Mangled Stitcher1B
Creature - Zombie Wizard
2/1
When ~ enters the battlefield or dies, surveil 1.
At the beginning of your end step, if three or more cards were put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, return ~ to the battlefield.
Ritual of Undeath1B (v1)
Enchantment
When ~ enters the battlefield, put the top four cards of your library into your graveyard, then exile two creature cards from it.
Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, put a hymn counter on Ritual of Undeath. Then, if there's three or more counters on it, put a creature card exiled by it onto the battlefield and remove all counters from Ritual of Undeath.
Ritual of UndeathB (v2)
Enchantment
When ~ enters the battlefield, exile all creature cards from your graveyard.
Whenever a creature you control dies, put a hymn counter on Ritual of Undeath.
You may cast cards exiled by Ritual of Undeath if that card's converted mana cost is equal to or less than the number of hymn counters on it.
Nightmare Angler2BB
Creature - Nightmare (M)
Flying
4/3
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, return a creature card with converted mana cost less than or equal to 2 plus the sacrificed creature's from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Shallow CoffinB
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Land
Whenever a creature you control dies, you may exile it and return all other cards exiled by Shallow Coffin to their owner's graveyard.
You may cast cards exiled by Shallow Coffin as though they had flash. If you do, sacrifice the enchanted land.
First time in a while that I've commissioned new alters (courtesy Rocky Alters). Can't wait to play with my new Council's Judgment, Consectated Sphinx, Toxic Deluge, and Green Suns' Zenith
Yes, good mana fixing exacerbates the issue, but I look at 2/3 cmc CC cards as more of a reward than a reason to pull you into the color. Being able to take the more easily splashable high powered card and tabling the strong but restrictive CC cards rewards the two-colored drafters. This does seem less important a feature when there's no shortage of playables (which explains the three color decks having the best average performance), but after thinking about this a bit, it might be where I want to take my cube. Try to skirt the edge between peasant and unpowered and better emphasize drafting strategy.
EDIT: I should say, as an avid limited fan, my favorite part of drafting is (and the part that separates good limited builders from great ones) is slots 20-23 of a draft deck. I think the power level on cards in draft sets I've really enjoyed dropped off around 20-21 and the how you fill in with less than perfect options makes the difference. I think that is a feature that's really lost in cube because it's not uncommon to have 29-30 playables.
EDIT2: Sorry Usman, this really got off topic didnt it..
I think the above is a really important point too. The constant push towards cards with single colored mana requirements creates (in my experience) a more homogenized drafting environment where 3+ color good stuff is more represented than I like. I think the card flexibility is important for smaller groups, but when a large portion of the pool is being used each draft, I think double colored cards are an important tool for cube designers to reward less greedy decks.
This is a really interesting question to think about. I think the reason they've lasted so long is a mix of a few different things: efficiency, utility, and a lack of mechanical depth in red.
In an effort to keep the constructed formats balanced, I think these spell's efficiency are on the high end of what they're willing to print by current standards.
The utility of these spells are also hard to match, especially at this mana cost. The ability to use them as efficient removal or burn damage to the face allow them to fit in most decks, even as a splash.
The most likely thing to push them out is a new mechanical identity that requires slots taken up by burn that cube owners may choose to trim down on. Since they are relatively boring and mechanically identical to multiple other cards already represented, it's possibke they could get the boot by people wanting to experience different play patterns in this scenario.
It's been a while, but here's something that came to mind today:
Flamewake Veteran2R
Creature - Human Warrior {M}
3/3
When ~ enters the battlefield, exile the top three cards of your library face-down.
Whenever ~ is dealt damage, put a card exiled by it into your hand.
So as someone that's gone through the same process of "cutting back" I came to the conclusion that I will always want the best versions of things, so having a non-foil cube wouldn't cut it for me. I decided to do a Non-standard Cube, meaning I'd buy the cards I need after the set rotates from Standard. This has a bonuses:
1. I only ever have to spend money on the staple/great cards that make it a year and a half &
2. The prices drop considerably after rotation &
3. Creates a list of cards I can trade for during that time and if I end up picking them up, then I don't have to fork over cash for it.
The initial time sucks because you don't make changes to your cube for the first two years, but I just hit the point where the next rotation will allow me to add a bunch of new cards and I'm pretty excited.
Hey all, I'm prepping myself for college here in the next year or so, so I've decided to sell off some alters. You can find the active album here: http://imgur.com/a/ne4M8.
Feel free to PM me if you're interested in anything. Thanks!
I categorize Rakdos Cackler differently than most, so I have an extra spot that others normally don't. I agree those two are stronger though.
EDIT: I think there's more than enough four drops in red and black that are close to the power level of the guild equivalents that I usually steer clear of them for that section.
I have a hard time believing this card isn't a shoe in. He provides great reach and is sick when curving out. I'm just imagining him on 3 and then hero of oxid ridge or hellrider on turn 4 lol.
Its 2b to play and 2b to activate, not 2bb. I'd be willing to give this a try, seems useful in the ending turns of an aggro deck, being able to replay 1-2 burn spells after combat to end the game. Mana flood does happen and this card mitigates the impact of that by giving you options.
Mangled Stitcher 1B
Creature - Zombie Wizard
2/1
When ~ enters the battlefield or dies, surveil 1.
At the beginning of your end step, if three or more cards were put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, return ~ to the battlefield.
Ritual of Undeath 1B (v1)
Enchantment
When ~ enters the battlefield, put the top four cards of your library into your graveyard, then exile two creature cards from it.
Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, put a hymn counter on Ritual of Undeath. Then, if there's three or more counters on it, put a creature card exiled by it onto the battlefield and remove all counters from Ritual of Undeath.
Ritual of Undeath B (v2)
Enchantment
When ~ enters the battlefield, exile all creature cards from your graveyard.
Whenever a creature you control dies, put a hymn counter on Ritual of Undeath.
You may cast cards exiled by Ritual of Undeath if that card's converted mana cost is equal to or less than the number of hymn counters on it.
Nightmare Angler 2BB
Creature - Nightmare (M)
Flying
4/3
When ~ enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, return a creature card with converted mana cost less than or equal to 2 plus the sacrificed creature's from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Shallow Coffin B
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Land
Whenever a creature you control dies, you may exile it and return all other cards exiled by Shallow Coffin to their owner's graveyard.
You may cast cards exiled by Shallow Coffin as though they had flash. If you do, sacrifice the enchanted land.
EDIT: I should say, as an avid limited fan, my favorite part of drafting is (and the part that separates good limited builders from great ones) is slots 20-23 of a draft deck. I think the power level on cards in draft sets I've really enjoyed dropped off around 20-21 and the how you fill in with less than perfect options makes the difference. I think that is a feature that's really lost in cube because it's not uncommon to have 29-30 playables.
EDIT2: Sorry Usman, this really got off topic didnt it..
In an effort to keep the constructed formats balanced, I think these spell's efficiency are on the high end of what they're willing to print by current standards.
The utility of these spells are also hard to match, especially at this mana cost. The ability to use them as efficient removal or burn damage to the face allow them to fit in most decks, even as a splash.
The most likely thing to push them out is a new mechanical identity that requires slots taken up by burn that cube owners may choose to trim down on. Since they are relatively boring and mechanically identical to multiple other cards already represented, it's possibke they could get the boot by people wanting to experience different play patterns in this scenario.
Flamewake Veteran 2R
Creature - Human Warrior {M}
3/3
When ~ enters the battlefield, exile the top three cards of your library face-down.
Whenever ~ is dealt damage, put a card exiled by it into your hand.
Creature - Human Wizard (U)
When ~ enters the battlefield, you gain life equal to its power.
Eternalize 2WW, discard a card
2/3
This seems pretty strong. Decent in both modes and seems to stabilize the board/life total well. Thoughts?
[Edit] - didnt notice the discard. Makes a it a lot less playable.
1. I only ever have to spend money on the staple/great cards that make it a year and a half &
2. The prices drop considerably after rotation &
3. Creates a list of cards I can trade for during that time and if I end up picking them up, then I don't have to fork over cash for it.
The initial time sucks because you don't make changes to your cube for the first two years, but I just hit the point where the next rotation will allow me to add a bunch of new cards and I'm pretty excited.
Feel free to PM me if you're interested in anything. Thanks!
EDIT: I think there's more than enough four drops in red and black that are close to the power level of the guild equivalents that I usually steer clear of them for that section.