Top tier: Thalia, Selfless Spirit, Accorder Paladin. Is Stoneforge an aggro card to you? If so, add her.
Next tier: Imposing Sovereign, Adorned Pouncer, Glory-Bound Initiate. There are lots of other options that could go here, too.
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EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
1. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2. Stoneforge Mystic (kinda conditional on whether you got equipment, of course... could be #1, could be unplayable)
3. Selfless Spirit
4. Glory-Bound Initiate (big fan of this card)
5. Accorder Paladin
6. Imposing Sovereign
7. Adorned Pouncer (again, goes up if you have equipment or pump effects, down otherwise)
8. Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
9. Precinct Captain
10. Kor Skyfisher (not as big a fan of this card as others, especially for aggro; better as a synergy card to reuse ETBs)
11. Seeker of the Way
12. Consul's Lieutenant
Adorned Pouncer is really close with the Initiate, and depending on the construction of the deck, it can certainly be better. Excluding Porcelain Legionnaire, per your request. In powered, I'd move Kor Skyfisher onto that list. If midrange isn't a popular deck, Sovereign drops a few slots.
I generally regard SFM as a midrange card, primarily because I regard the Sword of X/Y cycle (and Batterskull) to be more midrangey. That said, SFM does go in aggro decks sometimes, depending on lots of factors, including color matchup, # of lands in deck/curve, and issues where the 1/2 body could be relevant or useful (Copter, anthems, Tangle Wire, etc)
Accorder and Glory-Bound were close for me, with the former having a higher BCS and the latter having a better WCS.
Skyfisher is a good man, but the slightly conditional nature of his effectiveness renders him at the bottom of the list. Similarly for Pouncer, who is just outside the list for me.
I actually cut Supreme Verdict for Fractured Identity, and maybe that's wrong, both due to losing a wrath, but even more to having two tempo creatures at 1WU. I think Reflector Mage is actually better than Geist, and I may revisit that change . . .
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Yeah, that's what I was thinking since he definitely seems a little less insane than the other options, but he's been a solid finisher for us so far so there's some bias on my end, haha. Thanks for the input, I'll make the cut!
Out of curiosity, though, what is Geist's ACS? Clearly, he's really good with Swords or equipment in general, but considering how quickly a three mana 2/2 without evasion gets outclassed in cube, how often does he just get walled by a random 2 power value creature?
I think a lot of people misplay Geist: just because you can play him on turn 3 doesn't mean you should. There's a lot of value in a 3-mana win condition that you can cast later in the game and have open mana to protect it with counter magic.
ACS for the average player, he gets in for a hit and then gets walled or swept up by your own wrath, hehe.
I think Xenagos can be used to help support a specific archetype better than Huntmaster can, and they're both fine as "good stuff" cards, so I'd give the nod to Xenagos I think.
Xenagos is a good midrange card but not good as a ramp card, and those are most R/G decks here. Huntmaster is a good stabilizer, grants some reach in slow control matchups and has more synergies in green due to being a creature (Natural Order, Gaea's Cradle, Green Sun's Zenith, Survival of the Fittest etc.).
Steve the question is what do your RG decks need help against? I think you got the main players in there already, so why not use the last slot to address a weakness? I could see several Gruul cards as viable options depending on what you want to shore up.
1 more combo grabber, which?
My cube already runs Vamp, Grim, Seal, Demonic.
Neither of these cards look appealing. 4 tutor effects is already a lot for a cube 630+. I think Diabolic Tutor / Razaketh's Rite might be better tutors, or invest more in black card draw.
Next tier: Imposing Sovereign, Adorned Pouncer, Glory-Bound Initiate. There are lots of other options that could go here, too.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
1. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2. Stoneforge Mystic (kinda conditional on whether you got equipment, of course... could be #1, could be unplayable)
3. Selfless Spirit
4. Glory-Bound Initiate (big fan of this card)
5. Accorder Paladin
6. Imposing Sovereign
7. Adorned Pouncer (again, goes up if you have equipment or pump effects, down otherwise)
8. Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
9. Precinct Captain
10. Kor Skyfisher (not as big a fan of this card as others, especially for aggro; better as a synergy card to reuse ETBs)
11. Seeker of the Way
12. Consul's Lieutenant
02 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
03 Selfless Spirit
04 Imposing Sovereign
05 Accorder Paladin
06 Glory-Bound Initiate
Adorned Pouncer is really close with the Initiate, and depending on the construction of the deck, it can certainly be better. Excluding Porcelain Legionnaire, per your request. In powered, I'd move Kor Skyfisher onto that list. If midrange isn't a popular deck, Sovereign drops a few slots.
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Here's how I had it:
1.Thalia
2.Selfless Spirit
3.Imposing Sovereign
4.Glory-Bound Initiate
5.Accorder Paladin
6.Kor Skyfisher
*2-3. Stoneforge Mystic (conditional)
I generally regard SFM as a midrange card, primarily because I regard the Sword of X/Y cycle (and Batterskull) to be more midrangey. That said, SFM does go in aggro decks sometimes, depending on lots of factors, including color matchup, # of lands in deck/curve, and issues where the 1/2 body could be relevant or useful (Copter, anthems, Tangle Wire, etc)
Accorder and Glory-Bound were close for me, with the former having a higher BCS and the latter having a better WCS.
Skyfisher is a good man, but the slightly conditional nature of his effectiveness renders him at the bottom of the list. Similarly for Pouncer, who is just outside the list for me.
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Geist of Saint Traft
Reflector Mage
Dragonlord Ojutai
Supreme Verdict
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I actually cut Supreme Verdict for Fractured Identity, and maybe that's wrong, both due to losing a wrath, but even more to having two tempo creatures at 1WU. I think Reflector Mage is actually better than Geist, and I may revisit that change . . .
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Out of curiosity, though, what is Geist's ACS? Clearly, he's really good with Swords or equipment in general, but considering how quickly a three mana 2/2 without evasion gets outclassed in cube, how often does he just get walled by a random 2 power value creature?
ACS for the average player, he gets in for a hit and then gets walled or swept up by your own wrath, hehe.
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Interesting. I would've said this about Huntmaster.
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1 more combo grabber, which?
My cube already runs Vamp, Grim, Seal, Demonic.
Neither of these cards look appealing. 4 tutor effects is already a lot for a cube 630+. I think Diabolic Tutor / Razaketh's Rite might be better tutors, or invest more in black card draw.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra