There are aggro decks in eternal formats that can keep control decks in check.
Just stopping by to point out that a white weenie hate bears deck won the legacy GP in Vegas and came close to winning the Modern event as well.
Aggro won't always beat control, but it should be heavily favored, especially if it's well supported in the cube and the drafter built the deck well. Mono red is the aggro deck that I have the most success with in cube, but I've been able to do well with aggro decks in basically every color combo. That's honestly thanks to what I've learned from posting on these boards for the past 10 years, and wtwlf in particular, about how to properly support the different theaters in cube so it's not just a dragon-fest.
That was my deck that won the legacy GP. Very few decks are ever "aggro" or "control". In every single match of magic, there will be a player who should be playing the control role from the start and a player who should be playing the aggro role from the start. It is a matter of context. This "white weenie" deck is more often than not a control deck than an aggro deck. It does things that you cannot expect to replicate in cube very often.
Just a personal preference, but as artists own the rights to print playmats using their art, I do not feel comfortable circumventing them and printing it myself without authorization. Inked playmats should not allow it to occur either.
Playmats are a constant problem in that people often don't bring one. Seating for drafts can be a problem too. So I'm going to use a new method wherein I'll take 8 playmats and toss them out onto the table and then keep in hard sleeve with my cube matching magic cards for the playmats and have people draw at random and sit at the corresponding mat. So I need the best 8 mats for this. This means it must be a mat of a card. The card should be a cube card or generally just amazing mat for some reason (like an original Serra angel mat I ran across) and the corresponding card shouldn't be insanely expensive (I'm not buying another lotus just to pair up with my lotus mat for seating. Thoughts? Ideas I had:
Jtms, port, tolarian academy, sofi, dack fayden, city of brass, deathrite shaman, force of will, Serra angel, PT Madrid Avacyn
The secret of the appeal of THC to me comes down to one deck: Elves (THC is the last card they want to see turn 3 from us.) That is the one match that completely reverses polarity based on that card, but Prelate isn't very helpful, Crusader is meh and Avenger is meaningless.
It is very wrong to say that avenger is meaningless and crusader is meh against elves. Avenger is one of your top creatures against elves. Crusader is one of your top creatures vs elves. Connecting with a jitte multiple times is how we can beat elves most consistently. With quirion ranger and symbiote tricks ground guys often have a tough time connecting without a mom. Avenger flies over all their guys AND hangs back to get more jitte counters if they attack. She essentially is a creature that comes into play with a free mom AND gets you either double your amount of jitte counters or prevent them from attacking. Crusader also comes in with a free mom and gets you double jitte counters. Avenger with a jitte is terrifying for elves second only to crusader with a jitte
Have you found it to be more powerful than worldknit? That card was busted
It is 4-5 times stronger than worldknit. Worldknit makes u pay a far heavier price for any color lands: a bloated deck with a lower chance of getting your most impactful cards and still subject to mana flood or short.
Hi all!
I think that most of the decks that are running 2 Serra Avenger are trying to fill an empty/flexible spot.
My actual list for reference (yes, finally I'm sold on Recruiter of the Guard):
There are 2 spots left, no Mirran Crusader and 10 (!) 3-drop (what to cut in order to run smoothly?).
Till now, I'm filling these spots with 2 Avengers, but still.. I think that we need a "real" 2-drop, but.. Which one?
On THC: sometimes I would prefer Vryn Wingmare, sometimes not.. What are your impressions?
Sideboard question: Cataclysm or Wilt-Leaf Liege?
All due respect, this list is way too slow IMO. Avenger is not a space filler, she is an essential cog in the deck. I think this version takes what should be a great matchup vs any delver deck and turns it into a coin flip or worse because of how slow it is and how vulnerable to flipped Delvers and countermagic. I think having at least 1 cavern is a must currently, and if you have not tested with prelate do so Bc that card is meta-warping good.
How do you feel about Kambal, Consul of Allocation for the black splash? I am curious if you have tried it at all to help punish greedy spell decks like Storm, Delver, Miracles etc.
you already beat all those decks and you beat them by keeping a lid on how many spells they can cast, which seems to work against this guy's strength.
Really? Could you elaborate on why you think it's that powerful? I mean, I'm a believer, but saying it's the only bannable card in cube is a pretty outrageous claim you have to admit
Definitely is an outlandish claim, but it is also an outlandish card. It fundamentally changes the way you play Magic and fundamentally changes the way you draft, in both cases by lifting the most restrictive barriers to success and putting you on easy mode. It warps the entire draft in the process. I've banned other cards from my cube like Jace memory adept and sword of body and mind not because they were too powerful but Bc they were powerful and unfun for anyone. Not sure what to do with sovereign's realm because it is a blast for the person who drafts it...
(FYI the player who drafted sovereign's realm is now 15-0 through 5 8-man cubes in my group. That includes stronger and moderate players drafting it in packs 1 three times and pack 2 twice. Luck would have it is has never wound up in pack 3. )
They 10000% deserve to be higher on the list. The only reason I can think they aren't is too many voters just didn't ever play with them. They are uncounterable, permanent effects that you ALWAYS draw in your opening hand and need zero mana. Sol ring isn't winning you any games when the random shuffle puts it 20th from the top- which is statistically its average place in your deck.
We've played with all the conspiracies many times and while the above description of them makes them extremely powerful, none felt so overpowered that they were unfair. Except sovereign's realm. You play yugioh while your opponent plays magic. You never get mana screwed, you never get mana flooded. If you get it in pack 1 you will draft the most insane deck you'd ever imagine by picking the single best card for you regardless of color for the rest of the entire draft while also nerfing all your opponents by being in ALL of their colors. The card is absolutely nutty. I like nutty, but not this nutty. My inclination is to keep it but try testing it with a nerf like you start with 13 life if u have it in your command zone at the start of the game.
Avenger can also be the key to beating elves in game 1. Symbiote and quirion make getting jitte counters on the ground very difficult, a flier with a jitte who can attack AND play defense (without having to pay 2 mana to switch the jitte to someone else post combat) is going to increase your odds of winning from low 20s to high 70s.
(This is how I beat elves game 1 on Sunday actually).
I got my WWK foil Jace, Der Gedankformer a few years ago and a rule in my cube is that if you cast him and pass priority without saying "Der gedankformer" he gets countered as a state based effect.
Anyone who thinks a cantrip is best played on turn 1 doesn't understand how to play magic well. The longer the game goes, the more valuable they become.
That was my deck that won the legacy GP. Very few decks are ever "aggro" or "control". In every single match of magic, there will be a player who should be playing the control role from the start and a player who should be playing the aggro role from the start. It is a matter of context. This "white weenie" deck is more often than not a control deck than an aggro deck. It does things that you cannot expect to replicate in cube very often.
Jtms, port, tolarian academy, sofi, dack fayden, city of brass, deathrite shaman, force of will, Serra angel, PT Madrid Avacyn
It is very wrong to say that avenger is meaningless and crusader is meh against elves. Avenger is one of your top creatures against elves. Crusader is one of your top creatures vs elves. Connecting with a jitte multiple times is how we can beat elves most consistently. With quirion ranger and symbiote tricks ground guys often have a tough time connecting without a mom. Avenger flies over all their guys AND hangs back to get more jitte counters if they attack. She essentially is a creature that comes into play with a free mom AND gets you either double your amount of jitte counters or prevent them from attacking. Crusader also comes in with a free mom and gets you double jitte counters. Avenger with a jitte is terrifying for elves second only to crusader with a jitte
It is 4-5 times stronger than worldknit. Worldknit makes u pay a far heavier price for any color lands: a bloated deck with a lower chance of getting your most impactful cards and still subject to mana flood or short.
All due respect, this list is way too slow IMO. Avenger is not a space filler, she is an essential cog in the deck. I think this version takes what should be a great matchup vs any delver deck and turns it into a coin flip or worse because of how slow it is and how vulnerable to flipped Delvers and countermagic. I think having at least 1 cavern is a must currently, and if you have not tested with prelate do so Bc that card is meta-warping good.
Definitely is an outlandish claim, but it is also an outlandish card. It fundamentally changes the way you play Magic and fundamentally changes the way you draft, in both cases by lifting the most restrictive barriers to success and putting you on easy mode. It warps the entire draft in the process. I've banned other cards from my cube like Jace memory adept and sword of body and mind not because they were too powerful but Bc they were powerful and unfun for anyone. Not sure what to do with sovereign's realm because it is a blast for the person who drafts it...
We've played with all the conspiracies many times and while the above description of them makes them extremely powerful, none felt so overpowered that they were unfair. Except sovereign's realm. You play yugioh while your opponent plays magic. You never get mana screwed, you never get mana flooded. If you get it in pack 1 you will draft the most insane deck you'd ever imagine by picking the single best card for you regardless of color for the rest of the entire draft while also nerfing all your opponents by being in ALL of their colors. The card is absolutely nutty. I like nutty, but not this nutty. My inclination is to keep it but try testing it with a nerf like you start with 13 life if u have it in your command zone at the start of the game.
(This is how I beat elves game 1 on Sunday actually).