Alright, another quick update since I've already wrangled up 10 people interested in my next cube session in about a month. It's wild how much easier it is to get people to commit if you can provide space (thanks Alesmith Brewing!) and some free food. I'm very inspired and motivated to really work through different cube ideas at the moment after mostly being off from updating/engaging with cube all of last year. I think it's FIN that got my gears turning again with individual card interactions so I'm gonna channel all my writing right now. After reading Dom's recent musings I also want to revisit ideas I've had for Aggro design just sitting around in my head for a while now that should finally be written up. Maybe I'll even turn it into a CubeCobra article at some point.
Anyway, seeing as we'll be drafting the full 450 again soon I'm going to list out a number of cards that will be tested out in the next session:
We've already had discussions about each of these cards in the CBS thread earlier in the week so I'm not going to dive too deep into them, but I'm convinced that each of these will able to play an effective role for me. Warden giving aggressive decks additional options in a board stall situation and eventually turning into a Serra Angel is pretty sweet (and synergizes with my counters theme in G/W) while Planisphere just does a little bit of everything to make it a very palatable 2-drop spell. They both seem like versatile options to really branch archetypes and maintain critical the critical mass to enable them. Bristlebud is just a big beefy boy to make G/x decks feel substantial. I like that it's a big potentially threatening body that can generate some card advantage via eating food, but is also vulnerable to removal. I will gladly be swapping out Questing Beast for this and probably won't miss him aside from the very aggressive G/R decks that would come together once in a blue moon. I've added in Roast in a recent update to help deal with big beef on the ground, could also see myself bringing back Valorous Stance back again to give more potential tools (and a pseudo-protection spell for G/W Landfall decks).
I enjoyed the ceiling of what Wrenn and Seven could do when it was first spoiled back in Midnight Hunt and ran it for a while, but it ended up being a little too fiddly when actually playing with it. It was very neat when you had the engine assembled but otherwise it was just another churn value walker that didn't make a big enough in-game impact most of the time. I think Summon: Titan simplifies the play pattern of filling the grave and then recurring lands with a Splendid Reclamation impersonation while also providing a proactive 7/7 body to smash it for some damage. This can serve as a big finisher for decks featuring Tifa Lockhart or Mossborn Hydra if you've stocked your graveyard a bit. Also it provides me with another Saga target that will hopefully make Rydia, Summoner of Mist's 2nd ability more than just flavor text.
Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury is just a powerful and flexible incentive card for any deck playing RW be that aggro or midrange. I'll take another Lightning Helix in either of those decks and being able to give a lower to the ground aggressive deck an actual finisher card when the pace of the game gets bogged is very appealing. Showdown of the Skalds was alright, but it only really came together once in a while in the ideal deck. Refueling your hand is gas for an aggressive deck with burn, but the more mid-range the more of a trap it would feel like. Phlage gives us more flexible action lower in the curve which is very important for aggressive builds.
Steel Overseer has been brought back to flesh out the artifacts archetype a little more. We had a bunch of decks in the last draft with some artifact synergies but I couldn't actually find my copy to put into my cube and instead used a Cogwork Librarian(still fun in draft, will need to find a permanent slot at 450). It's been in the binder for a few years now and I'd occasionally come back around to see if it was time, but now I think we have the critical mass of playable artifact creatures to where it can really shine at my power level.
These are the only cards from EOE thus far that I'm definitely going to test out, have to give the final spoilers a lookthrough to see what else I missed. Trooper does everything I want out of a white two drop by growing my smaller guys and promoting more plays later in the game. Human and +1/+1 synergies will make this a very nice roleplayer that can create explosive plays off a Champion of the Parish. I'm not a fan of one-off appearances of most keyword mechanics in my cube, but I think the play patters justify the inclusion here through I will be looking at even more options for inclusion as people post their experiences with these new cards.
Scout for Survivors seems like a more versatile version of Sevinne's Reclamation. I think it'll play much better than it looks and very low to the ground aggro decks will gladly take the chance to bring back 6 power worth of creatures onto the battlefield. Even more if you're bringing back Champion of the Parish and friends! We'll see how it actually performs in practice.
Finally I'm fully drinking the kool-aid for Sunset Saboteur. It's possible that the base case scenario is that it's too easily dealt with on the ground, but I can't get over how much damage this can represent at 4 power that early in the game for an aggressive deck. If you can get 6 damage out of a two drop in an aggressive deck I think that's a pretty good rate of return, but this can take that all the way to 8 and potentially trade for two cards when it's finally dealt with. Just seems like a very powerful piece for all of the B/x Aggro decks that come together in my cube that also has additional lines of play to it. Pair it up with targeted removal and it feels like it could be an absolute beating. Menace and Ward is such a powerful combination, I still have a soft spot for Sedgemoor Witch which was a solid card throughout its run and may come back someday, but this just has a higher ceiling in the decks that want it.
Anyway, seeing as we'll be drafting the full 450 again soon I'm going to list out a number of cards that will be tested out in the next session:
We've already had discussions about each of these cards in the CBS thread earlier in the week so I'm not going to dive too deep into them, but I'm convinced that each of these will able to play an effective role for me. Warden giving aggressive decks additional options in a board stall situation and eventually turning into a Serra Angel is pretty sweet (and synergizes with my counters theme in G/W) while Planisphere just does a little bit of everything to make it a very palatable 2-drop spell. They both seem like versatile options to really branch archetypes and maintain critical the critical mass to enable them. Bristlebud is just a big beefy boy to make G/x decks feel substantial. I like that it's a big potentially threatening body that can generate some card advantage via eating food, but is also vulnerable to removal. I will gladly be swapping out Questing Beast for this and probably won't miss him aside from the very aggressive G/R decks that would come together once in a blue moon. I've added in Roast in a recent update to help deal with big beef on the ground, could also see myself bringing back Valorous Stance back again to give more potential tools (and a pseudo-protection spell for G/W Landfall decks).
I enjoyed the ceiling of what Wrenn and Seven could do when it was first spoiled back in Midnight Hunt and ran it for a while, but it ended up being a little too fiddly when actually playing with it. It was very neat when you had the engine assembled but otherwise it was just another churn value walker that didn't make a big enough in-game impact most of the time. I think Summon: Titan simplifies the play pattern of filling the grave and then recurring lands with a Splendid Reclamation impersonation while also providing a proactive 7/7 body to smash it for some damage. This can serve as a big finisher for decks featuring Tifa Lockhart or Mossborn Hydra if you've stocked your graveyard a bit. Also it provides me with another Saga target that will hopefully make Rydia, Summoner of Mist's 2nd ability more than just flavor text.
Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury is just a powerful and flexible incentive card for any deck playing RW be that aggro or midrange. I'll take another Lightning Helix in either of those decks and being able to give a lower to the ground aggressive deck an actual finisher card when the pace of the game gets bogged is very appealing. Showdown of the Skalds was alright, but it only really came together once in a while in the ideal deck. Refueling your hand is gas for an aggressive deck with burn, but the more mid-range the more of a trap it would feel like. Phlage gives us more flexible action lower in the curve which is very important for aggressive builds.
Steel Overseer has been brought back to flesh out the artifacts archetype a little more. We had a bunch of decks in the last draft with some artifact synergies but I couldn't actually find my copy to put into my cube and instead used a Cogwork Librarian(still fun in draft, will need to find a permanent slot at 450). It's been in the binder for a few years now and I'd occasionally come back around to see if it was time, but now I think we have the critical mass of playable artifact creatures to where it can really shine at my power level.
These are the only cards from EOE thus far that I'm definitely going to test out, have to give the final spoilers a lookthrough to see what else I missed. Trooper does everything I want out of a white two drop by growing my smaller guys and promoting more plays later in the game. Human and +1/+1 synergies will make this a very nice roleplayer that can create explosive plays off a Champion of the Parish. I'm not a fan of one-off appearances of most keyword mechanics in my cube, but I think the play patters justify the inclusion here through I will be looking at even more options for inclusion as people post their experiences with these new cards.
Scout for Survivors seems like a more versatile version of Sevinne's Reclamation. I think it'll play much better than it looks and very low to the ground aggro decks will gladly take the chance to bring back 6 power worth of creatures onto the battlefield. Even more if you're bringing back Champion of the Parish and friends! We'll see how it actually performs in practice.
Finally I'm fully drinking the kool-aid for Sunset Saboteur. It's possible that the base case scenario is that it's too easily dealt with on the ground, but I can't get over how much damage this can represent at 4 power that early in the game for an aggressive deck. If you can get 6 damage out of a two drop in an aggressive deck I think that's a pretty good rate of return, but this can take that all the way to 8 and potentially trade for two cards when it's finally dealt with. Just seems like a very powerful piece for all of the B/x Aggro decks that come together in my cube that also has additional lines of play to it. Pair it up with targeted removal and it feels like it could be an absolute beating. Menace and Ward is such a powerful combination, I still have a soft spot for Sedgemoor Witch which was a solid card throughout its run and may come back someday, but this just has a higher ceiling in the decks that want it.