Card/Deck Single Card Spotlight

shamizy

shamizy

Grave and Inferno Titan were ridiculously strong, you're going to want to splash for them in almost every deck you end up constructing because they're such powerful finishers. I cut them both a long while back due to how uninteractive they were. Prime Time is fair and a great payoff target for ramp that can get nutty with the ULD if you run it. Frost Titan and Sun Titan are on the lowest tier and neither are interesting enough for me to really want to cube with. Sun Titan is just a big dumb dude bringing back 3s, Frost Titan is just a big dude that freezes stuff. I like the effects and all, but stapled onto sizable 6/6 bodies with a splashy cost just turns me off to them.

Prime Time is the only one that hits the sweet spot of being strong and interesting enough for me to cube with, and that is mostly because of the ULD where you can pick up some sweet stuff.
 
GiftsForgiven

GiftsForgiven

Guys, this might be a little off-topic, but I just wanted to thank you for being so helpful. I'm in the middle of constructing my first cube with the intention of surprising my friends with it, and I'm really glad for all the feedback. (The cube will be in a presentable state soon, and I'll throw it up on the boards when it's ready.)

Seriously. You guys have made my week.
 
RavebornMuse

RavebornMuse

Diakonov said:
I still think that Thragtusk is pretty busted. I don't know what your power level is, but if it was me, I'd swap out Thraggy, Wolfy, and Pedey for Acidic Slime, Deranged Hermit, and Whisperwood Elemental. They all have more play to them.
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I think this is a fine opinion and I respect it but for the sake, especially, of our newer members, I strongly suggest trying these cards if they're format power level appropriate. Wolfy is a really exciting card and green feels a bit light on those oftentimes, so if people like it, I say, keep it. Green tends to lack the excitement that a lot of other colours have (CoCo and Birthing Pod aside, which are 2 cards that are almost necessary to double up on compared to the embarrassment of riches that are in {U}{B}{R} and often {W}) so if that's what gets players into green, go for it, Wolfy has plenty of ways to be disrupted. And it's more exciting to me than Acidic Slime, which matters in a colour that often aches for an interesting identity. Personally, I never get excited to draft Slime. It's a great value drop, sure, but it's not exciting. Hermit has a similar aggro-wrecking effect as Thraggy imho as well and I think deserves a lot more bile than he gets. Whisperwood is a good call for people who like manifest (I don't), and certainly a fun option.

And speaking of not interesting cards (imho), in regard to 6s, I cut Woodland Bellower myself because he's cute n all (I mean rlly that art is CUUUUTE!!!), but he doesn't do much. I get the desire to slot up green 6s, but, there just aren't many that are exciting enough to run... So just spare yourself the disappointment of a boring green 6 that wheels forever and don't run them unless they're fun imho even if that means in your environment, "the ramp colour" doesn't have more than 1-2 cards over 5 mana to ramp towards (and if Bellower proves fun to your group then cheers, go for it - he just wasn't getting played here, there was 1 too many conditions on the fetch effect)
 
shamizy

shamizy

GiftsForgiven said:
Guys, this might be a little off-topic, but I just wanted to thank you for being so helpful. I'm in the middle of constructing my first cube with the intention of surprising my friends with it, and I'm really glad for all the feedback. (The cube will be in a presentable state soon, and I'll throw it up on the boards when it's ready.)

Seriously. You guys have made my week.
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Rule one of Riptide Lab: nothing is off-topic at Riptide Lab.
 
GiftsForgiven

GiftsForgiven

Alright. Thoughts on the Confluence Cycle? You know, the

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Interesting interaction-enablers, or overpowered ridiculousness?
 
shamizy

shamizy

Fiery and Wretched are cool with actual play to them because all of the modes are actually live in many cubes, Verdant and Righteous aren't interesting enough for me to run (clearly way better in EDH), and Mystic Confluence is a better Cryptic like 90% of the time i.e. ridiculously overpowered.
 
Ferritovore

Ferritovore

Wretched is my favorite Confluence, if you wanted the perspective of someone who hasn't actually played any of these cards. Righteous looks like an awful trick to play on aggro drafters.



Is anyone running Sludge Crawler? Or is it better to just run a normal shade... y'know, one that's actually a shade?
 
GiftsForgiven

GiftsForgiven

I was thinking of putting Righteous Confluence in my cube due to the presence of a lifegain archetype. Do you think that would make it's equity increase, or is it just the worst thing regardless?
 
ahadabans

ahadabans

I made the decision recently to only run either a confluence or a command for each color. So I'm running these.


Both of the confluences I'm running have played well.
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
GiftsForgiven said:
o-o

I'm a deeply religious, Orthodox Jew (although a bit on the modern angle.)


...I ain't touching that topic with a 10-foot pole.
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Well, I'm a Christian, but that doesn't mean I have to condone everything that's done by other Christians. I can imagine it's a contested topic though. I can also Imagine that Israel is very protective about its borders, but oppressing your neighbors (hermetically closed borders with Gaza, occupation of various territories) isn't the best way to make friends from where I stand. It's fighting terrorism with terrorism. I know there's a whole history behind the current situation, and it's difficult to break the status quo. To end the occupation you would have to relocate thousands of Israeli citizens who have been actively encouraged to settle on foreign ground by previous governments, and accept that terrorist elements in neighboring countries, who after decades of strife probably won't change their views on Israel that easily, can now live closer to the Israelian border. There's no clear cut solution, but imho the Israeli government should always work towards a solution. Sadly, a solution to the conflicts in the region stemming from, at least in part, Israel's own behavior now and in the past, doesn't seem to be high on the current government's agenda.

Once again, this has little to do with Jews or Israeli citizens other than that the Israeli government happens to be part of both groups. Just like the Dutch government is (partly) Christian and, well, Dutch, but doesn't necessarily represent my own opinion on all matters. We're lucky enough to live in democracies where disagreeing with one's government is allowed!

Anyway, as an outsider, my opinions on this matter are invariably colored by other factors than those of the people directly involved in these conflicts (on either side).
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Oh, I almost forgot! Fiery and Wretched Confluence are awesome. Mystic Confluence is ridiculous, but not necessarily broken. Test that one and see if your environment can take it. I personally really like Righteous Confluence as well. It's incidental enchantment removal, acts as a stabilizer in white-based control decks, and sometimes you just build three tokens. 15 life is a lot though.
 
Mondschwein

Mondschwein

I like Fiery and Righteous Confluence, think about adding Wretched Confluence and find Primal Command to be more interesting than its Confluence counterpart. I'm not sure if Mystic Confluence or Cryptic Command wouldn't be overwhelmingly strong in my environ. Still need to test that.
 
RavebornMuse

RavebornMuse

I wouldn't run Righteous Confluence at all, it just dumps all over anyone. 15 life is a lot of life to gain without expending any effort and the tokens are very boring (just run one of the million other cool token producers if you want that option). If you want a cool lifegain-only card, Gnaw to the Bone just got its first run over here and goodness, is it strong. Really supports a creature-based durdle/graveyard style strategy quite excellently. If anything, it might kind of be too strong in my format now? (Oops.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that your life gain effects need to be carefully measured and purposeful; the Confluence is just an insurance policy for control 99.99% of the time to cash in as a win-con or to turn the game around, which isn't fun and incentivizes midrange > aggro, which is something you really need to work hard to avoid if you want aggro to be viable. (Cards like Gnaw to the Bone and Sphinx's Revelation get a pass because they make demands upon the deck to get ridiculous amounts of life back, for example, and a good aggro deck can mostly neuter the swing they provide).

And Mystic Confluence is pure busted, do not run that please. It's like a better, instant-speed Aether Gale, which is another piece of hot garbage to come out of a Commander set. Please, please, please evaluate your Commander cards carefully, childrens. I know I was high on Mystic when it was spoiled but it's clearly bonkers.
 
Ferritovore

Ferritovore

Mond probably wants a high-cmc white card as a replacement, not a cool green card. Here are some assorted things Mond could try. (Note, I do not endorse these, I have never designed nor played anything lifegain related)





Mentor looks like a really bad idea. Buddy on the other hand is perfect for your environment!
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Re: Titans. My last draft I like... 4th picked a Grave Titan (which is already exceptional) then didn't play it. I'm sure Eric was pulling his hair out.
 
GiftsForgiven

GiftsForgiven

Onderzeeboot said:
We're lucky enough to live in democracies where disagreeing with one's government is allowed!
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I have found that on the subjects of religion and politics, logic and reason are often overlooked. Even normally intelligent, reasonable people can go mad with offense when these subjects are discussed. I appreciate that you and the others here seem like reasonable folks, and I do enjoy discussing religious philosophy. If you have any questions on my specific perspective (Orthodox Jewish), simply ask and I will do my best to answer. My answers may surprise you, as at this point Christianity and Judaism have more differences in philosophy as they do similarities. (While I was born- and currently live- in America, I have lived in Israel for multiple years as well. Dunno if that matters.)

On the subject of the Confluences, I think that they're honestly the best thing to come out of the new commander sets. So darn cool. I'm going to try and Jam them in into my cube, and see if it works. I already have JTMS in there though, and I might want to put a stranglehold on blue because of that. We'll see.
 
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