I'm not as crazy about BSA as I once was, but I keep her around because she's good in Boros and Jeskai Wildfire deck. She's also fine in midrange and isn't terrible as the lone 5-drop in an aggro deck. However, if I reconfigure my cube, each color is going to lose 2-3 cards and I'm not sure BSA will survive that.
Battlecruiser Angel is a fine card but I'm not a fan of protection. Lyra Dawnbringer is slightly better version, trading randomly hosing demons and dragons for a sleight build around effect and the nonbo with clone effects.
Sure, there is a chance of spending $4 on a booster and getting the Mythic Rare $30 super card. There is also a chance of surviving putting your tongue in a light socket.
Talrand is one of my favorite commanders, but I don't think I've ever considered him for cube. I suppose he could be good if you're going deep on the 'spells matter' theme, but Blue's four drops are very competitive so it's difficult to find space for him.
I tried him out in cube but he just never was a big enough payoff. 4 mana always felt a little too high up the curve for a spells matters deck since you really want to have spare mana open to get some value off him (like how Meloku plays more like a 6+ drop) because he is so easy to kill. Maybe if Talrand, Sky Summoner had evasion or some way to protect himself but as it stands he often just doesn't do enough.
He was 1 mana too much when I tested him. The earlier these kinds of effects can resolve, the more powerful they'll be for you. I was too often priced into resilving my instants and sorceries in front of him in order to survive, and it was too hard to get max value out of it.
I personally prefer the restriction-less targeting on the Chupacabra over the First Stike on Nekrataal, but I think it's close. Regardless, Chupacabra is one of my favorite cards printed in the past year with regard to singleton formats.
How long does it typically take you to update your cube with the new cards when a new set comes out? What is one card you remember trying to acquire as soon as you could?
It's always nice when a new card becomes a cube staple, all the more so when it's an uncommon. I definitely prefer Ravenous Chupacabras lack of targeting restrictions over Nekrataals First Strike but it is definitely match-up dependent and I am more than happy to have both in my cube. It's also pretty cool that a card that isn't breaking Modern or Legacy is a really important card for cube
My only issue with Ravenous Chupacabra is that the flavour and the art are both so bland, you could remove the rules text make it a 3/3 and no one would blink an eye. At least with a human assassin my brain can head-cannon that Nekrataal is an expert in all forms of assassination uses his guile to kill his target whether it be demon, dragon or hydra but with Ravenous Chupacabra I cant do this since its just some random creature without access to poisons or other tricks of the assassins trade. Even with Skinrender I can accept it permanently weaken another creature by causing it a grievous injury with some phyrexian infections thrown in, but some goat-sucker outright killing my Terastodon? It just always stands out to me as a bit off.
It can take me a while for updates, I'm currently on the breadline so I usually pick up the low hanging fruit of a set (anything under afew quid) and hope to open the rest if I draft. It is handy waiting a while though, I find there is a lot cards that look good but don't last in the long run and I can usually pick up the ones with staying power when they rotate out.
I was about to cut Skinrender for this but I cut Murderous redcap instead, but that may be temporary.
So now I run all the three 4cc 187 murder creatures.
I'm not too familiar with Gifts in cube. Is it known more as a value card or a combo card? Would you or do you run it without combo pieces such as Unburial Rites? It does seem incredibly strong as an EoT tutor for your best cards in a given situation, even though your opponent does get to choose what they want to lose to.
What would your 'signature spellbook' look like? What kinds of cards do you like casting over all others?
I would never *not* run Gifts, it's a pet card that also has incredible power, and would definitely be in my own "Signature Spellbook", along with Faithless Looting.
I play it as both a value card and a combo card. Yeah, with Unburial Rites, it's pretty sweet, but even just grabbing two cards of your opponent's choice from your deck isn't terrible at instant speed, and my cube's heavy on cards that love being in your graveyard.
Gifts is okay as a combo enabler for cubes supporting it with Unburial Rites, some kind of Past in Flames storm combo, or even Life from the Loam shenanigans, but I think the era where it was a good value play has long since passed in this format. I love the card, but I just don't think it's good enough anymore.
I still run it, but it's my next cut. After playing a bunch of decks where it should be good, it ended up being just worst than other filtering and draw effects. I would re-add it if I ever went to 720, but I don't see myself making that decision.
My Spellbook (things I've been playing a lot lately/forever):
I was sad when I cut Gifts, I always tell myself that one day I'll bring it back. Outside of Unburial Rites, one of my favorite piles was Life from the Loam + Raven's Crime. Academy Ruins + Life from the Loam + Mindslaver/Engineered Explosives is another fun one. Snapcaster Mage can also do fun things with Gifts. I don't think Gifts is good enough to run if just using it to tutor for 4 good cards, and get the 2 worst ones, but it also doesn't need to be an "I win" button to only be combined with Unburial Rites. You just need to be able to build around it where it doesn't matter which cards the opponent gives. Unfortunately, as a 4cmc blue spell, even having the option to build those piles, I couldn't justify keeping it at a small cube size.
Song is basically a green Oblivion Ring, so I'm not quite sure why I'm not running it in my list, as I have one in a Commander deck I could move over, I'm sure. It's technically slightly worse, but it does have the utility of hitting dangerous lands, which can be relevant occasionally.
What is your favorite song of the moment? Of all time?
Hitting lands is overall a pretty niche application--you want to hit creatures since green has no real creature removal, and then the rest of the options. I don't run it anymore as is played out like a bad expensive path to exile that you could counter. The other day for example my opponent song'd my opposition, and then I flickerwhisp'd the opposition back, and just one of the multiple common ways Song can be nullified. Unlike O-Ring, I can't pay for my Flickerwhisp with O-Ring.
Too much great music! This is my Spotify ever-growing playlist of all songs I've enjoyed from the past or new ones I've found through their discover feature:
This is one of many cards on my wishlist. It's five bucks right now, so it's probably not going to be acquired any time soon: it's a long list. As far as green removal goes, I've been pleasantly surprised by Cartouche of Strength, and I'm still satisfied with my good old Desert Twister (yeah, it's a pet card, but it's still playable). Song of the Dryads looks to really fill a missing slot, though. There's nothing else like it in green.
Right now, my favorite song may be King Henry by Steeleye Span. For all time, the only safe choice would probably be Beethoven's 9th Symphony (2nd Movement).
Great card that belongs in every cube at every size imo. It's often overlooked, but it is one of 2 (or 3 since Rec Sage works sometimes) ways for mono green to interact with big creature decks like reanimator and the like. It's usually better than Beast within since it doesn't put the card back in the graveyard and gets around death triggers, not to mention that a 3/3 is better than a colorless land most of the time. Love this card.
Favorite song of all time has got to be Juicy, but right now it's probably Mojo So Dope. The KanyeXCudi collab album has me listening to a bunch of OG Cudi so I went to his classic second album, as imo it's his best album. Yes, Man on the Moon II is his best album, don't @ me haha.
There are enough good 1-mana cantips in blue that Opt doesn't quite make it into my list, but I believe it's strong enough even for small cubes if you want a larger density of them. While generally weaker than Ponder or Preordain, Opt being an instant makes it more flexible while trying to hold up instant-speed interaction.
What is your opinion on the new FNM promo frames? Do you plan on obtaining any for your cube?
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
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The list on cube cobra
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Talrand, Sky Summoner
Talrand is one of my favorite commanders, but I don't think I've ever considered him for cube. I suppose he could be good if you're going deep on the 'spells matter' theme, but Blue's four drops are very competitive so it's difficult to find space for him.
Do you prefer traveling by air or by sea?
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!
Ravenous Chupacabra
I personally prefer the restriction-less targeting on the Chupacabra over the First Stike on Nekrataal, but I think it's close. Regardless, Chupacabra is one of my favorite cards printed in the past year with regard to singleton formats.
How long does it typically take you to update your cube with the new cards when a new set comes out? What is one card you remember trying to acquire as soon as you could?
My only issue with Ravenous Chupacabra is that the flavour and the art are both so bland, you could remove the rules text make it a 3/3 and no one would blink an eye. At least with a human assassin my brain can head-cannon that Nekrataal is an expert in all forms of assassination uses his guile to kill his target whether it be demon, dragon or hydra but with Ravenous Chupacabra I cant do this since its just some random creature without access to poisons or other tricks of the assassins trade. Even with Skinrender I can accept it permanently weaken another creature by causing it a grievous injury with some phyrexian infections thrown in, but some goat-sucker outright killing my Terastodon? It just always stands out to me as a bit off.
It can take me a while for updates, I'm currently on the breadline so I usually pick up the low hanging fruit of a set (anything under afew quid) and hope to open the rest if I draft. It is handy waiting a while though, I find there is a lot cards that look good but don't last in the long run and I can usually pick up the ones with staying power when they rotate out.
I'm almost always waiting for price drops after reprint. sometimes i wait for the reprint. like with the zen fetches.
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!
So now I run all the three 4cc 187 murder creatures.
Gifts Ungiven
I'm not too familiar with Gifts in cube. Is it known more as a value card or a combo card? Would you or do you run it without combo pieces such as Unburial Rites? It does seem incredibly strong as an EoT tutor for your best cards in a given situation, even though your opponent does get to choose what they want to lose to.
What would your 'signature spellbook' look like? What kinds of cards do you like casting over all others?
I play it as both a value card and a combo card. Yeah, with Unburial Rites, it's pretty sweet, but even just grabbing two cards of your opponent's choice from your deck isn't terrible at instant speed, and my cube's heavy on cards that love being in your graveyard.
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!
My Spellbook (things I've been playing a lot lately/forever):
Purphoros
Monastery Mentor
Recurring Nightmare
Fractured Identity
Fiery Confluence
Dark Confidant
Dack Fayden
Strip Mine
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[180 classic cube]
Song of the Dryads
Song is basically a green Oblivion Ring, so I'm not quite sure why I'm not running it in my list, as I have one in a Commander deck I could move over, I'm sure. It's technically slightly worse, but it does have the utility of hitting dangerous lands, which can be relevant occasionally.
What is your favorite song of the moment? Of all time?
Too much great music! This is my Spotify ever-growing playlist of all songs I've enjoyed from the past or new ones I've found through their discover feature:
https://open.spotify.com/user/salmoilla/playlist/3QSfz207EYTHW8xyVoxZUA?si=GseT76I7SwqFtazNfZS9RQ
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Right now, my favorite song may be King Henry by Steeleye Span. For all time, the only safe choice would probably be Beethoven's 9th Symphony (2nd Movement).
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
That spell is a bit creepy if you think about it.
Favorite song of all time has got to be Juicy, but right now it's probably Mojo So Dope. The KanyeXCudi collab album has me listening to a bunch of OG Cudi so I went to his classic second album, as imo it's his best album. Yes, Man on the Moon II is his best album, don't @ me haha.
Opt
There are enough good 1-mana cantips in blue that Opt doesn't quite make it into my list, but I believe it's strong enough even for small cubes if you want a larger density of them. While generally weaker than Ponder or Preordain, Opt being an instant makes it more flexible while trying to hold up instant-speed interaction.
What is your opinion on the new FNM promo frames? Do you plan on obtaining any for your cube?
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022