Basic Information
Cube Size: 360 cards.
Breakdown: 50 of each colour, 35 colourless, 40 multicoloured, 35 land.
Standard or Theme: Standard.
Snow Lands: No.
Average Number of Players: Usually 4-6, can handle up to 8.
How Often Drafted: Once a month.
Card Selection
Proxies: No.
Powered: No.
Portal: No.
"Un" Cards: No.
Banned Cards: No banned cards so far.
Cube Design
Standard or Multiplayer: Multiplayer
Sideboards?: No.
Perfect Creature/Spell Balance: No.
Gold Balance: Yes.
Hybrid/Split/Kicker as Gold: ?
Color Triggers as Gold: Nope.
Perfectly Balanced CMC: No.
I would suggest adding two or three of these over cards like Reforge the Soul, Harness by Force, and Dictate of the Twin Gods. Smelt out for Abrade is an easy swap. Personally, I've also found that old fashioned Fireball is better than Comet Storm, but you may have a different experience. Devil's Play is the more synergistic choice. Street Spasm is fine as another X spell, but it never played all that well for me. Maybe it's better in multiplayer. Electrickery really may be one too many overload cards.
If you want to improve synergy, I recommend choosing the burns that also like the graveyard. Don't underestimate Blast From the Past. As a quick swap, Lobber Crew could be replaced with the more synergistic Thermo-Alchemist. Dismissive Pyromancer is another synergistic two-drop that I think would help. It's a discard outlet, card selection machine, removal card, and early attacker. All things your cube can use.
Also, Insurrection, Mob Rule, and Mass Mutiny (as well as Harness By Force) all in the same 360 cube is taking up a lot of slots for one type of card. Paying a ton of mana to steal all the creatures seems to be a thing you want to do in red, and there are a few sac outlets in black (though Goblin Bombardment would help a lot). If you really want to go deep on Threaten effects, you can play Captivating Crew and Overtaker (also a discard outlet). Turbo-ramp is sort of what you need to support this strategy if you really want to go for it. I'd reccomend cutting down to one or two of those cards, though. I get that it's powerful in multiplayer, but it's spending a lot of slots on top-heavy sorceries.
With regards to a goblin theme-- looking at your cube, I don't see a need for one. The only support is Krenko and Siege-Gang Commander, and they're both fine without other goblins. If Krenko is too slow, Beetleback Chief is a fine card. There are some goblin support cards that you could add without disrupting anything if you want, though. Goblin Instigator, Mogg War Marshal, and Dragon Fodder, and Hordeling Outburst are all great ways to get goblins. The former two have synergy with blink and creature recursion themes, the second two have synergy with spells themes, and they all have synergy with token and aristocrat themes, and this cube looks like it could use some serious token support. One of my favorite goblins (though I admit I've never played this card) is Goblin Trashmaster. It's decent artifact hate regardless of the tribal upside, and if you're playing some of the above cards, it can equal a theme without spending slots on parasitic cards. Of course, there are plenty of great goblin tribal cards if you want to go deep, but that will eat up slots quickly. You could cut Soulbright Flamekin and Kargan Dragonlord for Instigator and War Marshal, cut Chain Reaction for Hordeling Outburst (you do have a lot of wraths), and cut Scourge of Geier Reach (it's only ever a big guy after all), for Trashmaster, or another Goblin payoff card, and you would have a solid goblin theme. It would also put your Purphoros/ Ogre Battledriver/ Impact Tremors strategy on the map, and that looks like something you want to be doing. Zulaport Cutthroat and Blood Artist are also starved for token blood, so if you want to make goblins a thing, I think token support is really the way to do it.
I haven't looked all that far beyond red, but Sol Ring and Skull Clamp are broken cards that don't fit into this environment. I'd replace Sol Ring with Everflowing Chalice, and Skull Clamp with... well there's nothing like Skull Clamp. Jitte and the swords are bonkers here too. I would cut them for slightly less oppressive, but still powerful cards (like Loxodon Warhammer, Bonesplitter, and Smuggler's Copter), but that's me.
To note, basically everything I've recommended is budget friendly.
I don't fully agree that these cards would add more value to the Cube since it's a Cube designed for FFA Multiplayer games. So I think Earthquake alike cards top Lightning Bolt for example. Of course, I am open for other suggestions / discussion in regards to this topic.
If you want to improve synergy, I recommend choosing the burns that also like the graveyard. Don't underestimate Blast From the Past. As a quick swap, Lobber Crew could be replaced with the more synergistic Thermo-Alchemist. Dismissive Pyromancer is another synergistic two-drop that I think would help. It's a discard outlet, card selection machine, removal card, and early attacker. All things your cube can use.
I think both of these cards are fine options to consider and would indeed add some more synergy to that which is already in there!
Also, Insurrection, Mob Rule, and Mass Mutiny (as well as Harness By Force) all in the same 360 cube is taking up a lot of slots for one type of card. Paying a ton of mana to steal all the creatures seems to be a thing you want to do in red, and there are a few sac outlets in black (though Goblin Bombardment would help a lot). If you really want to go deep on Threaten effects, you can play Captivating Crew and Overtaker (also a discard outlet). Turbo-ramp is sort of what you need to support this strategy if you really want to go for it. I'd reccomend cutting down to one or two of those cards, though. I get that it's powerful in multiplayer, but it's spending a lot of slots on top-heavy sorceries.
Yes, I think the current portion of red might include a bit too much of these steal effects. The funny thing is that I have very recently swapped out Goblin Bombardment for some other card. But now that you point that out, I think it's worth putting that back in for something else. I'll have to do some thinking about what to cut.
I haven't looked all that far beyond red, but Sol Ring and Skull Clamp are broken cards that don't fit into this environment. I'd replace Sol Ring with Everflowing Chalice, and Skull Clamp with... well there's nothing like Skull Clamp. Jitte and the swords are bonkers here too. I would cut them for slightly less oppressive, but still powerful cards (like Loxodon Warhammer, Bonesplitter, and Smuggler's Copter), but that's me.
I have been contemplating a lot about cutting Sol Ring due to its power level, but decided to leave it in for now since it's legal in Commander.
To note, basically everything I've recommended is budget friendly.
That's definitely appreciated. I don't mind buying some cards of 5 - 10 euro, but when you start doing that for a whole bunch of cards, the sum starts to add up.
I still think you need a little more direct damage. And, yes, Earthquake is totally indispensable here. I do think that dividable damage is a good place to look. Maybe Forked Bolt, Arc Lightning, and Cone of Flames are more what you want to look for. Still, Lightning Bolt is always always good.
I should say that I've played a lot of cube, but not very much multiplayer cube, and never in a made-for-multiplayer environment. Nevertheless, cards like Doom Blade, Lightning Bolt, and Mana Leak that only ever answer one player's threat are important everywhere. That doesn't mean you shouldn't play Arc Trail over Lightning Bolt, though. Bolt only ever offers maximum efficiency.
I have been thinking about which updates I would like to apply to the Red section of the Cube after having a good look at Prid3's Multiplayer Red Guide and also as we've mainly been on discussing that part thus far and I feel that the following cards can be cut:
There are some other cards I could consider, such as Red Elemental Blast, Lightning Bolt, Squee, Goblin Nabob, etc. I guess an additional question that remains is whether or not I have too many "sweepers" in the red list in the form of:
Like always, I am open to suggestions. I think it's good to focus on Red right now as I felt it is the 'weakest' color in the list and we're on that subject right now (and I haven't bought these cards yet).
I do like Scourge of the Throne over Magma Phoenix as well as Imperial Recruiter and Wheel of Fortune but I'll leave those out for now due to budget considerations and consider these more as the final pieces that could be added for further improvement (rather focus on other colors first as well).
Outpost Siege is really good for your dedicated Purphoros subtheme, since it has a powerful card advantage option for decks that can't use the Dragons ability.
Urabrask is a fantastic five-drop, and it can only play better in FFA. Great choice. So much richer than Scourge of Geier Reach. Goblin Sharpshooter is another great choice in the pinger slot. I've loved playing with this card, and it has great synergy with other death-trigger cards like Blood Artist. More players means more death triggers!
Feldon is a wonderful engine, and is an archetype to himself. I've wanted to get him for my cube for a while. Now red has a real reason to care about the graveyard. Tormenting Voice is a basic card, but it's needed. Magus of the Wheel has all the potential of Wheel of Fortune plus being a very reasonable attacker/blocker (and can be copied with Feldon). It's definitely not a better card than Wheel, but it's better for your cube.
Repercussion is one that intrigues me. I've never played with or against the card, so I'm in no position to claim that it's bad. And I certainly don't know that it is bad. Is this good? Will it work in a cube? I'm curious. With all your red sweepers, this card can become a TPK fast. Imagine this into Blasphemous Act on a busy board. It's an easy win if you have no creatures or a Viscera Seer. Stuffy Doll is the other card I know of in this strange archetype. It's a pity that card only ever hits the same player. Fire Ants is a good card. The Repercussion archetype may be real in your cube.
I would cut one or two of the sweepers. Earthquake and Mizzium Mortars are your best ones, and Chain Reaction and Anger of the Gods are the first two I'd cut (Anger just because it's double red). I'd keep Act just because of how powerful it is with Repercussion. I suggest you cut Chain Reaction and go from there.
One way to capitalize on the mass damage effects is enrage. This is a 360 cube that plays both Pestilence variants, so this is definitely an engine worth building. Cacophodon, Bellowing Aegisaur, Polyraptor, Siegehorn Ceratops, and Ripjaw Raptor are all nuts if you can cast them in a deck with Pyrohemia . Ranging Raptors is sweet too. Even weaker cards like Snapping Sailback, Imperial Ceratops, and Sun-Crowned Hunters are scary. Notably, everything with enrage is really good against pestilence too (which is good because those decks can be griefers). The pestilence interaction was the first thing I thought about when enrage was spoiled, and this is the perfect environment to abuse the it if you have any interest. The only limitation is that it's harder to play off color cards with Pestilence/Pyrohemia decks.
Of your cuts, I'm sad to see Guttersnipe go, but it was probably the right call. Only Pia strikes me as something your cube still kinda needs. I still feel that red can benefit from a little more token support, and is happier with a flying token than most colors. Pia does also have random synergies with artifacts, but your cube doesn't really support an artifact deck. It could be that Pia sends a false signal to drafters about support that isn't there. Personally, I would reswap Pia Nalaar for Prophetic Flamespeaker. It's a less synergistic card, and more flashy than good in my opinion. But that's just my read on it. I still like Hordeling Outburst better than both of them since it triggers Impact Tremors more times (which is a serious consideration in your cube) and is good with Krenko. Most people think Hordeling Outburst is bad, though. General opinion would probably favor Pia.
I think Mizzix's Mastery is better by a decent margin than Past in Flames in limited. It actually plays on turn four, and can even "reanimate" an expensive spell you discarded. Past in Flames asks for so much mana to be a blowout, and Mastery can be an expensive blowout anyway (though it does miss out on X spells).
Personally, I'm not a fan of Pyroblast or similar cards in a 360 cube. You can basically guarantee that there will be a target in a multiplayer cube environment (somebody has to end up with the blue cards), but it still only answers threats played by one or two players. I strongly recommend Arc Lightning in this slot, but I'll stop harping on about burns.
You cut Smelt. That's good, the card was weak. But you didn't replace it with anything to destroy an artifact. Your cube has broken equipment, so you NEED artifact hate. You already have Vandalblast, so you could get away with it, but I'd add something that kills artifacts and has a backup mode (like Ingot Chewer, Manic Vandal, Abrade, or Goblin Trashmaster, Abrade being the most mainstream).
Again, these were good changes.
PS: I drafted your cube. You can look at my deck if you like. Black is definitely stronger than red.
Repercussion is one that intrigues me. I've never played with or against the card, so I'm in no position to claim that it's bad. And I certainly don't know that it is bad. Is this good? Will it work in a cube? I'm curious. With all your red sweepers, this card can become a TPK fast. Imagine this into Blasphemous Act on a busy board. It's an easy win if you have no creatures or a Viscera Seer. Stuffy Doll is the other card I know of in this strange archetype. It's a pity that card only ever hits the same player. Fire Ants is a good card. The Repercussion archetype may be real in your cube.
I'm going to opt for Sneak Attack as I have that from my Sneak & Show deck. However, I think I'll buy a copy and see if I can fit that in.
I would cut one or two of the sweepers. Earthquake and Mizzium Mortars are your best ones, and Chain Reaction and Anger of the Gods are the first two I'd cut (Anger just because it's double red). I'd keep Act just because of how powerful it is with Repercussion. I suggest you cut Chain Reaction and go from there.
One way to capitalize on the mass damage effects is enrage. This is a 360 cube that plays both Pestilence variants, so this is definitely an engine worth building. Cacophodon, Bellowing Aegisaur, Polyraptor, Siegehorn Ceratops, and Ripjaw Raptor are all nuts if you can cast them in a deck with Pyrohemia . Ranging Raptors is sweet too. Even weaker cards like Snapping Sailback, Imperial Ceratops, and Sun-Crowned Hunters are scary. Notably, everything with enrage is really good against pestilence too (which is good because those decks can be griefers). The pestilence interaction was the first thing I thought about when enrage was spoiled, and this is the perfect environment to abuse the it if you have any interest. The only limitation is that it's harder to play off color cards with Pestilence/Pyrohemia decks.
I'll keep that in mind when looking at the other colours!
Of your cuts, I'm sad to see Guttersnipe go, but it was probably the right call. Only Pia strikes me as something your cube still kinda needs. I still feel that red can benefit from a little more token support, and is happier with a flying token than most colors. Pia does also have random synergies with artifacts, but your cube doesn't really support an artifact deck. It could be that Pia sends a false signal to drafters about support that isn't there. Personally, I would reswap Pia Nalaar for Prophetic Flamespeaker. It's a less synergistic card, and more flashy than good in my opinion. But that's just my read on it. I still like Hordeling Outburst better than both of them since it triggers Impact Tremors more times (which is a serious consideration in your cube) and is good with Krenko. Most people think Hordeling Outburst is bad, though. General opinion would probably favor Pia.
I too was a bit sad to see Guttersnipe go as I had hoped that it would be one of the good cards / strategies to build around, but so far it just hasn't really worked out. So, it felt like a good cut to make. As I don't own a copy of Prophetic Flamespeaker yet, I'll keep Pia in. I definitely intend to improve on the artifacts as well as for a big part those in the list now are up to budget and available cards I had at the time. But I'd prefer to include Worn Powerstone, Gilded Lotus and a few alike cards over all of the other mana rocks now.
I think Mizzix's Mastery is better by a decent margin than Past in Flames in limited. It actually plays on turn four, and can even "reanimate" an expensive spell you discarded. Past in Flames asks for so much mana to be a blowout, and Mastery can be an expensive blowout anyway (though it does miss out on X spells).
Personally, I'm not a fan of Pyroblast or similar cards in a 360 cube. You can basically guarantee that there will be a target in a multiplayer cube environment (somebody has to end up with the blue cards), but it still only answers threats played by one or two players. I strongly recommend Arc Lightning in this slot, but I'll stop harping on about burns.
You cut Smelt. That's good, the card was weak. But you didn't replace it with anything to destroy an artifact. Your cube has broken equipment, so you NEED artifact hate. You already have Vandalblast, so you could get away with it, but I'd add something that kills artifacts and has a backup mode (like Ingot Chewer, Manic Vandal, Abrade, or Goblin Trashmaster, Abrade being the most mainstream).
PS: I drafted your cube. You can look at my deck if you like. Black is definitely stronger than red.
Yeah, I got a mail about that, definitely liked the deck!
Lastly, I have a Blood Moon as well and decided to put that in. It will become more relevant once the lands section is updated a bit. So looking at the cards I still had lying around, I decided to make the following swaps:
Dragonmaster Outcast is not that good of a card in most cubes, but I think this is a good home for it. Multiplayer usually ends up in a stalled board at some point, and Dragonmaster is really good at turning that to your advantage. It's a pretty good choice for red one-drops (which are a surprisingly weak slot). I wish you had more to do with Goblin Welder. Spine of Ish Sah, Sundering Titan, and Inkwell Leviathan are cards that might help. Welder is the main reason to keep your limited three-color section in: Sphinx of the Steel Wind is your best Sneak Attack and Welder target, despite being basically uncastable in a red deck.
I don't see much of a use for Through the Breach. That card is insane if you're getting something insane with it, but in your cube, you're probably paying five to get a seven-drop primordial for one turn. At that rate, you're better off with a ramp spell than with Through the Breach. You need something on eldrazi titan level to make it worth committing. Sphinx of the Steel Wind is your only truly great target, and attacking once with it doesn't always save you. Sneak Attack could benefit from more targets too, but that card is an engine you can build around, whereas Through the Breach is a one-off that lingers in your hand when you don't have a target. I think you are much better off playing Elvish Piper than this card. This seems like a bad Sneak Attack to me, and you're playing the good Sneak Attack.
Blood Moon is another great constructed card that I think is less useful here, but that doesn't mean you should leave it out. It's a lot better than Through the Breach, since it can really grind out a lot of advantage across long multiplayer games. I was going to argue that you should cut it, but thinking over it more carefully, I'm not against keeping it. The reason to cut it is just that it is eating up a whole slot on hate. I have a principal that any hate card should do more than just hate if possible to help economize limited slots. That doesn't mean you should omit Moon, but it's a very important principal when building a cube this small. That's why I'm always arguing for cards like Abrade and Goblin Trashmaster over cards like Shatterstorm.
What's the idea on Burning Wish? I don't feel like you want to draft sorceries to leave them in your sideboard for a toolbox. You miss out on crucial maindeck cards that way. Just play the sorcery you want. Is this part of some combo that I don't know? Or are you playing so that they can get any sorcery from the collection? I don't understand what this card is doing.
Other cards that look cuttable are Dictate of the Twin Gods and Magma Phoenix. After that, Anger of the Gods, as discussed. Dictate is a clearly powerful card, and maybe it should stay in just because it leads to fun or crazy game-states. My reasoning for cutting it would be it's a five-mana enchantment that doesn't directly effect the board. That's a huge red-flag in cube. You're also playing multiple other enchantments without board presence, and Dictate is the one that seems least important to me. Most people would probably tell you to cut Flameshadow Conjuring too, but I think that card has potential here. Magma Phoenix is something you already mentioned replacing, and I don't think it would be missed.
So for three cuts, I would say Through the Breach, Burning Wish, and Dictate of the Twin Gods.
I can't image you or anyone ever being disappointed with Lightning Bolt in cube. Anybody disappointed by bolt has unreasonable expectations.
I definitely would argue for Shattering Spree over Shatterstorm. The only reason to play the latter over the former is if there are crucial shroud and hexproof artifacts in the format (like Inkwell Leviathan), and Vandalbast is already effective as a sweeper. I've been trying to convince my sister to let me cut Shatterstorm from our cube for more versatile artifact hate for a while now. Personally I would argue in favor of Abrade or Manic Vandal here, but Shattering Spree is a very good card to play. It's so much better than Smelt it's ridiculous.
Moving outside of red, the first thing that strikes me is that you could do a lot better than guildgates and the Scoured Barrens cycle. My advice to you is my advice to everyone, and it's the best advice I've given you yet: add ten trilands (Opulent Palace). The only cycle of ETB tapped lands that I like better for cube are the manlands (Raging Ravine), and some of those are expensive. Trilands are sooooooo nice to have when you're looking at a pack. It makes choosing your colors, and considering splashes so much less stressful. The next step in improving mana would be to replace the Scoured Barrens cycle with painlands (Battlefield Forge). If you are indulging in Endbringer, painlands make a huge difference, and they're also just great ETB untapped lands that are pretty budget friendly. If you just replace ten gates with ten trilands, your cube will get a lot better instantly.
I'll return with more thoughts on the multicolor, artifact, and land sections. I hope my thoughts are helpful.
Dragonmaster Outcast is not that good of a card in most cubes, but I think this is a good home for it. Multiplayer usually ends up in a stalled board at some point, and Dragonmaster is really good at turning that to your advantage. It's a pretty good choice for red one-drops (which are a surprisingly weak slot). I wish you had more to do with Goblin Welder. Spine of Ish Sah, Sundering Titan, and Inkwell Leviathan are cards that might help. Welder is the main reason to keep your limited three-color section in: Sphinx of the Steel Wind is your best Sneak Attack and Welder target, despite being basically uncastable in a red deck.
I personally like Dragonmaster Outcast because it can be quite effective late game. I used to have a dedicated multiplayer deck with Goblin Welder and I absolutely love this card, but I do agree that the current artifacts in the cube are not optimal for this guy to thrive. However, that section will be updated in the future as well, so I prefer to leave him in.
I don't see much of a use for Through the Breach. That card is insane if you're getting something insane with it, but in your cube, you're probably paying five to get a seven-drop primordial for one turn. At that rate, you're better off with a ramp spell than with Through the Breach. You need something on eldrazi titan level to make it worth committing. Sphinx of the Steel Wind is your only truly great target, and attacking once with it doesn't always save you. Sneak Attack could benefit from more targets too, but that card is an engine you can build around, whereas Through the Breach is a one-off that lingers in your hand when you don't have a target. I think you are much better off playing Elvish Piper than this card. This seems like a bad Sneak Attack to me, and you're playing the good Sneak Attack.
Yes, I agree that Through the Breach might not be as good here. I'll probably remove it once again, though I do have Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Griselbrand and Worldspine Wurm lying around and those might make this card viable again. Though one shotting a player with Emmy might not be considered fun for the target.
Blood Moon is another great constructed card that I think is less useful here, but that doesn't mean you should leave it out. It's a lot better than Through the Breach, since it can really grind out a lot of advantage across long multiplayer games. I was going to argue that you should cut it, but thinking over it more carefully, I'm not against keeping it. The reason to cut it is just that it is eating up a whole slot on hate. I have a principal that any hate card should do more than just hate if possible to help economize limited slots. That doesn't mean you should omit Moon, but it's a very important principal when building a cube this small. That's why I'm always arguing for cards like Abrade and Goblin Trashmaster over cards like Shatterstorm.
I had my doubts about Blood Moon as well, because you don't want to put it in just because it's a good card. I can see it improve though as the manabase will get updated.
What's the idea on Burning Wish? I don't feel like you want to draft sorceries to leave them in your sideboard for a toolbox. You miss out on crucial maindeck cards that way. Just play the sorcery you want. Is this part of some combo that I don't know? Or are you playing so that they can get any sorcery from the collection? I don't understand what this card is doing.
Yes, perhaps Wish isn't the best addition. You could leave Insurrection in your side board and hit it up. But you could just put it in your deck as well. So I think this card can easily be left out.
Moving outside of red, the first thing that strikes me is that you could do a lot better than guildgates and the Scoured Barrens cycle. My advice to you is my advice to everyone, and it's the best advice I've given you yet: add ten trilands (Opulent Palace). The only cycle of ETB tapped lands that I like better for cube are the manlands (Raging Ravine), and some of those are expensive. Trilands are sooooooo nice to have when you're looking at a pack. It makes choosing your colors, and considering splashes so much less stressful. The next step in improving mana would be to replace the Scoured Barrens cycle with painlands (Battlefield Forge). If you are indulging in Endbringer, painlands make a huge difference, and they're also just great ETB untapped lands that are pretty budget friendly. If you just replace ten gates with ten trilands, your cube will get a lot better instantly.
I'll think about your suggestion for the tri lands. I agree that it would improve the manabase. I am working on getting a singleton of all the check lands and so far I'm only missing Clifftop Retreat, Woodland Cemetery and Drowned Catacomb. So they're on my list of cards to purchase and then I can remove some of the lands in there currently. I'm also working on getting all the shock lands and I just need to get my hands on Blood Crypt and Stomping Ground. The downside about the shock lands is that I don't really feel that they're good to introduce without fetch lands and I still have to get a copy of all the Zendikar fetchlands and that's got quite a pricetag on it. So introducing shock + fetch might have to wait a bit longer.
I'll return with more thoughts on the multicolor, artifact, and land sections. I hope my thoughts are helpful.
I definitely appreciate the assistance! The current form of the Cube is mainly a concession of the good cards I had at the time and the best I found in some bulk purchase. So it's always good to get insight from other players on how to improve the card pool and synergies between that!
So taking everything into consideration, I think we end up with the following cuts and additions for red:
I think that should conclude things for red for now unless anyone comes with a great budget alternative for some of the cards. In the long run, I might want to add Imperial Recruiter and/or Wheel of Fortune. But taking into consideration the other sections I have yet to update and the budget of that. I'll put that on hold.
I'm pretty happy with the 4 drops as well. Though, if I had to cut something here, it would probably be Clone and/or Whirler Rogue. Not sure if I should replace both by a different 4 drop. But I think the best choice would be Master Transmuter and maybe Glen Elendra Archmage.
I'm pretty happy with the +6 CMC creature cards. Sphinx of Magosi can be replaced by Consecrated Sphinx. I had my eyes on the latter for quite some time, but didn't buy it earlier due to its price tag. I see it has dropped a bit since last I checked (quite some time ago). So I might spend the cash here. The question is whether or not I should make some room for Inkwell Leviathan and Torrential Gearhulk. I'll consider Memnarch for the artifact section.
Spells
What are the thoughts on keeping High Tide in? I'll probably want to add Ponder (and maybe Brainstorm? Don't have fetchlands in yet).
What are thoughts on the current permission suite and/or changes that can be made?
Your blue twos are indeed quite strong. Snappy's great, but not the expensive card I'd go buying if I were you (at least not for this cube). It would be a shame (but understandable) to cut Thought Courier, but Enclave Cryptologist is another similar card you could consider (seeing as you have 0 blue one-drops).
I also concur on your three drops. Until your artifact section is settled, it'll be difficult to tell what the targets are going to be, but that's best done at that stage with mages in mind. Notably, after the artifact section is settled, you should look again to make sure you're playing the right mages. Trophy Mage may be better than Treasure Mage in the end. I do think that these are really strong cards to add. Guard Gomazoa occurs to me as a cards that might be good as a defensive card in multiplayer, but that doesn't mean you need it.
I think your four drops are strong. Clone is classic, but it can be cut without pain: you are playing Phantasmal Image after all. I definitely don't think you should cut Whirler Rogue. That card seems to play really well, and once again, with all your Impact Tremors synergy, you really need the token support. Talrand, Sky Summoner is an interesting card. I think traditional wisdom would call it weak but I'm a fan of engine cards. I think Murmuring Mystic is a very interesting comparison: Talrand has a higher ceiling, and Mystic a higher floor. I think the blocking capabilities of the Mystic might make it play better in multiplayer (where a lot can happen before you untap). That is pure speculation, though. I would just cut Clone for Master Transmuter to support your burgeoning artifact support. Traditional wisdom would probably say cut Clone and Talrand for Glen Elendra Archmage and something like Sower of Temptation or Dungeon Geists, but I'm not always a fan of traditional wisdom.
Five drops are a bit weaker in blue creatures, I feel. Mulldrifter is definitely a keep, and Arcane Savant is totally playable if you want him, but by no means necessary. The three five-drops you listed are all fine, but none of them are all that enticing. I think conventional wisdom can do you well here: Meloku the Clouded Mirror can be very much the token support you are looking for, and the card has a lot of random synergies from bouncing lands that you'd never think about. Morphling is good, but it's just a creature, and I don't think it's what your cube is really asking for. Riptide Shapeshifter is an interesting one from my cube (I doubt anybody else plays it). You may not be interested, but I like to remind people it exists. With five drops, I would say cut Minister of Predicaments and Arcane Savant for Meloku and Enclave Cryptologist. That may sound strange, but it's a thought. Of Sphinx of Lost Truths, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, and Magus of the Future, I think those are all strong cards, on about the same level, and if you want to play one of them, you should just pick your favorite.
I hate Consecrated Sphinx. I would much rather see you play Torrential Gearhulk. But that's just a personal bias I have against the card: I also hate Grave Titan and Baneslayer Angel regardless of how good they are. You should probably ignore my opinion there. It's just a personal vendetta. I do like Inkwell Leviathan over Sphinx of Uthuun. Sphinx is your most generic fatty, and think Inky is almost a must with all the artifact and creature cheats you've been adding.
Blue Spells
So I'm mostly with you on your blue creatures. I have only small suggestions and nit-pickings. However, I see a lot of things to improve in your spells.
First off, Ponder and Brainstorm indispensable effects regardless of fetchlands.
I really like High Tide (and the more forgotten Bubbling Muck), but there are a LOT of blue spells I would play first. Mystical Tutor is good and all but it doesn't strike me as a card to spend a slot on without super broken instants in the format. Memory Lapse and Mana Leak are better than Arcane Denial. Forbid is better than Dissipate. Desertion is actually not too bad in multiplayer: with multiple opponents, it's less telegraphed, and you have more opportunities to get value. I wouldn't play that card in two-player, though. Worldly Counsel out for Intuition is strong. But only if you already have Intuition and want to play it. That card is worth almost as much as Force of Will now. Impulse, See Beyond, or Chart a Course are all totally solid in that slot.
As much as I love the synergy of proliferate, I think Deep Analysis is much stronger for your cube than Tezzeret's Gambit.
I like Tezzeret the Seeker as a direct replacement for Fabricate (unless you want both).
I also think that Courier's Capsule is quite replaceable. It's a good cut for Dig Through Time. If you like the idea of an artifact in this slot, I suggest Cumber Stone. I think that will play well in multiplayer.
I personally don't like miracles, so I would play Engulf the Shore over Devastation Tide. I also like that Engulf can be unbalanced in your favor, but again, that's personal. Tide is good, and a lot of people would disagree with me here. Mystic Remora is sweet in multiplayer. I wouldn't have thought of it. Good call.
Other blue spells I like (most of which should get their turn before High Tide) include Commit // Memory, Power Sink, Miscalculation, Portent, Talrand's Invocation (which is a stronger card than Talrand in my experience), Flood, Condescend, Force Spike, Gush, Remand, and Puca's Mischief.
More expensive cards include Show and Tell, Cryptic Command, Mystic Confluence, and Bribery (which is cookoo bananas redonkuflonk). If you're actually buying valuable cards for your cube, I think all of these are much stronger than Omniscience or Snapcaster Mage, but Snappy is a stronger card in general, and great in cube. The only reason I'd go for other cards first is that your two drops aren't lacking the way your spells are. Be your own judge. Show and Tell would be the first from the list I'd add to this cube.
Maybe that's too many four drops, so you can reswap Engulf and Devastation Tide, and maybe cut Fact or Fiction for a cheaper spell like Chart a Course. Maybe Force Spike or Miscalculation instead of Commit // Memory.
As usual, feel free to take my suggestions with a grain of salt. I wish I had more insight on great multiplayer cards. Is Chain of Vapor good?
I also concur on your three drops. Until your artifact section is settled, it'll be difficult to tell what the targets are going to be, but that's best done at that stage with mages in mind. Notably, after the artifact section is settled, you should look again to make sure you're playing the right mages. Trophy Mage may be better than Treasure Mage in the end. I do think that these are really strong cards to add. Guard Gomazoa occurs to me as a cards that might be good as a defensive card in multiplayer, but that doesn't mean you need it.
I agree with your statement. It will be better to have a better view at the artifact list before making the cuts / adds here. I'll probably already buy a copy of all 3 Mages since they're quite cheap.
I think your four drops are strong. Clone is classic, but it can be cut without pain: you are playing Phantasmal Image after all. I definitely don't think you should cut Whirler Rogue. That card seems to play really well, and once again, with all your Impact Tremors synergy, you really need the token support. Talrand, Sky Summoner is an interesting card. I think traditional wisdom would call it weak but I'm a fan of engine cards. I think Murmuring Mystic is a very interesting comparison: Talrand has a higher ceiling, and Mystic a higher floor. I think the blocking capabilities of the Mystic might make it play better in multiplayer (where a lot can happen before you untap). That is pure speculation, though. I would just cut Clone for Master Transmuter to support your burgeoning artifact support. Traditional wisdom would probably say cut Clone and Talrand for Glen Elendra Archmage and something like Sower of Temptation or Dungeon Geists, but I'm not always a fan of traditional wisdom.
I'll pick up a copy of Murmuring Mystic because it's quite cheap and I too think that the higher defence might make him slightly better as opposed to Talrand here. I'll have to see if I end up making the actual swap as well!
[quote from="Mergatroid_Jones »" url="/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-lists/804530-360-unpowered-multiplayer-redesigns-cube?comment=12"]Five drops are a bit weaker in blue creatures, I feel. Mulldrifter is definitely a keep, and Arcane Savant is totally playable if you want him, but by no means necessary. The three five-drops you listed are all fine, but none of them are all that enticing. I think conventional wisdom can do you well here: Meloku the Clouded Mirror can be very much the token support you are looking for, and the card has a lot of random synergies from bouncing lands that you'd never think about. Morphling is good, but it's just a creature, and I don't think it's what your cube is really asking for. Riptide Shapeshifter is an interesting one from my cube (I doubt anybody else plays it). You may not be interested, but I like to remind people it exists. With five drops, I would say cut Minister of Predicaments and Arcane Savant for Meloku and Enclave Cryptologist. That may sound strange, but it's a thought. Of Sphinx of Lost Truths, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, and Magus of the Future, I think those are all strong cards, on about the same level, and if you want to play one of them, you should just pick your favorite.
I definitely like your suggestion of Meloku the Clouded Mirror here and I think that this would be a great addition. I do prefer one of the 5 drops I mentioned over Enclave Cryptologist. My preference would go to either Teferi or Magus. However, the Sphinx would be the easier to cast. I'll probably buy all 3 of them and maybe rotate them around every once in while to see which would be better.
I hate Consecrated Sphinx. I would much rather see you play Torrential Gearhulk. But that's just a personal bias I have against the card: I also hate Grave Titan and Baneslayer Angel regardless of how good they are. You should probably ignore my opinion there. It's just a personal vendetta. I do like Inkwell Leviathan over Sphinx of Uthuun. Sphinx is your most generic fatty, and think Inky is almost a must with all the artifact and creature cheats you've been adding.
Maybe that's too many four drops, so you can reswap Engulf and Devastation Tide, and maybe cut Fact or Fiction for a cheaper spell like Chart a Course. Maybe Force Spike or Miscalculation instead of Commit // Memory.
Thanks for making life easier. I'll stick to Devastation Tide of Engulf for now. As I have Show and Tell it's a simply choice to make. I'd like to add Dig Through Time and might prefer that over Commit // Memory. So if I sum up the changes for blue, I 'd end up with:
Izzet
Maybe Firemind's Foresight could be cut. But I'm not sure what to bring in instead. I might not consider Dack Fayden at the moment due to it's price tag.
Azorius: Venser is great support for blinks, and is among my favorite planeswalkers for cube, so I think you made the right call. But with that change made, 3/4 of your Azorius section is blink support, which isn't necessary. Mistmeadow Witch is the weak one, and I'd cut it. Supreme Verdict is obviously a strong card. I do like Wall of Denial a lot: it really is the ultimate classic wall. You are supporting blink pretty heavily, so ETBs should probably be more prioritized, even if you cut Witch. With this in mind, Reflector Mage is better than Wall of Denial, for example.
Dimir: Consuming Aberration and Sire of Stagnation look great for multiplayer. I always knew Sire of Stagnation would be good for something. I like Havengul Lich a lot (though I've never played with it). Baleful Strix is great as well (and likes to blink). Some other strong options include the classic Psychatog, and Connive // Concoct (which seems to play well for people, though I haven't tried it). Undervalued cards from my cube include Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K. (silver bordered, I know), and Possessed Skaab (likes to blink). A multiplayer card that springs to mind is Rags // Riches. It may not be good though.
Rakdos: Cryptborn Horror and Havoc Festival are easy cuts. Terminate is just good. It could be Dreadbore instead, but there's no need with as few planeswalkers as your playing. It could also be Wrecking Ball, but land destruction is more of a 1v1 thing. Sire of Insanity is fun. I never liked Olivia Voldarenall that much, but maybe she plays better in multiplayer. Mogis, God of Slaughter is great in my cube, and looks great for multiplayer. So does Angrath, the Flame-Chained, but those are $8 and $13 cards. Spontaneous Combustion is a strong instant-speed wrath. Void probably picks up some utility in multiplayer. People say good things about Judith, the Scourge Diva, and I think she'd be great in multiplayer. I have a copy, but haven't gotten to test. The Scorpion God is an interesting late game option: very resilient, draws cards while killing creatures, and has random synergies. Murderous Redcap is hard to argue with: tons of synergies, great value, and a flexible mana cost. Grenzo is good, and a good choice. Olivia is fine, but there are many other fun choices.
Gruul: I like your Gruul choices. Ruric Thar and Dragonlair Spider are cool ways to punish enemies for doing normal things. Cindervines fits into this theme as well, and could easily replace Hull Breach (not that that card is bad). Decimate is the other sweet card I know in that slot.
Selesnya: Knight of the Reliquary is sweet. I didn't really realize that enchantress was a strongly supported archetype at first, so Sterling Grove seemed particularly out of place. With that in mind, my thoughts change. Suddenly I actually do like Aura Shards over Qasali Pridemage (also because it's good with blinks), but I prefer Armadillo Cloak to both of them. You can put your artifact/ enchantment hate in mono green and white, and save the guild slots for more unique effects. You definitely don't have room for random stuff like Kitchen Finks. Since enchantments are a dedicated archetype, I think there's some crucial archetype support missing from the mono colors. The most important things being Flickering Ward and Eidolon of Blossoms.
Golgari: Horray for Deathrite Shaman! I like Jarad better than Abrupt Decay. Decay is just removal, and it's pretty limited at that. I like Deathreap Ritual here. It's not good enough for 1v1, but muliplayer gives it just enough kick to be a viable aristocrats support card. Deed is absolutely needed. Jarad is still the most cuttable card, but there's no need to cut him. He's a pretty solid engine.
Simic: I'm happy with your current list too. It's a sweet list.
Boros: It's a shame this is the only guild with only three slots. If you were going to add another, I would recommend Boros Reckoner or Goblin Trenches. (Trenches is pretty great with Impact Tremors cards, and Reckoner is pretty great with Pyrohemia and such).
Sphinx of the Steel Wind can be classified as an artifact, since it's the only three color card. As stated, it is good support for a lot of other cards.
On Blue:
I think your changes look really good. Mystic Confluence and Bribery are both way better than Desertion. Bribery is particularly obscene, but I don't think it's really worth the $20 pricetag.
Azorius: Venser is great support for blinks, and is among my favorite planeswalkers for cube, so I think you made the right call. But with that change made, 3/4 of your Azorius section is blink support, which isn't necessary. Mistmeadow Witch is the weak one, and I'd cut it. Supreme Verdict is obviously a strong card. I do like Wall of Denial a lot: it really is the ultimate classic wall. You are supporting blink pretty heavily, so ETBs should probably be more prioritized, even if you cut Witch. With this in mind, Reflector Mage is better than Wall of Denial, for example.
Nice mention. I'll cut the Mistmeadow and the Wall for Reflector Mage and Venser!
Dimir: Consuming Aberration and Sire of Stagnation look great for multiplayer. I always knew Sire of Stagnation would be good for something. I like Havengul Lich a lot (though I've never played with it). Baleful Strix is great as well (and likes to blink). Some other strong options include the classic Psychatog, and Connive // Concoct (which seems to play well for people, though I haven't tried it). Undervalued cards from my cube include Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K. (silver bordered, I know), and Possessed Skaab (likes to blink). A multiplayer card that springs to mind is Rags // Riches. It may not be good though.
Phoebe is an interesting card and I hadn't heard of her until now. Nonetheless, I think I'll stick with Havengul Lich and Strix here.
Rakdos: Cryptborn Horror and Havoc Festival are easy cuts. Terminate is just good. It could be Dreadbore instead, but there's no need with as few planeswalkers as your playing. It could also be Wrecking Ball, but land destruction is more of a 1v1 thing. Sire of Insanity is fun. I never liked Olivia Voldarenall that much, but maybe she plays better in multiplayer. Mogis, God of Slaughter is great in my cube, and looks great for multiplayer. So does Angrath, the Flame-Chained, but those are $8 and $13 cards. Spontaneous Combustion is a strong instant-speed wrath. Void probably picks up some utility in multiplayer. People say good things about Judith, the Scourge Diva, and I think she'd be great in multiplayer. I have a copy, but haven't gotten to test. The Scorpion God is an interesting late game option: very resilient, draws cards while killing creatures, and has random synergies. Murderous Redcap is hard to argue with: tons of synergies, great value, and a flexible mana cost. Grenzo is good, and a good choice. Olivia is fine, but there are many other fun choices.
I had forgotten about Dreadbore! I think that would indeed be a good addition as well! Mogis is actually pretty insane and The Scorpion God seems to be a very interesting card as well! I think I'll go for Mogis here instead of Grenzo!
Selesnya: Knight of the Reliquary is sweet. I didn't really realize that enchantress was a strongly supported archetype at first, so Sterling Grove seemed particularly out of place. With that in mind, my thoughts change. Suddenly I actually do like Aura Shards over Qasali Pridemage (also because it's good with blinks), but I prefer Armadillo Cloak to both of them. You can put your artifact/ enchantment hate in mono green and white, and save the guild slots for more unique effects. You definitely don't have room for random stuff like Kitchen Finks. Since enchantments are a dedicated archetype, I think there's some crucial archetype support missing from the mono colors. The most important things being Flickering Ward and Eidolon of Blossoms.
Yes, I own a multiplayer / legacy Enchantress deck, so at the time it felt pretty good to put in some of those cards in the Cube as it does play very well im multiplayer. However, I have been thinking about perhaps cutting some of those out because they're underplayed (e.g. Argothian Enhantress and Enchantress Presence). So I'll have to think a bit here about whether or not I want to keep that theme in or whether I should support it a bit better with the additions you've mentioned. I think Armadillo Cloak is a fine suggestion here as to have something different over the typical artifact / enchantment hate - which I think is already well taken care of by some of the other cards in the cube. However, I do see that I had mistakenly typed Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers as opposed to Wilt-Leaf Liege which I had in mind. Since I have the latter card, I'll put that in first.
Boros: It's a shame this is the only guild with only three slots. If you were going to add another, I would recommend Boros Reckoner or Goblin Trenches. (Trenches is pretty great with Impact Tremors cards, and Reckoner is pretty great with Pyrohemia and such).
Sphinx of the Steel Wind can be classified as an artifact, since it's the only three color card. As stated, it is good support for a lot of other cards.
So let's move Sphinx to the artifact section as that will offer room for Boros Reckoner!
PS: I'll work on updating my list in my initial post and Cube tutor to already include the cards I own
I'm not sure about whether or not to keep in Waste Not. I feel it's always been hard to get it going without sufficient discard support and since I'm also letting go of Liliana's Specter and Liliana's Caress I don't think this card is that playable in the cube?
Forced discards to victory (Waste Not and friends) is a kinda parasitic archetype. If you were going to continue supporting it, Memory Jar, Creeping Dread, and Fell Specter would be cards to look at, but I think you're right to cut the archetype.
Army of the Damned vs Rise of the Dark Realms is an interesting question. It's a matter higher floor vs higher ceiling. I like Army better because you can discard it early to use it late, but Rise is much flashier and more memorable for multiplayer (and it's hard to get flashier than Army of the Damned).
I like Skirsdag High Priest in my cube, but you may find it hard to set up. It's a cool aristocrats card, though. I can see solid reasons for each of the cards you are adding. The mana cost on Grave Pact gives me pause, but I suppose you are adding in a devotion subtheme with that, Erebos, and Geralf's Messenger. That said, there are plenty of times you would much rather have Seal of Doom than Grave Pact.
I noticed that you removed Seal of Doom and Devour Flesh without adding any removal to replace them (although Pact can sort of count). If you were going to throw another piece of removal in, my vote would be for Ravenous Chupacabra or Nekrataal, since blink synergy is big for your cube.
Now onto random suggestions. I'm not saying you should necessarily add these cards, but these are black cards from my cube that I at least think you should be aware of: Crypt Rats / Plague Spitter (if you need even MORE pestilence), Weaponcraft Enthusiast (for BR Purphoros, aristocrats, esper blinks, and black splash in artifacts), Woebringer Demon (better trigger for multiplayer than Anowon, the Ruin Sage, but still pretty fragile), Necrologia (this is just goodstuff, but it's my favorite black card-draw spell), Call the Bloodline (good discard outlet, source of life gain, good for soul sisters/ Purphoros, and an enchantment that leads to a board presence, but very bad against pestilence), Desolation (I don't know how this terrifying card isn't more well known), Hell's Caretaker (the Elvish Piper of reanimator: very fragile, but a great engine, and coincidentally a great sacrifice outlet), Nirkana Revenant (big mana black doesn't have all that many great support cards, but it's a cool archetype, and this is as good as it gets outside of Crypt Ghast-- Bubbling Muck is fun too), and Pawn of Ulamog/ Sifter of Skulls (as purphoros and aristocrats support, as well as a fantastic bridge between the two).
If you are looking for cuts, the place I'd look in in goodstuff cards that don't really support your archetypes. I'm not saying you should cut these cards: they are good cards. The reason to do so would just be to add cards that are more synergistic. Wight of Precinct Six or Mortivore (including the more synergistic Nighthowler, you have this effect well represented, and could drop one of the iterations), Vampire Nighthawk (this card is the perfect example of a great goodstuff card that doesn't really do much to support any archetypes in your cube-- still a great card, though), Abyssal Persecutor (I like this card a lot, but it is just a big guy-- then again that text box can lead to some wacky multiplayer situaitons) Grave Titan (ignore this suggestion, I just have a personal vendetta against this card because I don't like its design), and Soul of Innistrad (although this is cool grave support), Syphon Soul (This is efficient for its cost in multiplayer, but isn't necessary to the format), Buried Alive (This is super great, and it's great with Oversold Cemetery, but you've already got Entomb-- I'd consider cutting one of the two for something that fills the graveyard while also supporting other archetypes).
I'm particularly curious about Oversold Cemetery. I've never played with the card, but it is cool as hell.
As a side note, I'm noticing a distinct lack of cards from multiplayer-oriented supplementals. There are a number of mechanics in them that are designed for multiplayer (such as voting and goad) that probably play very well in multiplayer, though I don't know those cards very well, and I wouldn't really know what to recommend beyond cards that are played in traditional cubes like Coercive Portal.
Black:
Of your cuts, I think the only one I would caution against cutting (though it's sad to see Seal of Doom go with an enchantress theme on the rise) is Nezumi Graverobber. The Kamigawa flip cards are definitely ugly, but you are lacking in graveyard hate. You really need a few solid pieces somewhere in the environment, though not necessarily in black. Remorseful Cleric and Relic of Progenitus are probably the best ones, followed by Nezumi Graverobber. Bojuka Bog, and Scrabbling Claws/Phyrexian Furnace are okay too. If only Agent of Erebos were a little better...
Yes, it might be better to keep in Nezumi for now. I guess I could think about replacing it with Cemetery Reaper as well if we're going a bit more on the zombie theme. Although Nezumi might just be better now.
Army of the Damned vs Rise of the Dark Realms is an interesting question. It's a matter higher floor vs higher ceiling. I like Army better because you can discard it early to use it late, but Rise is much flashier and more memorable for multiplayer (and it's hard to get flashier than Army of the Damned).
I own both cards, but I think I'll go for Rise now. I feel it offers black what Blatant Thievery does for blue and Insurrection for red.
I like Skirsdag High Priest in my cube, but you may find it hard to set up. It's a cool aristocrats card, though. I can see solid reasons for each of the cards you are adding. The mana cost on Grave Pact gives me pause, but I suppose you are adding in a devotion subtheme with that, Erebos, and Geralf's Messenger. That said, there are plenty of times you would much rather have Seal of Doom than Grave Pact.
I noticed that you removed Seal of Doom and Devour Flesh without adding any removal to replace them (although Pact can sort of count). If you were going to throw another piece of removal in, my vote would be for Ravenous Chupacabra or Nekrataal, since blink synergy is big for your cube.
I must admit that, also keeping in mind that the enchantress theme is still around, it will probably be best to just keep Seal of Doom in.
Of your projected cuts, the only one I'm sad to see go is Temur Sabertooth, but I'm not going to really gun for it. Your adds look pretty strong, particularly Fauna Shaman. You don't have tons of targets for Natural Order, but there are probably enough. If you wanted another target, perhaps a gold card (with green) could fill that slot, like Dragonlord Atarka ($9 card), Simic Skyswallower, or Novablast Wurm. Or in monogreen, Verdant Force, Terrastodon, Pelakka Wurm, or Polyraptor. Polyraptor being my favorite suggestion because of the Pestilence interaction.
For the most part, I have to say your green section looks really strong. I don't think Garruk's Packleader is doing all that much, and Soul of Zendikar is replaceable. Back to Nature may be a bit narrow: it's a silver bullet against one deck, but your cube isn't full of silver bullets like that. Evolution Charm could come out for an easy flex slot. I'd replace Kruphix's Insight with a different enchantment support card. I'm partial to Whip Silk for its interaction with enchantresses, but it's no Flickering Ward. I'd replace Commune with Nature with Oath of Nissa because it's an enchantment, and because I've found it to be easier to get value out of (the planeswalker text doesn't really matter). Other random things I recommend are Awakening Zone (good for Purphoros, aristocrats, enchantress, ramp, and soul sisters, but bad against pestilence), and Rancor (just good). From Beyond isn't as good as Awakening Zone, but it's good.
But basically, green doesn't need to improve much.
White Blade Splicer and Restoration Angel are both very strong additions. Splicer is particularly useful here. With all your blinks/ soul sisters/ Purphuros, and everything else, anything that creates two creatures at once is good. (I probably should have mentioned Eldrazi Skyspawner with blue). Auramancer and Basilica Guards are both fine, but both replaceable (though Auramancer has plenty of potential synergies).
I like Suture Priest over Ajani's Pridemate. I feel like it picks up some value in multiplayer, and Pridemate is mostly good in the soul sisters deck anyway. Maybe Priest isn't needed, but Pridemate seems replaceable.
Your knight mini-theme is a nice: it only takes up two slots to create the theme (Knight Exemplar and Kinsbaile Cavalier), and beyond that you just have to play good knights (which you are). Gallant Cavalry might be just the core set common for you: Call the Cavalry has played well for me so far, and your cube is full of blinks. The only other real card for this archetype is History of Benalia. That card is 14$, and I don't think you really need it, but it does support every archetype (certain blinks reset it, multiple sisters triggers, enchantment with a board presence, knight synergy, and aggro playable).
The soldier theme is much less of a thing than the knight thing by my reckoning. Captain of the Watch is totally solid (lots of etbs, plus they can survive a pestilence trigger), but Knight-Captain of Eos and Mobilization are both pretty slow for dude factories. I guess Knight Captain should stay since it's a knight, is a blinkable army in a can, and saves you with fogs. But Mobilization seems really really clunky, and I think there are many token generators that could supplant it (and you shouldn't worry about the tiny soldier synergy). Secure the Wastes is probably the most powerful. Heliod, God of the Sun and Legion's Landing are decent enchantment based options here, but for easy enchantment slots, I would recommend removal. Honestly I think you'll be a lot better off if you just cut Mobilization for Gallant Cavalry.
The most playable enchantments in all of white tend to be removal. Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are the gold standard for white removal, but it's tough to pass up the opportunity to add premium enchantment slots. I'd at least cut Condemn for enchantment based removal, and I could see cutting a few other cards for some as well. Here's the best I can think of/find: Pacifism, Cage of Hands (replays for enchantresses), Prison Term, Recumbent Bliss, Spectral Grasp (stumbled upon this multiplayer card), Oblivion Ring, Banishing Light, Cast Out, Conclave Tribunal (which all importantly hit enchantments), and Journey to Nowhere. Maybe you should keep Back to Nature, but I don't think you need Tempest of Light as well. I'd replace it and Revoke Existence with things from this list that also hit artifact/ enchantments. It's true that I'm suggesting you cut cheaper cards for three and four drop, though.
Indomitable Archangel is not important. It's fine, but it's just a flying beater, and it doesn't really support an artifact deck, it just gets better if you have artifacts.
I like Angelic Arbiter in multiplayer. I'm less convinced about Angel of Glory's Rise. Perhaps you have enough humans and zombies in the cube to make it a big, fun, swingy effect. I've never tried the card, so I don't know. In a multiplayer game, I suppose you can be generally guaranteed at least one zombie. Decree of Justice and Eternal Dragon are cards that could go in that slot.
Eldrazi Displacer (and Endbringer) need painlands to function. Displacer is a very strong card so long as you can support it without needing Wastes in your deck. Nobody wants to have to play Wastes. I think if you're gonna support C, you've gotta gotta play painlands. They're strong lands anyway. Displacer is great and all, but you have quite a bit of blink support without it. There's always Angel of Condemnation.
I'm not a fan of Honor of the Pure (though I guess it's still in my cube). I always found it was too narrow unless you were making white token armies (which would be better supported with another token generator). I prefer Always Watching (and vigilance is useful in multiplayer), but my favorite white anthem effect is Marshal's Anthem. As you've probably figured out, I love it when one card fills two slots.
I am intrigued by Solitary Confinement. If you have Phyrexian Arena or such, you can make a sweet engine, and the effect can be extremely powerful. I'm definitely not going to suggest you cut it, but it's one I've never used.
I love Blind Obedience here. The Kismet effect is much more powerful in multiplayer, and the taxing goes wide quite nicely as well, but it doesn't exactly make you a target, which is nice.
Flickering Ward is a must, as I think I've already said. It is surprisingly good on its own, and forms a very easy combo with any enchantress. It makes an enchantress deck feel like an enchantress deck, and more importantly, it draws cards like mad.
Well, that's all the colors. You may be feeling bogged down by now. Don't let the breadth of my suggestions bother you. I mention a lot of great cards, but you can't play most of them at your size. The most important thing is that you're cutting and adding cards for the right reasons. Your cube is moving in the right direction regardless of anything else. I'm not totally done with suggestions yet, but I'm nearly there.
White Blade Splicer and Restoration Angel are both very strong additions. Splicer is particularly useful here. With all your blinks/ soul sisters/ Purphuros, and everything else, anything that creates two creatures at once is good. (I probably should have mentioned Eldrazi Skyspawner with blue). Auramancer and Basilica Guards are both fine, but both replaceable (though Auramancer has plenty of potential synergies).
I will rethink about my decision to cut Auramancer due to the Enchantress theme. However, I absolutely have no concerns about letting go of Basilica Guards here. Always felt it to be one of the weaker cards and haven't really seen anyone else play it much either.
I like Suture Priest over Ajani's Pridemate. I feel like it picks up some value in multiplayer, and Pridemate is mostly good in the soul sisters deck anyway. Maybe Priest isn't needed, but Pridemate seems replaceable.
I agree that Pridemate is an easy cut to make as well. Suture Priest might be good to use instead, although I am also considering Weathered Wayfarer and/or Knight of the White Orchid.
Your knight mini-theme is a nice: it only takes up two slots to create the theme (Knight Exemplar and Kinsbaile Cavalier), and beyond that you just have to play good knights (which you are). Gallant Cavalry might be just the core set common for you: Call the Cavalry has played well for me so far, and your cube is full of blinks. The only other real card for this archetype is History of Benalia. That card is 14$, and I don't think you really need it, but it does support every archetype (certain blinks reset it, multiple sisters triggers, enchantment with a board presence, knight synergy, and aggro playable).
I have been having my doubts about keeping in the knight theme. I like it because I used to have a dedicated knight deck in the past for multiplayer games, but since our draft are usually with 4-6 people and only on rare occasion with 8, I'm not sure if it's good enough.
The soldier theme is much less of a thing than the knight thing by my reckoning. Captain of the Watch is totally solid (lots of etbs, plus they can survive a pestilence trigger), but Knight-Captain of Eos and Mobilization are both pretty slow for dude factories. I guess Knight Captain should stay since it's a knight, is a blinkable army in a can, and saves you with fogs. But Mobilization seems really really clunky, and I think there are many token generators that could supplant it (and you shouldn't worry about the tiny soldier synergy). Secure the Wastes is probably the most powerful. Heliod, God of the Sun and Legion's Landing are decent enchantment based options here, but for easy enchantment slots, I would recommend removal. Honestly I think you'll be a lot better off if you just cut Mobilization for Gallant Cavalry.
Your suggestion could be fine with all the blink effects. I'll think about it.
The most playable enchantments in all of white tend to be removal. Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are the gold standard for white removal, but it's tough to pass up the opportunity to add premium enchantment slots. I'd at least cut Condemn for enchantment based removal, and I could see cutting a few other cards for some as well. Here's the best I can think of/find: Pacifism, Cage of Hands (replays for enchantresses), Prison Term, Recumbent Bliss, Spectral Grasp (stumbled upon this multiplayer card), Oblivion Ring, Banishing Light, Cast Out, Conclave Tribunal (which all importantly hit enchantments), and Journey to Nowhere. Maybe you should keep Back to Nature, but I don't think you need Tempest of Light as well. I'd replace it and Revoke Existence with things from this list that also hit artifact/ enchantments. It's true that I'm suggesting you cut cheaper cards for three and four drop, though.
I have been thinking about including the good old O-ring for some time now. I'll have a look to have it in the list.
Indomitable Archangel is not important. It's fine, but it's just a flying beater, and it doesn't really support an artifact deck, it just gets better if you have artifacts.
I don't like it that much in this cube. I think my favourite replacement, even though a bit higher in price and one mana more, would be Archangel of Thune.
I like Angelic Arbiter in multiplayer. I'm less convinced about Angel of Glory's Rise. Perhaps you have enough humans and zombies in the cube to make it a big, fun, swingy effect. I've never tried the card, so I don't know. In a multiplayer game, I suppose you can be generally guaranteed at least one zombie. Decree of Justice and Eternal Dragon are cards that could go in that slot.
Yes, I think this was mainly some filler card since it wasn't that bad and good high in the curve, so I chose it at the time (also cause I owned it). One of my buddies with whom I frequently play has an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite so I'm going to see if we can include that in the cube instead. If I'm not mistaken, he also has an Avacyn, Angel of Hope. These would be my ideal 2 picks here, but I refrained from them so far due to their price tag.
Eldrazi Displacer (and Endbringer) need painlands to function. Displacer is a very strong card so long as you can support it without needing Wastes in your deck. Nobody wants to have to play Wastes. I think if you're gonna support C, you've gotta gotta play painlands. They're strong lands anyway. Displacer is great and all, but you have quite a bit of blink support without it. There's always Angel of Condemnation.
- I didn't realise this until you've just pointed this out. Same goes for my playgroup. So I'll have to look at replacing these in the long run because I do not intend to support wastes and / or include pain lands.
I have started buying most of the cards we've been discussing so I expect some big updates the next 2 weeks to all colors (except white), colorless and lands.
I just did a major update on CubeTutor and also updated the list in my original post with the changes we've been discussing on this forum. I am waiting for a couple more cards to arrive to do some minor updates and then I'll have to look at getting my hands on some cards which I haven't been able to acquire just yet. I'd definitely like to give a big thanks to Mergatroid_Jones for the assistance so far, I definitely feel that we've been able to improve the current Cube a lot and some colors feel really solid and I wouldn't make any more changes to them or just some minor minor tweaks!
I'll also work on updating my original post to reflect a bit more the other threads in this section so this can become more of a standard cube thread and I can share some more information on the cube itself!
From looking at White alone: White is the card-advantageless colour. Therefore White sets the baseline for all creatures outside of Green as each White creature and each White spell will have to compete for card advantage purely on-board, with no way to regain card-advantage in hand. I would cut all white spells that generate any card advantage, with a handful of exceptions being 2 (approximately) sweeps, Mentor of the Meek and Reveillark (for being a classic card). This will allow those effects to really shine and to make White greatest weakness more evident. Wall of Omens and cantrap spells are okay as one-of cards. They're not quite a break from this card-advantageless philosophy. However every other colour will need to accommodate white lack of card-advantage. So other colours should be limited in a few 2:1 spells, very few x:1 spells and 1:1's are either premium pieces of removal (as in there are only a handful and they are let to shine) or there is some small cost associated. For example, Black gets creatures back from the graveyard as a it's primary source of card-advantage. This allows form an feeling of inevitable late game card-advantage, while the early game each creature matters.
A word on other colours. Red is the Clock and accordingly controls the tempo of the game. If other colours' defenses are too good, then lower them so a fast Red deck has a chance. If Red is winning too consistently, remove 1 or 2 pieces of fast-tech and see how that plays out.
A good archetype for playtesting is a Red-White deck. You can make it as tuned as you want, but it should come out to a 60/40 winrate against what it is playing against. The imbalance will be corrected for when players draft those cards, rather than leave them open. And archetypes that can't compete against Red/White should be reevaluated.
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Basic Information
Cube Size: 360 cards.
Breakdown: 50 of each colour, 35 colourless, 40 multicoloured, 35 land.
Standard or Theme: Standard.
Snow Lands: No.
Average Number of Players: Usually 4-6, can handle up to 8.
How Often Drafted: Once a month.
Card Selection
Proxies: No.
Powered: No.
Portal: No.
"Un" Cards: No.
Banned Cards: No banned cards so far.
Cube Design
Standard or Multiplayer: Multiplayer
Sideboards?: No.
Perfect Creature/Spell Balance: No.
Gold Balance: Yes.
Hybrid/Split/Kicker as Gold: ?
Color Triggers as Gold: Nope.
Perfectly Balanced CMC: No.
1x Mother of Runes
1x Soul Warden
1x Student of Warfare
1x Weathered Wayfarer
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Knight of Meadowgrain
1x Knight of the White Orchid
1x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Wall of Omens
1x Auramancer
1x Blade Splicer
1x Flickerwisp
1x Knight Exemplar
1x Mentor of the Meek
1x Mirran Crusader
1x Hero of Bladehold
1x Kinsbaile Cavalier
1x Restoration Angel
1x Rhox Faithmender
1x Wall of Reverence
1x Archangel of Thune
1x Baneslayer Angel
1x Knight-Captain of Eos
1x Reveillark
1x Sunscorch Regent
1x Sun Titan
1x Angelic Arbiter
1x Luminate Primordial
White Planeswalker
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
White Artifact
1x Dispeller's Capsule
White Instant
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Path to Exile
1x Swords to Plowshares
White Sorcery
1x Day of Judgment
1x Replenish
1x Wrath of God
1x Austere Command
1x Entreat the Angels
White Enchantment
1x Limited Resources
1x Blind Obedience
1x Luminarch Ascension
1x Rest in Peace
1x Seal of Cleansing
1x Aura of Silence
1x Grasp of Fate
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Solitary Confinement
1x Cathars' Crusade
1x Sigil of the Empty Throne
Blue Creature
1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1x Phantasmal Image
1x Thing in the Ice
1x Thought Courier
1x Sea Gate Oracle
1x Treasure Mage
1x Vendilion Clique
1x Archaeomancer
1x Talrand, Sky Summoner
1x Whirler Rogue
1x Body Double
1x Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1x Mulldrifter
1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1x Arcanis the Omnipotent
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Deadeye Navigator
1x Diluvian Primordial
1x Kederekt Leviathan
Blue Planeswalker
1x Tezzeret the Seeker
Blue Artifact Creature
1x Master Transmuter
1x Phyrexian Metamorph
1x Inkwell Leviathan
Blue Instant
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Arcane Denial
1x Counterspell
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Intuition
1x Thirst for Knowledge
1x Cryptic Command
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Force of Will
1x Mystic Confluence
1x Dig Through Time
Blue Sorcery
1x Ponder
1x Preordain
1x Compulsive Research
1x Show and Tell
1x Tinker
1x Trade Secrets
1x Rite of Replication
1x Devastation Tide
1x Blatant Thievery
1x Treasure Cruise
Blue Enchantment
1x Mystic Remora
1x Standstill
1x Rhystic Study
1x Control Magic
1x Corrupted Conscience
Blue Enchantment Artifact
1x Bident of Thassa
Black Creature
1x Viscera Seer
1x Blood Artist
1x Bloodghast
1x Nezumi Graverobber
1x Reassembling Skeleton
1x Zulaport Cutthroat
1x Fleshbag Marauder
1x Stinkweed Imp
1x Vampire Nighthawk
1x Bloodline Keeper
1x Braids, Cabal Minion
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Disciple of Bolas
1x Mortivore
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1x Shriekmaw
1x Grave Titan
1x Harvester of Souls
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Pontiff of Blight
1x Sepulchral Primordial
1x Griselbrand
1x Executioner's Capsule
Black Instant
1x Entomb
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Doom Blade
1x Go for the Throat
1x Dismember
Black Sorcery
1x Innocent Blood
1x Reanimate
1x Exhume
1x Smallpox
1x Buried Alive
1x Barter in Blood
1x Syphon Mind
1x Living Death
1x Unburial Rites
1x Exsanguinate
1x Army of the Damned
1x Decree of Pain
Black Enchantment
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
1x Animate Dead
1x Oversold Cemetery
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Seal of Doom
1x Pestilence
Black Enchantment Artifact
1x Whip of Erebos
Black Enchantment Creature
1x Nighthowler
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
Red Creature
1x Dragonmaster Outcast
1x Goblin Welder
1x Kargan Dragonlord
1x Mogg War Marshal
1x Young Pyromancer
1x Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
1x Dualcaster Mage
1x Feldon of the Third Path
1x Guttersnipe
1x Magus of the Wheel
1x Taurean Mauler
1x Flametongue Kavu
1x Krenko, Mob Boss
1x Ogre Battledriver
1x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1x Magma Phoenix
1x Siege-Gang Commander
1x Zealous Conscripts
1x Hellkite Tyrant
1x Inferno Titan
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Molten Primordial
Red Instant
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Punishing Fire
1x Chaos Warp
1x Through the Breach
Red Sorcery
1x Faithless Looting
1x Gamble
1x Vandalblast
1x Mizzium Mortars
1x Pyroclasm
1x Tormenting Voice
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Mana Geyser
1x Earthquake
1x Mob Rule
1x Insurrection
1x Blasphemous Act
Red Enchantment
1x Goblin Bombardment
1x Impact Tremors
1x Blood Moon
1x Repercussion
1x Sulfuric Vortex
1x Flameshadow Conjuring
1x Outpost Siege
1x Pyrohemia
1x Sneak Attack
1x Dictate of the Twin Gods
Red Enchantment Creature
1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
Green Creature
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Joraga Treespeaker
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Argothian Enchantress
1x Fauna Shaman
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Eternal Witness
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Yavimaya Elder
1x Elvish Piper
1x Oracle of Mul Daya
1x Temur Sabertooth
1x Wickerbough Elder
1x Acidic Slime
1x Garruk's Packleader
1x Silklash Spider
1x Thragtusk
1x Bane of Progress
1x Primeval Titan
1x Soul of the Harvest
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Sylvan Primordial
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
Green Planeswalker
1x Garruk Wildspeaker
Green Artifact
1x Birthing Pod
Green Instant
1x Back to Nature
1x Beast Within
1x Harrow
Green Sorcery
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Search for Tomorrow
1x Harmonize
1x Natural Order
1x Whirlwind
1x Primal Command
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Genesis Wave
Green Enchantment
1x Exploration
1x Rancor
1x Utopia Sprawl
1x Wild Growth
1x Evolutionary Leap
1x Seal of Primordium
1x Sylvan Library
1x Enchantress's Presence
1x Defense of the Heart
1x Lurking Predators
1x Bow of Nylea
Green Enchantment Creature
1x Courser of Kruphix
1x Eidolon of Blossoms
Azorius
1x Reflector Mage
1x Brago, King Eternal
1x Venser, the Sojourner
1x Detention Sphere
Dimir
1x Consuming Aberration
1x Havengul Lich
1x Sire of Stagnation
1x Baleful Strix
Rakdos
1x Olivia Voldaren
1x Sire of Insanity
1x Dreadbore
1x Mogis, God of Slaughter
Gruul
1x Huntmaster of the Fells
1x Dragonlair Spider
1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1x Hull Breach
Selesnya
1x Knight of the Reliquary
1x Wilt-Leaf Liege
1x Fracturing Gust
1x Sterling Grove
Orzhov
1x Drana's Emissary
1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1x Vindicate
1x Debt to the Deathless
Golgari
1x Deathrite Shaman
1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
1x Pernicious Deed
1x Deathreap Ritual
Simic
1x Coiling Oracle
1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1x Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
1x Prophet of Kruphix
Izzet
1x Jori En, Ruin Diver
1x Dominus of Fealty
1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1x Izzet Charm
Boros
1x Boros Reckoner
1x Aurelia, the Warleader
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Assemble the Legion
Colourless Creature
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Colourless Artifact Creature
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Duplicant
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Memnarch
1x Myr Battlesphere
1x Sphinx of the Steel Wind
Colourless Artifact
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Expedition Map
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Isochron Scepter
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Winter Orb
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Mimic Vat
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Sword of Light and Shadow
1x Worn Powerstone
1x Bonehoard
1x Icy Manipulator
1x Nevinyrral's Disk
1x Quicksilver Amulet
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Batterskull
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Mind's Eye
1x Mirari
1x Mindslaver
1x Staff of Nin
1x Akroma's Memorial
Colourless Sorcery
1x All Is Dust
Colourless Land
1x Azorius Chancery
1x Bloodfell Caves
1x Blossoming Sands
1x Boros Garrison
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Dimir Aqueduct
1x Dismal Backwater
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Glacial Fortress
1x Golgari Rot Farm
1x Gruul Turf
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Izzet Boilerworks
1x Jungle Hollow
1x Orzhov Basilica
1x Rakdos Carnarium
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Rugged Highlands
1x Scoured Barrens
1x Selesnya Sanctuary
1x Simic Growth Chamber
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Sunpetal Grove
1x Swiftwater Cliffs
1x Thornwood Falls
1x Tranquil Cove
1x Vivid Crag
1x Vivid Creek
1x Vivid Grove
1x Vivid Marsh
1x Vivid Meadow
1x Wind-Scarred Crag
1x Woodland Cemetery
The latest list on CubeTutor.
I've been looking at red, since you say it's weak (and red is not typically considered a weak color in limited). Your cube is really lacking in efficient burns. Rift Bolt, Hungry Flames, Searing Spear, Burst Lightning, Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lightning Axe, Incinerate, Abrade, Searing Blaze, Fiery Temper, Blast from the Past, Flame Slash, Lightning Strike, and Firebolt are all great, and many are cheap. Mizzium Mortars and Punishing Fire are fine, but two or three more would go a long way to incentivizing the color. Arc Lightning and Flames of the Firebrand are probably particularly good in multiplayer.
I would suggest adding two or three of these over cards like Reforge the Soul, Harness by Force, and Dictate of the Twin Gods. Smelt out for Abrade is an easy swap. Personally, I've also found that old fashioned Fireball is better than Comet Storm, but you may have a different experience. Devil's Play is the more synergistic choice. Street Spasm is fine as another X spell, but it never played all that well for me. Maybe it's better in multiplayer. Electrickery really may be one too many overload cards.
If you want to improve synergy, I recommend choosing the burns that also like the graveyard. Don't underestimate Blast From the Past. As a quick swap, Lobber Crew could be replaced with the more synergistic Thermo-Alchemist. Dismissive Pyromancer is another synergistic two-drop that I think would help. It's a discard outlet, card selection machine, removal card, and early attacker. All things your cube can use.
Also, Insurrection, Mob Rule, and Mass Mutiny (as well as Harness By Force) all in the same 360 cube is taking up a lot of slots for one type of card. Paying a ton of mana to steal all the creatures seems to be a thing you want to do in red, and there are a few sac outlets in black (though Goblin Bombardment would help a lot). If you really want to go deep on Threaten effects, you can play Captivating Crew and Overtaker (also a discard outlet). Turbo-ramp is sort of what you need to support this strategy if you really want to go for it. I'd reccomend cutting down to one or two of those cards, though. I get that it's powerful in multiplayer, but it's spending a lot of slots on top-heavy sorceries.
With regards to a goblin theme-- looking at your cube, I don't see a need for one. The only support is Krenko and Siege-Gang Commander, and they're both fine without other goblins. If Krenko is too slow, Beetleback Chief is a fine card. There are some goblin support cards that you could add without disrupting anything if you want, though. Goblin Instigator, Mogg War Marshal, and Dragon Fodder, and Hordeling Outburst are all great ways to get goblins. The former two have synergy with blink and creature recursion themes, the second two have synergy with spells themes, and they all have synergy with token and aristocrat themes, and this cube looks like it could use some serious token support. One of my favorite goblins (though I admit I've never played this card) is Goblin Trashmaster. It's decent artifact hate regardless of the tribal upside, and if you're playing some of the above cards, it can equal a theme without spending slots on parasitic cards. Of course, there are plenty of great goblin tribal cards if you want to go deep, but that will eat up slots quickly. You could cut Soulbright Flamekin and Kargan Dragonlord for Instigator and War Marshal, cut Chain Reaction for Hordeling Outburst (you do have a lot of wraths), and cut Scourge of Geier Reach (it's only ever a big guy after all), for Trashmaster, or another Goblin payoff card, and you would have a solid goblin theme. It would also put your Purphoros/ Ogre Battledriver/ Impact Tremors strategy on the map, and that looks like something you want to be doing. Zulaport Cutthroat and Blood Artist are also starved for token blood, so if you want to make goblins a thing, I think token support is really the way to do it.
I haven't looked all that far beyond red, but Sol Ring and Skull Clamp are broken cards that don't fit into this environment. I'd replace Sol Ring with Everflowing Chalice, and Skull Clamp with... well there's nothing like Skull Clamp. Jitte and the swords are bonkers here too. I would cut them for slightly less oppressive, but still powerful cards (like Loxodon Warhammer, Bonesplitter, and Smuggler's Copter), but that's me.
To note, basically everything I've recommended is budget friendly.
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.
I don't fully agree that these cards would add more value to the Cube since it's a Cube designed for FFA Multiplayer games. So I think Earthquake alike cards top Lightning Bolt for example. Of course, I am open for other suggestions / discussion in regards to this topic.
I think both of these cards are fine options to consider and would indeed add some more synergy to that which is already in there!
Yes, I think the current portion of red might include a bit too much of these steal effects. The funny thing is that I have very recently swapped out Goblin Bombardment for some other card. But now that you point that out, I think it's worth putting that back in for something else. I'll have to do some thinking about what to cut.
I have been contemplating a lot about cutting Sol Ring due to its power level, but decided to leave it in for now since it's legal in Commander.
That's definitely appreciated. I don't mind buying some cards of 5 - 10 euro, but when you start doing that for a whole bunch of cards, the sum starts to add up.
I should say that I've played a lot of cube, but not very much multiplayer cube, and never in a made-for-multiplayer environment. Nevertheless, cards like Doom Blade, Lightning Bolt, and Mana Leak that only ever answer one player's threat are important everywhere. That doesn't mean you shouldn't play Arc Trail over Lightning Bolt, though. Bolt only ever offers maximum efficiency.
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.
And to replace them by:
Would you opt for Mizzix's Mastery or Past in Flames?
There are some other cards I could consider, such as Red Elemental Blast, Lightning Bolt, Squee, Goblin Nabob, etc. I guess an additional question that remains is whether or not I have too many "sweepers" in the red list in the form of:
Like always, I am open to suggestions. I think it's good to focus on Red right now as I felt it is the 'weakest' color in the list and we're on that subject right now (and I haven't bought these cards yet).
I do like Scourge of the Throne over Magma Phoenix as well as Imperial Recruiter and Wheel of Fortune but I'll leave those out for now due to budget considerations and consider these more as the final pieces that could be added for further improvement (rather focus on other colors first as well).
Outpost Siege is really good for your dedicated Purphoros subtheme, since it has a powerful card advantage option for decks that can't use the Dragons ability.
Urabrask is a fantastic five-drop, and it can only play better in FFA. Great choice. So much richer than Scourge of Geier Reach.
Goblin Sharpshooter is another great choice in the pinger slot. I've loved playing with this card, and it has great synergy with other death-trigger cards like Blood Artist. More players means more death triggers!
Feldon is a wonderful engine, and is an archetype to himself. I've wanted to get him for my cube for a while. Now red has a real reason to care about the graveyard.
Tormenting Voice is a basic card, but it's needed.
Magus of the Wheel has all the potential of Wheel of Fortune plus being a very reasonable attacker/blocker (and can be copied with Feldon). It's definitely not a better card than Wheel, but it's better for your cube.
Repercussion is one that intrigues me. I've never played with or against the card, so I'm in no position to claim that it's bad. And I certainly don't know that it is bad. Is this good? Will it work in a cube? I'm curious. With all your red sweepers, this card can become a TPK fast. Imagine this into Blasphemous Act on a busy board. It's an easy win if you have no creatures or a Viscera Seer. Stuffy Doll is the other card I know of in this strange archetype. It's a pity that card only ever hits the same player. Fire Ants is a good card. The Repercussion archetype may be real in your cube.
I would cut one or two of the sweepers. Earthquake and Mizzium Mortars are your best ones, and Chain Reaction and Anger of the Gods are the first two I'd cut (Anger just because it's double red). I'd keep Act just because of how powerful it is with Repercussion. I suggest you cut Chain Reaction and go from there.
One way to capitalize on the mass damage effects is enrage. This is a 360 cube that plays both Pestilence variants, so this is definitely an engine worth building. Cacophodon, Bellowing Aegisaur, Polyraptor, Siegehorn Ceratops, and Ripjaw Raptor are all nuts if you can cast them in a deck with Pyrohemia . Ranging Raptors is sweet too. Even weaker cards like Snapping Sailback, Imperial Ceratops, and Sun-Crowned Hunters are scary. Notably, everything with enrage is really good against pestilence too (which is good because those decks can be griefers). The pestilence interaction was the first thing I thought about when enrage was spoiled, and this is the perfect environment to abuse the it if you have any interest. The only limitation is that it's harder to play off color cards with Pestilence/Pyrohemia decks.
Of your cuts, I'm sad to see Guttersnipe go, but it was probably the right call. Only Pia strikes me as something your cube still kinda needs. I still feel that red can benefit from a little more token support, and is happier with a flying token than most colors. Pia does also have random synergies with artifacts, but your cube doesn't really support an artifact deck. It could be that Pia sends a false signal to drafters about support that isn't there. Personally, I would reswap Pia Nalaar for Prophetic Flamespeaker. It's a less synergistic card, and more flashy than good in my opinion. But that's just my read on it. I still like Hordeling Outburst better than both of them since it triggers Impact Tremors more times (which is a serious consideration in your cube) and is good with Krenko. Most people think Hordeling Outburst is bad, though. General opinion would probably favor Pia.
I think Mizzix's Mastery is better by a decent margin than Past in Flames in limited. It actually plays on turn four, and can even "reanimate" an expensive spell you discarded. Past in Flames asks for so much mana to be a blowout, and Mastery can be an expensive blowout anyway (though it does miss out on X spells).
Personally, I'm not a fan of Pyroblast or similar cards in a 360 cube. You can basically guarantee that there will be a target in a multiplayer cube environment (somebody has to end up with the blue cards), but it still only answers threats played by one or two players. I strongly recommend Arc Lightning in this slot, but I'll stop harping on about burns.
You cut Smelt. That's good, the card was weak. But you didn't replace it with anything to destroy an artifact. Your cube has broken equipment, so you NEED artifact hate. You already have Vandalblast, so you could get away with it, but I'd add something that kills artifacts and has a backup mode (like Ingot Chewer, Manic Vandal, Abrade, or Goblin Trashmaster, Abrade being the most mainstream).
Again, these were good changes.
PS: I drafted your cube. You can look at my deck if you like. Black is definitely stronger than red.
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.
I'm going to opt for Sneak Attack as I have that from my Sneak & Show deck. However, I think I'll buy a copy and see if I can fit that in.
I'm going to cut Chain Reaction here as well and I'll replace it with Through the Breach as I have that card lying around
I'll keep that in mind when looking at the other colours!
I too was a bit sad to see Guttersnipe go as I had hoped that it would be one of the good cards / strategies to build around, but so far it just hasn't really worked out. So, it felt like a good cut to make. As I don't own a copy of Prophetic Flamespeaker yet, I'll keep Pia in. I definitely intend to improve on the artifacts as well as for a big part those in the list now are up to budget and available cards I had at the time. But I'd prefer to include Worn Powerstone, Gilded Lotus and a few alike cards over all of the other mana rocks now.
Yes, I'll definitely opt for Mizzix's Mastery instead.
I decided to put in Lightning Bolt for now. I do have a copy of Arc Lightning as well.
I like Shattering Spree and/or Shatterstorm. Which would you pick here?
Yeah, I got a mail about that, definitely liked the deck!
Lastly, I have a Blood Moon as well and decided to put that in. It will become more relevant once the lands section is updated a bit. So looking at the cards I still had lying around, I decided to make the following swaps:
In: Mogg War Marshal, Goblin Bombardment, Lightning Bolt, Blood Moon, Sneak Attack, Through the Breach
Out: Soulbright Flamekin, Sulfuric Vortex, Electrickery, Street Spasm, Comet Storm, Chain Reaction
The remainder on the wishlist:
Unfortunately, that's a little bit more over the remaining list of cards to cut:
So I'm open to suggestions of 3 more cards which I could cut in the current cube or not (or parts of the changes list that can be ommitted).
I don't see much of a use for Through the Breach. That card is insane if you're getting something insane with it, but in your cube, you're probably paying five to get a seven-drop primordial for one turn. At that rate, you're better off with a ramp spell than with Through the Breach. You need something on eldrazi titan level to make it worth committing. Sphinx of the Steel Wind is your only truly great target, and attacking once with it doesn't always save you. Sneak Attack could benefit from more targets too, but that card is an engine you can build around, whereas Through the Breach is a one-off that lingers in your hand when you don't have a target. I think you are much better off playing Elvish Piper than this card. This seems like a bad Sneak Attack to me, and you're playing the good Sneak Attack.
Blood Moon is another great constructed card that I think is less useful here, but that doesn't mean you should leave it out. It's a lot better than Through the Breach, since it can really grind out a lot of advantage across long multiplayer games. I was going to argue that you should cut it, but thinking over it more carefully, I'm not against keeping it. The reason to cut it is just that it is eating up a whole slot on hate. I have a principal that any hate card should do more than just hate if possible to help economize limited slots. That doesn't mean you should omit Moon, but it's a very important principal when building a cube this small. That's why I'm always arguing for cards like Abrade and Goblin Trashmaster over cards like Shatterstorm.
What's the idea on Burning Wish? I don't feel like you want to draft sorceries to leave them in your sideboard for a toolbox. You miss out on crucial maindeck cards that way. Just play the sorcery you want. Is this part of some combo that I don't know? Or are you playing so that they can get any sorcery from the collection? I don't understand what this card is doing.
Other cards that look cuttable are Dictate of the Twin Gods and Magma Phoenix. After that, Anger of the Gods, as discussed. Dictate is a clearly powerful card, and maybe it should stay in just because it leads to fun or crazy game-states. My reasoning for cutting it would be it's a five-mana enchantment that doesn't directly effect the board. That's a huge red-flag in cube. You're also playing multiple other enchantments without board presence, and Dictate is the one that seems least important to me. Most people would probably tell you to cut Flameshadow Conjuring too, but I think that card has potential here. Magma Phoenix is something you already mentioned replacing, and I don't think it would be missed.
So for three cuts, I would say Through the Breach, Burning Wish, and Dictate of the Twin Gods.
I can't image you or anyone ever being disappointed with Lightning Bolt in cube. Anybody disappointed by bolt has unreasonable expectations.
I definitely would argue for Shattering Spree over Shatterstorm. The only reason to play the latter over the former is if there are crucial shroud and hexproof artifacts in the format (like Inkwell Leviathan), and Vandalbast is already effective as a sweeper. I've been trying to convince my sister to let me cut Shatterstorm from our cube for more versatile artifact hate for a while now. Personally I would argue in favor of Abrade or Manic Vandal here, but Shattering Spree is a very good card to play. It's so much better than Smelt it's ridiculous.
Moving outside of red, the first thing that strikes me is that you could do a lot better than guildgates and the Scoured Barrens cycle. My advice to you is my advice to everyone, and it's the best advice I've given you yet: add ten trilands (Opulent Palace). The only cycle of ETB tapped lands that I like better for cube are the manlands (Raging Ravine), and some of those are expensive. Trilands are sooooooo nice to have when you're looking at a pack. It makes choosing your colors, and considering splashes so much less stressful. The next step in improving mana would be to replace the Scoured Barrens cycle with painlands (Battlefield Forge). If you are indulging in Endbringer, painlands make a huge difference, and they're also just great ETB untapped lands that are pretty budget friendly. If you just replace ten gates with ten trilands, your cube will get a lot better instantly.
I'll return with more thoughts on the multicolor, artifact, and land sections. I hope my thoughts are helpful.
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.
I personally like Dragonmaster Outcast because it can be quite effective late game. I used to have a dedicated multiplayer deck with Goblin Welder and I absolutely love this card, but I do agree that the current artifacts in the cube are not optimal for this guy to thrive. However, that section will be updated in the future as well, so I prefer to leave him in.
Yes, I agree that Through the Breach might not be as good here. I'll probably remove it once again, though I do have Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Griselbrand and Worldspine Wurm lying around and those might make this card viable again. Though one shotting a player with Emmy might not be considered fun for the target.
I had my doubts about Blood Moon as well, because you don't want to put it in just because it's a good card. I can see it improve though as the manabase will get updated.
Yes, perhaps Wish isn't the best addition. You could leave Insurrection in your side board and hit it up. But you could just put it in your deck as well. So I think this card can easily be left out.
I'll think about your suggestion for the tri lands. I agree that it would improve the manabase. I am working on getting a singleton of all the check lands and so far I'm only missing Clifftop Retreat, Woodland Cemetery and Drowned Catacomb. So they're on my list of cards to purchase and then I can remove some of the lands in there currently. I'm also working on getting all the shock lands and I just need to get my hands on Blood Crypt and Stomping Ground. The downside about the shock lands is that I don't really feel that they're good to introduce without fetch lands and I still have to get a copy of all the Zendikar fetchlands and that's got quite a pricetag on it. So introducing shock + fetch might have to wait a bit longer.
I definitely appreciate the assistance! The current form of the Cube is mainly a concession of the good cards I had at the time and the best I found in some bulk purchase. So it's always good to get insight from other players on how to improve the card pool and synergies between that!
So taking everything into consideration, I think we end up with the following cuts and additions for red:
In:
Out:
I think that should conclude things for red for now unless anyone comes with a great budget alternative for some of the cards. In the long run, I might want to add Imperial Recruiter and/or Wheel of Fortune. But taking into consideration the other sections I have yet to update and the budget of that. I'll put that on hold.
Creatures
I am quite happy with the current 2-drop options (Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Phantasmal Image, Thing in the Ice and Thought Courier) and would only consider the addition of Snapcaster Mage in the future, despite some other fun cards such as Gilded Drake and Lighthouse Chronologist. I'll hold on on getting Snappy for now due to its pricetag. But I would probably end up cutting Thought Courier when that happens.
As far as the 3 drops are concerned, I think that Captain of the Mists and Stealer of Secrets can easily be cut for something else. I was thinking about Trinket Mage and Treasure Mage here instead. Sea Gate Oracle can stay.
I'm pretty happy with the 4 drops as well. Though, if I had to cut something here, it would probably be Clone and/or Whirler Rogue. Not sure if I should replace both by a different 4 drop. But I think the best choice would be Master Transmuter and maybe Glen Elendra Archmage.
Now, as of the 5 drops, I think I would only like to keep Body Double and Mulldrifter. I'm not to fond of Master of Predicaments and a bit in the middle about Arcane Savant. Here I see more value in adding Sphinx of Lost Truths, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and/or Magus of the Future.
I'm pretty happy with the +6 CMC creature cards. Sphinx of Magosi can be replaced by Consecrated Sphinx. I had my eyes on the latter for quite some time, but didn't buy it earlier due to its price tag. I see it has dropped a bit since last I checked (quite some time ago). So I might spend the cash here. The question is whether or not I should make some room for Inkwell Leviathan and Torrential Gearhulk. I'll consider Memnarch for the artifact section.
Spells
What are the thoughts on keeping High Tide in? I'll probably want to add Ponder (and maybe Brainstorm? Don't have fetchlands in yet).
What are thoughts on the current permission suite and/or changes that can be made?
I think the easiest cards to cut here are:
However, there are definitely some more good cards that could make the Cube, such as:
Tezzeret the Seeker is interesting as well considering we'll be boosting Artifacts as well.
I'll definitely appreciate some inputs in cuts / additions to make here and if there are other good options I might have overlooked.
When looking at replacements, I like the following cards:
Will probably need to have a look at some other cards as well.
Your blue twos are indeed quite strong. Snappy's great, but not the expensive card I'd go buying if I were you (at least not for this cube). It would be a shame (but understandable) to cut Thought Courier, but Enclave Cryptologist is another similar card you could consider (seeing as you have 0 blue one-drops).
I also concur on your three drops. Until your artifact section is settled, it'll be difficult to tell what the targets are going to be, but that's best done at that stage with mages in mind. Notably, after the artifact section is settled, you should look again to make sure you're playing the right mages. Trophy Mage may be better than Treasure Mage in the end. I do think that these are really strong cards to add. Guard Gomazoa occurs to me as a cards that might be good as a defensive card in multiplayer, but that doesn't mean you need it.
I think your four drops are strong. Clone is classic, but it can be cut without pain: you are playing Phantasmal Image after all. I definitely don't think you should cut Whirler Rogue. That card seems to play really well, and once again, with all your Impact Tremors synergy, you really need the token support. Talrand, Sky Summoner is an interesting card. I think traditional wisdom would call it weak but I'm a fan of engine cards. I think Murmuring Mystic is a very interesting comparison: Talrand has a higher ceiling, and Mystic a higher floor. I think the blocking capabilities of the Mystic might make it play better in multiplayer (where a lot can happen before you untap). That is pure speculation, though. I would just cut Clone for Master Transmuter to support your burgeoning artifact support. Traditional wisdom would probably say cut Clone and Talrand for Glen Elendra Archmage and something like Sower of Temptation or Dungeon Geists, but I'm not always a fan of traditional wisdom.
Five drops are a bit weaker in blue creatures, I feel. Mulldrifter is definitely a keep, and Arcane Savant is totally playable if you want him, but by no means necessary. The three five-drops you listed are all fine, but none of them are all that enticing. I think conventional wisdom can do you well here: Meloku the Clouded Mirror can be very much the token support you are looking for, and the card has a lot of random synergies from bouncing lands that you'd never think about. Morphling is good, but it's just a creature, and I don't think it's what your cube is really asking for. Riptide Shapeshifter is an interesting one from my cube (I doubt anybody else plays it). You may not be interested, but I like to remind people it exists. With five drops, I would say cut Minister of Predicaments and Arcane Savant for Meloku and Enclave Cryptologist. That may sound strange, but it's a thought. Of Sphinx of Lost Truths, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, and Magus of the Future, I think those are all strong cards, on about the same level, and if you want to play one of them, you should just pick your favorite.
I hate Consecrated Sphinx. I would much rather see you play Torrential Gearhulk. But that's just a personal bias I have against the card: I also hate Grave Titan and Baneslayer Angel regardless of how good they are. You should probably ignore my opinion there. It's just a personal vendetta. I do like Inkwell Leviathan over Sphinx of Uthuun. Sphinx is your most generic fatty, and think Inky is almost a must with all the artifact and creature cheats you've been adding.
Blue Spells
So I'm mostly with you on your blue creatures. I have only small suggestions and nit-pickings. However, I see a lot of things to improve in your spells.
First off, Ponder and Brainstorm indispensable effects regardless of fetchlands.
I really like High Tide (and the more forgotten Bubbling Muck), but there are a LOT of blue spells I would play first.
Mystical Tutor is good and all but it doesn't strike me as a card to spend a slot on without super broken instants in the format.
Memory Lapse and Mana Leak are better than Arcane Denial.
Forbid is better than Dissipate.
Desertion is actually not too bad in multiplayer: with multiple opponents, it's less telegraphed, and you have more opportunities to get value. I wouldn't play that card in two-player, though.
Worldly Counsel out for Intuition is strong. But only if you already have Intuition and want to play it. That card is worth almost as much as Force of Will now. Impulse, See Beyond, or Chart a Course are all totally solid in that slot.
As much as I love the synergy of proliferate, I think Deep Analysis is much stronger for your cube than Tezzeret's Gambit.
I like Tezzeret the Seeker as a direct replacement for Fabricate (unless you want both).
I also think that Courier's Capsule is quite replaceable. It's a good cut for Dig Through Time. If you like the idea of an artifact in this slot, I suggest Cumber Stone. I think that will play well in multiplayer.
I personally don't like miracles, so I would play Engulf the Shore over Devastation Tide. I also like that Engulf can be unbalanced in your favor, but again, that's personal. Tide is good, and a lot of people would disagree with me here.
Mystic Remora is sweet in multiplayer. I wouldn't have thought of it. Good call.
Other blue spells I like (most of which should get their turn before High Tide) include Commit // Memory, Power Sink, Miscalculation, Portent, Talrand's Invocation (which is a stronger card than Talrand in my experience), Flood, Condescend, Force Spike, Gush, Remand, and Puca's Mischief.
More expensive cards include Show and Tell, Cryptic Command, Mystic Confluence, and Bribery (which is cookoo bananas redonkuflonk). If you're actually buying valuable cards for your cube, I think all of these are much stronger than Omniscience or Snapcaster Mage, but Snappy is a stronger card in general, and great in cube. The only reason I'd go for other cards first is that your two drops aren't lacking the way your spells are. Be your own judge. Show and Tell would be the first from the list I'd add to this cube.
So all in all, here's how I do it.
Cut: High Tide, Mystical Tutor, Arcane Denial, Dissipate, Fabricate, Worldly Council, Tezzeret's Gambit, Devastation Tide, Polymorph, and Courier's Capsule.
Add: Brainstorm, Ponder, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Tezzeret the Seeker, Intuition, Deep Analysis, Engulf the Shores, Commit // Memory, and one flex slot (maybe Show and Tell or Windfall, or just a Condescend).
Maybe that's too many four drops, so you can reswap Engulf and Devastation Tide, and maybe cut Fact or Fiction for a cheaper spell like Chart a Course. Maybe Force Spike or Miscalculation instead of Commit // Memory.
As usual, feel free to take my suggestions with a grain of salt. I wish I had more insight on great multiplayer cards. Is Chain of Vapor good?
I'll be back for the artifacts.
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.
I agree with your statement. It will be better to have a better view at the artifact list before making the cuts / adds here. I'll probably already buy a copy of all 3 Mages since they're quite cheap.
I definitely like your suggestion of Meloku the Clouded Mirror here and I think that this would be a great addition. I do prefer one of the 5 drops I mentioned over Enclave Cryptologist. My preference would go to either Teferi or Magus. However, the Sphinx would be the easier to cast. I'll probably buy all 3 of them and maybe rotate them around every once in while to see which would be better.
I personally love Consecrated Sphinx because I simply love drawing cards. It's a hard pick between it and Torrential Gearhulk though. I kind of like both. I think Sphinx of Magosi can be cut for Consecrated Sphinx. Cutting Sphinx of Uthuun for either Torrential Gearhulk or Inkwell Leviathan seems very reasonable as well. But I like both. Do you think Kederekt Leviathan (or something else should be cut here to make room for all 3?)
Blue Spells
I think this would be a great card to add for blue.
I wasn't aware that it had spiked in price. But as I already own a copy, I think it would be best to just use it. I also like Deep Analysis here.
Thanks for making life easier. I'll stick to Devastation Tide of Engulf for now. As I have Show and Tell it's a simply choice to make. I'd like to add Dig Through Time and might prefer that over Commit // Memory. So if I sum up the changes for blue, I 'd end up with:
Cut:
Add:
Depending on the outcome of the artifacts, Trophy Mage can switch for Trinket or Treasure Mage.
I added Force of Will - do you think that still justifies a spot for Desertion? Would Mystic Confluence be preferred? Or maybe just Bribery
Azorius
Out: Wall of Denial
In: Venser, the Sojourner
I could also see added value in Supreme Verdict.
Dimir
Currently, I am only rocking 2 dimir cards and I think my playgroup wouldn't like to see Consuming Aberration and Sire of Stagnation go. I'd like to add Baleful Strix and Havengul Lich. As a result, I'll say goodbye to Sultai Charm and Siege Rhino.
Rakdos
I'll happily say goodbye to Cryptborn Horror and I think Olivia Voldaren would be a good replacement. I also think I'll say goodbye to Havoc Festival and go with Grenzo, Dungeon Warden instead.
Gruul
Out with Firespout and in with Huntmaster of the Fells.
Selesnya
Sundering Growth out and Knight of the Reliquary in. Should I cut Qasali Pridemage for Aura Shards or Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers? Sigarda, Host of Herons is pretty awesome as well.
Orzhov
Out with Tainted Sigil. In with Vindicate.
Golgari
Out with Korozda Guildmage and in with Deathrite Shaman. Not sure if I should cut Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord for Abrupt Decay. Probably not.
Simic
I'm happy with the current list
Izzet
Maybe Firemind's Foresight could be cut. But I'm not sure what to bring in instead. I might not consider Dack Fayden at the moment due to it's price tag.
Boros
Happy with the list
Esper
Sticking only with Sphinx of the Steel Wind here.
Dimir: Consuming Aberration and Sire of Stagnation look great for multiplayer. I always knew Sire of Stagnation would be good for something. I like Havengul Lich a lot (though I've never played with it). Baleful Strix is great as well (and likes to blink). Some other strong options include the classic Psychatog, and Connive // Concoct (which seems to play well for people, though I haven't tried it). Undervalued cards from my cube include Phoebe, Head of S.N.E.A.K. (silver bordered, I know), and Possessed Skaab (likes to blink). A multiplayer card that springs to mind is Rags // Riches. It may not be good though.
Rakdos: Cryptborn Horror and Havoc Festival are easy cuts. Terminate is just good. It could be Dreadbore instead, but there's no need with as few planeswalkers as your playing. It could also be Wrecking Ball, but land destruction is more of a 1v1 thing. Sire of Insanity is fun. I never liked Olivia Voldarenall that much, but maybe she plays better in multiplayer. Mogis, God of Slaughter is great in my cube, and looks great for multiplayer. So does Angrath, the Flame-Chained, but those are $8 and $13 cards. Spontaneous Combustion is a strong instant-speed wrath. Void probably picks up some utility in multiplayer. People say good things about Judith, the Scourge Diva, and I think she'd be great in multiplayer. I have a copy, but haven't gotten to test. The Scorpion God is an interesting late game option: very resilient, draws cards while killing creatures, and has random synergies. Murderous Redcap is hard to argue with: tons of synergies, great value, and a flexible mana cost. Grenzo is good, and a good choice. Olivia is fine, but there are many other fun choices.
Gruul: I like your Gruul choices. Ruric Thar and Dragonlair Spider are cool ways to punish enemies for doing normal things. Cindervines fits into this theme as well, and could easily replace Hull Breach (not that that card is bad). Decimate is the other sweet card I know in that slot.
Selesnya: Knight of the Reliquary is sweet. I didn't really realize that enchantress was a strongly supported archetype at first, so Sterling Grove seemed particularly out of place. With that in mind, my thoughts change. Suddenly I actually do like Aura Shards over Qasali Pridemage (also because it's good with blinks), but I prefer Armadillo Cloak to both of them. You can put your artifact/ enchantment hate in mono green and white, and save the guild slots for more unique effects. You definitely don't have room for random stuff like Kitchen Finks. Since enchantments are a dedicated archetype, I think there's some crucial archetype support missing from the mono colors. The most important things being Flickering Ward and Eidolon of Blossoms.
Orzhov: Tainted Sigil was bad, and Vindicate is good. I believe wholeheartedly that Drana's Emissary is better than Vizkopa Guildmage.
Golgari: Horray for Deathrite Shaman! I like Jarad better than Abrupt Decay. Decay is just removal, and it's pretty limited at that. I like Deathreap Ritual here. It's not good enough for 1v1, but muliplayer gives it just enough kick to be a viable aristocrats support card. Deed is absolutely needed. Jarad is still the most cuttable card, but there's no need to cut him. He's a pretty solid engine.
Simic: I'm happy with your current list too. It's a sweet list.
Izzet: I don't like Firemind's Foresight or Jori En. Jori En is cool when it works, but it's not really the engine a deck is looking for. Screw Dack Fayden- Saheeli Rai is cooler anyway. But there are plenty of great Izzet cards that are dirt cheap. Fire // Ice, Gelectrode, Electrolyze, Izzet Charm, and Etherium-Horn Sorcerer are all good in my cube.
Boros: It's a shame this is the only guild with only three slots. If you were going to add another, I would recommend Boros Reckoner or Goblin Trenches. (Trenches is pretty great with Impact Tremors cards, and Reckoner is pretty great with Pyrohemia and such).
Sphinx of the Steel Wind can be classified as an artifact, since it's the only three color card. As stated, it is good support for a lot of other cards.
On Blue:
I think your changes look really good. Mystic Confluence and Bribery are both way better than Desertion. Bribery is particularly obscene, but I don't think it's really worth the $20 pricetag.
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.
Nice mention. I'll cut the Mistmeadow and the Wall for Reflector Mage and Venser!
Phoebe is an interesting card and I hadn't heard of her until now. Nonetheless, I think I'll stick with Havengul Lich and Strix here.
I had forgotten about Dreadbore! I think that would indeed be a good addition as well! Mogis is actually pretty insane and The Scorpion God seems to be a very interesting card as well! I think I'll go for Mogis here instead of Grenzo!
Yes, I own a multiplayer / legacy Enchantress deck, so at the time it felt pretty good to put in some of those cards in the Cube as it does play very well im multiplayer. However, I have been thinking about perhaps cutting some of those out because they're underplayed (e.g. Argothian Enhantress and Enchantress Presence). So I'll have to think a bit here about whether or not I want to keep that theme in or whether I should support it a bit better with the additions you've mentioned. I think Armadillo Cloak is a fine suggestion here as to have something different over the typical artifact / enchantment hate - which I think is already well taken care of by some of the other cards in the cube. However, I do see that I had mistakenly typed Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers as opposed to Wilt-Leaf Liege which I had in mind. Since I have the latter card, I'll put that in first.
Nice mention, I have not been that fond of Vizkopa so far, but I wasn't sure what to put in instead, I like Drana in that spot.
I'll go with Saheeli here. I'm not yet 100% sure about cutting Jori. But if I do, I'll go with Izzet Charm.
So let's move Sphinx to the artifact section as that will offer room for Boros Reckoner!
PS: I'll work on updating my list in my initial post and Cube tutor to already include the cards I own
Black
Out:
In:
I'm not sure about whether or not to keep in Waste Not. I feel it's always been hard to get it going without sufficient discard support and since I'm also letting go of Liliana's Specter and Liliana's Caress I don't think this card is that playable in the cube?
Green
Out:
In:
White
Out:
In:
Forced discards to victory (Waste Not and friends) is a kinda parasitic archetype. If you were going to continue supporting it, Memory Jar, Creeping Dread, and Fell Specter would be cards to look at, but I think you're right to cut the archetype.
Of your cuts, I think the only one I would caution against cutting (though it's sad to see Seal of Doom go with an enchantress theme on the rise) is Nezumi Graverobber. The Kamigawa flip cards are definitely ugly, but you are lacking in graveyard hate. You really need a few solid pieces somewhere in the environment, though not necessarily in black. Remorseful Cleric and Relic of Progenitus are probably the best ones, followed by Nezumi Graverobber. Bojuka Bog, and Scrabbling Claws/Phyrexian Furnace are okay too. If only Agent of Erebos were a little better...
I recommend Tortured Existence over Haunted Crossroads every time. Undertaker is also super sweet.
Personally, I like Gnarled Scarhide or Dread Wanderer more than Gravecrawler here, but that's pretty minor.
Army of the Damned vs Rise of the Dark Realms is an interesting question. It's a matter higher floor vs higher ceiling. I like Army better because you can discard it early to use it late, but Rise is much flashier and more memorable for multiplayer (and it's hard to get flashier than Army of the Damned).
I like Skirsdag High Priest in my cube, but you may find it hard to set up. It's a cool aristocrats card, though. I can see solid reasons for each of the cards you are adding. The mana cost on Grave Pact gives me pause, but I suppose you are adding in a devotion subtheme with that, Erebos, and Geralf's Messenger. That said, there are plenty of times you would much rather have Seal of Doom than Grave Pact.
I noticed that you removed Seal of Doom and Devour Flesh without adding any removal to replace them (although Pact can sort of count). If you were going to throw another piece of removal in, my vote would be for Ravenous Chupacabra or Nekrataal, since blink synergy is big for your cube.
Now onto random suggestions. I'm not saying you should necessarily add these cards, but these are black cards from my cube that I at least think you should be aware of: Crypt Rats / Plague Spitter (if you need even MORE pestilence), Weaponcraft Enthusiast (for BR Purphoros, aristocrats, esper blinks, and black splash in artifacts), Woebringer Demon (better trigger for multiplayer than Anowon, the Ruin Sage, but still pretty fragile), Necrologia (this is just goodstuff, but it's my favorite black card-draw spell), Call the Bloodline (good discard outlet, source of life gain, good for soul sisters/ Purphoros, and an enchantment that leads to a board presence, but very bad against pestilence), Desolation (I don't know how this terrifying card isn't more well known), Hell's Caretaker (the Elvish Piper of reanimator: very fragile, but a great engine, and coincidentally a great sacrifice outlet), Nirkana Revenant (big mana black doesn't have all that many great support cards, but it's a cool archetype, and this is as good as it gets outside of Crypt Ghast-- Bubbling Muck is fun too), and Pawn of Ulamog/ Sifter of Skulls (as purphoros and aristocrats support, as well as a fantastic bridge between the two).
If you are looking for cuts, the place I'd look in in goodstuff cards that don't really support your archetypes. I'm not saying you should cut these cards: they are good cards. The reason to do so would just be to add cards that are more synergistic. Wight of Precinct Six or Mortivore (including the more synergistic Nighthowler, you have this effect well represented, and could drop one of the iterations), Vampire Nighthawk (this card is the perfect example of a great goodstuff card that doesn't really do much to support any archetypes in your cube-- still a great card, though), Abyssal Persecutor (I like this card a lot, but it is just a big guy-- then again that text box can lead to some wacky multiplayer situaitons) Grave Titan (ignore this suggestion, I just have a personal vendetta against this card because I don't like its design), and Soul of Innistrad (although this is cool grave support), Syphon Soul (This is efficient for its cost in multiplayer, but isn't necessary to the format), Buried Alive (This is super great, and it's great with Oversold Cemetery, but you've already got Entomb-- I'd consider cutting one of the two for something that fills the graveyard while also supporting other archetypes).
I'm particularly curious about Oversold Cemetery. I've never played with the card, but it is cool as hell.
As a side note, I'm noticing a distinct lack of cards from multiplayer-oriented supplementals. There are a number of mechanics in them that are designed for multiplayer (such as voting and goad) that probably play very well in multiplayer, though I don't know those cards very well, and I wouldn't really know what to recommend beyond cards that are played in traditional cubes like Coercive Portal.
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.
Yes, it might be better to keep in Nezumi for now. I guess I could think about replacing it with Cemetery Reaper as well if we're going a bit more on the zombie theme. Although Nezumi might just be better now.
That does seem to be an interesting option!
Maybe I should just get Bloodghast?
I own both cards, but I think I'll go for Rise now. I feel it offers black what Blatant Thievery does for blue and Insurrection for red.
I must admit that, also keeping in mind that the enchantress theme is still around, it will probably be best to just keep Seal of Doom in.
This is really a great card and I have loved playing it in my black decks. I'll have to do some more thinking for black
Of your projected cuts, the only one I'm sad to see go is Temur Sabertooth, but I'm not going to really gun for it. Your adds look pretty strong, particularly Fauna Shaman. You don't have tons of targets for Natural Order, but there are probably enough. If you wanted another target, perhaps a gold card (with green) could fill that slot, like Dragonlord Atarka ($9 card), Simic Skyswallower, or Novablast Wurm. Or in monogreen, Verdant Force, Terrastodon, Pelakka Wurm, or Polyraptor. Polyraptor being my favorite suggestion because of the Pestilence interaction.
For the most part, I have to say your green section looks really strong. I don't think Garruk's Packleader is doing all that much, and Soul of Zendikar is replaceable. Back to Nature may be a bit narrow: it's a silver bullet against one deck, but your cube isn't full of silver bullets like that. Evolution Charm could come out for an easy flex slot. I'd replace Kruphix's Insight with a different enchantment support card. I'm partial to Whip Silk for its interaction with enchantresses, but it's no Flickering Ward. I'd replace Commune with Nature with Oath of Nissa because it's an enchantment, and because I've found it to be easier to get value out of (the planeswalker text doesn't really matter). Other random things I recommend are Awakening Zone (good for Purphoros, aristocrats, enchantress, ramp, and soul sisters, but bad against pestilence), and Rancor (just good). From Beyond isn't as good as Awakening Zone, but it's good.
But basically, green doesn't need to improve much.
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.
Blade Splicer and Restoration Angel are both very strong additions. Splicer is particularly useful here. With all your blinks/ soul sisters/ Purphuros, and everything else, anything that creates two creatures at once is good. (I probably should have mentioned Eldrazi Skyspawner with blue). Auramancer and Basilica Guards are both fine, but both replaceable (though Auramancer has plenty of potential synergies).
I like Suture Priest over Ajani's Pridemate. I feel like it picks up some value in multiplayer, and Pridemate is mostly good in the soul sisters deck anyway. Maybe Priest isn't needed, but Pridemate seems replaceable.
Your knight mini-theme is a nice: it only takes up two slots to create the theme (Knight Exemplar and Kinsbaile Cavalier), and beyond that you just have to play good knights (which you are). Gallant Cavalry might be just the core set common for you: Call the Cavalry has played well for me so far, and your cube is full of blinks. The only other real card for this archetype is History of Benalia. That card is 14$, and I don't think you really need it, but it does support every archetype (certain blinks reset it, multiple sisters triggers, enchantment with a board presence, knight synergy, and aggro playable).
The soldier theme is much less of a thing than the knight thing by my reckoning. Captain of the Watch is totally solid (lots of etbs, plus they can survive a pestilence trigger), but Knight-Captain of Eos and Mobilization are both pretty slow for dude factories. I guess Knight Captain should stay since it's a knight, is a blinkable army in a can, and saves you with fogs. But Mobilization seems really really clunky, and I think there are many token generators that could supplant it (and you shouldn't worry about the tiny soldier synergy). Secure the Wastes is probably the most powerful. Heliod, God of the Sun and Legion's Landing are decent enchantment based options here, but for easy enchantment slots, I would recommend removal. Honestly I think you'll be a lot better off if you just cut Mobilization for Gallant Cavalry.
The most playable enchantments in all of white tend to be removal. Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are the gold standard for white removal, but it's tough to pass up the opportunity to add premium enchantment slots. I'd at least cut Condemn for enchantment based removal, and I could see cutting a few other cards for some as well. Here's the best I can think of/find: Pacifism, Cage of Hands (replays for enchantresses), Prison Term, Recumbent Bliss, Spectral Grasp (stumbled upon this multiplayer card), Oblivion Ring, Banishing Light, Cast Out, Conclave Tribunal (which all importantly hit enchantments), and Journey to Nowhere. Maybe you should keep Back to Nature, but I don't think you need Tempest of Light as well. I'd replace it and Revoke Existence with things from this list that also hit artifact/ enchantments. It's true that I'm suggesting you cut cheaper cards for three and four drop, though.
I don't think Relic Seeker is good.
Indomitable Archangel is not important. It's fine, but it's just a flying beater, and it doesn't really support an artifact deck, it just gets better if you have artifacts.
I like Angelic Arbiter in multiplayer. I'm less convinced about Angel of Glory's Rise. Perhaps you have enough humans and zombies in the cube to make it a big, fun, swingy effect. I've never tried the card, so I don't know. In a multiplayer game, I suppose you can be generally guaranteed at least one zombie. Decree of Justice and Eternal Dragon are cards that could go in that slot.
Eldrazi Displacer (and Endbringer) need painlands to function. Displacer is a very strong card so long as you can support it without needing Wastes in your deck. Nobody wants to have to play Wastes. I think if you're gonna support C, you've gotta gotta play painlands. They're strong lands anyway. Displacer is great and all, but you have quite a bit of blink support without it. There's always Angel of Condemnation.
I'm not a fan of Honor of the Pure (though I guess it's still in my cube). I always found it was too narrow unless you were making white token armies (which would be better supported with another token generator). I prefer Always Watching (and vigilance is useful in multiplayer), but my favorite white anthem effect is Marshal's Anthem. As you've probably figured out, I love it when one card fills two slots.
I am intrigued by Solitary Confinement. If you have Phyrexian Arena or such, you can make a sweet engine, and the effect can be extremely powerful. I'm definitely not going to suggest you cut it, but it's one I've never used.
I love Blind Obedience here. The Kismet effect is much more powerful in multiplayer, and the taxing goes wide quite nicely as well, but it doesn't exactly make you a target, which is nice.
Random suggestions from my cube: Thraben Inspector, Pious Evangel, Magus of the Tabernacle, World Queller, Cataclysmic Gearhulk, Timely Reinforcements, and Porphyry Nodes.
Flickering Ward is a must, as I think I've already said. It is surprisingly good on its own, and forms a very easy combo with any enchantress. It makes an enchantress deck feel like an enchantress deck, and more importantly, it draws cards like mad.
Well, that's all the colors. You may be feeling bogged down by now. Don't let the breadth of my suggestions bother you. I mention a lot of great cards, but you can't play most of them at your size. The most important thing is that you're cutting and adding cards for the right reasons. Your cube is moving in the right direction regardless of anything else. I'm not totally done with suggestions yet, but I'm nearly there.
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.
I will rethink about my decision to cut Auramancer due to the Enchantress theme. However, I absolutely have no concerns about letting go of Basilica Guards here. Always felt it to be one of the weaker cards and haven't really seen anyone else play it much either.
I agree that Pridemate is an easy cut to make as well. Suture Priest might be good to use instead, although I am also considering Weathered Wayfarer and/or Knight of the White Orchid.
I have been having my doubts about keeping in the knight theme. I like it because I used to have a dedicated knight deck in the past for multiplayer games, but since our draft are usually with 4-6 people and only on rare occasion with 8, I'm not sure if it's good enough.
Your suggestion could be fine with all the blink effects. I'll think about it.
I have been thinking about including the good old O-ring for some time now. I'll have a look to have it in the list.
I more or less agree. I think the aforementioned Knight of the White Orchid, Weathered Wayfarer or Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Containment Priest or Oreskos Explorer would be better in this slot.
I don't like it that much in this cube. I think my favourite replacement, even though a bit higher in price and one mana more, would be Archangel of Thune.
Yes, I think this was mainly some filler card since it wasn't that bad and good high in the curve, so I chose it at the time (also cause I owned it). One of my buddies with whom I frequently play has an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite so I'm going to see if we can include that in the cube instead. If I'm not mistaken, he also has an Avacyn, Angel of Hope. These would be my ideal 2 picks here, but I refrained from them so far due to their price tag.
I have started buying most of the cards we've been discussing so I expect some big updates the next 2 weeks to all colors (except white), colorless and lands.
I'll also work on updating my original post to reflect a bit more the other threads in this section so this can become more of a standard cube thread and I can share some more information on the cube itself!
Cheers
A word on other colours. Red is the Clock and accordingly controls the tempo of the game. If other colours' defenses are too good, then lower them so a fast Red deck has a chance. If Red is winning too consistently, remove 1 or 2 pieces of fast-tech and see how that plays out.
A good archetype for playtesting is a Red-White deck. You can make it as tuned as you want, but it should come out to a 60/40 winrate against what it is playing against. The imbalance will be corrected for when players draft those cards, rather than leave them open. And archetypes that can't compete against Red/White should be reevaluated.