sharzad (safra's cube)

Didn't find anyone mentioning this, so here goes: these customs seems a bit narrow in here, since there isn't enough actual targets for them (solar flare only targets artifacts and Matter Reshaper, Shrine Maiden has 0 targets):

1455818875684_Solar%20Flare.jpg
1455818873054_Shrine%20Maiden.jpg


1 stands for generic mana, which isn't any color... designers probably were aiming for hybrid mana for every color ?

Cards I would cut, because i can't see them doing that much or aren't that interesting:

Fabled Hero <- not enough targets, 2/2 double strike isn't that exciting, where is Silverblade Paladin?
Shrine Maiden <- if you play it literally, it has no targets, but i think that even with targets for every 1 drop sorcery or instant in your cube, it isn't that exciting to me.
A LOT worse than Snapcaster Mage(which you have in your cube), not to mention white has a lot of good 2-drops available.
I would push the power level more so i would add it in this cube or my cube.

Runed Halo <- why? protection against 1 thing, costs WW, so not that many decks would add it. I would take this card out in a heart beat.
Scourge of Nel Toth <- 5BB 6/6 flying isn't worth it and sacrificing two dudes seems way too expensive for the gain.
Kird Ape, Viashino Slaughtermaster <- i dislike these guys in a red slot, since they are multicolored. Kird Ape not that exciting in the RG slot or the red slot. Viashino is pretty horrible without the GB boost and not that exciting even when you get the 3-colors for it.

Root-Maze Enchantress is a sweet card, don't get me wrong. It doesn't have any real application in this cube though. You need a strong enchantment theme for this card to work in your favor.
Void Grafter <- this effect loses to Mystic Snake in so many ways, where's Mystic Snake?????(not sure if you noticed i like Mystic Snake)

EDIT:
Doomsday + Laboratory Maniac seems out of place. Your cube has a low curve and it seems you will have a lot of fast decks, so i can't imagine anyone winning with Doomsday, not to mention it being really hard to pull off in any cube.
I would call Doomsday a trap in this cube. :)
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Solar Flare should not have the 3 turned into a mana symbol, see Unearth. It's supposed to have lots of targets. The same is true for Shrine Maiden, that should simply say "converted mana cost 1 or less". Those are templating errors.

Shrine Maiden has two Path to Exiles and and Enlightened Tutor to get back in white, which isn't a lot. Maybe you can switch Runed Halo for something like Gods Willing? But yeah, more support in other colors would be nice as well, nice catch. A Force Spike extra in blue, another two one-mana burn spells, etc. Oh, Mana Tithe would be awesome to get back! Maybe you could give it flash to make it better with instants, the 2/2 bear body isn't that exciting anyway, though it does kinda becomes just a white Snapcaster that way. Ok, maybe some other keyword... ;)

I think Meltyman has some valid points, though Viashino Slaughtermaster is just good as a 1/1 double strike for {1}{R} if you support it with enough equipment and/or auras. Problem is inexperienced players see that {B}{G} activation cost, and don't judge it as a red 1/1 double strike, but as a card they can't activate. If you play with experienced players that should be less of a problem though.
 
I think Meltyman has some valid points, though Viashino Slaughtermaster is just good as a 1/1 double strike for {1}{R} if you support it with enough equipment and/or auras. Problem is inexperienced players see that {B}{G} activation cost, and don't judge it as a red 1/1 double strike, but as a card they can't activate. If you play with experienced players that should be less of a problem though.

Yeah, it can be powerful without the activation.
I just don't like 2 mana 2/2s that need support to be acceptable.
Even in the traditional drafting formats i try to steer clear from combat tricks, so i guess there is that... :)
 
Didn't find anyone mentioning this, so here goes: these customs seems a bit narrow in here, since there isn't enough actual targets for them (solar flare only targets artifacts and Matter Reshaper, Shrine Maiden has 0 targets):

1455818875684_Solar%20Flare.jpg
1455818873054_Shrine%20Maiden.jpg


1 stands for generic mana, which isn't any color... designers probably were aiming for hybrid mana for every color ?

Cards I would cut, because i can't see them doing that much or aren't that interesting:

Fabled Hero <- not enough targets, 2/2 double strike isn't that exciting, where is Silverblade Paladin?
Shrine Maiden <- if you play it literally, it has no targets, but i think that even with targets for every 1 drop sorcery or instant in your cube, it isn't that exciting to me.
A LOT worse than Snapcaster Mage(which you have in your cube), not to mention white has a lot of good 2-drops available.
I would push the power level more so i would add it in this cube or my cube.

Runed Halo <- why? protection against 1 thing, costs WW, so not that many decks would add it. I would take this card out in a heart beat.
Scourge of Nel Toth <- 5BB 6/6 flying isn't worth it and sacrificing two dudes seems way too expensive for the gain.
Kird Ape, Viashino Slaughtermaster <- i dislike these guys in a red slot, since they are multicolored. Kird Ape not that exciting in the RG slot or the red slot. Viashino is pretty horrible without the GB boost and not that exciting even when you get the 3-colors for it.

Root-Maze Enchantress is a sweet card, don't get me wrong. It doesn't have any real application in this cube though. You need a strong enchantment theme for this card to work in your favor.
Void Grafter <- this effect loses to Mystic Snake in so many ways, where's Mystic Snake?????(not sure if you noticed i like Mystic Snake)

EDIT:
Doomsday + Laboratory Maniac seems out of place. Your cube has a low curve and it seems you will have a lot of fast decks, so i can't imagine anyone winning with Doomsday, not to mention it being really hard to pull off in any cube.
I would call Doomsday a trap in this cube. :)

Great feedback, thanks! In order:

Shrine Maiden and Solar Flare's text is indeed a formatting error, I'll get them fixed up. They should care about generic converted mana costs, not colourless ones. the Maiden's viable targets are limited, perhaps more than necessary (although, uh, you can also regrow Secure the Wastes?) and so I'll either make a few swaps to better enable her or cut her for another interesting card.

Runed Halo I was trying out; it's solid as splash coverage for any regrown fireballs or other non-creature strategy but likely doesn't do enough to justify being maindecked. Mana Tithe for Halo I think I could get on board with.

Scourge is still being tested out as a Pod top-end and Reanimator burrito (see, it wraps all the pieces into one card, so if it's a beater that reanimates itself it's a reanimator burrito). It's the weakest of the Dragons in that curve space right now but it does a cool, unique thing so I'm going to keep testing it for a little while longer.

Kird ape and Slaughtermaster are fine and Slaughtermaster's ability is regularly activated. He'd be fine as a Fencing Ace but does much more. Kird Ape is a one-drop that kills easily half my two-drops in combat; remember I'm running mostly 2-damage burn so an x/3 is actually a big deal at {R}. White has a humans theme so Kird Ape feels more reasonable than Loam Lion does.

Mystic Snake is an unfortunate casualty of my Collected Company theme, and the Grafter's 2/4 stat line has also been relevant during combat. Not sold on Grafter>Snake yet but it could be right here.

Doomsday's life loss is definitely awkward but encourages Dark Ritual builds against fast decks. As a combo-control deck I'm alright with it having a poor matchup against fast aggro. A little more incidental lifegain might help shore up those matches - I'll take a look. I'm sure it's a trap, but Storm was even more of one. I just want a real combo deck in my environment and I'm okay making a couple sacrifices to get it!
 
Yeah don't blame safra for the 3 =/= {3} thing, MSE autoformats it this way :p
Doesn't the ]3[ syntax work anymore? It used to force the text inside the inverted brackets to not be converted to symbols. I have quite an old MSE version so maybe this was removed?

(MSE's creator was pretty serious about making the program less accurate to real magic cards so it wouldn't be a counterfeiting tool. A lot of stuff got changed and maybe ]3[ did too?)
 
Doesn't the ]3[ syntax work anymore? It used to force the text inside the inverted brackets to not be converted to symbols. I have quite an old MSE version so maybe this was removed?

(MSE's creator was pretty serious about making the program less accurate to real magic cards so it wouldn't be a counterfeiting tool. A lot of stuff got changed and maybe ]3[ did too?)

No, it works, thank you so much! I was unaware and couldn't find anything about it with a quick google search so I just gave up initially and let it write {3} instead.
 
Doesn't the ]3[ syntax work anymore? It used to force the text inside the inverted brackets to not be converted to symbols. I have quite an old MSE version so maybe this was removed?

(MSE's creator was pretty serious about making the program less accurate to real magic cards so it wouldn't be a counterfeiting tool. A lot of stuff got changed and maybe ]3[ did too?)
You just right click and uncheck the "symbol" option now. Simple fix, but it forces you to use it because of it's default settings

And ][ works too, apparently
 

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
Doesn't the ]3[ syntax work anymore? It used to force the text inside the inverted brackets to not be converted to symbols. I have quite an old MSE version so maybe this was removed?

(MSE's creator was pretty serious about making the program less accurate to real magic cards so it wouldn't be a counterfeiting tool. A lot of stuff got changed and maybe ]3[ did too?)

...holy crap, you're alive! :eek:
 
Looking through your cube today for some inspiration, and lo:

How do you like this jace? He seems like a pretty nicely balanced wincon/control piece, but it's hard to evaluate walkers... I've recently realized that I have zero walkers in blue, which seems crazy to me. Is he a good candidate?
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
I like this Jace, and he's my pick for the blue walker slot as well. Both normal abilities are relevant, and he's a good card to keep tokens in check!
 
Looking through your cube today for some inspiration, and lo:

How do you like this jace? He seems like a pretty nicely balanced wincon/control piece, but it's hard to evaluate walkers... I've recently realized that I have zero walkers in blue, which seems crazy to me. Is he a good candidate?

He's great. Strongest against wide aggro decks, which {U}-based control historically had trouble with, mini-FoF is great against control and midrange, ult kind of supports Nahiri's ult for a more focused Superfriends design (run a big creature!). He can be demoralizing across the table when you're on tokens but usually there's all kinds of stuff you can do about that, and if you're on a more traditional aggro deck he forces you to overcommit into the upcoming Wrath. Love the guy.
 
He's great. Strongest against wide aggro decks, which {U}-based control historically had trouble with, mini-FoF is great against control and midrange, ult kind of supports Nahiri's ult for a more focused Superfriends design (run a big creature!). He can be demoralizing across the table when you're on tokens but usually there's all kinds of stuff you can do about that, and if you're on a more traditional aggro deck he forces you to overcommit into the upcoming Wrath. Love the guy.

He was a pain in the ass to play against in Standard, but I loved the design on him. He's 100% more interesting than baby Jace, while nowhere near as oppressive as big Jace or other big Jace. I actually cut Fact or Fiction for him and I'm relatively happy with the change.
 
Wow, it's been a while since I've posted a cube update, eh? So, since I last did that, I've increased my cube's size from 360 to 450 cards, added cards from SOI, EMN, & KLD, fiddled with my custom card inclusions, added a full set of creature lands (probably the thing I was most excited about doing with the 450 patch), tweaked and removed my more obnoxious custom cards, designed an entirely new cube and played approximately two to five matches of Magic against real people. As some of you may know, I'm away from my cube group and have been for a little while as I teach English overseas. It's good, but I have yet to meet anyone who plays Magic, and my physical Cube is actually still back in Canada with my cube group, who assure me they've played a few sessions and made the changes I told them to. I've also been messing around with MTG Forge versions of both of my cubes, but the AI in that program is as dumb as a rock and it's ultimately unsatisfying.

Here are the most notable cuts and adds, based on my cubetutor blog. I brought the curve up slightly, added more utility lands, the 2-mana Talisman cycle, some sweet artifacts from KLD, and a few extra copies of key cards like Young Pyromancer and Goyf. There's also some changes in which combos I'm supporting, how many (more), and an Eldrazi package.

OUT


IN


I hope to run a couple of forum drafts of my updated list within the next month or two, so stay tuned for those. Love you folx!
 
I made another large-ish patch to my Cube after being a little discontent with the weaker cards in my power band. The gist of the changes is some of the less 'real' combo shells are gone, the power band has gone up slightly, and generally speaking, 'cute' but underperforming cards have been replaced with stronger cards that draw more distinction between archetypes.

NOTABLES OUT:


NOTABLES IN:
.

As usual, if you'd like to make my day by doing a cubetutor draft, the link's right here:
http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/4863
 

Dom Harvey

Contributor
Did some drafts, looks good though I didn't find much pulling me into blue even when I was looking to force it
 
Ran a couple of drafts, happy with what I ended up with.

Rakdos Pyromancer from CubeTutor.com











BW Aggro from CubeTutor.com










UWR Control from CubeTutor.com












BW Aggro and the Rakdos Pyromancer decks were pretty straightforward to build, P1P1 were Wasteland and Young Peezy respectively. It was a little harder to flesh out the UWR deck. I was keeping an eye out for more impactful finishers, but I'm pretty okay with what I ended up with. More midrange-y than pure control, but I think it could flip the switch whenever depending on what I'd be up against.
 
I've been tweaking the less-defined colour pairs (BW, RG, UW) and now I think there are a number of diverse strategies available to drafters. Some selected cubetutor decks to show off new life in old archetypes:


I also wanted to examine a tension in the format between graveyard-based CA and the from-hand or from-deck tutors and cheat effects. Pod might prefer Borderland Explorer to Satyr Wayfinder, while a reanimator deck might take Wayfinder almost exclusively for the sifting it provides. In {U}, Show and Tell competes with Body Double for ways to put a fatty on the battlefield. I'm trying to be mindful of these cross-purposes in the format and make sure there are always relevant enablers for the strategies I want to see working.
 
I'm a CubeTutor Champion again, which means I can put my custom cards back online! I wanted to take a moment to go over my current customs and discuss what I like - and don't - about them. It's rare to hear feedback on custom cards you don't personally play and I've always thought it was interesting, so:
(Click here for a visual spoiler of the whole Cube, and then filter by tag 'custom card' to see them all together.)

Savvy Trader: a "white Brainstorm" for my brainstorm-centric format that fixes aggro draws or helps control shuffle away dead answers. Love this guy, and so does everyone else.
Pick the Wrong Fight: This used to just make Monks, and that's probably less powerful, but the addition of Human type to the created tokens is a real boon to Champion of the Parish / Thalia's Lieutenant decks.
Avacyn's Sworn: I saw this on r/custommtg and it looked elegant. I haven't played it yet, but it bleeds madness into white just a little bit, which is nice. The flavour works if you know Archangel Avacyn; if you missed her I'm not sure that it's quite as elegant. I'll ask my players the next time I cube.
Augur of Meletis: Augur of Bolas whiffs a lot in Cubes. This hits control answers more often (Bolas' guy would, for example, whiff on a Venser, Shaper Savant) and is more subtle Human tribal push. Solid roleplayer, which is the power level I try to aim for with customs.
Veteran Chronarch: This guy is the real deal. Archaeomancer with Cube-playable stats, and bleeding the effect back to Red via hybrid mana.
Loneliness: another Chris T original, I think. A Wrench Mind variant where the two choices both really suck. More planeswalker hate for a Planeswalker format.
Drown in Lava: Love this to pieces. I got it from someone else here, but the second option was 'target player'; I figured there'd be no reason to ever just choose the Shatter mode, so I kept its ability to dome walkers but made it unable to go to the opponent's face. Sometimes it's cast for just the first mode, so I think that was a success. I might just make this slot into Abrade now that it exists. I'm also a big fan of the art I found for this one, even if it doesn't feel classically Red.
Dragon Ruby: RIP Lucas Childs. One of my favourite of his designs, this one gives red decks access to a recursive flying threat with a bolt stapled on, and the flavour of it is really evocative and easily grasped by players who've never seen it before. I used to have it do 2 damage because I was focusing my environment around 3 toughness mattering, but it's back to doing 3 as a slight push and to square all the numbers on the card so it feels more mythical.
Woodland Bellowest: The superlative form of the Woodland Bellower, the Bellowest is the same idea but pushed for Cube. It now finds any colour of creature, and can even shout them back from the dead. Functionally, this makes it a much better six-drop in Pod decks, as it can recur a value 3 from the yard and restart another chain. It's also a more versatile buildaround with Green Sun's Zenith or Natural Order, and yes, it's another way to cheat out Skaab Ruinator. The art is a photo of a foil Bellower, and the timeshifted frame was something I was toying with to indicate to drafters that a given card had been re-balanced to fit my power level. I dropped it, I think, but it's on a couple cards here and there.
Out of Sight: I costed this at {3}{W}{B} and Entwine {2} initially, then went to {2}{W}{B} and Entwine {2}, then finally settled on {2}{W}{B} and Entwine {3}. Getting to play this Entwined is pretty brutal, but choose one was just a little slow at 5 mana, even though it was still quite effective. It's also a way to bleed Reanimator effects into control decks that want to use their graveyard. Another good bit of flavour; can you believe the art was originally on a green card?
Nullstone Monolith: My favourite mana rock. More playable Needle effects is great.
Eldrazi Spawndog: a custom Eldrazi we came up with on the forum, I think. 'Cascade into colourless' is really cool because it plays alongside counterspells, and gives you some exciting buildaround potential if, say, you really need SDT.
Bitter Entity: I wanted another 5-mana Eldrazi, so I came up with this guy. Unsure about the Processor if-clause, but it's a pretty backbreaking effect. I wanted something that would feel really outside the colour pie, and while Black gets to do both of these things a little, it rarely gets to for five mana.
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
I like em :)

Lonliness is actually Lucas again. I had wrench mind in my cube for a while after getting tired of hymn, and while few people had artifacts, the ones they did have they didn't particularly care about. But as mentioned, no matter the walker, you care.

Out of Sight is awesome, and I love the little mythology angle there :p No surprise that art is from theros, but it looks excellent.

I might actually try savvy trader. I've got my white brainstorm of choice (Though I'll be the first to admit I don't love it), but more hardly hurts.

You did miss Leyline angler, the Satyr Wayfinder analogue. I've never loved the 1g 1/1's with "draw something" on them (Sylvan Ranger, Coiling Oracle, or hell Elvish Visionary), but given your archetypes this seems like a good change
 
Top