This may be worse than Force Spike, Remand and any other hard counterspell, but maybe it is enough of a tempo swing that may be cracking into the cube.
Also, I really want a good enough Azorious-Hybrid card.
Pixies' Cantrip
Instant (Uncommon)
Until end of turn, spells each of your opponents cast costs 1 more to cast.
Draw a card. Pranks done by the pixies may seems harmless and fun until it's too late.
So it's one mana for what is basically a worse version (cmc aside) of the ice side of fire // ice? Seems really narrow for cube, even with the cantrip. It's nice that it could stave off wraths for a turn, but that's about it for tempo decks. It would be good against storm if your cube supports it, and could probably be a modern sideboard card lol.
Ancient Healer3W
Creature – Human Cleric (R)
Vigilance, Lifelink 2: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn. 2WW, Sacrifice Ancient Healer: Return target creature from your graveyard to the battlefield.
2/5
My aim with this design was to make a control creature that would make white's damage prevention slice of the color pie relevant again. Most, if not all, damage prevention designs are spells or creatures that are required to tap to prevent damage (and usually just 1 damage). This creature is a triple threat. In combat, it can attack safely having 5 toughness and gain life for you even if it doesn't get through and thanks to vigilance it plays defense exceedingly well too. The damage prevention ability makes combat difficult for your opponent and can still protect you from direct/evasive damage. Finally, for some versatility Resurrection is built in to this creature's suite of abilities. Would you cube this?
The biggest thing holding damage prevention back is that it never shows up on anything that's *really* worth fielding, and generally the cost to prevent damage is too high. If you really want to push damage prevention, you want to make it on a dude with efficient stats, and then make the prevention really a throw-in type ability. So something like:
Divine Paladin WW
Creature - Human Knight Cleric
Vigilance, Lifelink
T: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to another target creature or player this turn.
2/2
It's got an already-solid body, and vigilance lets it prevent the damage while still tangoing in combat.
Or maybe something like:
Divine Intervener 3W
Creature - Human Cleric
Vigilance, Lifelink
Exile a card from your graveyard: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn.
3/4
Here we see the damage prevention as a truly "free" ability, kind of like Troubled Healer, a Pauper Cube powerhouse.
Price of Participation1U
Enchantment (R)
Whenever an opponent casts a spell that player taps an untapped non-token permanent they control. If they do not, you may draw a card.
Sacrifice Price of Participation: Tap or untap target permanent.
Rhystic Study 2.0! Note the choice to tap a permanent is not an optional one, if they can do it they have to. I added the non-token clause to really up the oppressive ante on this card. Also, the final clause gives the enchantment a bit of extra utility should either the initial ability not be relevant any longer (e.g opponent has plenty of excess lands) or if you want to give your guy pseudo-vigilance, tap down a would-be blocker, etc. I feel like this is a control deck's dream card. Your thoughts?
This seems way too good. Rhystic Study is already pretty solid at three mana, and while this gives them a few more options with how to make the payment, it makes the payment mandatory. While also costing less, and having a final ability.
Hurloon Axe-Slinger5R
Creature – Minotaur (R)
Double Strike
When Hurloon Axe-Slinger enters the battlefield deal 5 damage to target player.
At the beginning of your end step return Hurloon Axe-Slinger to your hand if it dealt combat damage to a player this turn.
2/3
The finisher you want for Red perhaps? It's your classic 2/3 Red minotaur....except it has double strike and lava axe's your opponent as he enters the battlefield. The "drawback" is often a great help as it sets up a second lava axe trigger and if that doesn't kill em.....you didn't stand a chance anyhow. Would you play this?
This seems iffy. At six mana, I want a lot better than a 2/3 body, even with Doublestrike and a Lava Axe. Compare this to Inferno Titan, which on its first swing, has dealt 6 direct damage (which can hit dudes too, and is fully divisible), and then smacks for 6+ instead of 4, and then keeps trucking without having to invest more mana to recast it.
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Yeah, neither would I at basically any cube size. There's never a moment where I want to gain life and just gain life. I don't want to have this card in my opening hand and I don't want to draw it. It will never win me a game. So why would I play it?
To be fair, if there was a card that was W - instant. Gain 100 life, every cube would play it (or not, due to power level concerns). It wouldn't "win" you any games either, but it certainly would let you stabilize against aggressive decks and let your other cards win the game. The problem with pure lifegain cards is that if they are strong enough to be playable they are completely oppressive against agressive decks, and if they are "fair" against aggressive decks they are horribly unplayable otherwise. I wouldn't play the card in this thread either, but there are lots of moments when you would LOVE to "just gain life" if it was enough life. Lots of cards in some match ups end up being "just gain life" cards in that they chump an attacking creature to buy you a turn, for example.
I'm sure there's a pure life gain card that would in theory be good enough for cube. It's just unprintable for other formats and probably super unfun.
Yeah, I smell what you're stepping in, but I was most likely speaking in terms of a printable magic card, not being purely hypothetical. What I really meant was "if I'm going to gain life with something, it better do something else". Not that Wall of Omens NEEDS an upgrade but you could probably shoehorn this design into a "wall" of some sort.
Yeah, I smell what you're stepping in, but I was most likely speaking in terms of a printable magic card, not being purely hypothetical. What I really meant was "if I'm going to gain life with something, it better do something else". Not that Wall of Omens NEEDS an upgrade but you could probably shoehorn this design into a "wall" of some sort.
Yeah, I think we probably agree in spirit =P
In order to look at how borderline a card with good life gain has to be to be playable, look at lone missionary. A perfectly defendable cube card (moreso a few years ago), but stone unplayable without the 4 life stapled on. I think designs like that are probably better life gain cards.
Just taken some stuff off my phone. Late night ideas.
Faerie Memory-Shard U
Creature - Faerie Illusion
Flying
Whenever a player casts a spell, sacrifice Faerie Memory-Shard unless you pay 1 The memories the faeries collect are potent but fleeting
3/1
Baloth Land-tiller 1GG
Creature - Beast
When Baloth Land-tiller comes into play, you may sacrifice a land. If you do, you may play two additional lands this turn. Random acts of destruction now seed new life
3/2
Goblin Inheritance 1R
Enchantment
Whenever a creature dies, put a colorless artifact token named Gold onto the battlefield. It has "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."
At the end of each turn, sacrifice a creature. NO! I WANT AUNTIE WORT'S BUGSCRUBBLING PAN!
Mardu Decimator 1B
Creature - Human Warrior
Dash 1B
When Mardu Decimator leaves play, you may pay 2. If you do, destroy target non-black non-artifact creature.
2/1
Grave-Watcher Gargoyle 1W
Artifact Creature - Construct
Flash
Creature cards can't enter the battlefield from graveyards or libraries.
Players can't cast cards in graveyards or libraries.
3/1
Faerie Memory-Shard is always OP. That's insane for 1 mana. Would never happen in a million years. The problem is, if you adjust P/T to make it more fair, it becomes less desirable. Same for CMC. And if you make it pay 2+ every time, its probably unplayable in blue. Not seeing this design play out very well.
Goblin Inheritance is really REALLY bad. I'd like to know what cube considers losing a creature every turn to gain a Lotus Petal a fair trade.
Baloth Land-tiller..? I dunno. I think this might see play outside of cube in older formats where it can be abused. But in cube? I guess it works with Crucible, Loam, and Land Tax, but I really see this as a 3/2 with "sac a land: put a land into play" which sort of defeats the purpose.
Grave-Watcher Gargoyle...3/1 Flash for 2 that stops flashback and reanimator? It's way OP. Mana cost has to go way up.
Mardu Decimator on the other hand is dope. I wish that card was printed. I'd slam it in my cube so fast I'd break my wrist. Very nice design. So many instances where this card shines.
Faerie Memory-Shard is always OP. That's insane for 1 mana. Would never happen in a million years. The problem is, if you adjust P/T to make it more fair, it becomes less desirable. Same for CMC. And if you make it pay 2+ every time, its probably unplayable in blue. Not seeing this design play out very well.
I think the main problem with this card is that it's either unbeatable or horrible. There's no middle ground. I don't like it for that reason. If you are playing against someone who casts a lot of spells, it's horrible, but against, like, a control deck, it's absurd.
I think Faerie Memory-Shard is just universally bad. Even control decks run some cantrips and mana rocks, so you'll probably have to leave mana up the turn you play it, and then it likely will cost you at least 2 mana a turn to keep it alive. That makes it roughly a flying School of Piranha. Worse than School of Piranha, even, because there will be times you sink 2 mana into it and it offs itself anyway.
Goblin Inheritance is a cool effect, but the drawback does need to be toned down. Not sure exactly what the right spot is, but it has potential.
Pretty sure Mardu Decimator is just way too good. That's an insane amount of value in one card against any nonblack deck. You need instant speed removal to have any chance against it, and it still goes 2-for-1.
I wanted a 3/1 for U with a downside, and to me it seemed like a fair trade off. You stifled your development by not being able to cast sorcery speed spells yourself, but you got a 3/1 flyer, who in turn died to any removal as an upside.
Goblin was just an idea, mostly for tokens style decks as a way to recoup costs and the downside seemed fair. What would be a better drawback do you think?
Baloth was a 3/2 which is an OKish statline that ramped you 1 land, generated more threshold, or whatever. I was really looking at a GB sort of loam deck when I designed it.
Gravewatcher is Grafdiggers cage with a 3/1 flash tacked on. With stuff like Spirit I felt it was fair. The flash also gives you some gotcha, and in cube it is more maindeckable and easier to remove.
Decimator was an idea I had for splitting the cost of Nek up. Playable on turn 2 or turn 20.
Nekrataal with the cost split up is Shriekmaw. You could also reduce the mana cost and make it a leaves-the-battlefield trigger with Evoke. The effect is just way too good with Dash.
For Goblin Inheritance, the effect might be fair with "At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a permanent." That way, you could throw the Gold tokens at it, and you could sac the Inheritance if it's not worth keeping. Or maybe just cost a mana on your upkeep. I think you'd have to try it out to see.
RE: Tangle Wire. I feel like there's too many artifacts in cube that just don't care about being tapped. I'd honestly rather:
Trip Cord 3
Artifact
Fading 4
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player taps an untapped creature or land he or she controls for each fade counter on Trip Cord.
Or some kind of weird Tangle Wire/Winter Orb hybrid:
Snare Field 3
Artifact
When ~ enters the battlefield, each player chooses any combination of four lands or creatures they control. Tap those permanents and put a trap counter on them.
Permanents with trap counters on them don't untap during their controller's untap step.
At the beginning of each player's end step, they may remove a trap counter from a permanent they control.
RE: Tangle Wire. I feel like there's too many artifacts in cube that just don't care about being tapped. I'd honestly rather:
That would take away its ability to tap itself, which would make it far less asymmetrical and significantly worse. And also remove your ability to bind up your opponents artifact mana. So double-worse. I wouldn't play Tangle Wire with the artifact clause removed from it.
That's sort of my question to myself in regards to these cards. Is it truly worse? Maybe at the moment, but as time marches on and more equips and playable low CMC artifacts get printed, it is inevitable that Tangle Wire will depreciate in power. And as far as it being asymmetrical, you still have the "advantage" of tapping one less permanent than your opponent every turn. It still gives a tangible tempo advantage.
I definitely understand your perspective, but I've already played this in games where it was either undesirable to play or I ended up on the losing side of it because my opponent had dropped a SDT, Bonesplitter, Jitte, etc. early on. When you play Tangle Wire, you play it for tempo, if you're allowing your opponent an out to that, you end up tithing and in some cases time walking yourself. At least with the two versions I proposed, you are always on the positive end of the tempo game instead of the receiving end.
Just taken some stuff off my phone. Late night ideas.
Faerie Memory-Shard U
Creature - Faerie Illusion
Flying
Whenever a player casts a spell, sacrifice Faerie Memory-Shard unless you pay 1 The memories the faeries collect are potent but fleeting
3/1
Faerie Memory-Shard is always OP. That's insane for 1 mana. Would never happen in a million years. The problem is, if you adjust P/T to make it more fair, it becomes less desirable. Same for CMC. And if you make it pay 2+ every time, its probably unplayable in blue. Not seeing this design play out very well.
That's sort of my question to myself in regards to these cards. Is it truly worse? Maybe at the moment, but as time marches on and more equips and playable low CMC artifacts get printed, it is inevitable that Tangle Wire will depreciate in power.
Yes. It's truly worse. Those cards will only aim to make Tangle Wire better in the decks that play it. Cheap equipment makes Wire better for the decks that play Wire. Wire isn't a control card that's used to combat aggro decks with cheap equipment. It's an aggro card used against control to bind up their resources (and their mana artifacts) early to leverage an advantageous board position. And it relies heavily on how asymmetrical the effect is since it can tap itself as one of its cards. It would be significantly worse without the ability to tap artifacts.
Oh my god. No, not printable for standard, or any other format, really. But it's a cool design. Maybe a 1U cost with a U escalate that counters unless they pay 2 and can only bounce tapped creatures, and does a scry 1 instead of draw...
ulvenwald captive made me think about a card like wall of roots but there was tension between blocking and ramping, instead of the wall that just does both. What if it traded with attackers instead of walling? Thought it would play interestingly
Blooming Brambles 1G
Creature - Plant (C)
Defender
At the beginning of your precombat main phase, add G to your mana pool.
3/2
Fortune's Acolyte3U
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Flash
When ~ enters the battlefield, target opponent looks at the top three cards of your library and separates them into a face-down pile and a face-up pile. Put one of those piles into your hand and other into your graveyard.
2/1
Oracle of Sea and SkyUU
Creature – Bird Merfolk Wizard (R)
Flying U: Oracle of Sea and Sky gets +1/-1
Whenever Oracle of Sea and Sky deals combat damage to a player look at the top X cards of your library where X is the amount of damage dealt to that player. Put one of those cards into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
1/3
Admit it, you wanna play this....
That card is nuts. Thieving Magpie with Morphling power shifting and the ability to turn its draw into an Anticipate? Would need to be 5 mana minimum.
Fortune's Acolyte3U
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Flash
When ~ enters the battlefield, target opponent looks at the top three cards of your library and separates them into a face-down pile and a face-up pile. Put one of those piles into your hand and other into your graveyard.
2/1
I just want to see a Fortune's Favor that's more pushed (4 cards for 2U or 5-6 cards for 3U/2UU) because it seems like it's going to lead to all kinds of mind games.
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5 Mana Minimum? Hardly. When is the last time Thieving Magpie made waves in your cube? I could see this needing to be costed at 3CC (1UU) however. I wanted to push this as far as an effect like this can go without being unprintable. I may have just slightly overdone it.
It requires an additional investment of UU and requires connecting with the player having only 1 toughness to become anticipate.
The sole time there's been a two mana Ophidian, it was a multicolored 1/1 with no other abilities (Vedalken Heretic). I could see a 1/3 flying Ophidian for 3, when you compare it to something like Jhessian Thief. I could maybe, MAYBE even see sticking the +1/-1 ability on it. But adding the whole "dig X cards where X is the damage dealt" is absolutely not coming at that cheap of a cost. Maybe you could get it on four, but it'd be a serious push. Two mana is insane, as is three.
Fireheart Phoenix4R
Creature – Phoenix (M)
Haste, Flying
Discard a red instant or sorcery: Return Fireheart Phoenix from your graveyard to the battlefield.
(5/3)
Needs to be "instant or sorcery *card*". This seems okay, but I don't think it can crack into the five drops that are good enough for cube.
Prince of Darkness4B
Creature – Human Demon (M)
Flying, Protection from White
Vampires and Zombies you control get +1/+1
Sacrifice a Vampire: Prince of Darkness gains lifelink until end of turn
Sacrifice a Zombie, 3B: Return Prince of Darkness from the graveyard to the battlefield.
(3/4)
This seems weird. Like, a bunch of seemingly random abilities stapled together into something that's still probably not good enough for cube.
Disastrous InfiltratorR
Creature – Goblin (R)
Disastrous Infiltrator enters the battlefield under your opponent’s control.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice an artifact. If you cannot, sacrifice Disastrous Infiltrator.
1/1
This seems... bad? How often Is your opponent going to have enough artifacts for this to be better than a Smelt?
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So it's one mana for what is basically a worse version (cmc aside) of the ice side of fire // ice? Seems really narrow for cube, even with the cantrip. It's nice that it could stave off wraths for a turn, but that's about it for tempo decks. It would be good against storm if your cube supports it, and could probably be a modern sideboard card lol.
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StaffI feel like white's four-drop slot is pretty stacked already with stuff like Exalted Angel, Restoration Angel, Hero of Bladehold, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, and Kor Sanctifiers.
The biggest thing holding damage prevention back is that it never shows up on anything that's *really* worth fielding, and generally the cost to prevent damage is too high. If you really want to push damage prevention, you want to make it on a dude with efficient stats, and then make the prevention really a throw-in type ability. So something like:
Divine Paladin WW
Creature - Human Knight Cleric
Vigilance, Lifelink
T: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to another target creature or player this turn.
2/2
It's got an already-solid body, and vigilance lets it prevent the damage while still tangoing in combat.
Or maybe something like:
Divine Intervener 3W
Creature - Human Cleric
Vigilance, Lifelink
Exile a card from your graveyard: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn.
3/4
Here we see the damage prevention as a truly "free" ability, kind of like Troubled Healer, a Pauper Cube powerhouse.
This seems way too good. Rhystic Study is already pretty solid at three mana, and while this gives them a few more options with how to make the payment, it makes the payment mandatory. While also costing less, and having a final ability.
This seems iffy. At six mana, I want a lot better than a 2/3 body, even with Doublestrike and a Lava Axe. Compare this to Inferno Titan, which on its first swing, has dealt 6 direct damage (which can hit dudes too, and is fully divisible), and then smacks for 6+ instead of 4, and then keeps trucking without having to invest more mana to recast it.
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I'm sure there's a pure life gain card that would in theory be good enough for cube. It's just unprintable for other formats and probably super unfun.
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Yeah, I think we probably agree in spirit =P
In order to look at how borderline a card with good life gain has to be to be playable, look at lone missionary. A perfectly defendable cube card (moreso a few years ago), but stone unplayable without the 4 life stapled on. I think designs like that are probably better life gain cards.
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Faerie Memory-Shard U
Creature - Faerie Illusion
Flying
Whenever a player casts a spell, sacrifice Faerie Memory-Shard unless you pay 1
The memories the faeries collect are potent but fleeting
3/1
Baloth Land-tiller 1GG
Creature - Beast
When Baloth Land-tiller comes into play, you may sacrifice a land. If you do, you may play two additional lands this turn.
Random acts of destruction now seed new life
3/2
Goblin Inheritance 1R
Enchantment
Whenever a creature dies, put a colorless artifact token named Gold onto the battlefield. It has "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."
At the end of each turn, sacrifice a creature.
NO! I WANT AUNTIE WORT'S BUGSCRUBBLING PAN!
Mardu Decimator 1B
Creature - Human Warrior
Dash 1B
When Mardu Decimator leaves play, you may pay 2. If you do, destroy target non-black non-artifact creature.
2/1
Grave-Watcher Gargoyle 1W
Artifact Creature - Construct
Flash
Creature cards can't enter the battlefield from graveyards or libraries.
Players can't cast cards in graveyards or libraries.
3/1
Goblin Inheritance is really REALLY bad. I'd like to know what cube considers losing a creature every turn to gain a Lotus Petal a fair trade.
Baloth Land-tiller..? I dunno. I think this might see play outside of cube in older formats where it can be abused. But in cube? I guess it works with Crucible, Loam, and Land Tax, but I really see this as a 3/2 with "sac a land: put a land into play" which sort of defeats the purpose.
Grave-Watcher Gargoyle...3/1 Flash for 2 that stops flashback and reanimator? It's way OP. Mana cost has to go way up.
Mardu Decimator on the other hand is dope. I wish that card was printed. I'd slam it in my cube so fast I'd break my wrist. Very nice design. So many instances where this card shines.
I think the main problem with this card is that it's either unbeatable or horrible. There's no middle ground. I don't like it for that reason. If you are playing against someone who casts a lot of spells, it's horrible, but against, like, a control deck, it's absurd.
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Goblin Inheritance is a cool effect, but the drawback does need to be toned down. Not sure exactly what the right spot is, but it has potential.
Pretty sure Mardu Decimator is just way too good. That's an insane amount of value in one card against any nonblack deck. You need instant speed removal to have any chance against it, and it still goes 2-for-1.
I wanted a 3/1 for U with a downside, and to me it seemed like a fair trade off. You stifled your development by not being able to cast sorcery speed spells yourself, but you got a 3/1 flyer, who in turn died to any removal as an upside.
Goblin was just an idea, mostly for tokens style decks as a way to recoup costs and the downside seemed fair. What would be a better drawback do you think?
Baloth was a 3/2 which is an OKish statline that ramped you 1 land, generated more threshold, or whatever. I was really looking at a GB sort of loam deck when I designed it.
Gravewatcher is Grafdiggers cage with a 3/1 flash tacked on. With stuff like Spirit I felt it was fair. The flash also gives you some gotcha, and in cube it is more maindeckable and easier to remove.
Decimator was an idea I had for splitting the cost of Nek up. Playable on turn 2 or turn 20.
For Goblin Inheritance, the effect might be fair with "At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a permanent." That way, you could throw the Gold tokens at it, and you could sac the Inheritance if it's not worth keeping. Or maybe just cost a mana on your upkeep. I think you'd have to try it out to see.
Trip Cord 3
Artifact
Fading 4
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player taps an untapped creature or land he or she controls for each fade counter on Trip Cord.
Or some kind of weird Tangle Wire/Winter Orb hybrid:
Snare Field 3
Artifact
When ~ enters the battlefield, each player chooses any combination of four lands or creatures they control. Tap those permanents and put a trap counter on them.
Permanents with trap counters on them don't untap during their controller's untap step.
At the beginning of each player's end step, they may remove a trap counter from a permanent they control.
That would take away its ability to tap itself, which would make it far less asymmetrical and significantly worse. And also remove your ability to bind up your opponents artifact mana. So double-worse. I wouldn't play Tangle Wire with the artifact clause removed from it.
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I definitely understand your perspective, but I've already played this in games where it was either undesirable to play or I ended up on the losing side of it because my opponent had dropped a SDT, Bonesplitter, Jitte, etc. early on. When you play Tangle Wire, you play it for tempo, if you're allowing your opponent an out to that, you end up tithing and in some cases time walking yourself. At least with the two versions I proposed, you are always on the positive end of the tempo game instead of the receiving end.
I have no idea how you see "insane". I see a muuuuuuuuuuuch worse Drifter il-Dal or Scythe Tiger.
Yes. It's truly worse. Those cards will only aim to make Tangle Wire better in the decks that play it. Cheap equipment makes Wire better for the decks that play Wire. Wire isn't a control card that's used to combat aggro decks with cheap equipment. It's an aggro card used against control to bind up their resources (and their mana artifacts) early to leverage an advantageous board position. And it relies heavily on how asymmetrical the effect is since it can tap itself as one of its cards. It would be significantly worse without the ability to tap artifacts.
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Utility Counter UU
Escalate 1
-Counter Target Spell unless it's controller pays 3
-Return target creature to it's owner's hand.
-Draw a card.
Is this printable in today's standard metagame? I have no idea. I'd love it for cube though.
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Genesis Memorial 3
Artifact
T: Add G to your mana pool.
2G,T: Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
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Blooming Brambles 1G
Creature - Plant (C)
Defender
At the beginning of your precombat main phase, add G to your mana pool.
3/2
Or a 4/1 even
Fortune's Acolyte 3U
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Flash
When ~ enters the battlefield, target opponent looks at the top three cards of your library and separates them into a face-down pile and a face-up pile. Put one of those piles into your hand and other into your graveyard.
2/1
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StaffThat card is nuts. Thieving Magpie with Morphling power shifting and the ability to turn its draw into an Anticipate? Would need to be 5 mana minimum.
I just want to see a Fortune's Favor that's more pushed (4 cards for 2U or 5-6 cards for 3U/2UU) because it seems like it's going to lead to all kinds of mind games.
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Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
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StaffThe sole time there's been a two mana Ophidian, it was a multicolored 1/1 with no other abilities (Vedalken Heretic). I could see a 1/3 flying Ophidian for 3, when you compare it to something like Jhessian Thief. I could maybe, MAYBE even see sticking the +1/-1 ability on it. But adding the whole "dig X cards where X is the damage dealt" is absolutely not coming at that cheap of a cost. Maybe you could get it on four, but it'd be a serious push. Two mana is insane, as is three.
Needs to be "instant or sorcery *card*". This seems okay, but I don't think it can crack into the five drops that are good enough for cube.
This seems weird. Like, a bunch of seemingly random abilities stapled together into something that's still probably not good enough for cube.
This seems... bad? How often Is your opponent going to have enough artifacts for this to be better than a Smelt?
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Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!