Card/Deck Single Card Spotlight
- Thread starter Dom Harvey
- Start date
Take everything you love about Plated Geopede (first Strike), remove the part where it hits for 5 off a fetch, and instead let it be a bear if you have no lands.
Also consider: Snapping Gnarlid is only possibly bigger than this card on the first turn it attacks:
Say you draw Gnarlid or Kudzu off the top on Turn 3. Kudzu you can play and grow to Gnarlid's size immediately with a land drop, and then it's the same size or bigger forever.
On curve (with only basics):
T2: Gnarlid = 2/2, Kudzu = 1/1
T3: Gnarlid = 3/3, Kudzu = 2/2
T4: Gnarlid = 3/3, Kudzu = 3/3
On curve with Fetches:
T2: Gnarlid = 2/2, Kudzu = 1/1
T3: Gnarlid = 4/4, Kudzu = 3/3
T4: Gnarlid = 4/4, Kudzu = 5/5
I recall people being pretty unenthused with Kudzu before (maybe even you), and it's so close to a card we've had before that I don't know if it bridges the gap.
FlowerSunRain
Contributor
Skyrider Elf great. Its not as mega-curve filler as Endless One, but it fills pretty well and flying is a big deal.
I also think Kiora's Follower is pretty good and in a different cube I'd play it, but in my list Quirion Ranger is the superior techy untapper.
I also think Kiora's Follower is pretty good and in a different cube I'd play it, but in my list Quirion Ranger is the superior techy untapper.
Kudzu is my choice for an early-game green landfall guy. The buff sticking around after you're out of lands is a good point in its favor. Also I like Tarmogoyf-esque cards that don't cost $150 for the green section of my Cube.
Also, if you're running landfall, Scapeshift becomes much more interesting.
Also, if you're running landfall, Scapeshift becomes much more interesting.
Can't you make some kind of landfall package with cards like:
Dom Harvey
Contributor
The issue is that there aren't many actual landfall creatures, and those cards tend not to go well with the rest of your creature suite
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Too good/GRBS, or useful tools for control and ramp/reanimator respectively?
I've never found Ashiok remotely "too good", and imho that's because he was pretty good in standard - but Cube isn't standard.
I like him a lot because his +ability feeds into mill strategies and is great for a control vs control matchup, whereas his -X ability is super fun. I've never seen the -10 happen, and it isn't even win-the-game good by itself, so eh.
Mostly, though, he works as a trap - for your opponent. "Can I kill my opponent before he summons one of my cool thingies in a few turns, or do I go for the planeswalker first?" That's part of what makes him so good - he's bait, but he has a lot of potential to do cool stuff if left unchecked. If he was monocoloured and had 5 loyalty first-turn, I'd be more concerned I guess, but being multicolour, I don't mind at all.
Elesh Norn is another can of biscuits. I love her as a top-end in white for any deck; control, midrange, reanimator, she's a boss-ass bitch. She tends to be a mini-wrath effect when she comes down, and she can lock down a win, which is noteworthy. But at 7 mana, and for how FRIGGIN COOL SHE IS, we tolerate that, because removal does exist and players should be punished (imho) for not A) drafting it, or B) building a deck that can win versus big win-beasts like Miss Norn. But that's just our perspective over here - YPMV. Every now and then we go "wait, so... she's too strong, right?" but then we ultimately go "....but let's keep her, she's awesome".
I like him a lot because his +ability feeds into mill strategies and is great for a control vs control matchup, whereas his -X ability is super fun. I've never seen the -10 happen, and it isn't even win-the-game good by itself, so eh.
Mostly, though, he works as a trap - for your opponent. "Can I kill my opponent before he summons one of my cool thingies in a few turns, or do I go for the planeswalker first?" That's part of what makes him so good - he's bait, but he has a lot of potential to do cool stuff if left unchecked. If he was monocoloured and had 5 loyalty first-turn, I'd be more concerned I guess, but being multicolour, I don't mind at all.
Elesh Norn is another can of biscuits. I love her as a top-end in white for any deck; control, midrange, reanimator, she's a boss-ass bitch. She tends to be a mini-wrath effect when she comes down, and she can lock down a win, which is noteworthy. But at 7 mana, and for how FRIGGIN COOL SHE IS, we tolerate that, because removal does exist and players should be punished (imho) for not A) drafting it, or B) building a deck that can win versus big win-beasts like Miss Norn. But that's just our perspective over here - YPMV. Every now and then we go "wait, so... she's too strong, right?" but then we ultimately go "....but let's keep her, she's awesome".
Aoret
Developer
No experience with Ashiok so unsure there. Elesh Norn is super sweet, but I think she falls on the side of being too good IMO. I currently favor Angel of Serenity because she feels a little more fair/beatable assuming you have removal. This is also in keeping with my general preference towards cards that make you make choices versus cards that you just play and they do cool stuff. (even if AoS doesn't really have a particularly complex play algorithm, I still prefer it to just slamming down a giant creature)
Chris Taylor
Contributor
That all being said, I would in no way fault someone for running elesh norn
I'm thinking of changing up my UW section. Is this guy worth keeping around?
I'm already running one. So far haven't heard anything from the past two drafts I've had it. Feels like a bad enough dude to be able to spice up the power a little on the dangerous side while also adding quite a lot to black disruption.
Hymn is completely fine in my cube. I don't think any of my drafters have ever really felt that terrible after a hymn. I mean yeah, it could strip you of your next two land drops and then you're screwed, but that's just bad luck. There was one time that where someone pulled of Thoughtseize/Hymn/Inquisition happen in successive turns to strip opponent's hand bare. But even then, it's so rare that something like that would happen that people are fine with it. People like playing Cube to be able to do cool things with cards and as long as it's not consistent GRBS, I'm fine with keeping in cards for them to exploit.
I've always wanted one for my section but can never justify buying it for some reason. It's high on my list of includes, though, because X spells and modal spells are what make a format awesome to me. I like pushing my curve low and modals/x-spells help keep the format friendly to control/midrange.
I'm thinking of changing up my UW section. Is this guy worth keeping around?
Chris Taylor
Contributor
Yeah I wouldn't add a second hymn, but it's not too strong.
CML
Contributor
Dom Harvey
Contributor
Considering adding Rev again to beef up my control decks, but memories of trampling over cute midrange strategies with it in Standard have me worried. I guess it's only one card?
Doo iiiit!
Yeah, it's sweet as hell
Does anybody have experience with this little beauty?
I actually really like Sphinx's Revelation in cube - it's a strong signal (perhaps the only signal) that UW control is wide open, is a prime incentive to go into that archetype if you see one floating late, and - most importantly - boosts UW control's power level moderately, as it's a deck that probably needs help in most Riptide cubes. I've been pleasantly surprised that it hasn't been close to unfair over here, and I think its power is capped by the fact that you can't chain them into one other, like in Standard; there aren't any sequences of gaining 4 life, then 6, then 9, and putting the game way out of reach.
Most of all, though, what I've found is that control in cube lies and dies by its cheap interaction - your Lightning Helixes, Electrolyzes, Baleful Strixes, and the like - and not necessarily by its mammoth card draw, which is only useful for going over the top of other 'big' strategies. In the lists cultivated on this forum, there are sometimes only one or two go-big decks (by which I mean ramp, control, or high-end midrange) per draft, but lots of little and medium sized decks; Rev is at its best against the former, while often being too little too late against the latter. It's a card I threw in figuring I'd have to cut soon thereafter for power level reasons, but now I think it's here to stay as a permanent staple.
Most of all, though, what I've found is that control in cube lies and dies by its cheap interaction - your Lightning Helixes, Electrolyzes, Baleful Strixes, and the like - and not necessarily by its mammoth card draw, which is only useful for going over the top of other 'big' strategies. In the lists cultivated on this forum, there are sometimes only one or two go-big decks (by which I mean ramp, control, or high-end midrange) per draft, but lots of little and medium sized decks; Rev is at its best against the former, while often being too little too late against the latter. It's a card I threw in figuring I'd have to cut soon thereafter for power level reasons, but now I think it's here to stay as a permanent staple.