There are also:
- Life // Death - Very similar to Reanimate. The additional 1 isn't a big deal. Only question is where to put it.
- Makeshift Mannequin - Instant speed is a huge plus, but it comes with a drawback.
- Zombify - Very basic effect. No real drawback.
- Dread Return- See Zombify. More black intensive cost, but with a (rarely used) flashback option.
Not really, Anafenza reads "... another nontoken creature..." - she won't buff your 1-drop. That's one minor annoyance, but then it's also nontoken, and she costs WW... I don't know, I'm not convinced and I won't be testing her, but I will consider her if she starts getting many positive reviews.
My Cube has been sitting at 720 cards since the beginning - I like playing with as much cool cards from Magic history as possible as well as having variety from draft to draft. Nevertheless, I decided to trim it down a bit to get some extra consistency and a little more power during gameplay.
What felt challenging was to cut cards while trying to keep the Cube balanced (in geral) while also maintaining support to the existing archetypes (the usual Cube archetypes are supported, but with an extra push to Green Mega Ramp, artifact.dec, Twin, and Tokens - mostly based in white but with support in all 5 colors) and trying to keep some pet cards. I also tried my best to keep the overall CMC under 3 and luckily I was able to do it.
Went back and heard the comment again. I, too, am not a fan of calling the cards "360 playable" or "I don't run it at 450, but I would run it at 720", and my comment appeared to follow that line of thought. Although I agree that sometimes referring to cards in those terms is useful to give others a general idea of the power level you consider the card to have, there are numerous cards that are better in smaller lists than in larger lists (and vice-versa) and I think it really depends on your vision for your Cube gameplay and on the archetypes you want to support. (I would imagine Izzet Signet to be a very important piece in supporting both Wildfire and Tinker decks in a compact and elegant way.)
I always like to keep in mind this post in mind when we have this discussion - and I feel like we are very near that point already.
As usual, the MTGS crowd should step down of their high horses and stop the blatant PowerMaximization (TM) in their Cubes. I've long replaced Storm Crow with the much better choice of Seacoast Drake. Doing that helped create a much more fun and challenging environment instead of having a card that's always a P1P1 no matter of what other cards are in the pack (even considering other Power cards like Chimney Imp or the much controversial Hovermyr). I've been running double Seacoast Drake for a while and I'm even considering running a third; also, the Drake is a "Squadron" pick in my Cube - meaning you get a copy of Battle Squadron, Faerie Squadron and Thopter Squadron during deck construction if you pick the Drake.
I also draft lands separately in my Cube. Now, if I was into PowerMaximization (TM) I would just add 4 copies of Soulcatchers' Aerie to the LandDraft (TM) but since I'm all about Fun Maximization (TM) I just decided to "seed" 2 copies of Seaside Haven in each pack. (I didn't have enough copies of the Haven so I just sharpied some Tundras I had lying around.) It really did wonders to the storm archetype.
But I would never - NEVER! - run Storm Crow in my Cube. I would then have to run powerful removal like Rite of the Serpent and Ember Shot just to deal with it and I don't want to run such efficient removal like that.
I have an irrational love for Modern Masters foils - I got all the foils that I could from that set and even if I have another decent foil from another set I always try to check if I can get the MM version without much fuss. Let's just hope that MM2 foils are equally beautiful.
Oh, and that foil Urza's Saga Opposition is amazing - easily one of my favourite foils in my Cube. Nice pick!
Yep, the thing about Boseiju is: You WILL have to fight over the mindslaver and boseiju turns your counterspells into non-negotiable nay-sayers.
They will just bypass your counterspells and use theirs to counter the Mindslaver directly - yeah, OK, you might make their Dispels and their Spell Snares worse, but Remand/Negate/Cryptic Command/Spell Pierce/Condescend/Counterflux and to an extent Mana Leak all still work. Don't get me wrong, Boseiju is a cool card but it does not pull much weight in this deck. Not to mention the fact that it enters the battlefield tapped - and one thing that I've learned playing this deck for a while is that every inch counts, and you can't really afford to have your lands entering the battlefield tapped.
Although I find aesthetically pleasing to play with matching basics, I also enjoy having the basics serve as a "Living Museum" for Magic history. That, and Symbol Status is a very good Cube card as well.
That means they have either exemptions or channels through which to buy, because there is no signup for US addresses. Which also means high volume.
-AA
Yeah, I know. The address for both those accounts is in Germany, and it's the same address that Karmacrow (the biggest seller there and I believe the B&M store behind MKM) has.
What felt challenging was to cut cards while trying to keep the Cube balanced (in geral) while also maintaining support to the existing archetypes (the usual Cube archetypes are supported, but with an extra push to Green Mega Ramp, artifact.dec, Twin, and Tokens - mostly based in white but with support in all 5 colors) and trying to keep some pet cards. I also tried my best to keep the overall CMC under 3 and luckily I was able to do it.
Anyway, here's the full breakdown, for posterity.
Between Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Trygon Predator and Shardless Agent it's relatively close and cutting Kiora wouldn't shock me.
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This is also possibly close - choose one: Pelakka Wurm or Foe-Razer Regent?
I always like to keep in mind this post in mind when we have this discussion - and I feel like we are very near that point already.
Thanks for commenting, harb0dy!
I also draft lands separately in my Cube. Now, if I was into PowerMaximization (TM) I would just add 4 copies of Soulcatchers' Aerie to the LandDraft (TM) but since I'm all about Fun Maximization (TM) I just decided to "seed" 2 copies of Seaside Haven in each pack. (I didn't have enough copies of the Haven so I just sharpied some Tundras I had lying around.) It really did wonders to the storm archetype.
But I would never - NEVER! - run Storm Crow in my Cube. I would then have to run powerful removal like Rite of the Serpent and Ember Shot just to deal with it and I don't want to run such efficient removal like that.
Oh, and that foil Urza's Saga Opposition is amazing - easily one of my favourite foils in my Cube. Nice pick!
Thalia will be this year's WMCQ promo (see attachment). Which version do you like better?