I've started to watch your series, and it's pretty great. If I were to make one piece of constructive criticism, the voice that speaks (I assume it's you) can sometimes sound a little monotonous, but other than that I can't find much else to fault. The production value, the content, what I especially like is the idea that (at least part of the time) you're reaching out to the people who draft cubes but don't necessarily own one - I've found the vast majority of cube content is made for curators, not drafters, so that's real nice.
I always find the signet discussion interesting, no matter who is the one making the argument. As someone who runs all 10 - I guess the reason I don't get burned by this is I don't really support "insta-win" combo, so something like getting Sneak Attack a turn early isn't going to be an issue in my cube.
But I look forward to more videos, this is a fresh new series and I wish you much success!
I've long been a fan of Aven Mimeomancer, I think that's a great way for tempo decks to upsize their early drops without losing their other abilities, and it can also turn opponents big threats into a more manageable size. The fact that the creatures remain 3/1 fliers when the 'mancer leaves the battlefield is also very nice.
I was a little dubious at first, but Crypt Ghast has really proven its worth, too. Both the extort and the extra mana are very relevant, and make up for its smallish size for a 4-drop.
I'll echo the love for Mayor of Avabruck, who is still as popular now in my cube as it was when I added it after the Innistrad prerelease.
I actually am not sure how popular Spirit Bonds is, but we've been enjoying it so far.
I also re-added Rout since I opened one from Conspiracy, and I've really liked the instant speed wrath effect, more than I thought I did when it was originally in my cube.
Have you read both forums? Point to the constant riptide flaming that takes place on here. Oh, it doesn't take place. Even by people like myself and Anthony that have been personally attacked and ridiculed on a site we don't even post in. And why? Because we have different cube philosophies? Give me a break.
Just had to bring this part up because it wouldn't make sense for this place to flame riptide lab - this is a huge forum with over 150,000 members (albeit significantly less in the Cube forum and active posters, but still) and Riptide is really just a baby. If I had a smaller, newer burger joint, I might say that we're much better than McDonald's, but I wouldn't expect McDonald's to ever say a word about us.
I haven't ready read enough on Riptide to form a full judgement, so I won't offer any sort of opinions, but I know that I definitely have had some disagreements with Jason's overall Cube philosophy.
I think we should listen to Reason when he says "there is room for improvement on this board." Partially because I always think there's room for improvement, and mostly because I wanted to say that we should listen to Reason.
I sometimes feel the hive mind effect here but I don't mind it so much, it gives me an idea of what "most people" feel about Cube.
As far as the philosophy of Cube design, however, I can sort of understand where you're going, but even if it provides a somewhat more balanced limited environment, I don't think that's necessary for me, and deviating from the norm too much on my Cube design could be detrimental for me as well.
It's not necessary because my Cube gets drafted once, maybe two times a month, if I'm lucky, and there might be up to 6 drafts in between updates. I don't even have the ability to fully balance the environment with so little testing, so it's not necessary for me to put so much effort into this. A general approach of making sure the theaters of aggro, midrange, and control are present and popular in my playgroup is sufficient. If I were designing a Cube that would be drafted thousands upon thousands of times (like the MODO Cube), then I'd make more sure of the balance, but I just don't need to. And frankly, I don't know if I want to.
It's potentially detrimental just because I want anyone to be able to draft my Cube without a lot of confusion or explanation beforehand - I don't want to hand out crib sheets or anything. That's why all my cards are in English and none are textless. I want everyone to understand all the cards, and to that extent I think there is a pretty common understanding that a Cube contains the most powerful cards available.
I think Master of the Wild Hunt has the most upside, of those on the list (unless I'm playing mono or heavy black) this card scares me the most when it's in my opponent's battlefield.
But it also reminds me of a "big Wolves" deck that was drafted not too long ago from my Cube...had Mayor of Avabrook, Garruk Relentless, Huntmaster of the Fells and Master of the Wild Hunt in the same deck. That was fun to watch, and a lot of wolf tokens!.
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I always find the signet discussion interesting, no matter who is the one making the argument. As someone who runs all 10 - I guess the reason I don't get burned by this is I don't really support "insta-win" combo, so something like getting Sneak Attack a turn early isn't going to be an issue in my cube.
But I look forward to more videos, this is a fresh new series and I wish you much success!
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-rexx
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I was a little dubious at first, but Crypt Ghast has really proven its worth, too. Both the extort and the extra mana are very relevant, and make up for its smallish size for a 4-drop.
I'll echo the love for Mayor of Avabruck, who is still as popular now in my cube as it was when I added it after the Innistrad prerelease.
I actually am not sure how popular Spirit Bonds is, but we've been enjoying it so far.
I also re-added Rout since I opened one from Conspiracy, and I've really liked the instant speed wrath effect, more than I thought I did when it was originally in my cube.
Also, grain of salt, my cube is 630 cards.
-rexx
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Just had to bring this part up because it wouldn't make sense for this place to flame riptide lab - this is a huge forum with over 150,000 members (albeit significantly less in the Cube forum and active posters, but still) and Riptide is really just a baby. If I had a smaller, newer burger joint, I might say that we're much better than McDonald's, but I wouldn't expect McDonald's to ever say a word about us.
I haven't ready read enough on Riptide to form a full judgement, so I won't offer any sort of opinions, but I know that I definitely have had some disagreements with Jason's overall Cube philosophy.
I think we should listen to Reason when he says "there is room for improvement on this board." Partially because I always think there's room for improvement, and mostly because I wanted to say that we should listen to Reason.
-rexx
1
As far as the philosophy of Cube design, however, I can sort of understand where you're going, but even if it provides a somewhat more balanced limited environment, I don't think that's necessary for me, and deviating from the norm too much on my Cube design could be detrimental for me as well.
It's not necessary because my Cube gets drafted once, maybe two times a month, if I'm lucky, and there might be up to 6 drafts in between updates. I don't even have the ability to fully balance the environment with so little testing, so it's not necessary for me to put so much effort into this. A general approach of making sure the theaters of aggro, midrange, and control are present and popular in my playgroup is sufficient. If I were designing a Cube that would be drafted thousands upon thousands of times (like the MODO Cube), then I'd make more sure of the balance, but I just don't need to. And frankly, I don't know if I want to.
It's potentially detrimental just because I want anyone to be able to draft my Cube without a lot of confusion or explanation beforehand - I don't want to hand out crib sheets or anything. That's why all my cards are in English and none are textless. I want everyone to understand all the cards, and to that extent I think there is a pretty common understanding that a Cube contains the most powerful cards available.
-rexx
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But it also reminds me of a "big Wolves" deck that was drafted not too long ago from my Cube...had Mayor of Avabrook, Garruk Relentless, Huntmaster of the Fells and Master of the Wild Hunt in the same deck. That was fun to watch, and a lot of wolf tokens!.
-rexx