Kessig Wolf Run - 540/630 (after more testing, I prefer Sarkhan, and this would compete with Huntmaster for the 5th/6th card in the slot).
Gavony Township - 630/720.
Moorland Haunt - 900/990.
Vault of the Archangel - 990/1080 (Orzhov is utterly stacked in the cube).
Wolf Run is the only one I'm running (GET IT?) at 540ish, but I think Township gets a leg up if you support tokens as a theme into the 450-540 range. Vault and Haunt, while they shine in Standard, aren't that spectacular IMO in Cube. Over 720+, for sure.
Griselbrand has been a heluva fun card so far. It's like a Necro, except it also bashes for 7. With evasion. And lifelink. It needs to be reanimated or played in a heavy RG ramp deck to be good, but I've seen it resolve in both decktypes in the marathon testing I've been putting in recently, and he hasn't lost yet.
For serious: Necropotence versus Griselbrand? Which one would you rather have in the draw-cards-for-life spot?
Both are pretty different roles, one is mostly for mostly black based aggressive and midrange decks that just want to draw a ton of cards ASAP while Griselbrand is a solid control finisher/reanimation target, which are quite different avenues despite both looking similar.
Regarding which I like more - Griselbrand. Not impossible to hardcast, a solid reanimator dude and mostly plays like a really big Baneslayer Angel, which I can't complain about too much.
We don't play a lot of mono-black around here... pretty much ever. Necro, Messenger and Gatekeeper were all essentially 5/6 drops. Which killed their value for our playgroup. They're all excellent in cube groups that draft mono-black (or super heavy black) with regularity, but they didn't work for us.
I'm doing some more tweaks to green. After my last round of changes, where I added in a bunch of new midrange and ramp creatures, I've had a while to play with it. I really like what green is doing, but I want to fit a few more mana dorks in to help my curve. As a result, I'd like to cut two to three of the following cards. I've listed their inclusion numbers from eidolon's thread, since I went to the trouble of looking them all up already.
This is every green creature in my cube that costs 4 or more mana.
05 Hornet Queen
28 Oracle of Mul Daya
32 Pelakka Wurm
38 Rampaging Baloths
40 Terastodon
44 Vorapede
44 Obstinate Baloth
58 Thornling
62 Woodfall Primus
62 Phantom Centaur
63 Vengevine
66 Deranged Hermit
67 Krosan Tusker
70 Genesis
71 Thrun, the Last Troll
73 Wickerbough Elder
74 Chameleon Colossus
79 Acidic Slime
XX Wolfir Silverheart (new)
-------
In my cube, I don't support green aggro at all, and I do heavily support reanimator. I'm leaning towards the following cuts
Phantom Centaur - This guy is good, and hard to remove, but never over the top amazing. His hit or miss quality depending on whether you're playing against white or not is sometimes underwhelming. It's not that i don't think he's cubeworthy, it's that I don't think anyone will really miss him if he's gone.
Obstinate Baloth - Similar to Centaur, he's particularly good against aggro decks while being almost irrelevant against control. I've had him in the cube since he came out and he's never been cheated into play off of Hymn to Tourach or Mind Twist or Blightning, although I have had him in hand when Hymned a few times and just didn't get lucky. He's perfectly reasonable, but just doesn't feel like anything special
After that, I don't know where to make the 3rd cut (or whether to do so at all). Thornling or Rampaging Baloths seem like reasonable cuts. I know Oracle of Mul Daya is probably the obvious one, but I've only had her in for a few months now and haven't cubed a ton in that time, so I'd like to keep her in just a little longer to play with her some more.
My cube is in my signature if you love all of these cards and would recommend cutting something else.
I think a lot of the mid-range green 4 drops are underwhelming. Baloth, Centaur, and Blastoderm all kind of fit the bill of being good against aggro while not being that great against control (although they're fine).
I hate crippling aggro so I think their inclusion a lot of times leads to control dominating more than it should. In larger cubes this is even a larger issue as they need to be included just based on card quality alone.
I think Terastadon/Rampaging/Obstinate in a vacuum but if you're really pushing reanimator and really don't care about aggro then I would say obstinate/vengevine/centaur (or colossus if you don't like the pro-black aspect of it)
I did not like Terastodon when we cubed with it. From there, Rampaging Baloth is ok, but really pretty expensive compared to the other green beaters. I presume that Hornet Queen is off the table? She also would get cut by me.
I did not like Terastodon when we cubed with it. From there, Rampaging Baloth is ok, but really pretty expensive compared to the other green beaters. I presume that Hornet Queen is off the table? She also would get cut by me.
Hornet Queen so far has honestly been one of my favorite green fatties in the cube. Actually had a deck in our last draft blink it's own Reveillark to bring back Hornet Queen, which seemed awesome. He had Deranged Hermit in the same deck but wasn't able to bring 'em both back at once, but it's still pretty awesome to do that.
With my cube currently pushing both Reanimator to a large extent and a blink subtheme to a much smaller extent, Hornet Queen is exactly where green wants to be.
I'm going to keep Terastodon around a little longer, while I continue to push Reanimator some, but I'm definitely hearing that people are underwhelmed by him. Having been considering bring Natural Order into the cube, I'm thinking he may be a really good fit for our group, but I could be wrong there, so I'll keep my eye on him and see if he's pulling his weight. I just did a major push to reanimator, so cutting him now seems like a bad idea.
If you are pushing reanimator at all and play natural order in green I think Terastodon is one of the best targets, lots of power and can answer many threats
Dance of the Dead is way better. It's cheaper which makes all the difference in the world against aggro (we find reanimator has a tough matchup against aggro unless it gets a fatty out asap).
Against Control, Dance of the Dead is also probably slightly better as it can get around counterspells easier by baiting something first.
Blue's steal-creature shenanigans are becoming a bit repetitive for me and my playgroup. In a powered 360 cube with 50-card colored sections, they compose fully 10 percent of the total number of blue cards (Sower of Temptation, Vedalken Shackles, Control Magic, Bribery, and Treachery). Which of the 5 would you be most willing to axe? I'm leaning towards Bribery. Am I crazy?
To be honest, I'd run all of those theft spells in a 360. As creatures have continued to get better with recent sets, stealing them also gets better. If these effects are annoying, you should make sure you have ways to deal with them: Disenchant, Indrik Stomphowler, Flickerwisp, Into the Roil, etc.
Gavony Township - 630/720.
Moorland Haunt - 900/990.
Vault of the Archangel - 990/1080 (Orzhov is utterly stacked in the cube).
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I'm personally leaning toward the Powerstone since I'm cutting a number of green three drops.
For serious: Necropotence versus Griselbrand? Which one would you rather have in the draw-cards-for-life spot?
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Chalice is more flexible. We've been targeting it with Trinket Mage also, and it has some uses resolving as a 0cc artifact.
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Both are pretty different roles, one is mostly for mostly black based aggressive and midrange decks that just want to draw a ton of cards ASAP while Griselbrand is a solid control finisher/reanimation target, which are quite different avenues despite both looking similar.
Regarding which I like more - Griselbrand. Not impossible to hardcast, a solid reanimator dude and mostly plays like a really big Baneslayer Angel, which I can't complain about too much.
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
-AA
I use descriptive language. Assume that I'm being nice and respectful. (I'll tell you when I'm not.)
My Cube: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/9029
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 every green creature in my cube that costs 4 or more mana.
05 Hornet Queen
28 Oracle of Mul Daya
32 Pelakka Wurm
38 Rampaging Baloths
40 Terastodon
44 Vorapede
44 Obstinate Baloth
58 Thornling
62 Woodfall Primus
62 Phantom Centaur
63 Vengevine
66 Deranged Hermit
67 Krosan Tusker
70 Genesis
71 Thrun, the Last Troll
73 Wickerbough Elder
74 Chameleon Colossus
79 Acidic Slime
XX Wolfir Silverheart (new)
-------
In my cube, I don't support green aggro at all, and I do heavily support reanimator. I'm leaning towards the following cuts
Phantom Centaur - This guy is good, and hard to remove, but never over the top amazing. His hit or miss quality depending on whether you're playing against white or not is sometimes underwhelming. It's not that i don't think he's cubeworthy, it's that I don't think anyone will really miss him if he's gone.
Obstinate Baloth - Similar to Centaur, he's particularly good against aggro decks while being almost irrelevant against control. I've had him in the cube since he came out and he's never been cheated into play off of Hymn to Tourach or Mind Twist or Blightning, although I have had him in hand when Hymned a few times and just didn't get lucky. He's perfectly reasonable, but just doesn't feel like anything special
After that, I don't know where to make the 3rd cut (or whether to do so at all). Thornling or Rampaging Baloths seem like reasonable cuts. I know Oracle of Mul Daya is probably the obvious one, but I've only had her in for a few months now and haven't cubed a ton in that time, so I'd like to keep her in just a little longer to play with her some more.
My cube is in my signature if you love all of these cards and would recommend cutting something else.
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
I hate crippling aggro so I think their inclusion a lot of times leads to control dominating more than it should. In larger cubes this is even a larger issue as they need to be included just based on card quality alone.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
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Hornet Queen so far has honestly been one of my favorite green fatties in the cube. Actually had a deck in our last draft blink it's own Reveillark to bring back Hornet Queen, which seemed awesome. He had Deranged Hermit in the same deck but wasn't able to bring 'em both back at once, but it's still pretty awesome to do that.
With my cube currently pushing both Reanimator to a large extent and a blink subtheme to a much smaller extent, Hornet Queen is exactly where green wants to be.
I'm going to keep Terastodon around a little longer, while I continue to push Reanimator some, but I'm definitely hearing that people are underwhelmed by him. Having been considering bring Natural Order into the cube, I'm thinking he may be a really good fit for our group, but I could be wrong there, so I'll keep my eye on him and see if he's pulling his weight. I just did a major push to reanimator, so cutting him now seems like a bad idea.
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
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!
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=221863
The first page of my Cube list also includes my cube workbook for excel, feel free to look at and use it if you would like to.
This is a good list, but I'd probably cut Oracle of Mul Daya before Chameleon Colossus.
Cheers,
rant
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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!
Dance of the Dead vs Beacon of Unrest
Speed with a drawback or drawbackless flexibility?
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
So, just decide which archetype you want to support more.
Against Control, Dance of the Dead is also probably slightly better as it can get around counterspells easier by baiting something first.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
My Cube on Cube Tutor
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
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