Card/Deck Single Card Spotlight

Eric Chan

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
Yeah, this whole class of spells is cute, but a little too narrow for either constructed or cube.



I almost feel like Turn Aside could cost {U/P} , and still be fair, because of how narrow it is.
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Onderzeeboot said:


Is this at all feasible? The effect is stellar, but the cost, mama mia!
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For clearer wording:
136.jpg

Sac 4 creatures for a Koth ultimate... hmmm...
 
GenericZero

GenericZero

Jason Waddell said:
For clearer wording:
136.jpg

Sac 4 creatures for a Koth ultimate... hmmm...
Click to expand...


Four is a lot to ask for. The effect we get is good, but it feels very similar to another card that gives you big value for the cost of multiple creatures needing to die....

He seemed so fucking cool, too....still makes me sad thinking about how hard he let me down...
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Yes, but this time you're not paying 6 life, and the card is a lot harder to remove. You could also, conceivably, use Hecatomb as a 6-mana Arc Lightning. Eh, four creature is a lot lot lot though.
 
GenericZero

GenericZero

Onderzeeboot said:
Yes, but this time you're not paying 6 life, and the card is a lot harder to remove. You could also, conceivably, use Hecatomb as a 6-mana Arc Lightning. Eh, four creature is a lot lot lot though.
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To this day, I still want to find a way to make that monster enough of a consistent thing where people will play him. A 9/9 with flying and trample is about as powerful as it could get in my current cube. The only thing that comes close is this dude.
 
Onderzeeboot

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Sundering Growth and Frenzied Goblin are in my cube. They're not flashy, but a flexible Disenchant with upside and a 1-drop that can push through damage are both valuable.

I should probably play Genju of the Cedars, since I run an enchantment theme in BGW.

Foundry Street Denizen isn't nearly as good in limited as it is in constructed. Red has a lot of superior 1-drops.

Genju of the Spires is awesome but fragile.

Hell's Thunder is playable, think of it as a Lava Axe though and decide if you want to run that.

I wouldn't include Gerrard's Verdict over other {W}{B} options, and as a gold card that means it will (probably) never see play in my cube.

I cut Staff of Nin, but could easily see myself adding it a again. It's an innocuous looking card that can really turn games around.
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
I don't think I've ever not run Hell's Thunder. Play it, sac it. I think it's an auto-include if you're going to run sac-themes.

Gerrard's Verdict is fine, but you won't miss it. I liked the decisions it made when I ran the lifegain theme, but outside of that it's not that essential.
 
Eric Chan

Eric Chan

Hyalopterous Lemure
Staff member
Not a huge fan of Hell's Thunder. I've been moving away from Lava Axe-type burn spells, which are really effective in cubes like the 720 unpowered MTGO list, with its slow games and dearth of interaction. In my own cube, though, I prefer red creatures to have a little more staying power - I'm trying to encourage decks less like Burn, and more like RDW and swarm aggro. It's for that reason I recently cut Hellspark Elemental, despite its power level and synergy with the sacrifice theme, for cards like Firefist Striker and Gore-house Chainwalker. Keldon Marauders fits the best of all worlds, though, so he's still in - not to mention, he's a human!
 
James Stevenson

James Stevenson

Steamflogger Boss
Staff member
Jason Waddell said:
I don't think I've ever not run Hell's Thunder. Play it, sac it. I think it's an auto-include if you're going to run sac-themes.

Gerrard's Verdict is fine, but you won't miss it. I liked the decisions it made when I ran the lifegain theme, but outside of that it's not that essential.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that theme was gone! It was super techie and awesome. What happened?
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
James Stevenson said:
I didn't know that theme was gone! It was super techie and awesome. What happened?
Click to expand...

I actually like it, despite Eric thinking I don't. It was mostly a size problem. I had to cut into the sacrifice theme to get the lifegain theme to work, and then the sacrifice theme wasn't performing as I'd like. It was pretty fun to play and had an interesting range of deck options. Maybe it'll be back in some capacity someday.
 
GenericZero

GenericZero

Grillo_Parlante said:
I forgot I wanted to mention that frenzied goblin can be decent in an environment where you have a density of (preferably slower) things that want to connect for value

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I love all these creatures and types like them. My adoration for cards that force interaction to get value is about as high as Sky City is tall.

Jason Waddell said:
I actually like it, despite Eric thinking I don't. It was mostly a size problem. I had to cut into the sacrifice theme to get the lifegain theme to work, and then the sacrifice theme wasn't performing as I'd like. It was pretty fun to play and had an interesting range of deck options. Maybe it'll be back in some capacity someday.
Click to expand...


Is there any way to make it so the lifegain and sacrifice theme intertwine a bit? Possibly a sac outlet that gains you life or something silly like that...Like Zuran Orb but for creatures.
 
Jason Waddell

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Goldenpineapple said:
I'm sure this list is somewhere already, but

Click to expand...

Yeah, a lot of this is superficial overlap though. High Market got played in both, but the others don't really cut it.

Maybe after I tune the sacrifice package again I can revisit lifegain. Little things like cutting Tidehollow Sculler for Gerrard's Verdict were making a big difference in draft dynamics, once added up.
 
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