1: BUG on the play is missing blue but has a T1 entomb, Bogardan Hellkite and Frantic Search in hand. Esper tapped land go, BUG entomb Borborygmos Enraged. BUG no island T2, land go. Esper signet. BUG T3 no island… uh oh. Buried Alive, dumping 3 fatties into the yard. Can I get a living death just one time pretty please? Esper, Tolarian Academy into Everflowing Chalice for 2. I did not like chalice much when I first played with it, but the card is pretty good in slower metas since it scales (also fetchable with trinket mage). BUG finally gets the island, Frantic search and finds Exhume. Discard helkite into exhume. In response Esper Thirst for Knowledge, discard Inkwell Leviathan. Oh that felt good. BUG reanimate hellkite and domes for 5, Esper gets Inky. Exhume is just a great card for cube IMO, so much play to it on both sides of the table. BUG swing hellhite, dread return Simic Sky Swallower. Esper with a million mana, land go. BUG swing, Esper gifts ungiven into wing shards, BUG sac both big creatures. That was brutal. Esper gets Mindslaver, Academy Ruins, Sphinx’s Revelation and counterspell with gifts. BUG dumps slaver and ruins to prevent any of that nonsense. Esper tapped so BUG one turn to do something good. Draw step reveals? Living Death! And "top deck of the year" award goes to… BUG wins on resolution from hellkite and Bobo land discard trigger. Nasty. Living Death is another really sweet cube card. You can’t just slam it in any black deck, but the ceiling on it is absurd. It’s reanimator's version of Craterhoof Behemoth.
Game 2: Amazing game. Esper with chalice. Bug T1 Entomb Bobo, T2 Oath of Druids. Oath creates a bit of a standoff. Esper with a baleful strix in hand that is clearly not a good play and a bunch of land. BUG stuck on two lands though gets Esper a big mana lead. Eventually, Austere Command by Esper deals with oath and stuff starts coming down. BUG finally lands dread return hellkite killing strix and dome for 4. Esper swords to plowshares on hellkite. BUG gets a Frantic Search, find some fatties into Corpse Dance with buyback. Oh boy, that could get ugly. Esper Inkwell shuts down at least Bobo. Esper gambles on Show and Tell to get Mindslaver in play with Academy Ruins with immediate activation. This pays off as BUG has nothing but a land to play and no way to stop this. Slaver turn is outrageous too. Play land, Living Wish for rubbish, Dark Petition for careful study (with island still untapped), play study, discard reanimate and exhume, Play Corpse Dance without buyback on Bobo, discard 2 lands to dome BUG for 6 and then let Bobo exile. BUG left with a creature they can’t play in hand and only Sundering Titan left in the yard. Esper swings with inky, gives them a turn to make something happen (BUG draws nothing), then Esper with ruins into slaver to lock the game. On to the rubber…
Game 3: Ends up being a quick one. BUG T1 Overgrown Tomb untapped. Esper, Inquisition of Kozilek. BUG entombs in response but loses Corpse Dance. Ouch. BUG with putrid imp, Dimir Aqueduct. Esper Signet. BUG draws exhume for Hellkite. Lucky. Esper Seat of the Synod, Tinker for Inkwell. Race is on? BUG with an ace though holding Moment’s Peace. BUG swing, still stuck on 3 mana. Esper Tolarian Academy, Chalice for 3 holding a Darksteel Colossus. That could get hardcasted! BUG swinging away still stuck on two lands, but Inky damage is nulled for 2 turns because of Moment’s Peace. That card is really brutal. Esper with no wrath and no way to block the dragon is dying quickly to it. BUG Frantic Search, finally finds another land, discard Sundering Titan into Dread Return on Titan. That completely destroys Esper’s mana base and they draw nothing that can save them on the next turn. Hellkite swings for lethal shortly after.
BUG wins 2-1!
Sweet match. These decks are very competitive and feel of similar power level which makes me happy. I especially like the top end creatures here. They are powerful but not overwhelming. You have time to react and find answers without getting too far behind. It’s matches like this that remind me how great this game plays with a blunted top end. My meta is still very degenerate compared to a lower powered cube obviously, but it’s tame compared to a powered cube.
UPDATE:
Few more small tweaks to the list.
OUT >> IN
Solitari Monk >> Seeker of the Way
Innocent Blood >> Go For The Throat
Turnabout >> Mystical Teachings
Seeker is playable in more than aggro (at least as filler). Priest is enough soltari for WW I think. Monk clearly stellar in the Bx matchup but I want to try and bleed a few of these cards between decks and archetypes now that I have a rough baseline to work from. Go For the Throat is also more generically useful card, and another push to help black be a little less linear (and more control friendly).
Mystical Teachings I'm not sure is high enough power for this list, I but I drafted a cool little Esper control deck where I think it will play excellently. I think it has a lot of potential. I'm temped to swap Draining Whelk in for Keiga, The Tide Star actually. Even without teachings, that thing is silly off of Sneak Attack, Aether Vial or just a big mana deck.
Few more small tweaks to the list.
OUT >> IN
Solitari Monk >> Seeker of the Way
Innocent Blood >> Go For The Throat
Turnabout >> Mystical Teachings
Seeker is playable in more than aggro (at least as filler). Priest is enough soltari for WW I think. Monk clearly stellar in the Bx matchup but I want to try and bleed a few of these cards between decks and archetypes now that I have a rough baseline to work from. Go For the Throat is also more generically useful card, and another push to help black be a little less linear (and more control friendly).
Mystical Teachings I'm not sure is high enough power for this list, I but I drafted a cool little Esper control deck where I think it will play excellently. I think it has a lot of potential. I'm temped to swap Draining Whelk in for Keiga, The Tide Star actually. Even without teachings, that thing is silly off of Sneak Attack, Aether Vial or just a big mana deck.
UWb Teachings from CubeTutor.com
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