General You Go Away Now

[Diakonov]

My binders of "stuff I might want to put into the cube" are practically overflowing, so I decided it was time to do a purge. Here is a pile of rares etc. that I'm pretty sure will never again set foot in my cube. Since many of them are worth something, I may go ahead and sell them. If I am wrong about any of these, please tell me.

 

[Alfonzo Bonzo]

Cool thread. I think you're safe to sell.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

You have my full support in this move! The only one I find mildly interesting is Stunted Growth, but that effect is so decidedly ungreen that I never dared put it in my cube. I guess Ankh of Mishra is good in aggro as well, but I've heard it's about as fun as Sulfuric Vortex.

 

[Jason Waddell]

My binders of "stuff I might want to put into the cube" are practically overflowing, so I decided it was time to do a purge. Here is a pile of rares etc. that I'm pretty sure will never again set foot in my cube. Since many of them are worth something, I may go ahead and sell them. If I am wrong about any of these, please tell me.

Most of these were in my cube at one point in time, and none of them are in there currently. I do bring in Batterskull from time to time though.

I always wish Vexing Devil were there but I can't quite pull the trigger.

 

[Goldenpineapple]

If I am wrong about any of these, please tell me.

Wrong about what

 

[Jason Waddell]

a purge

Imagine if terribly designed Magic cards could only be used in cubes 12-hours a year.

 

[Eric Chan]

I really like Griselbrand with a low-power reanimator theme (e.g. Thirst for Knowledge and Makeshift Mannequin rather than Entomb and Reanimate). He doesn't randomly lock people out of games like Iona or Sphinx of the Steel Wind, has interesting play to him, and can realistically be beaten even when dropped on, say, turn five. But if that kind of thing doesn't tickle your fancy, I think these are all worth expunging from your collection.

 

[Diakonov]

You have my full support in this move! The only one I find mildly interesting is Stunted Growth, but that effect is so decidedly ungreen that I never dared put it in my cube. I guess Ankh of Mishra is good in aggro as well, but I've heard it's about as fun as Sulfuric Vortex.

People in my playgroup really hate Stunted Growth and Plow Under for reasons of unfun. Ankh of Mishra is the card that I was most unsure about in here.

Wrong about what

I'm trying to see if anyone can give me a reason to keep any of these cards around for future cube purposes.

What do other people think of Batterskull? Isn't it pretty much always OP? I'd like to hear more about Griselbrand, too.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I played against Griselbrand once in cube, and it was pretty fun actuallty. That might be because of the Phyrexian Metamorph in my hand and the new legendary rule though.

Batterskull doesn't strike me as an interesting card.

 

[Eric Chan]

I think Batterskull becomes more fair the higher powered your cube is, but if you're set on a specific power level, there probably isn't a lot of wiggle room to fit in a mostly unanswerable bomb.

You could probably hang onto the Griselbrand, to be safe. There's fun things to be done with him! ...hmmm, that didn't come out the way I thought it would.

 

[Lucre]

I think there are a lot of cards there that can be fun. Can you link to your cube so I can take a look?

I think Sword of fire and ice can be a great "Only sword" inclusion because both colours are pretty readily capable of dealing with the creature upon activation and neither colour is known for doing a lot of blocking in the first place. It's also a way to ensure the attacking decks are keeping a hand and GW decks love that thing.

Grissel is kinda a narrow card but tends to be pretty good in the decks that want him.

Batterskull is a really cool card and only really unfair if you are power policing pretty seriously. If you have some other powerful colourless cards or super midranged cards you can swap in for it every once in a while to keep a fun rotation.

Skullclamp is super fun but might require you to edit your cube a little so it's not too easy to go hog wild with. I like it when it isn't like constantly actively being abused and more like just a super sweet equipment.

The elf is not the direction I like that much in cubes but people seem to be pretty happy with it. I think it adds a lot of potential power to green but it's awkward and fragile enough to feel safe. I rather like Natural Order strategies more in powermaxy legacy cubes, but I like order, rofellos and necromancy a lot more than I like, say mana vaults etc.

 

[ahadabans]

I agree with everything Lucre said.

Except the part about Skullclamp being fun. I hate that card.

 

[Diakonov]

My cube is in my sig, and my thread explaining things is here: http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/diakonovs-cube-450.511/

Thanks for the feedback. Definitely some stuff to mull over so far. Those are good points about SoFaI.

 

[Lucre]

Hey man, I'm just glad I put it in reasonable words. Usually it takes a whole tirade for me to get one or two good talking points about a thing as nebulous as protection abilities. I do think people should think more about the when and the where protection abilities are relevant though (exciting and frustrating).

@Ahadabans
I love that it gives attacking creature decks more cards and broadened gameplay, but I hate how abusable it is and how narrow the line between good and degenerate is on that card. Let me tell you, I've seen that card in peasant and in standard and lastly in old cube (Goblin Trenches Nightmare). It can be a mess. My most recent experiences with it were in monolith cubes where strong red decks just randomly had it and it was like plugging leaks in a sinking ship even with strong starts to white based midranged decks. Skullclamp is nuts, but I think it's a card that could just be strong, keeping in mind design principles in an already powerful format.

I mean I've seen it be just a sorta "okay to niche-nuts" card in many monolith or powered cubes but for all the wrong reasons. I'm sure we can make it work and be first pickable but not GRBS.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Rofellos + Utility Land Draft is bad news. I don't know what you run.

 

[DreamPaint]

You should not sell cards unless you suspect a reprint that will damage the price.

I don't think you will ever miss these: Sphinx, Balance, Hydra, Stunted Growth, Channel, Ball Lightning, Vexing Devil, Paladin en-Vec, Choker, Boots, Winter Orb, Ankh, Black Vise.

I would keep these but not cube with them: Grim Monolith, Batterskull, Jitte, Clamp, Wurmcoil, Swords.

I currently run Rofellos, Griselbrand, Crusader, and Nightmare in my cube.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

Recurring Nightmare is such a filthy, filthy card.

 

[DreamPaint]

Yeah they really shit the bed in every way possible with the dodgy wording on that card.

 

[Diakonov]

You should not sell cards unless you suspect a reprint that will damage the price.

I don't think you will ever miss these: Sphinx, Balance, Hydra, Stunted Growth, Channel, Ball Lightning, Vexing Devil, Paladin en-Vec, Choker, Boots, Winter Orb, Ankh, Black Vise.

I would keep these but not cube with them: Grim Monolith, Batterskull, Jitte, Clamp, Wurmcoil, Swords.

I currently run Rofellos, Griselbrand, Crusader, and Nightmare in my cube.

I sell cards all the time. Unless I see a reason for them to accrue value, I don't see why not. For example, your list of "cards to keep but not cube with" are all the cards I'd get the most money for. They are all very popular already, so I don't expect any of them to suddenly jump up in price. I might hang onto Grim Monolith a bit longer since it's on the reserved list.

I took Crusader out in my effort to not allow any creatures to have protection from more than one color.

 

[DreamPaint]

Those cards have all gained tons of value over the years precisely because they are so popular. With the huge surge in player base they will only continue to climb, especially with modern becoming evermore popular. A good example of card that soared in price is Rishadan Port. The card has been played in the same two decks forever, one of which heavily fell out of favor with the printing of Tarmogoyf (Goblins) but look at where the price has gone. Magic is in no danger of dying so I don't see the advantage of selling your cards prematurely unless you really need the cash.

About 2-3 years ago all my friends urged me to sell my foil Tarmogoyf. It was around $300. I'll just leave it at that.

 

[Diakonov]

Surely there is an artificial bubble when it comes to magic prices as of late. I don't think magic is in danger of dying out anytime soon, but that is beside the point.

"You should never sell cards" is exactly what the guy selling you cards wants to hear. As long as I end up positive, I feel that I did it right. I can promise that I profited on every one of those cards you mentioned. Not trying to brag or anything...just turns out that good cube cards are also great in Modern and EDH.

 

[Onderzeeboot]

I think it totally depends on the situation. I've sold cards at their high point many times before, card that didn't happen to regain their value. I also sold many cards that never were worth anything, but suddenly jacked up in price years later. Yeah, not regretting that, because Magic is not an investment. For every time someone manages to make a lot of money by speculating on Goblin Rabblemaster, another player loses a lot of money on Daybreak Ranger

 

[shamizy]

For every time someone manages to make a lot of money by speculating on Goblin Rabblemaster, another player loses a lot of money on Daybreak Ranger

Ouch. Your move Kibler.

 

[Jason Waddell]

I'm a little surprised this thread is as long as it is.

 

[Tom]

I run Balance. I know you guys thinks that's a terrible idea, but I've yet to see it break anything. Maybe my players (and I) just don't get it. If I had Kalonian Hydra I think I'd run it because I'm obsessed with making green powerful. I run Vexing Devil, and I really like him. I want aGriselbrand. I'd put in him as the reanimate/super late game black monster (replacing Pestilence Demon). But otherwise, I concur.