Storm Phalanx1R
Creature — Human Soldier (R)
Haste Inspired — Whenever Storm Phalanx becomes untapped, it deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
I love Lavamancers, but 7 cards? That's going to be incredibly difficult in cube. I like the idea, but how about something like
Fireswirl Lavamancer1R
R, T, Exile a red instant or sorcery card from your graveyard: Fireswirl Mage deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
That's getting back into Grim Lavamancer territory. I wasn't going for a reusable effect, but rather a one-off, late-game, high-damage blast to either finish off an opponent directly, or remove a key blocker to allow your team to swarm in for the kill.
Perhaps Desperate Lavamancer's body needed to be more obviously relevant to the early game, with a useful aggro ability to offset the fact that the activated ability is a one-shot effect in disguise. Maybe:
Desperate Lavamancer1R
Creature — Human Wizard Haste R, :symtap:, Exile seven cards from your graveyard: Desperate Lavamancer deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Desperate Lavamancer1R
Creature — Human Wizard R, :symtap:, Exile seven cards from your graveyard: Desperate Lavamancer deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Just have to say I love this and I just ordered it(accidentally ordered everything from the first cube, but also got what I was missing in the update). Looks like a joy to play, especially after getting used to the power level of my powered cube.
Congratulations on taking the plunge. "Joy" might be a bit strong though. "Amusing self-inflicted misery" probably covers it. Welcome to the madhouse
Speaking of powered cube I had an idea for a format where 3+ people get a sealed pool with this, and another person gets a powered cube sealed pool and you do a 3 v 1. I'd be curious how many players it would actually take for it to be a decent match.
Interesting idea. I've never tried anything like this but based on how Junk Cube games usually play out, I think a powered Cube sealed deck would obliterate three Junk opponents.
Assuming you get to try the sealed deck thing, keep us posted on how the experiment works out for you. Hopefully your group is more receptive to the format than mine is. I rarely get to draft my Junk Cube these days due to lack of interest - the other guys just don't find it as entertaining as I do.
EDIT: Oh, and for anybody who's actually interested in up-to-date Junk Cube contents, I suppose I should probably mention that I've added Force Void, Goblin Lyre and Goblin Test Pilot recently (but haven't had a chance to see them in action.)
So, I'm working on a Crap Rare Cube. I've been trying to build it, here and there, with a combination of personal knowledge of cards, odd finds, and the occasional Gatherer search. More recently, I decided to commit more time to actually completing it. I'm only about 10% in and I feel like I've already hit a wall.
Glad to hear you've taken the Crap Cube plunge
Whilst the Gatherer is usually a great resource to me, I fear it is failing me severely in my quest for horrible cards. Every time I do a search based on, say, community rating, I either turn up far too many results (in excess of 300) or far too few (less than 50, sometimes less than a dozen).
While there's no surefire way to identify Crap Cube-worthy cards, the Gatherer Community Rating search function is a pretty good start. Filtering by colour, card type and community rating (say, white/creature/rating<2) should give you a more workable list of results (111 results for the above example.) You can then screen out cards that aren't suitable (eg. snow-related cards if your Cube won't use snow; low-power high-toughness guys, etc etc.)
I know for a fact that my own knowledge of the cardpool isn't yet advanced enough to simply fill it out from memory. And I'm at the point where I really want to make serious progress toward finishing the list (possibly as soon as month's end).
Here's my Anti-Cube list. Perhaps you'll find some inspiration there.
And it should be noted that I'm looking for something more specific than overcosted or over-specialized cards. I want the average CMC to be closer to 2 or 3, if possible. So, mostly a lot of cards that can actually be played (yet have an effect or effects which actively hurt their controller).
This is the tricky part. A lot of cards are only considered bad because they're overcosted, so it's easy for Crap Cubes to end up top-heavy in the mana cost department. I don't necessarily consider this a bad thing though....slow starts followed by late-game bludgeon-fests are just one of the quirks of the format.
So I need advice. How can I found more cards like these? Cards that are bad (either in general or in a vacuum), but generally costed below 4-5. I've looked at other crap/reject rare cubes, and they lean more toward high costed cards (or cards that are bad in a vacuum, yet all stars in combo decks).
My cube has an average nonland mana cost of 3.13, with only six 7+ CMC cards in the entire 360 card list. Perhaps it's worth another look.
Yorrek, Keldon Fanatic1R
Legendary Creature — Human Berserker
First strike
Sacrifice Yorrek, Keldon Fanatic: Yorrek deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
I know it's been a while fellow Sphere lovers, but here's my current list - now with extra emphasis on all your favourite mechanics including banding, slowtrips, "flailing" creatures, and poison.
This seems too good for current standards. I would happily cube it, and I think it's a great design. I also think it's fair, but wotc isn't big on disruption lately.
You're right about the strength of the effect, but I think the size of the body it's strapped to is probably pretty irrelevant. I seem to remember the original 1/1 version on which it was based seeing a bit of play back in Odyssey era Ponza decks. Realistically, if you want the tempo effect, you'll need to sacrifice the dude the upkeep after you play him....meaning the 2/1 body never really matters. Interestingly, the lack of stacked combat damage doesn't bother this guy at all, because sacrificing him mid-combat is usually a terrible idea.
Here's another one:
Psychataal 1BB
Creature — Human Assassin
First strike
When Psychataal enters the battlefield, target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a noncreature, nonland card from it. That player discards that card.
2/1
Just curious, has anyone ever compared a foil 8th to 9th edition Savannah lions? I'm not familiar enough with the two sets to know if one of the foiling processes looks better than the other or if it's a moot point.
Thanks for the kind words guys. My group and I had a great time with it while it lasted, so it makes sense to share the experience so others can give it a go. On that note:
Wow! That is super awesome. I love Risk Legacy, and thought this would be super cool when I saw the CF article but didn't have a cube. Now I do have a cube and would love to do this for a short period of time. Are you willing to share your documents?
Yes, absolutely - happy to share. PM me with details and I'll email through whatever you need.
Creature — Human Soldier (R)
Haste
Inspired — Whenever Storm Phalanx becomes untapped, it deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
That's getting back into Grim Lavamancer territory. I wasn't going for a reusable effect, but rather a one-off, late-game, high-damage blast to either finish off an opponent directly, or remove a key blocker to allow your team to swarm in for the kill.
Perhaps Desperate Lavamancer's body needed to be more obviously relevant to the early game, with a useful aggro ability to offset the fact that the activated ability is a one-shot effect in disguise. Maybe:
Desperate Lavamancer 1R
Creature — Human Wizard
Haste
R, :symtap:, Exile seven cards from your graveyard: Desperate Lavamancer deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Creature — Human Wizard
R, :symtap:, Exile seven cards from your graveyard: Desperate Lavamancer deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Creature — Goblin (R)
Deathtouch
Sacrifice Mogg Extremist: Mogg Extremist deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Congratulations on taking the plunge. "Joy" might be a bit strong though. "Amusing self-inflicted misery" probably covers it. Welcome to the madhouse
Interesting idea. I've never tried anything like this but based on how Junk Cube games usually play out, I think a powered Cube sealed deck would obliterate three Junk opponents.
Assuming you get to try the sealed deck thing, keep us posted on how the experiment works out for you. Hopefully your group is more receptive to the format than mine is. I rarely get to draft my Junk Cube these days due to lack of interest - the other guys just don't find it as entertaining as I do.
EDIT: Oh, and for anybody who's actually interested in up-to-date Junk Cube contents, I suppose I should probably mention that I've added Force Void, Goblin Lyre and Goblin Test Pilot recently (but haven't had a chance to see them in action.)
I imagine you're going to have trouble finding enough cards to fill out a Cube with the conditions you've put in place:
- rare only
- must have a drawback
- low CMC
- "bad at any cost" (ie. not just overcosted)
(Yet the Laces and Wandering Mage are considered too good :eyebrow:)
Apologies for wasting your time with my non rare-only list.
Glad to hear you've taken the Crap Cube plunge
While there's no surefire way to identify Crap Cube-worthy cards, the Gatherer Community Rating search function is a pretty good start. Filtering by colour, card type and community rating (say, white/creature/rating<2) should give you a more workable list of results (111 results for the above example.) You can then screen out cards that aren't suitable (eg. snow-related cards if your Cube won't use snow; low-power high-toughness guys, etc etc.)
Here's my Anti-Cube list. Perhaps you'll find some inspiration there.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=10393554&postcount=34
This is the tricky part. A lot of cards are only considered bad because they're overcosted, so it's easy for Crap Cubes to end up top-heavy in the mana cost department. I don't necessarily consider this a bad thing though....slow starts followed by late-game bludgeon-fests are just one of the quirks of the format.
My cube has an average nonland mana cost of 3.13, with only six 7+ CMC cards in the entire 360 card list. Perhaps it's worth another look.
Yorrek, Keldon Fanatic 1R
Legendary Creature — Human Berserker
First strike
Sacrifice Yorrek, Keldon Fanatic: Yorrek deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
2/1
Yes, agreed, and here it's attached to some of the most uninspiring bodies ever printed.
Enjoy!
1 Trade Caravan
1 Caregiver
1 Icatian Infantry
1 Royal Herbalist
1 Icatian Moneychanger
1 Kjeldoran Warrior
Two CMC
1 Squire
1 Wall of Caltrops
1 Pikemen
1 Amrou Kithkin
1 Mesa Pegasus
1 Hipparion
1 Kjeldoran Skyknight
1 Ignoble Soldier
1 Seasoned Tactician
1 Snow Hound
1 Abbey Matron
Four CMC
1 Carrier Pigeons
1 Trap Digger
1 Aven Trooper
1 General Jarkeld
1 Kjeldoran Skycaptain
1 Righteous Avengers
1 Hazduhr the Abbot
Six Plus
1 Akron Legionnaire
1 Visions
1 Prophecy
1 Heal
1 Brainwash
1 Sacred Rites
1 Fasting
Two CMC
1 Call to Arms
1 Eye for an Eye
1 Cagemail
1 Blessed Wine
1 Formation
1 Cooperation
1 Farmstead
1 Bargain
1 Common Cause
1 Truce
1 Cleansing
1 Virtuous Charge
Four CMC
1 Security Detail
1 Caribou Range
1 Serra Aviary
1 Soaring Hope
1 Fire and Brimstone
1 March of Souls
Six Plus
1 Transcendence
1 Thought Nibbler
1 Balduvian Shaman
1 Water Wurm
Two CMC
1 Giant Albatross
1 Vodalian Soldiers
1 Svyelunite Priest
1 Walking Sponge
1 Homarid
1 Ovinomancer
1 Saprazzan Raider
1 Teferi's Imp
1 Balshan Beguiler
1 Vodalian Mage
1 Hisoka, Minamo Sensei
1 Soratami Mirror-Mage
1 Reveka, Wizard Savant
Five CMC
1 Crystal Seer
1 Shyft
Six Plus
1 Zephyr Spirit
1 Tolarian Serpent
1 Twiddle
1 Shared Discovery
1 Essence Flare
1 Cloak of Invisibility
1 Awesome Presence
1 Ray of Erasure
1 Mind Bomb
1 Abjure
1 Eye Spy
Two CMC
1 Creature Bond
1 Dispersal Shield
1 Jaded Response
1 Foresight
1 Spell Syphon
1 Forget
1 Coral Reef
1 Spell Snip
1 Errant Minion
1 Runeboggle
1 Vex
Four CMC
1 Fold into Aether
1 Psychic Vortex
1 Baki's Curse
1 Disorient
Five CMC
1 Library of Lat-Nam
1 Energy Vortex
1 Psychic Transfer
1 Psychic Allergy
1 Aether Tide
1 Recall
1 Accursed Centaur
1 Vebulid
1 Acolyte of Xathrid
1 Sleeper Agent
1 Bog Rats
Two CMC
1 Spiteful Bully
1 Bloodcurdler
1 Cabal Inquisitor
1 Giant Slug
1 Plague Fiend
1 Swamp Mosquito
1 Ebonblade Reaper
1 Mindless Null
1 Ghosts of the Damned
1 Quagmire Lamprey
1 Pit Scorpion
Four CMC
1 Earsplitting Rats
1 Numai Outcast
1 Banshee
1 Rag Man
1 Cursed Monstrosity
1 Chimney Imp
Six Plus
1 Deathcurse Ogre
1 Dripping Dead
X CMC
1 Frankenstein's Monster
1 Dredge
1 Hell Swarm
1 Tendrils of Despair
Two CMC
1 Chime of Night
1 Mind Swords
1 Seizures
1 Vampirism
1 Coils of the Medusa
1 Decaying Soil
1 Krovikan Fetish
1 Touch of Death
1 Funeral March
1 Fevered Strength
1 Mind Ravel
Four CMC
1 Takklemaggot
1 Mind Whip
1 Nihilistic Glee
1 Fatal Lore
1 Sewers of Estark
1 Death of a Thousand Stings
1 Vicious Betrayal
1 Traveling Plague
Six Plus
1 Dark Offering
X CMC
1 Abandon Hope
1 Shattered Crypt
1 Flailing Soldier
1 Goblin Spy
1 Crazed Goblin
1 Orcish Spy
1 Dwarven Armorer
Two CMC
1 Goblin Sappers
1 Mogg Jailer
1 Goblin Elite Infantry
1 Orcish Librarian
1 Mogg Squad
1 Okk
1 Flailing Ogre
1 Bird Maiden
1 Kyren Sniper
1 Rogue Skycaptain
1 Keldon Arsonist
1 Starke of Rath
Four CMC
1 Goblin Bangchuckers
1 Spellgorger Barbarian
1 Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked
1 Fickle Efreet
1 Goblin Psychopath
1 Flailing Manticore
1 Goblin Commando
1 Soulgorger Orgg
1 Burning Inquiry
1 Winter Sky
1 Tahngarth's Glare
1 Scorching Spear
Two CMC
1 Consuming Ferocity
1 Errantry
1 Aleatory
1 Goblin Lore
1 Goblin Bomb
1 Pyromania
1 Desert Sandstorm
1 Fiery Gambit
1 Flare
1 Searing Rays
1 Aggression
1 Falling Star
Four CMC
1 Barreling Attack
1 Chaos Moon
1 Retribution
1 Eternal Flame
1 Rain of Rust
1 Apocalypse
1 Yawning Fissure
X CMC
1 Meteor Shower
1 Dwarven Catapult
1 Mossdog
1 Tarpan
1 Defiant Elf
1 Whippoorwill
1 Harvest Mage
Two CMC
1 Tempting Wurm
1 Scarwood Hag
1 Shelkin Brownie
1 Freyalise Supplicant
1 Spore Flower
1 Chub Toad
1 Tanglewalker
1 Fyndhorn Brownie
1 Pradesh Gypsies
1 Pyknite
1 Leery Fogbeast
1 Ley Druid
1 Rysorian Badger
1 Sabretooth Cobra
Four CMC
1 Viridian Scout
1 Rabid Wombat
1 Wood Elemental
1 Quirion Trailblazer
1 Marsh Viper
1 Venomous Dragonfly
1 Haze Frog
1 Tel-Jilad Lifebreather
Six Plus
1 Aboroth
1 Johtull Wurm
1 Skyshroud Behemoth
1 Magnify
1 Mortal Wound
1 Shrink
1 Cocoon
1 Subdue
Two CMC
1 Rites of Spring
1 Ooze Garden
1 Elephant Resurgence
1 Feral Instinct
1 Wanderlust
1 Venom
1 Cycle of Life
1 Renewal
Four CMC
1 Unyaro Bee Sting
1 Ley Line
1 Fanatical Fever
1 Splintering Wind
1 Animal Magnetism
1 Tornado
X CMC
1 Stream of Life
1 Lord of Tresserhorn
1 Misfortune
White/Blue
1 Kasimir the Lone Wolf
1 Ayesha Tanaka
Blue/Black
1 Sivitri Scarzam
1 Essence Vortex
1 Skeleton Ship
Black/Red
1 Razing Snidd
1 Boris Devilboon
1 Pavel Maliki
1 Surge of Strength
1 Tuknir Deathlock
1 Yavimaya Kavu
Green/White
1 Gabriel Angelfire
1 Nature's Blessing
1 Kei Takahashi
White/Black
1 Martyr's Tomb
1 Circle of Despair
1 Vectis Dominator
Blue/Red
1 Stitch in Time
1 Squee's Revenge
1 Emberwilde Caliph
1 Woodwraith Strangler
1 Death Mutation
1 Dark Heart of the Wood
Red/White
1 Searing Meditation
1 Fight to the Death
1 Energy Bolt
Green/Blue
1 Warping Wurm
1 Malignant Growth
1 Delif's Cone
One CMC
1 Delif's Cube
1 Glasses of Urza
1 Hankyu
1 Juju Bubble
1 Golem-Skin Gauntlets
1 Soldevi Sentry
1 Straw Golem
Two CMC
1 Battering Ram
1 Millikin
1 Cyclopean Snare
1 Omega Myr
1 Doubling Cube
1 Mercadian Lift
1 Soultether Golem
1 Zelyon Sword
1 Razor Boomerang
1 Myr Landshaper
1 Standing Stones
1 Bloodstone Cameo
1 Celestial Prism
1 Tigereye Cameo
1 Troll-Horn Cameo
1 Jangling Automaton
1 Drake-Skull Cameo
1 Seashell Cameo
Four CMC
1 Vibrating Sphere
1 White Mana Battery
1 Blue Mana Battery
1 Black Mana Battery
1 Red Mana Battery
1 Green Mana Battery
1 Charmed Pendant
1 Diamond Kaleidoscope
1 Acidic Dagger
1 Ring of Renewal
1 Naked Singularity
1 Scarecrow
1 Keldon Battlewagon
1 Spinal Parasite
1 Amulet of Unmaking
Six Plus
1 Serpent Generator
1 Rakalite
1 Voodoo Doll
1 Leashling
1 Oasis
1 City of Shadows
1 Wintermoon Mesa
1 Rhystic Cave
1 Tarnished Citadel
1 Henge of Ramos
1 Meteor Crater
1 Rainbow Vale
1 Salt Flats
1 Pine Barrens
1 Caldera Lake
1 Scabland
1 Skyshroud Forest
1 Vec Townships
1 Thalakos Lowlands
1 Mogg Hollows
1 Rootwater Depths
1 Cinder Marsh
1 Castle Sengir
1 An-Havva Township
1 Koskun Keep
1 Aysen Abbey
1 Wizard's School
1 Seafloor Debris
1 Ravaged Highlands
1 Timberland Ruins
1 Bog Wreckage
1 Abandoned Outpost
Currently looking to make cuts for:
You're right about the strength of the effect, but I think the size of the body it's strapped to is probably pretty irrelevant. I seem to remember the original 1/1 version on which it was based seeing a bit of play back in Odyssey era Ponza decks. Realistically, if you want the tempo effect, you'll need to sacrifice the dude the upkeep after you play him....meaning the 2/1 body never really matters. Interestingly, the lack of stacked combat damage doesn't bother this guy at all, because sacrificing him mid-combat is usually a terrible idea.
Here's another one:
Psychataal 1BB
Creature — Human Assassin
First strike
When Psychataal enters the battlefield, target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a noncreature, nonland card from it. That player discards that card.
2/1
Creature — Dwarf
Sacrifice Pardic Excavator: Target player can't play lands this turn.
2/1
Wall of Text 1U
Creature - Wall
Whenever Wall of Text is dealt combat damage, you draw that many cards.
0/4
On the other hand, the 9th Ed one is the only version printed with the correct Oracle creature type (not that it's ever really relevant.)
Yes, absolutely - happy to share. PM me with details and I'll email through whatever you need.