I always have a lot of fun with recurring nightmare, momentary blink, and my pet card that I refuse to let go of: changeling berserker.
There's just something that feels so good about championing a keldon champion or persisted kitchen finks/redcap. And when I'm able to blink it, or nightmare it...all the merrier.
I just remembered a deck my buddy built that was probably the least amount of fun I've ever had while playing Magic. It wasn't built around Moat or any of the power 9 or other popular powerful cards. It was built around Momentary Blink, a card that's good but no where near a staple. He had Blink, Eternal Witness, Kitchen Finks, Cryptic Command, etc. So once he was able to establish control, he would then basically lock you completely out of the game by using Blink + E Witness to counter everything you would possibly play by bringing back Cryptic Command. Like any deck, it wasn't unbeatable, but it was well designed and hard to beat. Removing creatures is hard when Momentary Blink is active and E Witness is also a factor. Once he took control the game became so boring. On your turn you try and fail to remove his team. On his turn you sit and watch him take even more control of the game.
The point here is to say that a card doesn't have to be powerful to become unfun. This didn't make me want to take out Momentary Blink or E Witness.
Dealing 8-10 damages to the face for WW is pretty brutal. Shaharazad is a powerhouse. Just a really, really annoying one.
yeah i guess you're right. if you were planning to win the main match, clearly you're planning to win the sub-match. i don't think any of my players would go in for it, we play too little magic for my taste as it is.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I have so much fun drafting and playing aggro. You guys are nuts. There's just something fun and rewarding about curving out with an aggro deck in cube.
I have so much fun drafting and playing aggro. You guys are nuts. There's just something fun and rewarding about curving out with an aggro deck in cube.
and also, I knew it ::highfive::
/douchebag
I'm pretty certain qq was being sarcastic and don't think he believes that. Just critiquing the other guys post. I fall in the no cards are unfun for power level reasons camp, though cards like Sharhazard are unfun for other reasons.
Also 2HG is a different beast. I think any board resets (Jokulhaups, Upheaval, Obliterate, etc) are just too easy to abuse in 2HG.
I have so much fun drafting and playing aggro. You guys are nuts. There's just something fun and rewarding about curving out with an aggro deck in cube.
quitequieter was joking. He was responding to other people's "unfun" lists (Armageddon, Winter Orb, Sulfuric Vortex) and saying that they basically think good aggro cards are unfun.
I agree with you, aggro is a blast! And winning games off the back of cards like Vortex and Orb is far better than losing to control all the time. That's a hell of a lot less fun, IMO.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
There's just something fun and rewarding about curving out with an aggro deck in cube.
I agree. I'm almost always aggro when I draft the cube. I love it when I can build an aggro deck with a perfect curve that's really powerful and hard to beat. That's when I'm having the most fun.
Nothing. Nothing is unfun, and everything is a blast. If my opponent has some awesome string of plays that leads them to an early victory, I give them props and we move onto game two. Next game, it'll be me doing something broken or silly, and the whole table enjoys seeing sick things happening. This is the cube. If I wanted fair, I'd look to a different format.
Tinker or anything that cheats absurd things into play turn 1-3. Also known as "why I learned that the MTGO Cube isn't worth my money" today.
This is a big reason why I don't like to play the holiday cube on MTGO. While I like that version of the MTGO cube much better, I don't like spending actual money on it and then getting blown out on turn two by a sweet Tinker play. I normally love those plays in my own cube, but the best thing about cubing is it's free.
This is a big reason why I don't like to play the holiday cube on MTGO. While I like that version of the MTGO cube much better, I don't like spending actual money on it and then getting blown out on turn two by a sweet Tinker play. I normally love those plays in my own cube, but the best thing about cubing is it's free.
Actually you're probably right. When I don't stand to lose ten bucks, 'cheap wins' aren't as much of a big deal.
Disclaimer: my comments regard an unpowered cube based on midrange, creatures, and interactivity
The most unfun losses I've ever felt were at the hand of the Swords of X and Y. I feel they would be a bad fit in my unpowered midrange/creature heavy cube as I want to promote interaction rather than free wins.
I've taken out hexproof and things like Mirran Crusader for the same reason. However, Blastoderm and Calciderm are kept in thanks to the ability to chump and kill themselves over time.
My exclusion of the swords is likely controversial, but I also like not having to put in more artifact / enchantment removal which is decidedly worse in an unpowered cube anyway.
Armageddon hasn't been unfun in my cube either. Just a powerful finisher. It has been cast and that player has still lost multiple times. Jace, the Mind Sculptor hasn't been a problem. Casting him has only given around a 50/50 shot of winning the game, but I certainly concede that being hellbent with your opponent fatesealing is one of the most grueling fates, but it takes some work to get to that point. The inclusion of Dreadbore, Vindicate, Hero's Downfall, Maelstrom Pulse, etc have helped to mitigate planeswalker's power.
People also dread seeing Karn Liberated come down, and if you are an aggro player, seeing Batterskull is pretty much the worst.
As for fun cards: People have loved Figure of Destiny when he levels to his final form.
I also run Abyssal Persecutor. Its ability allowing negative life totals while digging for something to kill the demon has caused some crazy boardstates.
I actually agree on the swords, but not the Mirran Crusader.
Swords turn any creature into a double protection bigger threat that does stupid broken things whenever it connects which often it does due to the protections.
Mirran Crusader only fits in a deck that is committed to white. It gains no additional bonuses for connecting with your opponent and both colors it has protections from aren't crippled by it. Green just tramples over, counters with much bigger dudes, or swarms in the case of aggro tokens. Black just uses not targeted removal which there is now even more of Black Sun's Zenith, Toxic Deluge, Damnation or sacrifice effects.
Bottom line Mirran Crusader is FAR less overpowered than any creature with a sword and it should never be denied a slot for fear that it is OP or non-interactive because it's just fine.
Even hexproof is fine in most cases, the worst offender so far is obviously True-Name Nemesis. I could understand people denying him a slot for fairness, but that's about it.
Mirran Crusader was originally in the list but was cut due to complaints after a few harsh occasions with it. I perhaps should have put that part in, my apologies!
Luckily with hexproof there aren't many competitive cards with it. Sylvan Caryatid is obviously fine though as it's not an aggressive card. The only other slot that I can recall as of now would be Geist of Saint Traft which my playgroup does not want to see in the cube. I assume this is from bad experiences in standard.
I cut Geists of Saint Traft, Jace 3.0, and Gifts Given for being unfun. I understand Geists can be blocked, but some time he can't and just makes for non interactive games.
There's just something that feels so good about championing a keldon champion or persisted kitchen finks/redcap. And when I'm able to blink it, or nightmare it...all the merrier.
hot.
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I think Capsize is a bit annoying, but I haven't had the honor of seeing it in play yet. Oh well, we're doing a draft tomorrow, so it should be fun.
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The point here is to say that a card doesn't have to be powerful to become unfun. This didn't make me want to take out Momentary Blink or E Witness.
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yeah i guess you're right. if you were planning to win the main match, clearly you're planning to win the sub-match. i don't think any of my players would go in for it, we play too little magic for my taste as it is.
i'll sum up:
unfun: aggro
fun: control
naw, she's hot.
This sounds about right. I don't really understand what's so fun about games that are over on turn five.
I have so much fun drafting and playing aggro. You guys are nuts. There's just something fun and rewarding about curving out with an aggro deck in cube.
and also, I knew it ::highfive::
/douchebag
Cube list thread
Cubetutor
I'm pretty certain qq was being sarcastic and don't think he believes that. Just critiquing the other guys post. I fall in the no cards are unfun for power level reasons camp, though cards like Sharhazard are unfun for other reasons.
Also 2HG is a different beast. I think any board resets (Jokulhaups, Upheaval, Obliterate, etc) are just too easy to abuse in 2HG.
quitequieter was joking. He was responding to other people's "unfun" lists (Armageddon, Winter Orb, Sulfuric Vortex) and saying that they basically think good aggro cards are unfun.
I agree with you, aggro is a blast! And winning games off the back of cards like Vortex and Orb is far better than losing to control all the time. That's a hell of a lot less fun, IMO.
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::highfive::
I agree. I'm almost always aggro when I draft the cube. I love it when I can build an aggro deck with a perfect curve that's really powerful and hard to beat. That's when I'm having the most fun.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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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 a big reason why I don't like to play the holiday cube on MTGO. While I like that version of the MTGO cube much better, I don't like spending actual money on it and then getting blown out on turn two by a sweet Tinker play. I normally love those plays in my own cube, but the best thing about cubing is it's free.
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I think they're both unfun for different reasons though. I love black discard effects, but Mind Twist can just be too devastating too quickly.
Jitte on the other hand, has a power level that is just way beyond every card ever printed. I think it is so good it's boring.
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Actually you're probably right. When I don't stand to lose ten bucks, 'cheap wins' aren't as much of a big deal.
The most unfun losses I've ever felt were at the hand of the Swords of X and Y. I feel they would be a bad fit in my unpowered midrange/creature heavy cube as I want to promote interaction rather than free wins.
I've taken out hexproof and things like Mirran Crusader for the same reason. However, Blastoderm and Calciderm are kept in thanks to the ability to chump and kill themselves over time.
My exclusion of the swords is likely controversial, but I also like not having to put in more artifact / enchantment removal which is decidedly worse in an unpowered cube anyway.
Armageddon hasn't been unfun in my cube either. Just a powerful finisher. It has been cast and that player has still lost multiple times. Jace, the Mind Sculptor hasn't been a problem. Casting him has only given around a 50/50 shot of winning the game, but I certainly concede that being hellbent with your opponent fatesealing is one of the most grueling fates, but it takes some work to get to that point. The inclusion of Dreadbore, Vindicate, Hero's Downfall, Maelstrom Pulse, etc have helped to mitigate planeswalker's power.
People also dread seeing Karn Liberated come down, and if you are an aggro player, seeing Batterskull is pretty much the worst.
As for fun cards: People have loved Figure of Destiny when he levels to his final form.
I also run Abyssal Persecutor. Its ability allowing negative life totals while digging for something to kill the demon has caused some crazy boardstates.
Cards with "minigames" like Fact or Fiction and Chaos Warp also tend to have some funny stories.
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Mirran Crusader was originally in the list but was cut due to complaints after a few harsh occasions with it. I perhaps should have put that part in, my apologies!
Luckily with hexproof there aren't many competitive cards with it. Sylvan Caryatid is obviously fine though as it's not an aggressive card. The only other slot that I can recall as of now would be Geist of Saint Traft which my playgroup does not want to see in the cube. I assume this is from bad experiences in standard.
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