Unlike you chumps, Cori-Steel Cutter was on my radar…for my lower power cube…Moving on.
These are the four I run from the main set. Tersa and Reclamation were in my initial set of adds and I still like them to this day.
As I said above, I grossly underestimated Steel Cutter, which in hindsight surprises me, because I love prowess tokens. I think it was because it's capped at one trigger per turn and I was dreaming bigger.
I was late to the Winternight Stories party because I stubbornly refused to add the Harmonize mechanic. Stories being both an enabler and a payoff for the GY/discard decks outweighs the one of mechanic in my book.
Speaking of both enabler and payoff, I highly recommend this from the commander set
The base rate isn’t fantastic, as you get a single tapped zombie and a small amount of card draw. But it’s not too difficult to get so much more if your cube is built around the GY. Golgari Grave-Troll and Hedron Crab are gross alongside it, but even a Merfolk Looter or dredged Life from the Loam make it quite strong.
Cuts and maybes
I was excited to add this one, but ended up cutting it because I value constant pressure for my aggro decks rather than a burst of damage. That excludes aggro-combo like aristocrats where you usually deal significantly more than 5 damage when you go off.
I am hesitant to add new mechanics to the cube, especially when they add external game pieces like tokens. I know Voice is really good, I am less sure about Avenger. For one, the base stats are very pushed and poop all over aggro. 2/4 deathtouch is brutal! Second, I don't really need more creature GY payoffs in Black. I think a more unique effect could lead to more novel gameplay. The sheer amount of bodies it can produce is appealing though and the reason I even consider him.
Shoutout to Sunpearl Kirin that has great stats and abilities, but I haven't been able to find a slot for the bounce to hand theme in my main cube.
These are the four I run from the main set. Tersa and Reclamation were in my initial set of adds and I still like them to this day.
As I said above, I grossly underestimated Steel Cutter, which in hindsight surprises me, because I love prowess tokens. I think it was because it's capped at one trigger per turn and I was dreaming bigger.
I was late to the Winternight Stories party because I stubbornly refused to add the Harmonize mechanic. Stories being both an enabler and a payoff for the GY/discard decks outweighs the one of mechanic in my book.
Speaking of both enabler and payoff, I highly recommend this from the commander set
The base rate isn’t fantastic, as you get a single tapped zombie and a small amount of card draw. But it’s not too difficult to get so much more if your cube is built around the GY. Golgari Grave-Troll and Hedron Crab are gross alongside it, but even a Merfolk Looter or dredged Life from the Loam make it quite strong.
Cuts and maybes
I was excited to add this one, but ended up cutting it because I value constant pressure for my aggro decks rather than a burst of damage. That excludes aggro-combo like aristocrats where you usually deal significantly more than 5 damage when you go off.
I am hesitant to add new mechanics to the cube, especially when they add external game pieces like tokens. I know Voice is really good, I am less sure about Avenger. For one, the base stats are very pushed and poop all over aggro. 2/4 deathtouch is brutal! Second, I don't really need more creature GY payoffs in Black. I think a more unique effect could lead to more novel gameplay. The sheer amount of bodies it can produce is appealing though and the reason I even consider him.
Shoutout to Sunpearl Kirin that has great stats and abilities, but I haven't been able to find a slot for the bounce to hand theme in my main cube.