I think it's the best of the "slightly worse Bonesplitter" group; the toughness bonus of Trusty Machete proved to be more useful than the indestructibility that Darksteel Axe has. However, neither turned out to be efficient enough, because the equip cost of 2 just doesn't provide the same power-boost/mana-investment ratio you get with the ol' 'splitter. Which is too bad, because that card desperately needs an alter featuring Danny Trejo.
I used to run Shuko and it's a deceptively strong equipment, since it operates on offence and defence at once without any extra investment at all beyond the actual casting cost. It's pretty great in the aggro mirror where you have numerous small creatures apiece, allowing trade ups and getting in for a few extra points of damage over the game, and letting you kill a larger creature on defence too. Not bad at all.
Trusty Machete is also quite good. Equip 2 is really hard to manage in some aggro decks though, when you want to keep pressure on.
I recently took out all the bonkers equipment out of my cube, the swords, jitte, and clamp, because my usual playgroup consists of players that began in the modern era who think they're too OP or older folk who just hate equipment / planeswalkers in general. Currently I'm running the other usual 4, Batterskull, Bonesplitter, Wargear, and Greaves. I am going to test Sword of the Animist because I want more equipment, and I always heavily support whatever the theme of the new block is as a flavor of the month kind of thing.
That being said, I'm still left for wanting more equipment and was wondering if anybody has current experience with Trusty Maschette / Adventuring Gear, specifically in a cube that took out the same equipments that I did. Do they hold their own when they're not competing against the super tier 1 equipment or are they still "meh" even in their absence?
I recently took out all the bonkers equipment out of my cube, the swords, jitte, and clamp, because my usual playgroup consists of players that began in the modern era who think they're too OP or older folk who just hate equipment / planeswalkers in general. Currently I'm running the other usual 4, Batterskull, Bonesplitter, Wargear, and Greaves. I am going to test Sword of the Animist because I want more equipment, and I always heavily support whatever the theme of the new block is as a flavor of the month kind of thing.
That being said, I'm still left for wanting more equipment and was wondering if anybody has current experience with Trusty Maschette / Adventuring Gear, specifically in a cube that took out the same equipments that I did. Do they hold their own when they're not competing against the super tier 1 equipment or are they still "meh" even in their absence?
You and I run similar environments. I think adventuring gear is solid personally, especially if you have other landfall support and you actively try to build that deck. Running double fetch lands helps A LOT. I was doing that for awhile. +2/+2 if triggered multiple times is hugely impactful. I've crafted scary alpha strike turns seemingly out of thin air in a heavy landfall deck. This has become my favorite flavor of Naya aggro FWIW.
I didn't like the equip cost on trusty machete. The effect is very good however. You can always test it out and see if you like it. It is certainly close enough to be testable.
Sword of the Animist is much better than I originally thought it would be. It works in a lot of different decks, and the ramp effect is deceptively powerful. I did not think it would be worth the mana investment, but it absolutely has been in my experience with it so far (turns out 2+2 is well worth getting land and an attack simultaneously). The concentration of instant speed removal in your cube is a variable that can potentially hurt this card a bit though. So pay attention to what that suite looks like as it will likely be a good indicator with this card and other cards with high equip costs.
You didn't bring it up but I actually really like Sword of Vengeance. It's costs a billion to get going, but the effect is ridiculous and can completely take over games on the right creature (FS, trample, vigilance, haste, +2/+0 is no joke). The haste on this card is not super relevant, but the vigilance (with all that other stuff) is nuts. Same thing applies here though about instant speed removal. Equip this meets doom blade can be very painful depending on when and how that happens.
EDIT: Forgot to also mention Loxodon Warhammer. Oldie but goodie. Still very much playable. It represents a huge life swing which can have quite a significant impact on the game. Comes highly recommended by me at least.
I ran both Trusty Machete and Darksteel Axe for a pretty long time before I got the full cycle of Swords and Jitte, and they did great work for aggressive decks. I'd absolutely recommend both of them in any cube that isn't running the more broken equipment. I found the indestructibility on Axe to be very relevent too, if not always as important as a boost to toughness.
Aggro decks need equipment to give them a fighting chance in the match-up against midrange decks, so if you're not running Swords and Jitte due to power level concerns, it's pretty important to include aggro equipment if you want aggro to be viable in your cube.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Im also a fan of war hammer if you're not running the swords/broken equipment. It's expensive, but takes over the game in a variety of match ups. Been playing with it on the MODO cube and it has performed well there. I wouldn't run it in my own cube, but it's certainly not the worst card you can be running and it can do great things.
Empyrial Plate is my favorite equipment that's yet to be mentioned. It curves perfectly for cast + equip after a three drop, which makes it particularly strong with things like Mirran Crusader, Fiendslayer Paladin, Troll Ascetic, and similar. It also allows aggressive and midrange decks to turn every dude into a larger threat against control, which helps with not overextending into wraths. One of my favorite lines of play as well is t1 Dude, t2 Plate, t3 Equip, bash, (playing land after attacking), t4 bash, land, Armageddon/Ravages of War.
Horned Helm is another decent equipment. A low equip cost plus the bonus of trample makes this almost a Rancor-type effect. Sadly, it lacks the key second point of toughness to push it really over the edge.
Runechanter's Pike is a solid one for any cube that supports the Spells Matter theme. It's easy to get 2-3 instant/sorcery cards in your graveyard, at which point this makes every creature into a huge threat.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My Moderator Helpdesk
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
Empyrial Plate has been good since I added it several months ago.
Silver-Inlaid Dagger has been solid. It has the "equip: 2" problem as well, but if you run a high human count, you have a chance for +3/+0. It's very good for C/Ubes, or a budget cube that doesn't have access to Jitte and the Swords.
I've been looking for another equipment. My baseline is that it has to be better than Vulshok Morningstar.
Here are the ones that I am currently considering:
Champion's Helm
A cast/equip distribution of 3-1 is a real upside to Morningstar's 2-2 ratio. I really want my equipments to have cheap equip costs. There are a number of legends in cube where Helmet would have a random upside. All in all, only marginally better than Morningstar though.
Manriki-Gusari
I ran this for years and it used to be decent. +1/+2 is a good bonus to help your aggro critters "battle up the curve" and survive. Cheap equip cost is plus and makes it really easy to move it around, so that you can use it both on offense on and defense in a race. Plus, maindeckable answer to unfair equipments. It couldn't quite keep up with the average rise in power level though.
Empyrial Plate
Tested this one briefly. Cost is the same as Morningstar, but it can give +3/+3 or even +4/+4 in some situations. It seemed that this wasn't the case too often though. Seemed to average on +2/+2, making it a more swingy, less reliable Morningstar. Maybe I should try it out again though. Cataclysm loves this card.
Adventuring Gear
Both casting cost and equip cost are lower than Morningstar's, while potentially giving the same stat bonus on offense. And aggro decks don't care about the defense that much. I am afraid that it will offer absolutely no stat bonus on crucial turns though.
...
Shuko
Quite different from the other equipments on my list. I did consider it once, but was talked out of it. 1-0 costs are really attractive, but +1/+0 is a really small bonus.
Didn't knew that one. Quite nice. It's almost good. But at least your paying like 4 mana in it, I don't see it been very competitive. Still an interesting card.
Hm, I cut Sigil of Distinction a long time ago, but thinking about it now, it actually passes my "must be better than Vulshok Morningstar" metric. At least if you want to end the game quickly and don't expect to move it around too much.
Let's say an aggro deck will typically cast Sigil for X=4, then equip it and attack. That's 4 (the same amount it would cost to cast and equip a Morningstar) for a +3/+3 bonus. When that creature dies, the next one gets +2/+2. Eventually, a third one will get +1/+1 and the game will hopefully be over before or at least at this point.
In this case that seems typical for an aggro deck, Sigil costs a total of 4 to give a total bonus of +6/+6 to three creatures.
Casting and equipping Morningstar to three creatures costs a total of 8 for total bonus of +6/+6.
So, in an aggro deck that wants to end the game quickly, curve out and doesn't have much mana to move equipment around, Sigil looks actually quite decent. (As a final aside, Grafted Wargear is another aggro equipment that you don't want to move around. Though it is obviously much stronger than Sigil, of course.)
Agreed. It's a good list but the order is way off. I also like Sword of the Animist better than Manriki-Gusari, Cranial Plating (outside of artifact cube), Mortarpod, and Warhammer.
I'm another one of the cubes not running the swords/jitte for power/playgroup reasons.
The cards mentioned so far are pretty good, but one that I think is sort of flying under the radar is Lashwrithe. It requires you to be base (or preferably mono)B of course, but it's been really strong for us as a bigger wargear// 4/4 that gives value after "dying."
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
I'm guessing it's not order by the power of the cards? Grafted Wargear is rated way too low, and Cranial Plating and Lightning Greaves is a bit high.
The swords, Jitte, batterskull, wargear, skullclamp, and Bonesplitter would have taken my #1-10 spot, with Lightning Greaves being #11.
That said, it's a nice list of equipment if you ignore the order.
It seems that this list is meant to be ranked. However, Cranial Plating and Sword of the Meek being even on that list is really weird. This list is for cube and not for constructed, after all. And Loxodon Warhammer and Lightning Greaves are a bit too high, while Grafted Wargear is too low. Otherwise, the list seems fine. Personally, I would rank SoWaP lowest among the swords and would put SoLaS at least higher than last place.
The cards mentioned so far are pretty good, but one that I think is sort of flying under the radar is Lashwrithe. It requires you to be base (or preferably mono)B of course, but it's been really strong for us as a bigger wargear// 4/4 that gives value after "dying."
YES! I loveLashwrithe! Actually, I love living weapons in general, but we got too few cubable ones. I ran this one as part of my heavyblack package. Unfortunately, (almost) mono black decks didn't happen that often, even with half a dozen incentive cards. When that deck came together, it was usually leaning towards the aggressive side and Lashwrithe was great.
My experience with Lashwrithe is another reason for me to try Sigil of Distinction again. While the main strength of living weapons is that they start as a creature, it often happened that I played Lashwrithe on turn four, then immediately paid four life to equip it and bash with a hefty +3/+3 or even +4/+4 bonus. This is kinda like giving Lashwrithe haste and is useful for forcing as much damage through as early as possible. Sigil would allow similar plays and I think it might have a place in aggressive decks.
It seems that this list is meant to be ranked. However, Cranial Plating and Sword of the Meek being even on that list is really weird. This list is for cube and not for constructed, after all. And Loxodon Warhammer and Lightning Greaves are a bit too high, while Grafted Wargear is too low. Otherwise, the list seems fine. Personally, I would rank SoWaP lowest among the swords and would put SoLaS at least higher than last place.
I've read most of this blog (maybe all of it), and the author has different ways he plays his cube (one of which I've heard him call "constructed cube"). While I've never seen him really dig into how that works, I believe this influences his ranking quite a bit. Cranial Plating after all is ridiculously good in an affinity style deck, and a focused affinity deck list (even singleton) would probably be very strong in cube assuming you could assemble it. Sword of the Meek is pure combo (with Thopter Foundry). Again, presumably a popular and powerful combo in his cube.
My experience with Lashwrithe is another reason for me to try Sigil of Distinction again. While the main strength of living weapons is that they start as a creature, it often happened that I played Lashwrithe on turn four, then immediately paid four life to equip it and bash with a hefty +3/+3 or even +4/+4 bonus. This is kinda like giving Lashwrithe haste and is useful for forcing as much damage through as early as possible. Sigil would allow similar plays and I think it might have a place in aggressive decks.
Lashwrithe is super powerful in mono black obviously, but lackluster outside that deck. I support mono black but each time I ran Lashwrithe it felt like I was strong arming the archetype and to some extent misleading people (because I don't support hard aggro in black). I really want Lashwrithe to work though, so I might have to revisit it again. I love the art too.
I'm personally not sold on Sigil though. The equip cost is a buzz kill and each time you have to use it, the card gets more and more useless. I'd never play this before I had 3 lands, and I'd want to wait until I had 4 or more just so it felt impactful. I don't know, I feel like most 4 drops I could run would be better than a +3/+3 generic equip that becomes a +2/+2 if I have to move it. I'm not feeling this.
Yeah II also don't agree at all with the ranking in that blog, but I thought it was still a great list to look at. Just see it as a way to brainstorm on some out of the box ideas.
Yeah, Lashwrithe is pretty unplayable if you don't support heavyblack aggro.
It actually gets played a little more often in 5-color than in B decks here, since its synergy with Worldknit (which we run two of, since it's pretty wild and also super strong) is second only to Shackles.
I'm personally not sold on Sigil though. The equip cost is a buzz kill and each time you have to use it, the card gets more and more useless. I'd never play this before I had 3 lands, and I'd want to wait until I had 4 or more just so it felt impactful. I don't know, I feel like most 4 drops I could run would be better than a +3/+3 generic equip that becomes a +2/+2 if I have to move it. I'm not feeling this.
I wasn't sold on it either. Played it a few years ago, then cut it. But now, I realized that it is basically an aggro-only equipment. The fewer you want to move it around, the better it becomes. For example, if you want to end the game early and don't want to move your eqipment back and forth between an attacker and a blocker (because you don't care about blocking), then you only have to re-equip it once or twice when your original creature dies. And in an aggro deck, you wouldn't want to play it in the early turns anyway, since that is where you curve out with your little beaters.
Look at it as an Aura that makes your early 2/2s relevant in the midgame without giving your opponent the chance for a full 2-for-1 like normal Auras do. They can make your "Aura" weaker by killing the creature it is on, but it will take a while before it goes away completely.
At least that is the theory. I have put it back in and will see how it performs in the next few drafts.
Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
Zetsu's Ebay MTG Online Store
Zetsu's Poker Draft Method
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!
Trusty Machete is also quite good. Equip 2 is really hard to manage in some aggro decks though, when you want to keep pressure on.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
That being said, I'm still left for wanting more equipment and was wondering if anybody has current experience with Trusty Maschette / Adventuring Gear, specifically in a cube that took out the same equipments that I did. Do they hold their own when they're not competing against the super tier 1 equipment or are they still "meh" even in their absence?
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
You and I run similar environments. I think adventuring gear is solid personally, especially if you have other landfall support and you actively try to build that deck. Running double fetch lands helps A LOT. I was doing that for awhile. +2/+2 if triggered multiple times is hugely impactful. I've crafted scary alpha strike turns seemingly out of thin air in a heavy landfall deck. This has become my favorite flavor of Naya aggro FWIW.
I didn't like the equip cost on trusty machete. The effect is very good however. You can always test it out and see if you like it. It is certainly close enough to be testable.
Sword of the Animist is much better than I originally thought it would be. It works in a lot of different decks, and the ramp effect is deceptively powerful. I did not think it would be worth the mana investment, but it absolutely has been in my experience with it so far (turns out 2+2 is well worth getting land and an attack simultaneously). The concentration of instant speed removal in your cube is a variable that can potentially hurt this card a bit though. So pay attention to what that suite looks like as it will likely be a good indicator with this card and other cards with high equip costs.
You didn't bring it up but I actually really like Sword of Vengeance. It's costs a billion to get going, but the effect is ridiculous and can completely take over games on the right creature (FS, trample, vigilance, haste, +2/+0 is no joke). The haste on this card is not super relevant, but the vigilance (with all that other stuff) is nuts. Same thing applies here though about instant speed removal. Equip this meets doom blade can be very painful depending on when and how that happens.
EDIT: Forgot to also mention Loxodon Warhammer. Oldie but goodie. Still very much playable. It represents a huge life swing which can have quite a significant impact on the game. Comes highly recommended by me at least.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
Aggro decks need equipment to give them a fighting chance in the match-up against midrange decks, so if you're not running Swords and Jitte due to power level concerns, it's pretty important to include aggro equipment if you want aggro to be viable in your cube.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Horned Helm is another decent equipment. A low equip cost plus the bonus of trample makes this almost a Rancor-type effect. Sadly, it lacks the key second point of toughness to push it really over the edge.
Runechanter's Pike is a solid one for any cube that supports the Spells Matter theme. It's easy to get 2-3 instant/sorcery cards in your graveyard, at which point this makes every creature into a huge threat.
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
Empyrial Plate is one I haven't tried. Looks interesting. I may have to test that. Thanks for the suggestion.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
Silver-Inlaid Dagger has been solid. It has the "equip: 2" problem as well, but if you run a high human count, you have a chance for +3/+0. It's very good for C/Ubes, or a budget cube that doesn't have access to Jitte and the Swords.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
Here are the ones that I am currently considering:
Champion's Helm
A cast/equip distribution of 3-1 is a real upside to Morningstar's 2-2 ratio. I really want my equipments to have cheap equip costs. There are a number of legends in cube where Helmet would have a random upside. All in all, only marginally better than Morningstar though.
Manriki-Gusari
I ran this for years and it used to be decent. +1/+2 is a good bonus to help your aggro critters "battle up the curve" and survive. Cheap equip cost is plus and makes it really easy to move it around, so that you can use it both on offense on and defense in a race. Plus, maindeckable answer to unfair equipments. It couldn't quite keep up with the average rise in power level though.
Empyrial Plate
Tested this one briefly. Cost is the same as Morningstar, but it can give +3/+3 or even +4/+4 in some situations. It seemed that this wasn't the case too often though. Seemed to average on +2/+2, making it a more swingy, less reliable Morningstar. Maybe I should try it out again though. Cataclysm loves this card.
Adventuring Gear
Both casting cost and equip cost are lower than Morningstar's, while potentially giving the same stat bonus on offense. And aggro decks don't care about the defense that much. I am afraid that it will offer absolutely no stat bonus on crucial turns though.
...
Shuko
Quite different from the other equipments on my list. I did consider it once, but was talked out of it. 1-0 costs are really attractive, but +1/+0 is a really small bonus.
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
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq
Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
Zetsu's Ebay MTG Online Store
Zetsu's Poker Draft Method
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq
Let's say an aggro deck will typically cast Sigil for X=4, then equip it and attack. That's 4 (the same amount it would cost to cast and equip a Morningstar) for a +3/+3 bonus. When that creature dies, the next one gets +2/+2. Eventually, a third one will get +1/+1 and the game will hopefully be over before or at least at this point.
In this case that seems typical for an aggro deck, Sigil costs a total of 4 to give a total bonus of +6/+6 to three creatures.
Casting and equipping Morningstar to three creatures costs a total of 8 for total bonus of +6/+6.
So, in an aggro deck that wants to end the game quickly, curve out and doesn't have much mana to move equipment around, Sigil looks actually quite decent. (As a final aside, Grafted Wargear is another aggro equipment that you don't want to move around. Though it is obviously much stronger than Sigil, of course.)
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
I think it could interest some of you! Thanks to Spike Rogue for sharing us that website!
Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
Zetsu's Ebay MTG Online Store
Zetsu's Poker Draft Method
The swords, Jitte, batterskull, wargear, skullclamp, and Bonesplitter would have taken my #1-10 spot, with Lightning Greaves being #11.
That said, it's a nice list of equipment if you ignore the order.
My cube
My cube on Cube tutor
I'm OP_Forever. I'll be putting this in my signature for a while so everyone know I change my nickname.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
The cards mentioned so far are pretty good, but one that I think is sort of flying under the radar is Lashwrithe. It requires you to be base (or preferably mono)B of course, but it's been really strong for us as a bigger wargear// 4/4 that gives value after "dying."
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
YES! I love Lashwrithe! Actually, I love living weapons in general, but we got too few cubable ones. I ran this one as part of my heavyblack package. Unfortunately, (almost) mono black decks didn't happen that often, even with half a dozen incentive cards. When that deck came together, it was usually leaning towards the aggressive side and Lashwrithe was great.
My experience with Lashwrithe is another reason for me to try Sigil of Distinction again. While the main strength of living weapons is that they start as a creature, it often happened that I played Lashwrithe on turn four, then immediately paid four life to equip it and bash with a hefty +3/+3 or even +4/+4 bonus. This is kinda like giving Lashwrithe haste and is useful for forcing as much damage through as early as possible. Sigil would allow similar plays and I think it might have a place in aggressive decks.
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
I've read most of this blog (maybe all of it), and the author has different ways he plays his cube (one of which I've heard him call "constructed cube"). While I've never seen him really dig into how that works, I believe this influences his ranking quite a bit. Cranial Plating after all is ridiculously good in an affinity style deck, and a focused affinity deck list (even singleton) would probably be very strong in cube assuming you could assemble it. Sword of the Meek is pure combo (with Thopter Foundry). Again, presumably a popular and powerful combo in his cube.
Lashwrithe is super powerful in mono black obviously, but lackluster outside that deck. I support mono black but each time I ran Lashwrithe it felt like I was strong arming the archetype and to some extent misleading people (because I don't support hard aggro in black). I really want Lashwrithe to work though, so I might have to revisit it again. I love the art too.
I'm personally not sold on Sigil though. The equip cost is a buzz kill and each time you have to use it, the card gets more and more useless. I'd never play this before I had 3 lands, and I'd want to wait until I had 4 or more just so it felt impactful. I don't know, I feel like most 4 drops I could run would be better than a +3/+3 generic equip that becomes a +2/+2 if I have to move it. I'm not feeling this.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
Zetsu's Ebay MTG Online Store
Zetsu's Poker Draft Method
It actually gets played a little more often in 5-color than in B decks here, since its synergy with Worldknit (which we run two of, since it's pretty wild and also super strong) is second only to Shackles.
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
Look at it as an Aura that makes your early 2/2s relevant in the midgame without giving your opponent the chance for a full 2-for-1 like normal Auras do. They can make your "Aura" weaker by killing the creature it is on, but it will take a while before it goes away completely.
At least that is the theory. I have put it back in and will see how it performs in the next few drafts.
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