Char is way better than Brimstone Volley. It kills Meloku when you need to - NOW. Brimstone Volley was way too inconsistent for us, I wouldn't even put it in the same league as Char. The times you miss out on one damage (and consequently, the two damage actually hurts you) were far less than the times we wished we could deal 5 (or just 4) damage but can only deal 3.
Ponder, have you tried Caravan Vigil? I read it, thought it looked awesome, and then put it in my cube. It turns out it's not awesome. For a sorcery, especially early, morbid is a huge pain to trigger. We never once had the turn two bolt into caravan vigil play and I think it's totally unreasonable to expect. Even hitting it turn three is highly unreliable. At this point, why aren't you just running rampant growth instead? The untapped land is nice and all, but it's not so nice as to be worth completely controlling your early turns. And, if you miss the morbid, it's not the worst card ever (it just cycles to get the land you want), but that sort of fixing isn't the kind of thing I'd want to draft. You're certainly welcome to give it a shot (and I think testing is always a good thing), but it didn't work out at all for us and I can't imagine cutting anything for it.
Well it is in my Cardboard 630 Low-Power Cube, but I havent been cubing seriously for a few months. I have played/ watched zero ISD games, so the Vigil was acquired through a gifting of some ISD cards, it wasnt recommended by anyone, it is just that Rampant Growth, has never done a lot for me, and Vigil I thought would do it for a very reasonable cost.
But your point about after turn three run Rampant Growth, well I dont usually have a guarented forth land drop, and on this play, it gives an extra mana that turn.
The only deck that I think can not use this to advantage is creatureless vs creatureless control.
Well Im not really cutting anything great for it, my green spells were sub-par, and I generally add new cards to the Cube, rather than replace old ones. I like having a large 630 Cube.
I have a combat oriented cardboard Cube, so Morbid is very easy to achieve, though I am looking forward in the next few weeks, hopefully I will be able to Cube on MWS, with a full power list, Ill try to see it in play there.
Caravan Vigil is not a good card because it is not consistent. Rampant Growth accelerates you to four mana on turn three every time (if you have drawn three lands by then, that is) whereas Caravan Vigil does not. Caravan Vigil has the potential to be better, but in most cases it will be worse and not accelerate you at all.
Brimstone Volley on the other hand I can see being good, it certainly is very good in ISD limited (but burn spells are always good in limited, right?). I can also see the problem of triggering it when you really need to, but it is certainly easier to get the bonus because it is an instant. I would pick Char over it because it is guaranteed 4 damage for three mana, but as long as we can't just run lots of Chars I think I should find room for Brimstone Volley.
The stacked competition at the 3CC red spell slot doesn't help it either. The smaller the cube gets, the more difficult it is to include the Volley. It's just barely out of inclusion for me (the 2nd or 3rd best red 3CC card I'm not running) and it would be in at 540 for sure.
The stacked competition at the 3CC red spell slot doesn't help it either. The smaller the cube gets, the more difficult it is to include the Volley. It's just barely out of inclusion for me (the 2nd or 3rd best red 3CC card I'm not running) and it would be in at 540 for sure.
Rivalry. We had success with it at 500, and the cube was purged to 450 shortly after that, and it got the cut (like a last-in first-out kinda thing). I've been looking for a way to get it back in the cube, but red seems surprisingly tight.
Rivalry is one of the cards that never got tested here, although I can imagine it being bonkers. Sulfuric Vortex is obviously better, but Rivalry can't be that much worse.
I would probably play it at 450 if we were still at that level.
Rivalry is sometimes better, sometimes worse. But the fact that it's comparable to the Vortex at all is why I want to get it back in there. We had good results, but I wasn't sure if it was going to be 450 material, and got the axe. I'm thinking now that it probably is good enough.
We're probably going to cut Pyroclasm soon because it has seen zero play at the 360 level, I might actually test out Rivalry in its place, as ridiculous as that sounds. The fact that it's comparable to the Vortex at all makes me want to test it.
As it turns out, a turn one Reckless Waif is quite the beating. If she continues to perform that well, she'll likely secure a permanent slot in my red 1-drops. It's also nice "comboing" her with Tangle Wire on turn three.
Anecdotally, people seem to have had a lot of different experiences with her. I've personally liked her quite a bit - I think her average damage on turn one has been close to an Elite Vanguard which is amazing for red, though whe's a bit inconsistent. After turn 3 or so, she's pretty mediocre - she can flip depending on your opponent, your disruption (as Calibretto said, Tangle Wire is a werewolf's best friend and Strip Mine, smokestack, and armeggedon are pretty sweet too), and what kind of mana sinks you have (sword equip, leave up mana for counters), but a 3/2 on turn 4 isn't really that great (which is, I guess, a common theme for aggressive 1-drops).
What Ferret said. Beyond the first few turns of the game, it's a lot easier to have a 1/1 for R than a 3/2 for R. I think the raw power you get from her when casting on the first couple of turns is enough to risk that she might not hit play until later. I like my cards to be consistent, but what I've found is that when played on turn one or two. she's consistently good and easily becomes a 3/2. IMO, that's no different than any other aggro 1-drop.
The werewolves are all a lot better in a non powered cube. A fully powered 360-450 cube they will not flip very often, and will be easy to flip back. I think any cube over 500 can make good use of it.
Well this was my first actual draft with the werewolves present and that was the only deck that she saw play in. I played two matches and four games (there were only three of us Saturday night). Luckily enough I had her on turn one in three of those games and every single time she flipped the turn after seeing play and the game was over before she could be flipped back. Further testing may prove that was just a fluke, but I'm really hoping that it's not.
For those that Reckless Waif is doing well for, have your playgroups had any luck with Stromkirk Noble?
A few people on the forum have said they are both good red one drops, at least in comparable to Jackal Pup. I would have thought that Stromkirk though not capable of swinging for 3 second turn, was equally as strong, perhaps more so.
Has the "can not be blocked by Humans" ability been relevant? Even if they had two blockers, limiting the creatures that can block it, is relevant still, yes?
Just for reporting purposes, had Reckless Waif tonight in my mono-red deck and it was absolutely bonkers all night. Flipped on t2 quite often, and dealt upwards of 9 damage each game (multiple times 12-15).
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
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Well it is in my Cardboard 630 Low-Power Cube, but I havent been cubing seriously for a few months. I have played/ watched zero ISD games, so the Vigil was acquired through a gifting of some ISD cards, it wasnt recommended by anyone, it is just that Rampant Growth, has never done a lot for me, and Vigil I thought would do it for a very reasonable cost.
But your point about after turn three run Rampant Growth, well I dont usually have a guarented forth land drop, and on this play, it gives an extra mana that turn.
The only deck that I think can not use this to advantage is creatureless vs creatureless control.
Well Im not really cutting anything great for it, my green spells were sub-par, and I generally add new cards to the Cube, rather than replace old ones. I like having a large 630 Cube.
I have a combat oriented cardboard Cube, so Morbid is very easy to achieve, though I am looking forward in the next few weeks, hopefully I will be able to Cube on MWS, with a full power list, Ill try to see it in play there.
Magic Work Station Winston-180 http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=315755
Brimstone Volley on the other hand I can see being good, it certainly is very good in ISD limited (but burn spells are always good in limited, right?). I can also see the problem of triggering it when you really need to, but it is certainly easier to get the bonus because it is an instant. I would pick Char over it because it is guaranteed 4 damage for three mana, but as long as we can't just run lots of Chars I think I should find room for Brimstone Volley.
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I would probably play it at 450 if we were still at that level.
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On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Anecdotally, people seem to have had a lot of different experiences with her. I've personally liked her quite a bit - I think her average damage on turn one has been close to an Elite Vanguard which is amazing for red, though whe's a bit inconsistent. After turn 3 or so, she's pretty mediocre - she can flip depending on your opponent, your disruption (as Calibretto said, Tangle Wire is a werewolf's best friend and Strip Mine, smokestack, and armeggedon are pretty sweet too), and what kind of mana sinks you have (sword equip, leave up mana for counters), but a 3/2 on turn 4 isn't really that great (which is, I guess, a common theme for aggressive 1-drops).
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A few people on the forum have said they are both good red one drops, at least in comparable to Jackal Pup. I would have thought that Stromkirk though not capable of swinging for 3 second turn, was equally as strong, perhaps more so.
Has the "can not be blocked by Humans" ability been relevant? Even if they had two blockers, limiting the creatures that can block it, is relevant still, yes?
Magic Work Station Winston-180 http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=315755
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