Clockwork Dragon... Platinum Angel was under performing so this took its place at the same mana cost and it can just finish a game the turn after you put it down in control.
Not so dark horse but shown to be good is Ranger of Eos in WW/x
I will have to try clockwork, but I refuse to take out Platinum because it never seems to under perform if it is played in the right deck. Like control.
Glen Elendra Archmage. Was very hesitant on adding this guy at first. But now, I would never remove him. Any chance I get to take him, I do. He is really so good. Counters 2 non-creature spells (usually the better of the 2), for U, and beats in the air while it does it. Awesome.
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Currently playing: EDH: Whatever 99 BWG cards I feel like playing from my cube.
I've seen it in a few cube lists, but Silent Specter has been a house with not only the bricks but mortar. You may be thinking "This costs too much, boo!" but it's not only not that bad with the morph but if it connects, it's usually game over. The same I say of Okiba-Gang Shinobi.
Riftwing Cloudskate has been solid as not only a really needed 2-drop for blue (although blue has a lot of T2 plays like Signets and Counterspells) but it's still been solid and can be nice with 187 effects.
I've been testing out a few cards that weren't played in Constructed, but have been solid in limited. Tonight I had Kiss of Amesha in my deck and it was absurd. When facing down an aggressive deck and trying to dig for my sweeper I feel much better tapping out for a draw spell when it essentially Time Walks me. Hard to really convey how good it was, but it was very saucy. We've also been testing out Twisted Justice, and while it's a little pricey, it's such a blowout upon resolution. Often an opponent will kill their own creature (if it's the only one in play) in response just to keep you from drawing cards. 6 mana for a sorcery edict is harsh, but the payoff is worth it. And for those of you who like Miraculous Recovery and still haven't tried out Betrayal of Flesh I recommend you do so. It's, in a word, awesome.
I've been testing out a few cards that weren't played in Constructed, but have been solid in limited. Tonight I had Kiss of Amesha in my deck and it was absurd. When facing down an aggressive deck and trying to dig for my sweeper I feel much better tapping out for a draw spell when it essentially Time Walks me. Hard to really convey how good it was, but it was very saucy. We've also been testing out Twisted Justice, and while it's a little pricey, it's such a blowout upon resolution. Often an opponent will kill their own creature (if it's the only one in play) in response just to keep you from drawing cards. 6 mana for a sorcery edict is harsh, but the payoff is worth it. And for those of you who like Miraculous Recovery and still haven't tried out Betrayal of Flesh I recommend you do so. It's, in a word, awesome.
Your words on cube have not failed me, so I'll try these.
To be technically correct, an entwined Betrayal of Flesh is actually a 3 for 4, even if the lands are probably useless by then.
Mycoloth is one of my favorite green creatures now. It's not hard at all to make him 8/8, and if you get to untap with him its pretty hard to lose. He's basically Verdant Force on crack. He looks like straight card disadvantage, but he's usually munching down on irrelevant permanents like 1/1s, so the disadvantage isn't nearly as big as it seems.
Has Mycoloth ended up getting killed on the spot? The only problem that I see with it (I had considered putting it in) was that if it gets killed as soon as you played it/during their turn, you get 2-for-1ed (whereas Caldera Hellion gets you a Firespout when it comes out and the guys that you sacrifice to it are likely the ones who are going to die from it, even if they kill it.) I have experienced in draft that if someone untaps with a Mycoloth with counters, they'll win most of the time.
However, at 6 toughness, few things can outright kill it (Edicts on an empty board, Terror effects, Swords to Plowshares [a thing to note that most of white's Pacifism-style removal won't stop his creature making], Wraths, or bounce/steal effects from blue. Red will either have to spend 2 spells to kill it, or evoke a Spitebellows to kill it. Green will have to pray for a bad block and do a Briarhorn-style pump on it, killing theirs with a Berserk when they attack or topdecking a Duplicant.)
Against a Mycoloth they have to have their kill spell in hand or on top of their deck when you cast it or it will give you back your cards in tokens. Mycoloth also pairs very well with any sort of token generator, from Deranged Hermit to Raise the Alarm. What Mycoloth essentially is is a Natural Order for Verdant Force in one card. It's a high-risk, high-reward play. The trick is to minimize the downside as much as possible by eating irrelevent permanents like Wood Elves or any sort of 1/1 token. Sure your opponent might get a 2-for-1, but in the case of the Wood Elf, it's already done its job and is just hanging around waiting to die anyway, might as well get some use out of it.
If you're playing it against a removal heavy deck, either bait as much of the removal out as you can with other cards, or simply play it as a Durkwood Boars. As bad as a 4/4 for 5 is, it's still a decent sized threat that your opponent has to worry about.
Against a Mycoloth they have to have their kill spell in hand or on top of their deck when you cast it or it will give you back your cards in tokens. Mycoloth also pairs very well with any sort of token generator, from Deranged Hermit to Raise the Alarm. What Mycoloth essentially is is a Natural Order for Verdant Force in one card. It's a high-risk, high-reward play. The trick is to minimize the downside as much as possible by eating irrelevent permanents like Wood Elves or any sort of 1/1 token. Sure your opponent might get a 2-for-1, but in the case of the Wood Elf, it's already done its job and is just hanging around waiting to die anyway, might as well get some use out of it.
If you're playing it against a removal heavy deck, either bait as much of the removal out as you can with other cards, or simply play it as a Durkwood Boars. As bad as a 4/4 for 5 is, it's still a decent sized threat that your opponent has to worry about.
Excellent point, especially on the Natural Order+Verdant Force, I hadn't thought of it in that way. I'll have to give it a shot now, definitely.
Has Caldera Hellion been solid? I've been meaning to test that guy out instead of Ryusei, and would love to hear if he's been good for other people.
Astrospoon, Followed Footsteps has a lot of potential, but I'm still a bit hesitant. The possibility of getting it on something like Mulldrifter or Broodmate Dragon is pretty awesome, but them casting a removal spell on your guy is a pretty big blow. I know this is coming right after everyone was talking about Mycoloth, but that guy getting killed isn't quite as big a blow most of the time. Still, I can't fault anyone giving the card a shot. It's high risk, high reward.
EDIT: Also, if anyone has any experiences with Yawgmoth's Agenda I'd be interested to hear them. I've been wanting to test that card, but haven't gotten around to it. Yawgmoth's Will never did much in my cube, especially since I don't run Ritual/Seething Song anymore, but Agenda seems like it could be open to abuse, or at least be a solid role player on occasion when the game goes long.
Has Caldera Hellion been solid? I've been meaning to test that guy out instead of Ryusei, and would love to hear if he's been good for other people.
I have been impressed by it so far. It's usually been a 4/4 or a 5/5 and requires immediate attention from an aggro player, since their board got wiped.
I like Arc-Slogger because he is precisely what you describes, a 4/5 for 5 that can Shock twice. Openings like, dude, dude, removal on your dude, slogger is pretty hard to deal with, and not all that uncommon in an aggro deck. I've been having the most amount of success with Slogger in R/W or R/G, where the extra 4 damage plus something like a Fireblast/Lightning Bolt/Incinerate/Flame Javelin/Char can easily get you there after your first wave of attackers are neutralized. The 4/5 body is also not shabby for red, and is pretty good at just running into the red zone.
I personally wouldn't cut any of those for Caldera Hellion, instead, run Crater Hellion instead. It's much better in my opinion, since 4 damage and a 6/6 body (and the fact that it deals damage to OTHER creatures, so your opponent can't like Grim Lavamancer/Mogg Fanatic/etc the Hellion in response) makes it a much better dude than the Caldera Hellion.
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Check out my pauper cube! and thanks to PurpleD @ [<--- Left Play Design <---] for making this awesome banner!
Sigil of Distinction has been rocking my cube for a few weeks. I wasn't sure how good it would be in a cube format, but it is even better than in Alara draft. With better mana accel with Monoliths and Sol Ring, it gets big fast. Plus grabbing it with Trinket Mage is pretty brutal. So far I have been lucky enough to not see the thing on a Cameleon Colossus.
My cube finally saw Sharding Sphinx worth today. This is a card I didn't think would be that great as a win con for blue control. But two swings and this beast is unstoppable. Maybe not a huge dark horse card(Since I threw it in to the cube as soon as I saw it). But it is definitely staying.
I have to agree.. my first two Alara drafts were Esper based after picking 'Sharting' Sphinx from my first pack first pick in both. It was awesome. Once it starts 'sharting' out thopters it's a beast. I dropped it in my cube
So I went through my Cube and picked out cards that (I think) are at least a little dark horse. A little background, my cube has 90 of each color, 90 multicolor and 90 artifacts... and er... I'm not sure how many nonbasic lands. its big, but I have the cards, and I enjoy the variance.
White
Now, there are probably cards in here that a person might not consider "dark horse", but all the other cards in my cube are the usual suspects. Hopefully people find at least a few surprises in this list.
How often does Grizzly Fate hit Threshold upon its first casting? It is seeming like it is a broken-up Durkwood Boars at first although flashed back late game on a dead board, can likely give you the win.
A friend recommended trying Thoughts of Ruin in my cube so I'm going to try it. The only worry that I have is that it can be dead late game if you're just holding a card or two.
Not so dark horse but shown to be good is Ranger of Eos in WW/x
Trading
EDH: Whatever 99 BWG cards I feel like playing from my cube.
Legacy: MUC, MBStax, Zoo/Goyf Sligh, Esperzoa (8SeaDrake.dec), WhiteWeenie
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Riftwing Cloudskate has been solid as not only a really needed 2-drop for blue (although blue has a lot of T2 plays like Signets and Counterspells) but it's still been solid and can be nice with 187 effects.
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner pretty much invalidates burn on creatures.
Miraculous Recovery is, as I had expected, insane.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
(list not current)
My Cube Google Docs Spreadsheet: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AibgWfz0ukmOdDNhOHlucjcxUi1wVy00NDhLbDUtUlE&hl=en_US#gid=8
(list is always current)
Your words on cube have not failed me, so I'll try these.
I've had Mistmeadow Witch as the last UW card and it's been meh, I'm going to test out Kiss of the Amesha in its place tonight. I remember thinking that it was too expensive for draft but it turned out excellently there, it's also splashable card draw for white decks (to compliment Mulldrifter, Fact or Fiction, Ancestral Recall and Deep Analysis.)
I've not tried Betrayal of Flesh but it seems like it's a late game beating, getting a 3-for-1 or more even!
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
Mycoloth is one of my favorite green creatures now. It's not hard at all to make him 8/8, and if you get to untap with him its pretty hard to lose. He's basically Verdant Force on crack. He looks like straight card disadvantage, but he's usually munching down on irrelevant permanents like 1/1s, so the disadvantage isn't nearly as big as it seems.
Teneb, the Harvester: Let there be life!
Drafting Aggro in the Cube: A Primer for Beginners
However, at 6 toughness, few things can outright kill it (Edicts on an empty board, Terror effects, Swords to Plowshares [a thing to note that most of white's Pacifism-style removal won't stop his creature making], Wraths, or bounce/steal effects from blue. Red will either have to spend 2 spells to kill it, or evoke a Spitebellows to kill it. Green will have to pray for a bad block and do a Briarhorn-style pump on it, killing theirs with a Berserk when they attack or topdecking a Duplicant.)
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
If you're playing it against a removal heavy deck, either bait as much of the removal out as you can with other cards, or simply play it as a Durkwood Boars. As bad as a 4/4 for 5 is, it's still a decent sized threat that your opponent has to worry about.
Teneb, the Harvester: Let there be life!
Drafting Aggro in the Cube: A Primer for Beginners
Excellent point, especially on the Natural Order+Verdant Force, I hadn't thought of it in that way. I'll have to give it a shot now, definitely.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
Astrospoon, Followed Footsteps has a lot of potential, but I'm still a bit hesitant. The possibility of getting it on something like Mulldrifter or Broodmate Dragon is pretty awesome, but them casting a removal spell on your guy is a pretty big blow. I know this is coming right after everyone was talking about Mycoloth, but that guy getting killed isn't quite as big a blow most of the time. Still, I can't fault anyone giving the card a shot. It's high risk, high reward.
EDIT: Also, if anyone has any experiences with Yawgmoth's Agenda I'd be interested to hear them. I've been wanting to test that card, but haven't gotten around to it. Yawgmoth's Will never did much in my cube, especially since I don't run Ritual/Seething Song anymore, but Agenda seems like it could be open to abuse, or at least be a solid role player on occasion when the game goes long.
(list not current)
My Cube Google Docs Spreadsheet: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AibgWfz0ukmOdDNhOHlucjcxUi1wVy00NDhLbDUtUlE&hl=en_US#gid=8
(list is always current)
Mycoloth sounds worth trying.
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My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
I have been impressed by it so far. It's usually been a 4/4 or a 5/5 and requires immediate attention from an aggro player, since their board got wiped.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
it'll prolly be the Arc Slogger, but the 4/5 body is nothing to sneeze at and the shock ability can end games.
Thanks to spiderboy4 for the great avatar and sig from High Light Studios!
I personally wouldn't cut any of those for Caldera Hellion, instead, run Crater Hellion instead. It's much better in my opinion, since 4 damage and a 6/6 body (and the fact that it deals damage to OTHER creatures, so your opponent can't like Grim Lavamancer/Mogg Fanatic/etc the Hellion in response) makes it a much better dude than the Caldera Hellion.
Check out my pauper cube!
and thanks to PurpleD @ [<--- Left Play Design <---] for making this awesome banner!
Limited is awesome, join us at [Limited]!
My Cube
The Pokecube
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Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
White
Sunscape Battlemage (I run all the Planeshift Battlemages..)
Spectral Procession
Stonehewer Giant (If you get a couple of good equipment, watch out!)
Blue
Black
Scion of Darkness (cycling on a fatty in reanimation color... yes please.)
Red
- Goblin Goon
- Soul's Fire
- Inferno
- Furystroke Giant
- Cinder Elemental
- Fireslinger
- Keldon Firebombers
- Thunderscape Battlemage
- Fissure
- Flowstone Overseer
- Kris Mage
(great for BR Reanimator)Green
Mycoloth (already discussed )
Gold
Artifacts
Anvil of Bogardan (so good with madness or reanimation)
Now, there are probably cards in here that a person might not consider "dark horse", but all the other cards in my cube are the usual suspects. Hopefully people find at least a few surprises in this list.
A friend recommended trying Thoughts of Ruin in my cube so I'm going to try it. The only worry that I have is that it can be dead late game if you're just holding a card or two.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)