Quick teaser update:
The +1/+1 counter deck is pretty all in on just creatures, and folds pretty hard to a consistent amount of removal. This should give some counterplay without being just 2/1
benevolent bodyguard (If it regen'd for eg)
So one of the things I've wanted to examine lately is where the first pick style cards lead you, since I have the sinking feeling that none of the strong cards in my cube lead drafters in the direction of synergy. Jason had this problem with the lifegain deck, where the deck was fine when it came together, but you basically had to force it since
Ajani's Pridemate nor any of the other parts of the deck were particularly first pickable cards, so you'd pick a removal spell, then a decent creature, staying open, drafting skillfully, and it would basically always lead you away from that deck.
Cards like
blood artist are nice for this because they're powerful, but they do lead you to a synergy based deck (I mean look at it, it's an 0/1 for 2. Not exactly a powerhouse without the proper support, you know?)
In that light, I've re-added this bastard, who is still amazingly swingy and strong and way above the curve like
curse of predation was(I guess now it's double green, hopefully that helps). I dunno if it's acceptably above the curve like
Jace, the Mind Sculptor and
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, or actually too strong like
Wurmcoil Engine or
Jitte are.
Also side note about
wurmcoil engine, I think too powerful is probably the wrong way to describe it. Assuming your cube can handle
grave titan and friends, I think wurmcoil isn't actually that far above that kind of rate for a 6 drop, it's more that it helps the archetype that traditionally needs the least help (Control/Midrange) in the least interesting way (By being too easy to cast, too resilient and even blocking once is often enough to put games away)
Not that we usually end up talking a lot about why wurmcoil
should be in your cube, but hey. There is complexity to why a given card is GRBS (Grilled Rutabagas Brine Seductively), even if that usually doesn't change much about how we view a card.
Also, another thing I'm planning on doing when I've got some time is to go through the custom cards I run and explain why each one exists. I tend to always want to cut more cards than I'm adding to my cube because I'm an unpleaseable nitpick, which often causes me to just add some card because "You know, I hate it less than
Marshaling Cry*, why did I add that piece of crap"
This tends to be less of a problem with actual cards people might hypothetically recognize, but keeping the number of total custom cards slim is important, and since I'm hovering at around 100 (Sweet Jesus) going through and making sure they're all necessary is a worthy endeavor.
However, yes there is a category of "It's just too cool to cut". But I figure a few new eyes on this (That's you guys) might help me be more reasonable
*Actual card that was actually in my cube, for realsies. My friends never let me live it down, nor should they.