After reading a lot of the discussions about themes in cube, especially the ones talking about reanimator right now, I'm wondering if anyone out there is currently supporting what they would consider a blink subtheme in their cube. I'm FAR more intrigued by supporting blink in white/blue than I ever have been in supporting tokens in white (I just don't care about tokens. . . . . whether I should or not).
Has anyone tried this, does it work, what cards would you say you're using to support it? I did a quick count and came up with 53 creatures in my cube I'd be happy to blink for value, but as currently built I only have 3 cards that actually blink (Restoration Angel, Flickerwisp, and Venser, the Sojourner).
What I'm really driving at is: How many blink cards do you include, what are they, and do you find that the effort to support the theme is worth it?
I'm FAR more intrigued by supporting blink in white/blue than I ever have been in supporting tokens in white (I just don't care about tokens. . . . . whether I should or not).
Well yes, I'm not exactly talking about cutting those cards, but I'm considering cutting Spectral Procession, and I already don't run Lingering Souls. All of the token cards I run basically are just amazing cards on their own and don't require additional setup to be good.
More to the point though, I'm thinking of cutting some things like Plumeveil, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Ronom Unicorn, etc, and wondering whether I should be considering Momentary Blink, Mistmeadow Witch and the like. Before I just add random blink cards in, I was wondering if anyone else had pushed the theme and had any luck.
Repeatable bounce works well for this theme too, Kor Skyfisher, Crystal Shard, Jace 2, Waterfront Bouncer and the like are also great for the archetype.
I wouldn't cut token support to do it though, the token/anthem theme is equally powerful and important.
Repeatable bounce works well for this theme too, Kor Skyfisher, Crystal Shard, Jace 2, Waterfront Bouncer and the like are also great for the archetype.
I wouldn't cut token support to do it though, the token/anthem theme is equally powerful and important.
It may be powerful and it may be important, but Spectral Procession hasn't made it into a deck in probably 3 months. I simply draft too much Winston for a card that is at it's best when it costs WWW to see a lot of play.
You play cards because they're good on their own. That's reasonable. What's not reasonable, though, is not running Lingering Souls with this premise. This card is awesome by all standards.
Specialities about the cube: U tempo, B aggro, R slow-ish are supported. G aggro is not.
Currently trying to support tokens in all colors but blue, in different ways: W pumps them, B sacrifices them, R suicides them, G has decent-sized ones.
cube list outdated
*literal C/U definition according to gatherer
**some cards are banned. Library of Alexandria, Land Tax, Sol Ring.
You play cards because they're good on their own. That's reasonable. What's not reasonable, though, is not running Lingering Souls with this premise. This card is awesome by all standards.
I absolutely hate that card. It's the definition of a card that's just value and nothing exciting. Tapping three lands at sorcery speed for two 1/1s just makes me hate my deck. Especially when I'm playing it in Legacy, but even in cube. I'd rather run more interesting W/B cards like Sorin or Unburial Rites.
All of that, though, gets away from the point of my question which still hasn't really been answered. Has anyone actually run this blink subtheme that people talk about, and how many blink cards do you run, and what impact has it had on your drafts?
I haven't heard of someone running it in a smaller cube, so you may have to be patient. Just a few thoughts though - if you're mainly Winstoning, I think it's best to take a lesson from Reanimator. Don't try to enable the "blink deck", but be content to enable random junk with blink.dec. That is to say, so long as you run good blink targets, don't feel the need to cram in a lot of sub-par blink cards. If you want to know how well Mistmeadow Witch will work, it's not to hard to throw it in for a few games. I think it's better to evaluate blink cards on an individual basis, especially since you don't exactly need to build around them as most great creatures are already 187 creatures.
I haven't heard of someone running it in a smaller cube, so you may have to be patient. Just a few thoughts though - if you're mainly Winstoning, I think it's best to take a lesson from Reanimator. Don't try to enable the "blink deck", but be content to enable random junk with blink.dec. That is to say, so long as you run good blink targets, don't feel the need to cram in a lot of sub-par blink cards. If you want to know how well Mistmeadow Witch will work, it's not to hard to throw it in for a few games. I think it's better to evaluate blink cards on an individual basis, especially since you don't exactly need to build around them as most great creatures are already 187 creatures.
I agree with you. That's why I'm asking if anyone else has already done it. A blinking subtheme, in my mind, is very different from a reanimator subtheme, becuase you can just run Restoration Angel in any old deck, as well as Mulldrifter and Nekrataal and be fine with it, but the deck gets better the more redundancy you have. Reanimator, on the other hand, sometimes doesn't really work unless you can draft the whole deck, with targets, discard outlets, and reanimation spells.
The question I have is whether it's worth the effort to put a bunch of blink cards in the cube for a while and draft with them. I keep seeing people mentioning a blink subtheme, but I wasn't able to find any lists that specifically mentioned it (although I only did a cursory glance at lists). I figure if some people have already done that work, then I might take advantage of their experience.
Reanimator, on the other hand, sometimes doesn't really work unless you can draft the whole deck, with targets, discard outlets, and reanimation spells.
Well, reanimation decks come together as a combination of cards that are otherwise good enough on their own. Blink shouldn't be any different.
Well I have been running Galepowder Mage for a long time, which is part of the "blink subtheme," but to be honest it hasn't really been that effective in that role. I also currently run Glimmerpoint Stag, which I think is solid, but haven't had that many games with it. I run Parallax Wave as well, which could be considered another part of that subtheme. So I suppose you could say I run a "blink subtheme" although I don't support it in the way someone might put Entomb + Unburial Rites + 3-4 other fringe reanimation spells. I will say that whenever I actively try to cobble some blink deck together it doesn't work out well. Maybe that's my own inexperience or lack of knowledge about what is needed in such a deck. Maybe it's because we mainly Winston. Maybe it's because the 3 cards I just mentioned are all 4 CC, which also happens to be the CC with the best ETB creatures. Shrug.
Note how almost all of these cards are playable by themselves, but when the deck comes together they work even better! The only one I'm on the edge with is Momentary Blink, but I just love that card for it's nostalgia (2006 was a long time ago...)
Note how almost all of these cards are playable by themselves, but when the deck comes together they work even better! The only one I'm on the edge with is Momentary Blink, but I just love that card for it's nostalgia (2006 was a long time ago...)
Somehow I never considered Ninja of the Deep Hours when thinking about a blink subtheme, even though I guess it's obvious. I might have to find room to bring him back. Wormfang Drake seems awesome.
I hate to be knock on a card before I've had a chance to test it, but Wormfang Drake actually looks very bad. The main problem is, of course, that you will lose a creature for an indefinite period of time, but secondarily that your opponent can generally choose when you will get your creature back (.e.g Kavu your own Kavu). And of course, unless your deck is chock full of ETB creatures that you actually are willing to let be removed from the game, then the Wormfang is just going to sit in your hand for a long time.
Generally, if I play a ETB creature, I'll want it to stay on board for the combat, especially with creatures like Flametongue, Skinrender, or even Nekrataal. The only creatures I could think that I would want to Wormfang outside of very niche situations are Wall of Omens and Wall of Blossoms. In that scenario you're trading one wall for another, which seems fine.
I hate to be knock on a card before I've had a chance to test it, but Wormfang Drake actually looks very bad. The main problem is, of course, that you will lose a creature for an indefinite period of time, but secondarily that your opponent can generally choose when you will get your creature back (.e.g Kavu your own Kavu). And of course, unless your deck is chock full of ETB creatures that you actually are willing to let be removed from the game, then the Wormfang is just going to sit in your hand for a long time.
Generally, if I play a ETB creature, I'll want it to stay on board for the combat, especially with creatures like Flametongue, Skinrender, or even Nekrataal. The only creatures I could think that I would want to Wormfang outside of very niche situations are Wall of Omens and Wall of Blossoms. In that scenario you're trading one wall for another, which seems fine.
If Wormfang is the only creature supporting that them, I'd buy that. However, if you have things like Ninja of the Deep Hours, Momentary Blink, other such things, it seems like you might have more control over when the Wormfang Drake does it's thing than your opponent.
That said, I'm not sold on it yet, but I'm definitely going to test it. I can see a lot of really cool things that can be done with it.
i have a 580 cube, so for redundancy we run about every playable blink effect. the angel, ghostly flicker, and cloudshift were basically auto includes when we saw them. ghostly flicker may turn out to be a huge boon because blue already has most of the best non-shriekmaw dudes to blink, not to mention it's interaction with the already insanely powerful tradewind rider
also: glimmerpoint stag is a good man mark of eviction has rough competition at blue 1 drop, but in a lower power cube like mine it is great in both blink and control (to buy time) curfew owns. it's like unsummon meets innocent blood. being an instant means you always get value on both ends. EQUILIBRIUM is gross, just gross. this card and a venser is a pretty rough lock all by itself
i run everyman-o-wari canget, seriously snapcaster mage was a big pickup for archetypes like blink and reanimator that rely on narrow cards they may not have many copies of, and isn't a bad blink target himself
don't forget that old favorites like journey to nowhere and oblivion ring (even fiend hunter) play into the theme as well as long as you have enough ways to pick it back up like the aforementioned skyfisher, emancipation angel, and flickwisp
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derrrr, bleck. i'm still trying to shake off mtg rust. i'm just coming back to Cube after forever not playing anything.
sorry about that, but yeah, equilib is still the stone nuts.
"There is no royal road to science, and only those who do not dread the fatiguing climb
of its steep paths have a chance of gaining its luminous summits"
-Karl Heinrich Marx Cube
Has anyone tried this, does it work, what cards would you say you're using to support it? I did a quick count and came up with 53 creatures in my cube I'd be happy to blink for value, but as currently built I only have 3 cards that actually blink (Restoration Angel, Flickerwisp, and Venser, the Sojourner).
What I'm really driving at is: How many blink cards do you include, what are they, and do you find that the effort to support the theme is worth it?
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Just remember that a few of your best blink targets also support the token theme. These include Cloudgoat Ranger, Deranged Hermit, Blade Splicer, Myr Battlesphere, and (sort of a blink enabler) Mimic Vat.
Cheers,
rant
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Well yes, I'm not exactly talking about cutting those cards, but I'm considering cutting Spectral Procession, and I already don't run Lingering Souls. All of the token cards I run basically are just amazing cards on their own and don't require additional setup to be good.
More to the point though, I'm thinking of cutting some things like Plumeveil, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Ronom Unicorn, etc, and wondering whether I should be considering Momentary Blink, Mistmeadow Witch and the like. Before I just add random blink cards in, I was wondering if anyone else had pushed the theme and had any luck.
J
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I wouldn't cut token support to do it though, the token/anthem theme is equally powerful and important.
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It may be powerful and it may be important, but Spectral Procession hasn't made it into a deck in probably 3 months. I simply draft too much Winston for a card that is at it's best when it costs WWW to see a lot of play.
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
450, Peasant*, unpowered**
Specialities about the cube:
U tempo, B aggro, R slow-ish are supported. G aggro is not.
Currently trying to support tokens in all colors but blue, in different ways: W pumps them, B sacrifices them, R suicides them, G has decent-sized ones.
cube list outdated
*literal C/U definition according to gatherer
**some cards are banned. Library of Alexandria, Land Tax, Sol Ring.
I absolutely hate that card. It's the definition of a card that's just value and nothing exciting. Tapping three lands at sorcery speed for two 1/1s just makes me hate my deck. Especially when I'm playing it in Legacy, but even in cube. I'd rather run more interesting W/B cards like Sorin or Unburial Rites.
All of that, though, gets away from the point of my question which still hasn't really been answered. Has anyone actually run this blink subtheme that people talk about, and how many blink cards do you run, and what impact has it had on your drafts?
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
I agree with you. That's why I'm asking if anyone else has already done it. A blinking subtheme, in my mind, is very different from a reanimator subtheme, becuase you can just run Restoration Angel in any old deck, as well as Mulldrifter and Nekrataal and be fine with it, but the deck gets better the more redundancy you have. Reanimator, on the other hand, sometimes doesn't really work unless you can draft the whole deck, with targets, discard outlets, and reanimation spells.
The question I have is whether it's worth the effort to put a bunch of blink cards in the cube for a while and draft with them. I keep seeing people mentioning a blink subtheme, but I wasn't able to find any lists that specifically mentioned it (although I only did a cursory glance at lists). I figure if some people have already done that work, then I might take advantage of their experience.
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
Well, reanimation decks come together as a combination of cards that are otherwise good enough on their own. Blink shouldn't be any different.
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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!
And of course cards with good enters the battlefield effects:
Note how almost all of these cards are playable by themselves, but when the deck comes together they work even better! The only one I'm on the edge with is Momentary Blink, but I just love that card for it's nostalgia (2006 was a long time ago...)
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And yet another card I must get my grubby little hands on
Thanks for suggestion, seems like a fun card!
Generally, if I play a ETB creature, I'll want it to stay on board for the combat, especially with creatures like Flametongue, Skinrender, or even Nekrataal. The only creatures I could think that I would want to Wormfang outside of very niche situations are Wall of Omens and Wall of Blossoms. In that scenario you're trading one wall for another, which seems fine.
If Wormfang is the only creature supporting that them, I'd buy that. However, if you have things like Ninja of the Deep Hours, Momentary Blink, other such things, it seems like you might have more control over when the Wormfang Drake does it's thing than your opponent.
That said, I'm not sold on it yet, but I'm definitely going to test it. I can see a lot of really cool things that can be done with it.
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
also:
glimmerpoint stag is a good man
mark of eviction has rough competition at blue 1 drop, but in a lower power cube like mine it is great in both blink and control (to buy time)
curfew owns. it's like unsummon meets innocent blood. being an instant means you always get value on both ends.
EQUILIBRIUM is gross, just gross. this card and a venser is a pretty rough lock all by itself
i run every man-o-war i can get, seriously
snapcaster mage was a big pickup for archetypes like blink and reanimator that rely on narrow cards they may not have many copies of, and isn't a bad blink target himself
don't forget that old favorites like journey to nowhere and oblivion ring (even fiend hunter) play into the theme as well as long as you have enough ways to pick it back up like the aforementioned skyfisher, emancipation angel, and flickwisp
of its steep paths have a chance of gaining its luminous summits"
-Karl Heinrich Marx
Cube
You can't target the same creature you cast.
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!
sorry about that, but yeah, equilib is still the stone nuts.
of its steep paths have a chance of gaining its luminous summits"
-Karl Heinrich Marx
Cube
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!