I have been playing a B/R burn deck and the best I could do lately on MTGO win 2 matches. I could come close to winning my last game but then they would beat me at the end. I was getting lucky and was able to defeat splinter twin decks which usually can be a problem for me. The last daily tournament my 2 wins I got were both against splinter twin decks. This time I think I got lucky and my opponents didn't get a fast enough start. The 4th match was what gave me some problems. I was playing against another burn deck and I have noticed there are more than just 2 ways to play your basic red burn deck. Usually you would think people either go the route with Vexing Devils or with cards like Keldon Marauders or Hellspark Elemental.
I have noticed that some are playing cards like Spark Elemental, The Shrine or something like Eidolon of the Great Revel. I have noticed with some of these red burn decks they will put Dragon's Claw in the sideboard. If you don't win that 1st game then you could have a tough time winning that 2nd or 3rd game. In the 4th round of this modern daily the 1st game I lost. He was able to outrace me with burn spells and creatures. In the the 2nd game I could only get the opponent down to 4 life before he killed me. He was able to get 1 Dragon's Claw in play and that was what prevented me from killing him. I never though of Dragon's Claw as something that you would in the sideboard. When I'm playing against other red burn decks this is not what I'm expecting. I'm not expecting that I might need to sideboard in something like Smash to Smithereens to stop him if he plays a Dragon Claw. Is Dragon's Claw really worth putting in your sideboard just in case you were ever to face another red burn deck? In my sideboard I'm running 3x Rakdos Charm, 4x Smash to Smithereens, 3x Volcanic Fallout, and 4x Molten Rain. What I would remove in my sideboard if I wanted to use Dragon's Claw? I made my deck a B/R burn deck so I could utilize cards like Bump In the Night and Rakdos Charm.
Herald of Torment is a boss, try one if you can pick one up. Lilyspecter and Fleshbag are unimpressive and cuttable. I still think Hyppie is awesome though - I'm not one for nostalgia, he's just very decent. Carrion Feeder and the cards rantipole suggested are easy cuts too.
I'm doing what some people would do with a 450 card cube and decided I would run 8 3cc Black Creatures. So I'm running Herald of Torment in addition to already playing Hypnotic Specter, Vampire Nighthawk, Dauthi Marauder, and Master of the Feast. I wanted to make sure I have enough good creatures to support black aggro or black midrange decks. The last draft I did I was able to make a deck that included both Master of the Feast and Herald of Torment. I felt that Herald of Torment was a better cube card than having something like Shadowborn Demon in my cube. I like how with Herald of Torment you are not being forced into playing for 3 mana as a 3/3 creature. You can also wait and use it enchant another creature you have.
I think most people would agree Gnarled Scarhide is the best of those 3 cards being mentioned. Sarcomancy is the worst of those cards but still is a good enough that I wouldn't remove it. I think most people plan on running Gnarled Scarhide along with Master of the Feast. I will be adding both the Gnarled Scarhide and Master of the Feast into my cube.
Maybe Liliana's Reaver? I could see running that over Nekretaal if you're tring to get the zombie tribal seriously going.
Would there be a reason to run Liliana's Reaver over Nektretaal? My friend had suggested taking out Nekretaal and replacing it with something Liana's Reaver. Instead of playing Nekretal I could play something like Bone Shredder which offers a similar type of effect. It seemed like it would be better to run both Nekretaal and Bone Shredder. I could so easily replace something like Bane of the Living with Bone Shredder because I already run both Black Sun's Zenith and Toxic Deluge. I figured there must be a reason why just about every cube has Nekretaal and I shouldn't remove it from my cube. I'm still running Graveborn Muse because of the other zombies in my cube. I think Graveborn Muse would still be better than Liliana's Reaver. I originally thought of adding Lilian's Reaver when it first came out but now it doesn't seem like something I really need.
Bone Shredder and Nekretaal are in so many cubes because they can be broken. At a glance Nekretaal is a 2/1 terror with first strike - pretty good. But when that same card may blow up a Consecrated Sphynx, Myr Battlesphere, Baneslayer Angel, etc and then either goad out a removal spell or rattlesnake opponents attackers the card becomes incredibly good. Bone Shredder works similarly to a lesser extent, and may be abused with Sun Titan, Sneak Attack, Recurring Nightmare (Nek as well) or purely as a 3 mana removal spell. I don't run Bone Shredder in my cube, though I ought to.
Now, to answer your question why I suggested the swap for Reaver in Nekretaal's place: Juju asked what Zombies fit well in his cube if he attempts to make Zombie a recognized tribe in his cube. While Nekretaal provides super, super good utility I think that players could find place in their decks with Liliana's Reaver and not miss (too much) Nekretaal, in the worst case scenario, where they are not playing a Zombie deck. And everything that Reaver does only compliments what a Zombie deck would want to do. Since they're both in the same curve slot of casting cost 4, I would rather take out Nekretaal for the Reaver rather than Braids or Skinrender (I count Bane of the Living as 3 CC). However, I could see the argument for Skinrender being replaced for Reaver rather than Nekretaal.
I'm not running that many zombies in my cube. I have Carnophage, Sarcomancy, Diregraf Ghoul, Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger, Graveborn Muse, Skinrender, Lotleth Troll and Glissa the traitor. I also have Grave Titan which can make Zombie tokens. I have kept Graveborn Muse in my cube because it can draw cards and works well with the other zombies in the cube. If I'm playing black and get Graveborn Muse I can usually draft at least 2 other zombies. You can sometimes end up drawing 3 or even 4 cards a turn. I have contemplated taking out Graveborn Muse since I already play cards like Phyrexian Arena and Bloodgift Demon for drawing cards. My friend had thought I should replace Nekretaal with Lililan's Reaver. I'm already playing Desecration Demon and thought I should have 2nd strong 4cc black creature. I'm only running about 400 cards so I thought I don't really need a 2nd big 4cc black creature. I think most 450 cards cubes aren't going to run both something like Abysaal Persecutor and Desecration Demon. They are going to choose one of those creatures but not both. They don't really need to be running two big 4cc black creatures.
Maybe Liliana's Reaver? I could see running that over Nekretaal if you're tring to get the zombie tribal seriously going.
Would there be a reason to run Liliana's Reaver over Nektretaal? My friend had suggested taking out Nekretaal and replacing it with something Liana's Reaver. Instead of playing Nekretal I could play something like Bone Shredder which offers a similar type of effect. It seemed like it would be better to run both Nekretaal and Bone Shredder. I could so easily replace something like Bane of the Living with Bone Shredder because I already run both Black Sun's Zenith and Toxic Deluge. I figured there must be a reason why just about every cube has Nekretaal and I shouldn't remove it from my cube. I'm still running Graveborn Muse because of the other zombies in my cube. I think Graveborn Muse would still be better than Liliana's Reaver. I originally thought of adding Lilian's Reaver when it first came out but now it doesn't seem like something I really need.
I'm only running 2 swords in my cube. I'm only running Sword of War and Peace and Sword of Light and Shadow. I added the Sword of Light and Shadow so would at least have 4 good equipment cards in my cube including Jitte and Skullclamp. I haven't added either the Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Feast and Famine based on price. I also haven't added the Sword of Body and Mind just because of it's mill ability. I don't mind having cards that can be used to mill your opponent like Jace 1.0. I have decided not to have any of the cards in my cube like Jace #3 or the Sword of Body and Mind that can mill your opponent fairly easily.
I think you guys missed the part where I'm not talking about cutting lightning bolt. It was burst lightning vs fire bolt for the second one-drop slot. Magma jet and incinerate are my 2-drops if you think one of those is worse.
I haven't played much with dictate yet, but I would probably rank Mikaeus at the bottom of the 3. And I like Ob more than Kokusho.
I think I'd say:
Magma Jet > Burst Lightning > Firebolt > Incinerate, so Incinerate would be my cut there.
Jet is insane for the filtering it provides. Burst Lightning has the all-important instant speed and as much total damage potential as the Bolt. Bolt provides a 2-for-1 option and is one mana hence I set it above Incinerate.
I'm currently running Dauthi Marauder in my cube and what is the reason to run Lifebane Zombie, Herald of Torment or Xanthrid Necromancer over the Dauthi Marauder? Which of those black 3 drops do you think is better? Dauthi Marauder, Lifebane Zombie, Herald of Torment or Xanthrid Necromancer? I have seen some cubes that run all of those cards except the Marauder. I'm trying to evaluate my black aggro cards and see how I can make my black section better. I'm thinking about what I should add to make my black aggro stuff better. I was thinking of adding at least 2 additional 3 drops including the Herald of Torment. I would add the Hearld of Torment into addition to already playing Vampire Nighthawk, Hypnotic Specter, Geralf's Messenger and Dauthi Marauder.
Marauder is a very solid card as it's splashable and effectively unblockable, but as a three drop that's often not enough.
Herald is great because it has better lategame potential
Lifebane is another evasive 3/1 for 3, and it gives information and often card advantage
I could see either of these argued over the Marauder
Necromancer is better as a Stax support card than an aggro card. It also depends on your concentration of Humans. For the most part, the only humans available to black that are really worth running are Ophiomancer, Pain Seer, Dark Confidant, and Tormented Hero
Is Lifebane Zombie something that is really needed to support cards like Grawcrawler? How many zombies are really needed to make Gravecrawler good? I have Sarcomancy, Carnophage, Diregraf Ghoul, Geralf's Messenger, Skinrender, and the black muse for card drawing. I was thinking of taking out Graveborn Muse just because it's outclassed by other cards. I have been running cards like the Graveborn Muse and Bloodgift Demon because I don't have Dark Confidant. I'm running Pain Seer in place of Dark Confidant and then running Graveborn Muse, Bloodgift Demon and Phyrexian Arena. I was thinking of keeping Dauthi Marauder and adding Herald of Torment. I would replace Shadowborn Demon with Herald of Torment. I don't think I need more than 2 5 drops in the black section of my cube.
I'm currently running Dauthi Marauder in my cube and what is the reason to run Lifebane Zombie, Herald of Torment or Xanthrid Necromancer over the Dauthi Marauder? Which of those black 3 drops do you think is better? Dauthi Marauder, Lifebane Zombie, Herald of Torment or Xanthrid Necromancer? I have seen some cubes that run all of those cards except the Marauder. I'm trying to evaluate my black aggro cards and see how I can make my black section better. I'm thinking about what I should add to make my black aggro stuff better. I was thinking of adding at least 2 additional 3 drops including the Herald of Torment. I would add the Hearld of Torment into addition to already playing Vampire Nighthawk, Hypnotic Specter, Geralf's Messenger and Dauthi Marauder.
Tell your friend that 2/1s or 2/2s with drawbacks used to be snap includes. for 360-450 cubes where we might consider bumping the worst drawback one drops. Tormented hero's bonus may never come up, but who cares? Over the weekend my buddy did finish a guy by downfalling his own hero, it was mostly showing off but it is better than a drawback. And human is the second best creature type in black, and has great synergy with other colors.
Scarhide has an actually useful upside to more than offset his drawback.
What benefits do you get by having cards like Tormented Hero being a Human? I don't run things like Xanthrid Necromancer or Champion of the Parish in my cube. In black you are trying to run things such as more zombie creatures. I currently have 6 black 1 drops in my cube. I'm planning on adding Gnarled Scarhide as a 7th black 1 drop in my cube. Some had suggested that the worst out of those 2/2 creatures in black was the Vampire Lacerator. I'm running about a 400 card cube and I'm thinking I should just add the Ganrled Scarhide instead of replacing the Vampire Lacerator. Having more aggro 1 drops is good. I was going to add Herald of Torment because he isn't just a 3/3 flying creature for 3 mana. You can also you him to enchant another creature. This is what makes Gnarled Scarhide good. You can also use him to enchant one of your creatures you would attack with or use him on an opponents creatures so that creature cannot block. Gnarled Scarhide is more than just a 2/1 creature for 1 mana.
I'm afraid it doesn't really answer my main question, though.
I know that 2-power 1-drops are essential to making aggro viable. I also know that making aggro viable is important to creating a balanced and fun cube environment.
My issue is that 2-power 1-drops are necessary, but not sufficient to make a good aggro deck. More specifically, I find my black aggro decks lacking, not because they have too few 2-power 1-drops, but because they lack the better high-end white and red aggro decks have. As a result, they have trouble closing out a game.
A typical game plays out with the black aggro deck playing a 1-drop, then on T2-T4 playing a variety of disruption spells (discard, mana denial, spot removal) crippling the opponent, but not putting a lot of pressure on. Eventually the opponent draws a blocker or a removal spell, stabilizes at 5-10 life and is favored to win the game.
The best cards black has to avoid such a scenario are Dark Confidant, Pain Seer and Braids, Cabal Minion, but that's too few cards to be reliable. I know a lot of people have a Pox package in this role, but I found that to be not good enough to justify the restrictive casting costs on those cards. As I said earlier in the thread, I'm experimenting with big fliers with drawbacks (Herald of Torment, Master of the Feast, Abyssal Persecutor) to give black some pseudo-reach. I'll be sure to report back on how that goes.
Maybe I shouldn't have started this discussion in this thread. Gnarled Scarhide is a superb 1-drop, and it will be included in my list in addition to, not at the expense of, the other black 1-drops.
What would you suggest is needed to make black aggro good. I have tried to keep cards in my cube like Dauthi Marauder because it's always good to have shadow creatures that your opponent cannot block. I like having more creatures where I can attach a sword or jitte and they probably have no way of preventing that damage from happening. I am interested in the other new cards in this set like Master of the Feast. It seems like a good card being a 5/5 flyer for 3 mana despite the drawbacks.
Gnarled Scarhide is something I plan to add to my cube and will most likely be a 7th black 1 drop in my cube. I don't think I should be replacing any my other 1 drops. My friend has wondered what the purpose is of blacks other 2/1 creatures like Tormented Hero. Tormented Hero isn't a Zombie and what are the chances you are actually going to target it with something. I thought the whole purpose of cards like Tormented Hero or Gnarled Scarhide was they were 2/1 creatures for 1 mana. That 2 power is what makes them good. That is why many would run in green something like Jungle Lion. If you are trying to support aggro in your cube you want more 2/1 creatures where you can attack with them on turn 2.
I'm currently running in my Orzhov section Lingering Souls, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Gerrard's Verdict and Vault of the Archangel. I'm trying to think of what card should I replace with Vault of the Archangel without adding Ghost Council or Vindicate. I'm thinking of Desolation Angel, Tidehollow Sculler, Mortify, Stillmoon Cavalier, or Unburial Rites. My friend had thought I should replace Gerrad's Verdict with Tidehollow Sculler and that could possibly help with trying to play Orzhov aggro in my cube. The few posts I had seen of Tidehollow Sculler people had suggested Gerrad's Verdict is the better card. Forcing your opponent to discard 2 cards for 2 mana is much better. It seems like I should keep Gerrad's Verdict and instead replace the Vault of the Archangel with something else.
Sol Ring is disgustingly good and I don't think it fits in an unpowered cube either. However, I have no issue running things like Mana Vault and Grim Monolith.
I have an unpowered cube and I decided to leave Sol Ring out of the cube. I think Sol Ring is really poweful and decided not to put that card in the cube. I choose to put Mana Vault in the cube instead. I instead choose to put some select powerful cards in the cube. So I'm running Mana Vault, Mox Diamond and Umezawa's Jitte in the cube. I don't have any problems with these powerful artifact cards in my cube.
How does the Master of the Feast compare to Lifebane Zombie, Hearld of Torment and Xanthrid Necromancer? I'm looking into adding another 3 drop to my black section of the cube. I think Master of the Feast could be a really good card in my cube. I was also thinking of either adding either Herald of Torment or Lifebane Zombie. Not sure which card is better. I'm also not sure how many targets you want to have for Gravecrawler. Master of the Feast is just another Demon.
Archaeomancer vs. Snapcaster Mage. My friend had suggested I should add Archaeomancer to my cube since I don't have Snapcaster Mage and he thought it would be a good to have something with that type of effect in my cube. I look at Archaeomancer and it looks like a card that could be used in larger cubes not in a 360 or 450 cube. If you have a budget cube does Archaeomancer work as a good substitute for Snapcaster Mage?
I have a burn deck that I have been playing with on MTGO. What do you think the best way to play this deck is? Would you lean towards making it mono red, R/W or B/R? I made my deck a mono red and went with Keldon Marauders and Hellspark Elementals over using Vexing Devils. I can sometimes go 3-1 but other times I can end up only winning 1 game. Last week I participated 2 separate modern dailies where I was only able to go 2-2. I would be so close to going 3-1 and then I would loose during the 4th round. The first tournament it was the 4th round game three where all I could do was get the opponent down to 2 life. If that last card I had drawn was a burn spell I would have won that round and won 6 booster packs.
I'm finding those counter heavy decks and combo decks to be hard matchups. If I play against something like a Splinter Twin deck there is a good chance I could loose. If I don't outrace my opponent there is a good chance they will be able to play Splinter Twin turn 4 and I loose. There are different ways to run Splinter Twin in which I may not even be thinking about the opponent playing Splinter Twin. I played a deck earlier where 1st game the opponent was able to kill with me Tarmogoyf and Scavenging Oooze. It wasn't until the the 2nd game the opponent actually beat me with Splinter Twin. I don't exactly know what do against combo decks like Splinter Twin. If I get stuck playing against a Pyromancer Ascension Deck there is also a good chance I could loose. I'm not sure what I should be sideboarding against these type of decks? When I'm sideboarding in cards it's usually Molten Rain, Smash to Smithereen's or Volcanic Fallout. Would it work better if I was a running B/R burn deck or a R/W burn deck?
I have noticed that some are playing cards like Spark Elemental, The Shrine or something like Eidolon of the Great Revel. I have noticed with some of these red burn decks they will put Dragon's Claw in the sideboard. If you don't win that 1st game then you could have a tough time winning that 2nd or 3rd game. In the 4th round of this modern daily the 1st game I lost. He was able to outrace me with burn spells and creatures. In the the 2nd game I could only get the opponent down to 4 life before he killed me. He was able to get 1 Dragon's Claw in play and that was what prevented me from killing him. I never though of Dragon's Claw as something that you would in the sideboard. When I'm playing against other red burn decks this is not what I'm expecting. I'm not expecting that I might need to sideboard in something like Smash to Smithereens to stop him if he plays a Dragon Claw. Is Dragon's Claw really worth putting in your sideboard just in case you were ever to face another red burn deck? In my sideboard I'm running 3x Rakdos Charm, 4x Smash to Smithereens, 3x Volcanic Fallout, and 4x Molten Rain. What I would remove in my sideboard if I wanted to use Dragon's Claw? I made my deck a B/R burn deck so I could utilize cards like Bump In the Night and Rakdos Charm.
I'm not running that many zombies in my cube. I have Carnophage, Sarcomancy, Diregraf Ghoul, Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger, Graveborn Muse, Skinrender, Lotleth Troll and Glissa the traitor. I also have Grave Titan which can make Zombie tokens. I have kept Graveborn Muse in my cube because it can draw cards and works well with the other zombies in the cube. If I'm playing black and get Graveborn Muse I can usually draft at least 2 other zombies. You can sometimes end up drawing 3 or even 4 cards a turn. I have contemplated taking out Graveborn Muse since I already play cards like Phyrexian Arena and Bloodgift Demon for drawing cards. My friend had thought I should replace Nekretaal with Lililan's Reaver. I'm already playing Desecration Demon and thought I should have 2nd strong 4cc black creature. I'm only running about 400 cards so I thought I don't really need a 2nd big 4cc black creature. I think most 450 cards cubes aren't going to run both something like Abysaal Persecutor and Desecration Demon. They are going to choose one of those creatures but not both. They don't really need to be running two big 4cc black creatures.
Gnarled Scarhide is something I plan to add to my cube and will most likely be a 7th black 1 drop in my cube. I don't think I should be replacing any my other 1 drops. My friend has wondered what the purpose is of blacks other 2/1 creatures like Tormented Hero. Tormented Hero isn't a Zombie and what are the chances you are actually going to target it with something. I thought the whole purpose of cards like Tormented Hero or Gnarled Scarhide was they were 2/1 creatures for 1 mana. That 2 power is what makes them good. That is why many would run in green something like Jungle Lion. If you are trying to support aggro in your cube you want more 2/1 creatures where you can attack with them on turn 2.
I'm finding those counter heavy decks and combo decks to be hard matchups. If I play against something like a Splinter Twin deck there is a good chance I could loose. If I don't outrace my opponent there is a good chance they will be able to play Splinter Twin turn 4 and I loose. There are different ways to run Splinter Twin in which I may not even be thinking about the opponent playing Splinter Twin. I played a deck earlier where 1st game the opponent was able to kill with me Tarmogoyf and Scavenging Oooze. It wasn't until the the 2nd game the opponent actually beat me with Splinter Twin. I don't exactly know what do against combo decks like Splinter Twin. If I get stuck playing against a Pyromancer Ascension Deck there is also a good chance I could loose. I'm not sure what I should be sideboarding against these type of decks? When I'm sideboarding in cards it's usually Molten Rain, Smash to Smithereen's or Volcanic Fallout. Would it work better if I was a running B/R burn deck or a R/W burn deck?