In this episode I actually talk about my lack of participation in this forum due to the new forums software. It's completely non-functional on my phone or comp without messing with a bunch of settings that screw up other sites. I do miss coming here and check back from time to time to see if those issues have been resolved and do a little browsing around on lists and open topics.
If I remember rightly you were going through some upheaval in your work life. If so, I hope the arrival of this podcast indicates things have settled down.
Or is it just that a cube review of BNG is so short you can find time amidst the chaos?
Things are slowly returning to normal. It was a combination of moving, starting a new job, and pulling back some of my Magic activities so I could catch my breath. The show is back to regular episodes every 2-3 weeks. I hope you enjoyed the new co-host
I listened to this 'cast today and as just an overview of the new format, I'm definitely a fan. I do hope you guys keep this up and I hope that some JoC regulars from the past occasionally stop by for visits as well. I love your content, Kranny, because I don't always agree with your card evaluations. Because of this, you often make me look at cards in a different light. What I noticed in this episode with Jack is that he doesn't always agree with you either. And I found that I tend to agree with him more. This just made the whole listening experience that much better for me. I don't know if Jack reads this, but I'm glad he's a permanent cohost and I hope you guys continue to bring us content. Also, "Well, then you've never had to discard a card at random in your life," is certainly my favorite Jack quote from this episode.
The only negative thing I can say about this cast in general is there seemed to be some audio quality issues on Jack's side. Your audio was much louder and more clear than his.
I have mentioned this forum to Jack on multiple occasions, but I'm not sure how often he stops by. U will make sure he gets this feedback. That's definitely part of the reason I chose Jack. We're good enough friends that we can be open and honest with each other and our views are different enough that it isn't just an hour of yesses and nods.
We are aware of the audio issues >__< The latest episode took me quite a while to edit due to his mic levels. I believe this should be resolved by episode #22.
On the subject of the content, I don't think Born of the Gods was terrible for cube considering that it's a small set. I was way more disappointed with Gatecrash considering that it was the same size as Return to Ravnica and gave us so many less playables. I'm adding in six cards from this set and I think that's fine for a small set. However, I'm only really excited about two (Brimaz and Kiora) and mildly excited about one (Courser of Kruphix). The rest (Spirit of the Labyrinth, Pain Seer, and Mogis) all seem ok, but none of them are cards I feel will have a long lifespan in the cube.
Born of the Gods has proven to be pretty deep. I am actually working on a side project that was somewhat inspired by Theros and BNG. Depending on if it pans out, I might dedicate an episode to the idea.
The one thing you said that I disagreed with the most was your love for the scry lands. Personally I think that since these lands are rare, expecting them to lose the ETBT clause is not too much to ask. Because of this clause, I feel like they are about on par with the Refuges from Zendikar. Of course Scry 1 is better than gaining one life, but I'd much rather have a dual land that I can use the turn it enters play than the scry ability. Hitting play tapped is just such a set back in a lot of decks. Also, kind of on that same note, you said that you'd run this cycle before the buddy land cycle of M10/INN. I don't really agree with that, but I could see arguments for both sides. What I want to point out, though, is that I don't think you should be running full cycles of lands other than the ABU duals, shocks, and fetches. I'm a firm believer in the idea that if you want a fourth (or fifth) cycle of duals, then you should choose each member of that cycle from the many options that Magic has given us. Boros certainly would rather have any dual that doesn't ETBT, since that color pair is almost always an aggressive deck. Another example would be Selesnya. This is a color pair that might want the scry land, but I don't think that land beats out Horizon Canopy or Stirring Wildwood for that fixing slot. Choosing to run full cycles beyond the big three is definitely something that can be done, but I think you miss out on some really good options if you put those types of limits on your fixing.
I still maintain that they're a drastically underrated cycle. That being said, I don't hold it against anyone for running cycles that pack more punch. Much like bouncelands and filters (like you mentioned) I think some colors will want the effect more than others. I am still iterating through different configs to understand which color pairs do and don't want scry lands.
Came here to post this. Text input, navigation, scrolling, and page changes are very laggy. This is not remotely as nice as browsing the old MTGS. As is the site is pretty close to unusable especially on my phone.
I have a new permanent co-host, and we plan on sticking to a regular schedule. Thanks very much to you all for your patience as I get the train back on the rails
I recently built a custom 360 card cube based on flavor from the SNES. I am super happy with how it turned out and it has been a ton of fun drafting over the past week. I figure I'd share our V1.0 with you all.
I replaced a few filters/buddy lands to make room for all five. I only have a few drafts under my belt with them, but they're a great deal better than I thought they would be.
I am convinced these are the best lands for cube since the WWK manlands. They have similar utility as fetches: you can play them in mono or multi-color decks and they have cool interactions with other cards. At this point I can't imagine picking a filter or buddy land over a Scry land of the same color. Anyone else testing these? Are you having similar experiences or am I just experiencing new card coolness?
I cut Jace for not being good enough, otherwise it'd still be in there.
I never said anything about Jace 3.0 being good.
This card isn't that far off from Thrun, actually. It's unblockable, but it can be countered and destroyed with mass destruction effects. It doesn't need to be banned for powerlevel at all, unless you also ban a metric ton of other cube cards for being "too good".
This card isn't even on the same planet as Thrun in terms of power-level and function, but that's honestly neither here nor there. TNN doesn't get a mark against it on power-level alone, and that's why I dislike it as a cube card. It fails multiple litmus tests for good design as outlined in Parnell's article.
There was no way this thing was ever remotely close to getting added to my list. Much like Jace 3.0, I have a feeling we'll start to see people slowly cutting this as people become exposed to it.
I think you and your group are 100% wrong on Ashiok. Several members of this board have confirmed it is a strong PW in testing. I strongly advise tossing it in a draft to find out for yourself.
Journey Into Nyx Set Review
In this episode I actually talk about my lack of participation in this forum due to the new forums software. It's completely non-functional on my phone or comp without messing with a bunch of settings that screw up other sites. I do miss coming here and check back from time to time to see if those issues have been resolved and do a little browsing around on lists and open topics.
I hope you're all doing well. Enjoy episode 23! http://joyofcubing.blogspot.com/2014/04/joy-of-cubing-episode-23-dead-to-me.html
Joy of Cubing # 22 - Trying to Find a Balance
As always, feedback is appreciated
Joy of Cubing #21 - What Are You At?
Things are slowly returning to normal. It was a combination of moving, starting a new job, and pulling back some of my Magic activities so I could catch my breath. The show is back to regular episodes every 2-3 weeks. I hope you enjoyed the new co-host
I have mentioned this forum to Jack on multiple occasions, but I'm not sure how often he stops by. U will make sure he gets this feedback. That's definitely part of the reason I chose Jack. We're good enough friends that we can be open and honest with each other and our views are different enough that it isn't just an hour of yesses and nods.
We are aware of the audio issues >__< The latest episode took me quite a while to edit due to his mic levels. I believe this should be resolved by episode #22.
Born of the Gods has proven to be pretty deep. I am actually working on a side project that was somewhat inspired by Theros and BNG. Depending on if it pans out, I might dedicate an episode to the idea.
I still maintain that they're a drastically underrated cycle. That being said, I don't hold it against anyone for running cycles that pack more punch. Much like bouncelands and filters (like you mentioned) I think some colors will want the effect more than others. I am still iterating through different configs to understand which color pairs do and don't want scry lands.
As always, thanks for the feedback, Cali!
I have a new permanent co-host, and we plan on sticking to a regular schedule. Thanks very much to you all for your patience as I get the train back on the rails
The podcast is not canceled. I am working on restructuring and plan to release new shows in 2014!
The SNES Cube
I found the old thread - http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=535560&highlight=scry&page=2
This card isn't even on the same planet as Thrun in terms of power-level and function, but that's honestly neither here nor there. TNN doesn't get a mark against it on power-level alone, and that's why I dislike it as a cube card. It fails multiple litmus tests for good design as outlined in Parnell's article.
At its core don't believe this is a powered VS unpowered debate.
There was no way this thing was ever remotely close to getting added to my list. Much like Jace 3.0, I have a feeling we'll start to see people slowly cutting this as people become exposed to it.