Forgot about this thread, but I guess we have some new cards I haven't seen others play since the last time I posted here. This is gonna be a long one...
First and foremost, Angel of the Ruins is amazing. The card sees so much play in so many decks, it's honestly incredible. Reanimator, Control, Oath of Druids, Artifact Ramp, fair Recurring Nightmare decks, the card is everywhere. It even fixes mana off of dual lands! Can't recommend this card enough, it's everything I wanted Emeria's Call to be and so much more.
Most cubes I see on here also don't play Plague Engineer which is baffling to me, because we've been playing it for well over 2 years now and that card is absolutely stellar, imo the second best black 3 drop after Rotting Regisaur. Whether it's in aggro, control, midrange, or even the slower reanimator decks, the card gets maindecked in everything. The same way an early Deranged Hermit can single-handedly win you a bunch of aggro matchups, Plague Engineer oftentimes does the same for 3 mana, except it is also one of the best cards available in aggro decks for wiping away your opponents' wide blocking token boards. It's great defensively and has a ton of applications aggressively too, and before anyone mentions that it's only goo din fair matchups, that hasn't been the case either. The card blocks everything well, and can trade with most fatties while cleaning up Myr Battlesphere and Hornet Queen tokens. I promise that card plays soooo much better than it looks, singleton format be damned. Should also mention that it just annihilates green decks of the Elf subtype and white off of Humans, and completely erases all the red 3cmc token producers from combat. The worst case scenario is a 2/2 with deathtoutch for 3 that "pings" something, a debuff that oftentimes lets one of your 2/2s or 3/3s trade up.
I remember bringing up Bomat Courier in the Cube-Card-of-the-Day thread a few years back encouraging others to test it, and I think a bunch of people did but then proceeded to cut it. I'm sure there's good reason for that, but in my playgroup's experience Bomat has been arguably red's second or third best 1 drop prior to Ragavan's printing. It constantly accounts for 2-4 dmage and 3-5 cards for 1-2 measly mana, and is even castable on turn one off of off-color moxen/mana crypt/sol ring which is not a menial upside. I have less to say for this card since its extensive standard dominance and occasional legacy showings already display the play patterns for the card, but just know that the little guy definitely finds it's way into all sorts of aggro and midrange decks, even off of splashes.
Beast Within and Song of the Dryads have been great too. I think people used to play them but cut them for space over the years, but tbh they've only gotten better as PWs and fatties have gotten more and more pushed over the years. Beast Within especially is certainly the better of the two, and makes its way into almost all our green decks, even in aggro and ramp. I'd put it in Council's Judgement territory without batting an eye, with Song a step below all the Oblivion Ring variants but still more than playable, especially in green.
For multicolor, we play all the obvious stuff, but Klothys, God of Destiny has been absurd. It goes in everything, gets splashed constantly, takes over games when it hits the board, and fills every niche you could want in draft and deckbuilding. Gruul is a solid color combination, and I'd vouch for Klothys as the easy #2 behind only Atarka.
Nahiri, the Harbinger isn't actually that great, but she's certainly playable and gets about as much millage as Figure of Destiny in our cube by nature of uniqueness alone. If you don't play her, no harm no foul, but I'd definitely give her a shot because people love to splash for her in all kinds of decks. Control, renaimator, Sneak Attack, Oath, etc can all get fatties off the top-end to win the game, and shes the kind of card that just gets the gears turning for people. If you have a Boros flex slot available that you're just using to test new cards, I'd highly recommend her.
I've mentioned Glare of Subdual before, and I'm not going to go into a whole spiel again, but it's been bar none the best Selesnya card in our cube for like 5 years straight now and it hasn't been particularly close either. It's just as dominant as Opposition vs everything except exactly control, and turns out like 80% of opposition is still ridiculous. Card just shuts down like 80% of other cube decks.
Ugin, the Ineffable has been a colorless Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and isn't going anywhere any time soon. Goes in Control, all the ramp decks, Channel decks, and even some midrange decks. The static ability is super relevant in ramp decks, especially if you play Eldrazi titans, and the card advantage it creates gets out of control insanely fast. It's been leagues better than Karn Liberated for us by comparison, and is without a doubt a premier 6 drop in our cube.
Sawtusk Demolisher has been some pretty stellar agressive/midrange top end for us so far. Has received substantially less extensive testing (just 2 or 3 months now since mutate wasn't on XMage) than every other non-Angel card I've listed so far, but a splashable pseudo-Demon of Catastrophes with haste and a Terrastodon proc has been really good for us so far. Again, by far the least testing of anything I've mentioned so far as most of the cards I'm bringing up have been in our cube for several years, but looks like it's gonna stick around for a while.
Component Pouch has only been in for 5 (I think?) drafts so far over Worn Powerstone, and has already blown away expectations. The card sees play in control and midrange decks all the time a-la pseudo-Coalition Relic, and the fixing has been invaluable. If you aren't comfortable with that swap, I'd at least recommend trying the Pouch in a different slot, as I am confidant that it has got to be better than something. Card deserves a fair shot, goofy die-rolling and counters aside.
And finally I know I've been mentioned her a million times before, but Arcane Artisan is amazing, and it amazes me that there are still cubes that support reanimator/show and tell/sneak attack/Oath of Druids (aka most cubes on here) that don't play it. It's a one-card combo enabler that gets around removal off the EOT activation, and can even loot for value in the late game.
And I think that's everything, whew now I need to go get dinner
- mblieb
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NotScottMescudi posted a message on Underplayed, underapreciated cards (sleepers)Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion -
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wtwlf123 posted a message on [540][Powered] wtwlf123's CubeMy article for MID is up!Posted in: Cube Lists
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/articles-podcasts-and-guides/823668-set-p-review-my-top-20-innistrad-midnight-hunt-mid -
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steve_man posted a message on Drafting on RailsSome archetypes have a lot more dependencies than others, hence why they're more of an "on rails" deck. I don't think there's anything wrong with on-rails decks / strategies as long as every single deck doesn't result in an on-rails draft. I think it's good to have some on-rails decks to draft in you're in the mood for it as long as you still have plenty of options to not be on-rails.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion -
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Mangolassi posted a message on [AFC][CUBE] Phantom SteedPosted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
This card looks fun. In a blink deck, you probably have a creature with an ETB effect lying around by turn 4, and can flash this in at the end of turn 4 and exile it. The horse has no evasion, so the opponent can just trade with it in combat, but then you triggered the ETB of whatever you exiled twice and traded for a creature, which is a 3-for-1. If you exile a Man-O-War effect like Barrin, Tolarian Archmage or a creature with ETB removal like Skyclave Apparition, it's likely your opponent won't even be able to trade, and you set them very far behind on tempo.
Also, as a creature with flash, the horse can be used to save your creatures from instant speed removal or to save evoke creatures like Solitude, Grief, Fury or to a lesser extent Shriekmaw, Mulldrifter or Foundation Breaker.
Most of the time, the floor is a 4/3 flash for 4, though it can be even worse if you only have creatures you don't want to exile, like mana dorks.
However, the card is blue, which means it is not for powered cubes. Larger unpowered cubes with a strong blink theme might be interested. I purposefully overvalue cards with flash because combat tricks make games more interesting, so I am excited for this one -
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steve_man posted a message on [AFC][CUBE] Hurl Through HellPosted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
Pretty reminiscent of Hostage Taker. Being instant speed and not giving your opponent an opportunity to take back their creature are really nice bonuses. Having a limited window to cast the exiled card sucks, but at least you permanently got rid of the problem. I think this is a solid contender for the #5 Rakdos card for me after Rakdos Cackler / Kolaghan's Command / Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast / Dreadbore. -
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kingneb posted a message on [MH2][CUBE] Tourach, Dread ChanterCard has been fantastic. We've been pushing an emphasis on heavy black cards in my Cube (not devotion). Tourach and Dauthi Voidwalker are great recent cards that reward heavy black. This card is also nuts off Dark Ritual.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
Last night I went turn 3 Hymn to Tourach into turn 5 kicked Tourach, Dread Cantor. It was as amazing as it sounds. This deck only had 9 black sources so even when the mana isn't great sometimes you can still get to 1BBB.
My opponent and I both remarked how happy we are with how well Tourach has played.
Worth testing this (and Dark Ritual if you're not running it) in 540 for sure and possibly smaller Cubes. -
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wtwlf123 posted a message on [MH2][CUBE] SubtletyGood, but not amazing. If I was smaller than 540, it would probably be on the outside looking in.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion -
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steve_man posted a message on [AFR][CUBE] FlameskullI originally read this as you can only cast the exiled card, but being able to re-cast this or the exiled card makes it a lot better. Lack of haste hurts and I think this is generally worse than Phoenix of Ash, but still a strong option in its own right.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion -
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Sliver Lord posted a message on [CUBE][M21] Ghostly PilfererBad and slowPosted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion -
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Sliver Lord posted a message on [AFR] [CUBE] Den of the BugbearThis card is gas. I also hope for a full cycle though I would likely only be interested in WBRG.Posted in: Cube Card and Archetype Discussion
Note that fastlands come in untapped on 1,2,3 and this only comes in untapped on 1 and 2, despite their clauses looking pretty similar at a quick glance. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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I have such fond memories of that card and I really love the versatility - you've inspired me to try it out.