At the request of my playgroup who all loved the Shards block, they want me to make some room for 1 card from each shard in my 360 cube. I think I'd just drop all my colors to 49 from 50 to accommodate this. My question is, what's the pick from each shard? I'm particularly having trouble with Naya & Esper. For the rest I was thinking:
Bant: Rafiq of the Many
Jund: Broodmate Dragon
Grixis: Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
+1
Although I am not sure if I would be comfortable to have a card that will be used like a mono red card most of the time in one of these dedicated 3c slots.
I'd be more comfortable with that than excluding a card that will see a lot more play just because it has the potential of being stolen by non-3c decks.
The experience I have with Slaughtermaster is that it's fine in red decks, but I try and have some way to potentially pump it. It's far better when you can.
However, there are way better double-strikers, even in red that are much easier on colors. Maybe try Sprouting Thrinax? Depends how combo-y you can get in Jund I guess.
The reason why you are adding the Viashino Slaughtermaster to a cube deck is not because you need some double strikers, but because you want a good 2 drop beater.
I disagree. If I don't have some way to make the double strike broken, I won't run it. Even in red, in the land of terrible 2-drops, a Grizzly Bears with a nerfed First Strike still sucks. You need anthems, pump, equipment or battle cry effects (something to pump its power) before it becomes maindeckable.
To me, each one of the tri-color cards you include should feel like a "reward" for going big into those three colors and getting lucky enough to be able to draft and play the card. Almost like a cube achievement point. Broodmate Dragon plays that role a lot better than Viashino Slaughtermaster.
Hellkite Overlord and Kaarthus, Tyrant of Jund are even "bigger", if you're into that sort of thing. If I weren't using Broodmate Dragon, I would probably play the Hellkite.
Ya, but the Dragonlord getting bigger later in the game isn't based around deck construction or available colors. He does it regardless of what red deck he's in. So with the Slaughtermaster, I'm either ensuring that I have multiple ways in my deck to make him bigger, or I'm playing Jund. Otherwise, I'd rather run the Dragonlord which isn't contingent upon either of those things to be better than a Bear.
I'm going to piggyback on your thread to ask what you'd include if you were going for one card from each wedge. My playgroup also likes tricolor goodness.
The only one that I really like is Lightning Angel. Doran, the Siege Tower is a cool include because he's a 5/5 and can make for some other interesting interactions with creatures that don't have the same P/T values (Murmuring Bosk is another good choice here). As far as the other three options go, I don't know what I'd use. Perhaps Hide // Seek as the RWB option (or the 1WRB enchantment for token aggro support). Animar, Soul of Elements is an okay creature that can enable a unique ramp/big creature build for that combination. The Mimeoplasm is a fun choice for BUG that can randomly be a busted creature. Those are probably the options I'd go with.
Jund: I'd look at Kresh the Bloodbraided or Madrush Cyclops as alternatives to the dragon. Kresh will be useful alongside red's burn and black's removal. Remember, Kresh also doesn't care how a creature dies -- making sac situations that much harder. Cyclops is interesting because he gives the team haste and has a somewhat decent frame.
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At the request of my playgroup who all loved the Shards block, they want me to make some room for 1 card from each shard in my 360 cube. I think I'd just drop all my colors to 49 from 50 to accommodate this. My question is, what's the pick from each shard? I'm particularly having trouble with Naya & Esper. For the rest I was thinking:
Bant: Rafiq of the Many
Jund: Broodmate Dragon
Grixis: Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
I'd be more comfortable with that than excluding a card that will see a lot more play just because it has the potential of being stolen by non-3c decks.
The experience I have with Slaughtermaster is that it's fine in red decks, but I try and have some way to potentially pump it. It's far better when you can.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
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I disagree. If I don't have some way to make the double strike broken, I won't run it. Even in red, in the land of terrible 2-drops, a Grizzly Bears with a nerfed First Strike still sucks. You need anthems, pump, equipment or battle cry effects (something to pump its power) before it becomes maindeckable.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Hellkite Overlord and Kaarthus, Tyrant of Jund are even "bigger", if you're into that sort of thing. If I weren't using Broodmate Dragon, I would probably play the Hellkite.
My Cube Blog @theCubeMiser on Twitter
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod