There are some minor complaints that I hear about this card in addition to corporate greed. The character of Negan is a monster and Lucille kind of is the symbol of his bad deeds. One could argue that playing this card in a cube is misanthropic. It almost feels like playing Crusade or any of the other banned cards of Magic that depicts human abysses. Sure, we have cards in our cube that are ugly, horrible, terrific and we have villains like Yawgmoth who are monsters too. But they are much more fantastic and less... real actors who show us murder and rape in a pseudo authentic presentation.
There are even more minor complaints, but I guess you understand why some people are upset and would say something like "Why the hell do you support that *****?" and maybe even rip it up.
If you try the card out and are happy with it, go on and enjoy your time. I just wanted to add that facet to your discussion. Lucille is quite pushed, I would not be surprised if they reprinted it inside a regular Magic product and framing. That would solve my issue. I would be interested to test it for sure.
I would like to explain my comment.
Yes, we already had one card ripped apart in the past: Prophet of Kruphix. My cube is an EDH cube in the style of Dolono's cube, a user here who is like the wtwlf123 of EDH cubes :), but I did not conform the EDH banned list and well, Prophet was really a huge problem and after my refusal to cut it, one of my friends ripped it apart and donated me Seedborn Muse to replace it.
That is the first part of backstory. Most people in my group are quite smart and fine people. The thing is...
We live in Germany and Secret Lair cards have been a running gag of corporate greed and real life microtransaction that are not even avalable here without a huge extra cost. And if I or anyone else in my private group supports this product, well it would be just pathetic. I doubt the card would survive the first draft
I understand that this stance is weird, especially for people in the US. But well, I thought I share this "problem" for your entertainment.
Honestly? I have a pod of around 20 people from my area with whom I play Magic. I guess around half of them will tear apart any Walking Dead card if they see them. Therefore: Uncubeable.
But the majority of spells is just so unimpressive on their spell side, to the point where I rather have another more flexible spell.
Take Hagra Mauling for example. For 4 mana I rather have Vraska's Contempt with exile upside, 2 lifegain upside and the modality upside that it can also exile a Planeswalker instead. That makes these cards so hard to evaluate. Hagra Mauling is a bad removal spell if you want a removal spell compared to alternatives in that slot and the tap land option does not help in each game. So how are the odds for situations where it shines and where it sucks compared to Vraska's Contempt - I really don't know.
I have just created my Tauren Druid from WoW. The idea is to have a feral Druid that shapeshifts from Bear form to caster form and back, just like in the game. This has been realized by combining the wording of Huntmaster of the Fells and Nicol Bolas, the Ravager. The card has a very strong front side like Bolas, with the keyword Trample representing green and Lightning Helix as ETB/Transform trigger, representing white and red. The activated ability is limited by only working while the creature is attacking, closing the most blatant loop holes.
The PW side is working like Sarkhan the Mad, you can not tick him up. But instead of facing inevitable doom, the PW can willingly use the first ability to transform back into Bear form. It also represents red with a small "red draw", while the other -2 abilities represent Revoke Existence and Rampant Growth, a white and a green cmc 2 sorcery.
The card is most likely broken and too strong for normal magic, it is a custom commander card for a small event with friends. Hope you enjoy my design
Edit: added the latest version of the card! New balancing to reduce power level. Shifting form PW to creature adds summoning sickness. Also, you either get the card or transform, not both (since transform already adds the Lightning Helix effect). Last but not least, removed the ramp ability and added a real PW ultimate that is a combination of Aura Mutation and Artifact Mutation!
Another hidden gem for pushing red is: Dualcaster Mage + Heat Shimmer or Twinflame for infinite 2/2 with haste. You need a creature on the battlefield with Twinflame to start the combo, but it also works with a creature on the opponents side with Heat Shimmer. The neat thing about all three cards: None of them sucks in midrange decks. There are so many etb value creatures, that Heat Shimmer and Twinflame have a serviceable function outside of comboes.
Well... I have it in my cube at 580 and it's useful in only a very limited amount of decks. It's mostly there to ensure some gas for white in attrition wars (the cube is mostly played in multiplayer pods).
Consider Academy Rector and some enchantments creatures (like Spirit of the Labyrinth, Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, Nightmare Shepherd, Purphoros, God of the Forge and Courser of Kruphix) as well as regular enchantments in each color. I have only 8-10 per color at 580 and it still shows of to be relevant. You just need 2 good enchantments like Sacred Mesa and Parallax Wave in your deck and it will be worth to pick Hall. In this case, it's like a more limited Academy Ruins. The star of the pack is of course Volrath's Stronghold.
In a powered cube, Hall is too slow. By far. But if you have a midrange cube, multiplayer cube or a heavy enchantment theme, it's cubeable.
There are even more minor complaints, but I guess you understand why some people are upset and would say something like "Why the hell do you support that *****?" and maybe even rip it up.
If you try the card out and are happy with it, go on and enjoy your time. I just wanted to add that facet to your discussion.
Lucille is quite pushed, I would not be surprised if they reprinted it inside a regular Magic product and framing. That would solve my issue. I would be interested to test it for sure.
Yes, we already had one card ripped apart in the past: Prophet of Kruphix. My cube is an EDH cube in the style of Dolono's cube, a user here who is like the wtwlf123 of EDH cubes :), but I did not conform the EDH banned list and well, Prophet was really a huge problem and after my refusal to cut it, one of my friends ripped it apart and donated me Seedborn Muse to replace it.
That is the first part of backstory. Most people in my group are quite smart and fine people. The thing is...
We live in Germany and Secret Lair cards have been a running gag of corporate greed and real life microtransaction that are not even avalable here without a huge extra cost. And if I or anyone else in my private group supports this product, well it would be just pathetic. I doubt the card would survive the first draft
I understand that this stance is weird, especially for people in the US. But well, I thought I share this "problem" for your entertainment.
This is no exaggeration.
I also like Sacred Mesa, Martial Coup and Decree of Justice as token creators.
But the majority of spells is just so unimpressive on their spell side, to the point where I rather have another more flexible spell.
Take Hagra Mauling for example. For 4 mana I rather have Vraska's Contempt with exile upside, 2 lifegain upside and the modality upside that it can also exile a Planeswalker instead. That makes these cards so hard to evaluate. Hagra Mauling is a bad removal spell if you want a removal spell compared to alternatives in that slot and the tap land option does not help in each game. So how are the odds for situations where it shines and where it sucks compared to Vraska's Contempt - I really don't know.
The PW side is working like Sarkhan the Mad, you can not tick him up. But instead of facing inevitable doom, the PW can willingly use the first ability to transform back into Bear form. It also represents red with a small "red draw", while the other -2 abilities represent Revoke Existence and Rampant Growth, a white and a green cmc 2 sorcery.
The card is most likely broken and too strong for normal magic, it is a custom commander card for a small event with friends. Hope you enjoy my design
Edit: added the latest version of the card! New balancing to reduce power level. Shifting form PW to creature adds summoning sickness. Also, you either get the card or transform, not both (since transform already adds the Lightning Helix effect). Last but not least, removed the ramp ability and added a real PW ultimate that is a combination of Aura Mutation and Artifact Mutation!
Earthcraft + stuff like Utopia Sprawl + Sacred Mesa for infinite tokens
Mana doublers (for example Mirari's Wake) enable many silly infinite comboes
white:
Path to Exile
Swords to Plowshares
Eerie Interlude
Oblation
red:
Fall of the Hammer
Chaos Warp
Twinflame
Collective Defiance
Heat Shimmer
Fiery Confluence (if you have an artifact creature to spare)
Chandra's Ignition
blue:
Capsize
Cryptic Command
Mystic Confluence
Sublime Epiphany
Rite of Replication
black:
Malicious Affliction
Wretched Confluence
Profane Command
green:
Force of Vigor (if you have an artifact creature or enchantment creature to spare)
Berserk
Beast Within
multicolor:
Kolaghan's Command
Artifact Mutation (with an artifact creature)
Expansion // Explosion
Prophetic Bolt
Consider Academy Rector and some enchantments creatures (like Spirit of the Labyrinth, Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, Nightmare Shepherd, Purphoros, God of the Forge and Courser of Kruphix) as well as regular enchantments in each color. I have only 8-10 per color at 580 and it still shows of to be relevant. You just need 2 good enchantments like Sacred Mesa and Parallax Wave in your deck and it will be worth to pick Hall. In this case, it's like a more limited Academy Ruins. The star of the pack is of course Volrath's Stronghold.
In a powered cube, Hall is too slow. By far. But if you have a midrange cube, multiplayer cube or a heavy enchantment theme, it's cubeable.
Feel free to share your thoughts about new sets here.