Card/Deck Single Card Spotlight
- Thread starter Dom Harvey
- Start date
Yeah, for me it's the flavor of the removal that draws me to To the Slaughter. My removal is pretty high power, so this could be mediocre at times but great at others. Those delirium cards I mentioned are also in the cube to add a little fuel for reanimator decks, as well as to try them out for Eldritch MOON (not Farm, I actually just saw a Pepperidge Farm commercial lol)
Geistblast: ...This hadn't previously been on my radar, but I'm going to try it over Desperate Ravings ...with the caveat that I run a deep 9 card "guild" section (not including fixing lands) and that my creature sizing might be smaller than average. But even for the average cube, I think 3 mana for 2 damage is not quite as bad as it sounds. According to cubetutor, the average cube at 450 still runs Staggershock. While that card has more total immediate board impact, it's inclusion implies that a baseline of 3 mana for 2 damage is still acceptable (in other words sizing is not a big enough turn off). AND you have to factor in that flashback is often very underrated. This is closer to 3 mana for 2 damage + draw a card than I realized at first glance. Even if it's an over-costed, restrictive Fork, there is real value there. After all, some of us have played and been happy with Silent Departure and the back side there is a sorcery speed, really over-costed Unsummon. What pushes me over the edge to test it is that Fork is an exciting effect that I would not otherwise include in cube. People will want to draft it and see what they can do with it. I support a storm/spellsmatter theme, and Mizzix's Mastery is a high pick for draft around potential.
This is always an excellent point. It's cool. How many other fork effects are genuinely worth even coming close to considering besides this one? Maybe dualcaster mage, but this is an awesome izzet take on Fork-that-has-addtional-value/uses.
Oh wow I didn't even know about Mizzix's Mastery.. its like a reanimation spell but for instants and sorceries? Nuts!
Do any of these things have any real potential? I'm not necessarily suggesting them to be in a cube as a block, it's moreso just a handful of weird things I was curious about.
(re: Eyes of the Watcher; I know about Jace's Sanctum but the mana differential and scry differential seems like it would favour Eyes. Maybe not?)
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Sigil is in my cube. When it makes the maindeck, it's usually because someone is going to be mauled by 4/4 Angels 
Sigil is in my cube. When it makes the maindeck, it's usually because someone is going to be mauled by 4/4 Angels
Interesting! I haven't looked at your cube in a bit - I already see some ideas I want to steal.
44/450 are enchantments; is 10% a high enough density? I've been wondering where the density needs to fall for it to be truly playable. With a 10% density, it looks more like a narrow buildaround - which I'm pretty okay with, personally. I've been angling for around a 15% density before I gave it a try myself, so I may just take the plunge plugging enchantress and see how it fares. I've tried every other bullshit theme (Burning Vengeance, mill, and storm) so I may as well pursue the enchantress angle whole-heartedly for my next update.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Interesting! I haven't looked at your cube in a bit - I already see some ideas I want to steal.
44/450 are enchantments; is 10% a high enough density? I've been wondering where the density needs to fall for it to be truly playable. With a 10% density, it looks more like a narrow buildaround - which I'm pretty okay with, personally. I've been angling for around a 15% density before I gave it a try myself, so I may just take the plunge plugging enchantress and see how it fares. I've tried every other bullshit theme (Burning Vengeance, mill, and storm) so I may as well pursue the enchantress angle whole-heartedly for my next update.
Looking at the percentage of enchantments in the whole cube gives a wrong impression of the viability of this theme, imho, because the theme is firmly centered in Abzan colors, with almost no support from the Izzet guild. Most constellation decks will be green-white, with some green-black decks as well, probably. If you look at the numbers, you can see how skewed the ratios are.
Enchantments per color (not counting lands):
12/52 in green (23%)
2/13 in Selesnya (15%)
12/52 in white (23%)
1/13 in Boros (8%)
4/52 in red (8%)
0/13 in Izzet (0%)
2/52 in blue (4%)
0/13 in Dimir (0%)
7/52 in black (13%)
1/13 in Golgari (8%)
That's a good point. Red and blue both hold some spicy enchantments, but they likely won't be featured often at all in enchantress decks. Have you given Daxos's Torment or any other enchantress cards a try?
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Yeah, Daxos's Torment was in my cube before the SoI update, and it is very fine in the enchantment deck. It dodges wraths and hits like a truck, a bit Lava Axe-esque though. I have never tried any of the enchantress cards, because they are useless without enchantments, and thus pretty poisonous.
If you support +1/+1 counters, scales is the build around piece you are looking for. It's the best card in that deck. It takes strong cards and breaks them in half. But it is obviously very narrow, so if someone drafts it they have to be able to build a deck around it or you are hurting your draft IMO.
I tried Ion Storm and it was too slow. I wanted to like it but it just didn't fit into the +1/+1 theme at least in my cube (it's a pretty aggressive theme in my list).
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
So, isn't Hardened Scales too strong in that deck then? Abzan Falconer is an awesome support card for +1/+1 counters, but doesn't break the theme in half. If Hardened Scales does, isn't it better to not play Scales?
Depends on the power level of your cube honestly, but you do have a point. My list is higher power than many here, so this card simply helps makes +1/+1 counters a tier 1 deck in my meta.
That said, I did have to take away Managorger Hydra. It's completely busted with scales. I mean, ridiculously broken.
Rules question: is there any reason this thing has to be tapped and sacrificed? I guess if there were something that tapped it down.... that's just old design right?
So you can't stack the ability on top of it 1000000x times i guess.
Yup! For some reason sacrificing this is an effect not a cost.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
It's a cost in the Oracle wording. Decades later Aeolipile got hosed by March of the Machines, that's why the
cost is there
Ahhh, right.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
It's a cost in the Oracle wording. Decades later Aeolipile got hosed by March of the Machines, that's why the
Bro do you even Titania's Song?
Though titania's song does remove the ability for some reason...
It combos with Dualcaster Mage (with a creature out) and I really want more combos that I can actually run. I had to cut Twin/Kiki awhile back because the cards involved are too low power. Blink is a thing right? Can this be a thing maybe please?
I really wish it were an instant or targeted any creature though.What would it take to make this playable in cube?