I’m ok with trinket text like this when it’s a minor upside, although I try to reduce text clutter in my cube wherever possible. I’ve considered cutting Mardu Woe-Reaper for a Savannah Lions variant in the past to not deceive drafters into thinking Warriors is a dedicated archetype or make them read too much before getting the gist of the card. Maximizing power level is generally a good thing, but there’s value in legibility. I’d like players completely unfamiliar with my cube to be able to look at their pack and understand what’s going on.
At least woe reaper's can be relevant sometimes, there have def been times that randomly nailing a creature has been key. I think if you're generally familiar with cube that you can understand it's a 2/1 with upside and that's why it's there, since it's strength doesn't rely on needing a ton of warriors unlike the humans-matters cards.
Bushwacker is decent, but I'm not a big fan of needing to pay the surge cost for the ability. Not that that's impossible to get to, but the 2/1 haste for 2r mode sucks so it also sucks when you can't surge it.
I’m ok with trinket text like this when it’s a minor upside, although I try to reduce text clutter in my cube wherever possible. I’ve considered cutting Mardu Woe-Reaper for a Savannah Lions variant in the past to not deceive drafters into thinking Warriors is a dedicated archetype or make them read too much before getting the gist of the card. Maximizing power level is generally a good thing, but there’s value in legibility. I’d like players completely unfamiliar with my cube to be able to look at their pack and understand what’s going on.
At least woe reaper's can be relevant sometimes, there have def been times that randomly nailing a creature has been key. I think if you're generally familiar with cube that you can understand it's a 2/1 with upside and that's why it's there, since it's strength doesn't rely on needing a ton of warriors unlike the humans-matters cards.
Yeah, the exact reason I haven’t cut it is that the ability is actually relevant in many games. I think it’s firmly in the top tier of Savannah Lions variants.
I don’t have a particularly stable playgroup at this point, so I’ve found myself playing with a lot of people new to cube. Many of them are wired to overvalue the text on a card... if only you knew how many people question why I include Jackal Pup. I want to force them to think “do I want a 2/1 for 1” instead of “do I want this card with an unhelpful text box”.
Terminus is okay. With enough top-of-library support, you can make the miracle somewhat consistent, but ultimately we just didn't get enough consistency with it, and not having control of the window in which the spell can be cast effectively proved too problematic.
There was at least one great topdeck I can remember. I was playing RW aggro, and was facing down lethal on the crackback if I couldn't win on this turn. My opponent had two blockers available, and I needed to resolve both my Grafted Wargearand remove both blockers to get in for exacties. I had my 5th land drop in my hand, but had no other spells. I topdecked exactly Arc Trail, which was the only card in my deck that could clear both blockers and get in for exactly lethal damage.
Ran terminus for a long time and i dont think i ever saw it get miracled. never made it in a lot of final decks and was just too inconsistent.
I've managed to go 5-0 at two prereleases both time winning off a top deck from the only card in my pool that could save me.
Aether Revolt: Opponent at 2, I have no cards in hand dead next turn to a 2x hidden stockpile board. Do the slow flip the top card on my draw step: the only shock in my deck. Opponent not happy. I kept the shock in my wallet for a while haha.
160 person Khans of Tarkir prerelease: All Mardu final with my opponent at 7 i'm at 1 with no cards in hand. Currently being beaten down by zurgo helmsmasher, top deck jeering instigator with 6 mana: morph, flip, steal, and smash for the win. still have the booster box from that win sitting in my closet.
If a cube is running Terminus I'd hope they are already running Catastrophe. 6 mana wraths (which this is) are so sloooooow. This is a guaranteed sweeping effect, as in every creature WILL go away, but most of the time it just comes out too late.
I have a merfolk tribal EDH deck built around manipulating the top card of your library to cheat out free 'folk. No specific story but if you've never played with Future Sight, its extremely fun.
Is there a card that you initially decided against including in your cube, but ended up trying it out after playing with it yourself in another format?
Gisela is a solid creature. She's a combat beast, and there are just some boards she completely dominates. This is balanced out by her weakness to toughness-based removal.
Recently, seeing Field of Ruin's performance in Modern as a tool for decks that want to be able to disrupt powerful lands (but aren't willing to sacrifice their own resources) made me want to try it in my cube. And I'm glad I did, because it's been quite good so far.
gisela is sweet. i dont like the big block of meld text and i know others have had theirs altered to get rid of it. looking at getting a foil peel done now that the FTV version is a cheap foil.
Gisela is great. I always like adding lifelink lower down the curve because it can either be drafted to stifle an aggro deck OR help seal the deal for one!
I'd want to find a slot for Gisela, but only if I can work out a clean way to give them Bruna as well. If I can't include a game-breaking goo angel in my cube then why am I here
This week, we'll be looking at cards from Masters 25 that might be worth taking a spin, if you aren't running them already! Starting with this bad boy from Alpha:
Great card; I would say its cast/win ratio is one of the highest of any cube card. Can't see myself cutting it.
A lot of decks just don't know what to do when they lose their lands and you have any kind of advantage on board. Obviously it doesn't win the game on its own, you need to do some work and cast it a point in the match where you are ahead and occasionally your opponent will have an out (some 1cmc removal for instance) but the better you play the less likely that is.
I have had success running it in all kinds of decks; Agro obviously uses it as a finisher acting as the final nail in the coffin, but control and midrange can get a lot of use out of it as well by leveraging mana producing creatures/artifacts to come out of it far ahead.
On the topic of Ravages of War,I don't know if I want 2 copies in my cube.
Going back in history people always think they are on the the brink of Armageddon. I don't think it is coming any time soon, we might see a war or some hard times ahead but I don't see it ending the world.
I just can't justify putting curse catcher in my cube when Judge's Familiar is slightly better for cube purposes. But I also can't justify putting in judges familiar when azorious is so stacked. So unfortunately neither card makes it into my cube.
I just can't justify putting curse catcher in my cube when Judge's Familiar is slightly better for cube purposes. But I also can't justify putting in judges familiar when azorious is so stacked. So unfortunately neither card makes it into my cube.
Same. I had Judge's Familiar in the earliest iteration of my cube, but now there's several cards I would include in Azorious before reincluding it. Force Spike is also way easier to play around when you know about it.
My fave blue tempo card is probably Venser, Shaper Savant but Vendilion Clique is neck and neck with him. They are probably my two favorite blue creatures in any context, actually.
What's the last card you obtained for your cube that you already owned because you wanted the new art? Or do you try to run the original printings of as many cards as possible?
At least woe reaper's can be relevant sometimes, there have def been times that randomly nailing a creature has been key. I think if you're generally familiar with cube that you can understand it's a 2/1 with upside and that's why it's there, since it's strength doesn't rely on needing a ton of warriors unlike the humans-matters cards.
Bushwacker is decent, but I'm not a big fan of needing to pay the surge cost for the ability. Not that that's impossible to get to, but the 2/1 haste for 2r mode sucks so it also sucks when you can't surge it.
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Yeah, the exact reason I haven’t cut it is that the ability is actually relevant in many games. I think it’s firmly in the top tier of Savannah Lions variants.
I don’t have a particularly stable playgroup at this point, so I’ve found myself playing with a lot of people new to cube. Many of them are wired to overvalue the text on a card... if only you knew how many people question why I include Jackal Pup. I want to force them to think “do I want a 2/1 for 1” instead of “do I want this card with an unhelpful text box”.
Cubetutor Link
We don't usually play any multiplayer, no.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Terminus
Do you have a great top deck story? Were you on the giving, or receiving end?
There was at least one great topdeck I can remember. I was playing RW aggro, and was facing down lethal on the crackback if I couldn't win on this turn. My opponent had two blockers available, and I needed to resolve both my Grafted Wargear and remove both blockers to get in for exacties. I had my 5th land drop in my hand, but had no other spells. I topdecked exactly Arc Trail, which was the only card in my deck that could clear both blockers and get in for exactly lethal damage.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I've managed to go 5-0 at two prereleases both time winning off a top deck from the only card in my pool that could save me.
Aether Revolt: Opponent at 2, I have no cards in hand dead next turn to a 2x hidden stockpile board. Do the slow flip the top card on my draw step: the only shock in my deck. Opponent not happy. I kept the shock in my wallet for a while haha.
160 person Khans of Tarkir prerelease: All Mardu final with my opponent at 7 i'm at 1 with no cards in hand. Currently being beaten down by zurgo helmsmasher, top deck jeering instigator with 6 mana: morph, flip, steal, and smash for the win. still have the booster box from that win sitting in my closet.
I have a merfolk tribal EDH deck built around manipulating the top card of your library to cheat out free 'folk. No specific story but if you've never played with Future Sight, its extremely fun.
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
Gisela, the Broken Blade
Is there a card that you initially decided against including in your cube, but ended up trying it out after playing with it yourself in another format?
Recently, seeing Field of Ruin's performance in Modern as a tool for decks that want to be able to disrupt powerful lands (but aren't willing to sacrifice their own resources) made me want to try it in my cube. And I'm glad I did, because it's been quite good so far.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I'd want to find a slot for Gisela, but only if I can work out a clean way to give them Bruna as well. If I can't include a game-breaking goo angel in my cube then why am I here
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
Armageddon
How do you think the world will end? How long do you think we have left until it does?
[180 classic cube]
why was eternal masters SO good and this set so underwhelming
On topic: yeah staple staple staple. It isn't even an aggro only cards, there are a lot of reasons to include both.
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
I would love for Armageddon to get redundancy but RoW didn't get reprinted as I hoped it would be. Perhaps in the next master set. It is inevitable.
Armageddon is a skill testing, game warping card. An archetype of its own, and one of the "old" archtypes in cube.
A lot of decks just don't know what to do when they lose their lands and you have any kind of advantage on board. Obviously it doesn't win the game on its own, you need to do some work and cast it a point in the match where you are ahead and occasionally your opponent will have an out (some 1cmc removal for instance) but the better you play the less likely that is.
I have had success running it in all kinds of decks; Agro obviously uses it as a finisher acting as the final nail in the coffin, but control and midrange can get a lot of use out of it as well by leveraging mana producing creatures/artifacts to come out of it far ahead.
On the topic of Ravages of War,I don't know if I want 2 copies in my cube.
Going back in history people always think they are on the the brink of Armageddon. I don't think it is coming any time soon, we might see a war or some hard times ahead but I don't see it ending the world.
Cursecatcher
What is your favorite aggressive or tempo-supporting card in you run in Blue?
I actually really like nimble obstructionist
Same. I had Judge's Familiar in the earliest iteration of my cube, but now there's several cards I would include in Azorious before reincluding it. Force Spike is also way easier to play around when you know about it.
My favorite Blue Tempo card is Man-o'-war.
[180 classic cube]
I think Vendilion Clique is my favorite blue tempo card.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My fave blue tempo card is probably Venser, Shaper Savant but Vendilion Clique is neck and neck with him. They are probably my two favorite blue creatures in any context, actually.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
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Coalition Relic
What's the last card you obtained for your cube that you already owned because you wanted the new art? Or do you try to run the original printings of as many cards as possible?