Quote from Superna7ural »Quote from LucidVision »
I simply said nobody is drafting it for the main anymore.
My players seem to enjoy building around problems seeking solutions, and just because they do so, doesn't mean they are casual players. At least in the context and in relation to your draft format.
If they are skilled at card evaluation , and not main decking thoughtseize, it means that winning is a low priority to these players, even when deck building. That sounds like the definition of casual to me.
But I do agree you should do what you want heh... just don't be surprised if it gets some negative feedback.. there are assumptions that go into suggestions for cube design.. and we have to make those assumptions to some degree to have a productive discussion.
Like when people ask "should I include card X or Y"? It's unreasonable to ask them every single thing about their cube composition and playgroups preference before you answer that question. You have to assume there aren't too many extreme deviations from the accepted norm.
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Enjoy!
https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/usmanjamil-12022022-the-brothers-war-cube-review
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My cube review of m20 is here. Despite the shortened preview season, this article still draws from a good amount of cube data with (as usual) decks featuring m20 cards that were played in 3-0 cube decks and there's some great hidden gems in the set. Enjoy!
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Lately I've been making an effort to make sure that my recent cube reviews are up before the prerelease and this one's up on CSI now. About 10 drafts' worth of data, and while the article isn't as long as War of the Spark, the set's still great for cube and (what seems to be the trend) a lot of underrated cube stuff. I put a table of contents with anchor tags to make it (slightly) easier to read, since while it's not as long as War of the Spark, it's still a hefty set for cube.
Enjoy!
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hahaha, thanks! I was a bit surprised that there wasn't a better clip of Deckard But ah well. Oketra, I think it made 2 zombos at most, but usually one (or just died.) I feel like the stress test point for Baneslayers for no immediate impact is probably 4-5 mana. I also probably didn't articulate it super well, but it seemed like the Titan cycle blurred the lines between Mulldrifters and Baneslayers, since they did something if they entered the battlefield, but had strong bodies if they lived. Unfortunately, this cycle is mostly Baneslayers, aside from Bontu (which, oddly, I think I liked most out of all of the gods, go figure.)
For what it's worth, I've liked Callous more than either of those and I've ran both for some time. Callous also is nice because it helps to cast it as a tempo effect (like bouncing a turn 3 mana rock) where casting Roil/Blink/Rift on a turn 3 mana rock is generally something not done that much unless you smell blood in the water and like Angel of Sanctions's ability, it kinda forces playing the cards correctly.
Commence the Endgame is better Consecrated Sphinx? Surely he jests. If the token had flying or some notable ability than we "might" be talking. Since Endgame guarantees two cards (as opposed to making it very likely you get them), is uncounterable and generally presents a decent body. Though it is notable (as you noted) that the body could be as weak as a 2/2 and that's a bad floor for 4UU. In the situations where you're getting a huge body it's probably a "win more" type card as having that many cards so late often means things are already going well. I'll watch this card more closely though now that I've read your write up. [/card]
Definitely isn't a win-more from what I've seen and the worst-case fears definitely don't match reality. I wouldn't say it's better than Consecrated Sphinx but it at least doesn't have the weakness of being awful against spot removal. It feels like people are starting to warm up to it, though.
Mostly. Kefnet is definitely a Baneslayer first and miracle maker second, but didn't find it happened enough for my liking, although it could certainly turn a game around based on what it casts.
new Liliana by far, it's a much better general top-end card and better than the non-Grave Titan 6s.
Yeah, I was surprised at how well it turned out; sometimes it just sacrificed 3 or 4 things and then essentially won the game. Pleasantly surprised.
Yeah. Likely would play the small wraths (although unsure if I'd play Night Incarnate over it, but it played poorly when I tried it.)
It likely needs a shock or two to really see more mainstream cube play. Decks that could utilize it did so *very* well and casting the spell for free was really nice, especially in an archetype that uses everything on the pig but the squeal, so to speak.
Yes and no; equipment helps both of these cards but they're fine in decks without them. Relying on equipment to make either of these cards is a sketchy proposition and too fragile to make it worth it.
I have no idea but I find those kinds of comparisons to be so context-sensitive and assuming of an assumption of what a cube *should* look like that I find the whole "cube at X size" to be not really useful. Paradise Druid's pretty good, I'd say slightly under stuff like Wall of Roots, Fertile Ground, Utopia Sprawl and whatnot in ramp tier. A nice pickup for those decks.
Ugh, wow. That's awful. Boooooooo.
Glad you liked it.
Thanks! There's a *lot* of underrated stuff in this set as it seemed that way in general, especially with the lukewarm receptions to things like Commence the Endgame, Mizzium Tank and a lot of other things; I'm hoping this article gets people to turn around on thinking that this is a mediocre cube set and to see how good a lot of these cards are, since a lot aren't obviously good ones in the set.
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An early peek of my cube War of the Spark review from several cube draft's worth of experience. It's pretty raw (no decklist compressions, pics that the editors do at CoolStuffInc to make my articles readable.) Article will be up next Friday if you want something in an easier-to-read format since it doesn't have much to break up the text.
This is the longest thing I've *ever* written in the near-decade that I've been writing (it's about 42 pages, about 16.8k words) and while there are few obvious 360 no scope staples or whatever, the set has a lot of good stuff, and is certainly one of the all-time greats for cube sets.
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https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/usmanjamil-02282019-ravnica-allegiance-cube-review
(I think it's my 2nd longest review, at about 9400 words, which was less than the 13k that the Guilds of Ravnica one weighed in at.)
Enjoy!
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The issue with that is the cycle would almost assuredly have to include Horizon Canopy. If they did, GW wouldn't make sense as the "card draw" pair.
They could just throw that out and make a new cycle inspired by it, ala Death Rattle, but said cycle would likely be marquee duals, unless they were significantly created so that they're not absurd (at least for Standard.)
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I'm not sure I understand this. Are aggro decks not good enough to be competitive?
(Both Smash and Abrade are great. Abrade is overall better, but I play both, personally.)
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It's something that I may write an article about. Someday. Maybe.