How would oath work with a card like hooded hydra? Would the hydra die, or would the caster have the option to cast it face down?
Oath puts the creature straight onto the battlefield without giving you a chance to cast it, so the Hydra would enter as a 0/0 and die immediately due to state-based effects.
In any case, I'd recommend you look at replacing Hydra with a card like Hornet Queen or Avenger of Zendikar (both are around $5 so cheap to pick up, high impact, and fill a similar role as big green token makers).
EDIT: I personally haven't played with Flash in cube so can't comment too much on it. Seems like it would be interesting as a backup "combo" card alongside some of the big ETB monsters!
It's definitely worth playing all 4 of the other cards here and none should set you back an exorbitant amount unless you're looking for the rarest and pimpest versions around.
Fleshbag Marauder has been in and out of my cube a bunch of times. This critter seems more powerful but I don't want to say it's strictly better because it does give your opponent a choice. What if they have a Jace Beleren and a Consecrated Sphinx? Obviously you want to get rid of the Sphinx, which is something Fleshbag could do, but this guy can't.
Also, this isn't a zombie and one of the coolest lines of play with Fleshbag was to drop it with a Gravecrawler on the field.
Fringe scenarios, sure, but it's not entirely a no brainer swap for those running Fleshbag.
It's not a choice. Unless the translation is wrong (which is possible) the player must sacrifice a creature. If they cannot they discard.
It's a choice to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker in that situation is what noshadowkick is referring to. So if they have both a weak PW and a strong creature on board, hitting planeswalkers actually is kinda a disadvantage.
'Plaguespreader'
2B
Creature - Human Shaman
When 'Plaguespreader' enters the battlefield, each player sacrifices a creature or planeswalker. Each player that can't, discards a card.
3/2
Fleshbag Marauder is already a decent creature that was fairly cubeable back in the day, and in the vast majority of cases this new critter will perform much better. I still can't see this sort of effect cracking lists at 450 or below, but is there appetite for a card like Plaguespreader in larger cubes?
He's still a demon, so he doesn't attack well into baneslayer.
Yep, but he can still do it without dying. So it's not net positive attacking alone into Baneslayer, but alongside other creatures it'll allow for meaningful alpha strikes and races! Much better than almost any previous iteration of this creature in cube, like an Abyssal Persecutor or Shadowborn Demon but without any drawback.
Seems like possible replace for Priest of the Blood Rite, the two life loss per turn is replaced with Surveil 2. I think Surveil repeatedly will prove to be powerful. Being able to see two cards in every time while also filling the graveyard is a solid effect. The biggest drawback is you lose out on a little ETB abuse with Priest. I can see this card being worth a shot to test
Far better than that, the 6/6 Trample body here can profitably attack into boards of 1/1 Spirits with Flying, Baneslayer Angel, Lyra Dawnbringer, etc all of which more or less stonewall the Priest. Difference between a 5/5 and 6/6 in cube is pretty big!
I’m only playing it because it’s alpha with the casting cost misprint, and we play it as a 2 drop. That said it would probably be a fine cut
OH. Didn't notice the cost change, yeah Artillery seems like it's actually probably pretty good if it's only 1R to cast. Thanks for the clarification, sorry to derail!
On-topic: I'll be starting this guy in the 630 configuration of my cube, probably bumping something low-tier like Ire Shaman.
While this is a really good point, it’s also important to note that this card is in the tightest color in cube. It’s not that the card isn’t good, it’s finding a card that’s worse.
This is the problem I think. My cube is unpowered so no Recall, Time Walk, etc and I still only really have a handful of "flexible" blue slots at 450 or below. Will probably try to test this in the 630 card configuration.
I look at the opportunity costs. Most cubes are replacing an ash zealot, gore house chain walker or the like. You aren’t giving up much damage there. You are also giving yourself outs. The creature damage thing will often be used to finish off large blockers vs little targets.
Now if you’re worried about cutting a young pyromancer or eidolon of great revel or something that represents a lot more damage or different play line for RDW, this card is not great.
For me I taking out pillage. It is a card aggro decks use as a hedge against game breaking cube artifacts with an alternative use so it could be main decked. Field of ruin and now A Trophy take care of man land worries so I can go back to an anti artifact dude.
Not to criticize this choice, but how are you finding Orcish Artillery in your cube? Seems like a better potential cut to me, but I might just have an unhealthy degree of love for Pillage. The land destruction mode is honestly a big draw there.
Does anyone else think "cratermaker" makes it sound like it should destroy lands? I guess it would have been a bit clunky to destroy "colourless non-basic land permanent".
is it is less of a flavor fail that this little goblin can single handedly destroy an inter-dimensional maximum-powerful alien tentacle monster the size of an island with time altering abilities??
I don't think this guy beats out any of the innate 2-power 1-drops in Red, but I'll probably test him over Stromkirk Noble. Kind of an inverse design - Noble is great on T1 and awful afterwards whereas the Banneret retains more power on late-game boards.
Oath puts the creature straight onto the battlefield without giving you a chance to cast it, so the Hydra would enter as a 0/0 and die immediately due to state-based effects.
In any case, I'd recommend you look at replacing Hydra with a card like Hornet Queen or Avenger of Zendikar (both are around $5 so cheap to pick up, high impact, and fill a similar role as big green token makers).
EDIT: I personally haven't played with Flash in cube so can't comment too much on it. Seems like it would be interesting as a backup "combo" card alongside some of the big ETB monsters!
Just to point out, Eureka is the only highly expensive card mentioned in that post.
Oath of Druids: $1.50 at TCGPlayer
Show and Tell: $13.00 at TCGPlayer
Tinker: $2.50 at TCGPlayer
Channel: $.50 at TCGPlayer
It's definitely worth playing all 4 of the other cards here and none should set you back an exorbitant amount unless you're looking for the rarest and pimpest versions around.
EDIT: Another archetype staple is Natural Order: $13.00 at TCGPlayer
It's a choice to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker in that situation is what noshadowkick is referring to. So if they have both a weak PW and a strong creature on board, hitting planeswalkers actually is kinda a disadvantage.
It's pretty simple Spanish, can confirm it's 100% accurate
'Plaguespreader'
2B
Creature - Human Shaman
When 'Plaguespreader' enters the battlefield, each player sacrifices a creature or planeswalker. Each player that can't, discards a card.
3/2
Fleshbag Marauder is already a decent creature that was fairly cubeable back in the day, and in the vast majority of cases this new critter will perform much better. I still can't see this sort of effect cracking lists at 450 or below, but is there appetite for a card like Plaguespreader in larger cubes?
Yep, but he can still do it without dying. So it's not net positive attacking alone into Baneslayer, but alongside other creatures it'll allow for meaningful alpha strikes and races! Much better than almost any previous iteration of this creature in cube, like an Abyssal Persecutor or Shadowborn Demon but without any drawback.
Far better than that, the 6/6 Trample body here can profitably attack into boards of 1/1 Spirits with Flying, Baneslayer Angel, Lyra Dawnbringer, etc all of which more or less stonewall the Priest. Difference between a 5/5 and 6/6 in cube is pretty big!
So it's not for most traditional cubes IMO, even large ones. Should be super interesting for commander cubes / EDH in general tho.
OH. Didn't notice the cost change, yeah Artillery seems like it's actually probably pretty good if it's only 1R to cast. Thanks for the clarification, sorry to derail!
On-topic: I'll be starting this guy in the 630 configuration of my cube, probably bumping something low-tier like Ire Shaman.
This is the problem I think. My cube is unpowered so no Recall, Time Walk, etc and I still only really have a handful of "flexible" blue slots at 450 or below. Will probably try to test this in the 630 card configuration.
Not to criticize this choice, but how are you finding Orcish Artillery in your cube? Seems like a better potential cut to me, but I might just have an unhealthy degree of love for Pillage. The land destruction mode is honestly a big draw there.
It's not a flavor fail - he has rockets, you see.