Let's make a catalog of good sac outlets for value. I feel like I'm missing some.
General Sacrifice Outlets
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
It all depends on your Diabolic intent.
Yes, I am that kind of guy. These 2 cards are strong but not overly strong. Just know that some people abhore these kind of cards.
If you want to have a stronger one then Recurring nightmare is there for you.
Bonus:
Yes, I am that kind of guy. These 2 cards are strong but not overly strong. Just know that some people abhore these kind of cards.
If you want to have a stronger one then Recurring nightmare is there for you.
Bonus:
The most useful sac outlets are along the lines of:
Not yet posted from The Black Cube:
There's some room to argue terminology, but I figure once per turn stuff should count because it still gets the job done. Village Rites deserves a shout out.
There's some room to argue terminology, but I figure once per turn stuff should count because it still gets the job done. Village Rites deserves a shout out.
At various power levels.
When you say you're looking for sac outlets, are you looking for repeatable effects (the traditional interpretation), multi-sac-for-value things, or just solid effects with the cost of sacrificing a critter strapped to them? I ask because considering the latter two open up your options pretty significantly. Take the following, for example. They're only once, but you can sac as many as you want and there's still some upside, especially in the case of Bontu.
The post was eddited multiple times, so you might want to reread it 
Of the mentioned above, in my Legacy power cube I run the following:
(the Tower is in Utility Land Draft section)
Of the non-mentioned ones I cube:
I dunno if it's really good, but it faithfully served the purpose of activating morbid for me. EDIT: High Market, of course, belongs to the ULD section.
An old classic. I'm not sure if it's better than Woe Strider but I'm planning on cutting all the post-HOU cards from my list and making an old-flavored Legacy cube, and this replaces the Strider for me. Carver is also a Birthing Pod-dable target.
Still testing it, so far it's been not bad. Smashes troublesome permanents with its -3 ability, too.
I guess, Birthing Pod counts as well?
Also Garruk, the Veil-Cursed's (the flip side of Garruk Relentless) -1 ability is technically a sacrifice outlet.
An upvote on aforementioned God-Eternal Bontu from me. The card is solid and fits into both Aggro and Midrange. And yeah, it's a good black 5-CMC creature, which everyone was waiting for for so long.
Of the mentioned above, in my Legacy power cube I run the following:
(the Tower is in Utility Land Draft section)
I dunno if it's really good, but it faithfully served the purpose of activating morbid for me. EDIT: High Market, of course, belongs to the ULD section.
An old classic. I'm not sure if it's better than Woe Strider but I'm planning on cutting all the post-HOU cards from my list and making an old-flavored Legacy cube, and this replaces the Strider for me. Carver is also a Birthing Pod-dable target.
Still testing it, so far it's been not bad. Smashes troublesome permanents with its -3 ability, too.
I guess, Birthing Pod counts as well?
Also Garruk, the Veil-Cursed's (the flip side of Garruk Relentless) -1 ability is technically a sacrifice outlet.
An upvote on aforementioned God-Eternal Bontu from me. The card is solid and fits into both Aggro and Midrange. And yeah, it's a good black 5-CMC creature, which everyone was waiting for for so long.
I think that anyone referencing this thread to enable a sac deck will be happy to see any card that sacs something effectively. There's definitely some debate to be had about what "sac outlet" means, but I think a variety of effects in the thread can only be beneficial.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
You. I like you.
Don't play Recurring Nightmare though. It's either shit or extremely busted. I feel that card has only a very narrow band where it's a remotely balanced inclusion.
I've never played with Recurring Nightmare, but I dislike the fact it's almost untouchable, since you can sacrifice a creature and return it to your hand in response to an echantment-hate spell from your opponent. Though, maybe the tempo loss caused by this bounce matters? It could give an opposing Aggro deck more time to attack a Nightmare player, and a Control mage could counter the card when it's cast again, but for Midrange it's perhaps beatable only via targeted discard which is typically not abundant in cube lists. Looking forward to hearing more opinions on the card!
Recurring Nightmare sucks ass. OP shit card.
How do people like Dark-Dweller Oracle? Always wanted to test it in cube.
If Hobblefiend gets mentioned, Ravenous Harpy deserves so, too.
Low-power options I'm also considering:
And don't forget:
How do people like Dark-Dweller Oracle? Always wanted to test it in cube.
If Hobblefiend gets mentioned, Ravenous Harpy deserves so, too.
Low-power options I'm also considering:
And don't forget:
Your opponent won't even have a chance to target it. The way the card is written allows you to plop it down and use it without passing priority to the opponent. It simply won't stay on the table, ever. For all intents and purporses it's a sorcery, not an enchanment.
But that's not the issue. The issue is that it goes with absolutely everything. You can take any ETB creature and make it come back over and over. Deranged Hermite, Sun Titan, Man'o'War, Nekrataal, it doesn't matter, you just bring them back. It generates insane amounts of value and it just keeps coming and coming. You will hit six mana and play it twice a turn which is absolutely insane.
It's the kind of card that just becomes the best thing in the whole format just by existing. If it's not the best card in your cube, it's because you are running pretty broken stuff. I wouldn't run the card unless Oppossition, Balance and Strip Mine seem fine to you. Take your cube and use a proxy for Recurring Nightmare, you'll see how it goes into everything and how strong it is.
It's a shame because I love the idea of it and its historic significance. But if you want a fair Recurring Nightmare, try out Diabolic Servitude
If you want a lower powered Recurring Nightmare, you should run this guy:
I have him in my cube since forever and I love it. You can do all the stupid value chains you can do with nightmare, but being slow and much more fragile makes him bearable for lowerpower levels. He's still an early pick and a must answer threat, but it is usually okay if he survives a turn or two.
Oh, and another one I can only praise:
The perfect glue for tokens and sacrifice
I have him in my cube since forever and I love it. You can do all the stupid value chains you can do with nightmare, but being slow and much more fragile makes him bearable for lowerpower levels. He's still an early pick and a must answer threat, but it is usually okay if he survives a turn or two.
Oh, and another one I can only praise:
The perfect glue for tokens and sacrifice
Dom Harvey
Contributor
To log on in my usual role as good_card_defender, I've found Recurring Nightmare increasingly inefficient and hard to utilize in high-powered Cubes even though recent sets are full of 'when this ETBs, do X, Y AND Z' designs
If you're open to silver-bordered cards, this one can pop off (and play a unique role in any shenanigans with Titania etc):
If you're open to silver-bordered cards, this one can pop off (and play a unique role in any shenanigans with Titania etc):
This is just a one of but it's still a pretty good card in a deck with tokens and stuff that wants to die, and since it's instant speed you can sacrifice creatures your opponent is pointing removal at.
How has this been for people? I rarely see it cubed at high power levels, but I know some guys here experimented with it.
My players mostly ignored Cabal Therapy, so I eventually cut it. It's pretty borderline.
For straight up sacrifice outlets, I think these 3 hold up really really well at a high power level. I've never been disappointed playing with any of them. There are also the many other options listed earlier in this thread that have a few more hoops to jump through; all good! We've gotten a ton of nice incidental sacrifice cards over the last 3-4 years.
One of my favorites that you have to put in a little bit of work for is:
If you have a Humans subtheme in B/W this is like the essential signpost card. Buffs your team, gives you some incidental hate, and you can even cash in bodies as removal to clear the way and keep up pressure. Just an excellent card overall.