I'm a little surprised that Nivmagus Elemental isn't showing up on anyone's list. From what I've heard, he combos well with storm and replicate. I've barely added him to my cube, but that's my 2 cents.
Storm and replicate aren't commonly cubed abilities, so that could be why.
Yep. I've tried him out in a while to compliment my "Spells Matters" sub-theme in red. I've just removed him for Ral Zarek, and don't think he'll return anytime soon, even though I think about adding a couple of storm cards (without extra ritual support).
What is the "identity" of UR in everyone's cubes? How would a normal UR deck play out generally?
For me, I've always assumed it was a controllish color pair, possibly ending up in Grixis or UWR control. But lately, all the UR decks have been aggressive tempo decks. I think this changes what sorts of cards I want to include in the section - case in point Izzet Boilerworks. It's been in there because it's good for the control decks. But with how I'm seeing the pair lately, I'm probably swapping that for a more aggressive land.
UR tends to go tempo, counterburn, or Wildfire, with counterburn probably being the more frequently seen archetype. Grixis control happens pretty often too.
UR tends to go tempo, counterburn, or Wildfire, with counterburn probably being the more frequently seen archetype. Grixis control happens pretty often too.
Counterspells, draw spells, bounce spells... you know, good blue cards. Provides access to more finishers that survive wildfire. Upheaval is awesome with all the same cards. Artifact related blue cards are always welcome in wildfire decks too. Planeswalkers are sweet. Mystical Tutor.
Counterspells, draw spells, bounce spells... you know, good blue cards. Provides access to more finishers that survive wildfire. Upheaval is awesome with all the same cards. Artifact related blue cards are always welcome in wildfire decks too. Planeswalkers are sweet. Mystical Tutor.
This. Plus I've seen decks that add Wildfire to the artifact deck. There is such synergy between the cards that make Wildfire good and the cards that make Upheaval good that blue can't be ignored as a Wildfire color.
The ideal Wildfire deck, like most other combo decks, contain blue. In this case Upheaval has great synergy with most of the Wildfire deck... largely due to how much it wants mana rocks. Also because blue lets you draw and dig deeper in the deck and as wtwlf mentioned, Mystical Tutor fetches your Wildfire (which is so key if you were only able to grab one Wildfire). Finally, blue also has access to spells that keep you alive in the early stages (Remand, Into the Roil, Mana Drain) buying you time to set up your mana rocks and finisher before you drop the Wildfire.
What blue cards are run in Wildfire? I would expect it to run green more often.
The reason for blue is as the posters above have written: card draw and good control cards.
Green is not the most natural fit. Wildfire wants as few creatures as possible. What is the point in casting creatures when you blow them all up two turns later? Green mana ramp mainly focusses on mana elves which are not best friends with Wildfire.
I have played RG Wildfire decks, but it focusses on the green noncreature spells and the 5+ toughness creatures. All of the Garruks are good, and so are cards like Kodama's Reach, Regrowth, Sylvan Library and others.
I have never had a problem throwing a few mana elves into a Wildfire deck. Who cares if one of my critters die when I am left with a fatty or two, and they are sitting at one land?
Green is not the most natural fit. Wildfire wants as few creatures as possible. What is the point in casting creatures when you blow them all up two turns later? Green mana ramp mainly focusses on mana elves which are not best friends with Wildfire.
For us it's largely because artifact mana is in such high demand. You end up with more ramp when going green... Sakura Tribe Elder, Wall of Blossoms, Yavimaya Elder, Cultivate, Kodama's Reach and Garruk 1.0 are all good. A couple of mana elves smooth it out (not a big deal really if you lose em). You also get a lot of creatures that actually survive the Wildfire (5+ toughness, persist/undying) starting as early as 4cc (Phantom Centaur, Blastoderm) and up (at 5cc you get Thragtusk, Vorapede and now Hydra). Prime Time is almost certainly a win. Also, Plow Under is awesome.
I'm thinking of replacing Izzet Charm with Izzet Signet...
I have never had a problem throwing a few mana elves into a Wildfire deck. Who cares if one of my critters die when I am left with a fatty or two, and they are sitting at one land?
I won't exclude mana dorks from those lists, but I do prioritize the non-creature ramp more because of how it interacts with Wildfire. Also, it depends on if I get the Earthquake/Rolling Earthquake in my pool too. I love those effects in Wildfire decks, and they're another pseudo-nombo with the elves.
I have played RG Wildfire decks, but it focusses on the green noncreature spells and the 5+ toughness creatures. All of the Garruks are good, and so are cards like Kodama's Reach, Regrowth, Sylvan Library and others.
This. Plus, green has some good regenerators if you an extra mana or two when you drop the Wildfire. The Garruks are fantastic in Wildfire decks.
I like Izzet Charm much more than the signet, but I run a powered cube where the signets are unnecessary.
I like Izzet Charm much more than the signet, but I run a powered cube where the signets are unnecessary.
We run power as well and still often find that we are short on mana rocks. The moxes get snatched up very quickly and the Wildfire/Upheaval isn't as scary if the opponent has moxes to recover.
I also like Izzet Charm a lot more than the Signet. But again, this is for a powered list where there are plenty more broken pieces of artifact mana that are excluded from unpowered cubes. In an unpowered list, I'd play all the blue moxen and talisman (well, at 450+ anyways).
What are people's current thoughts on Frostburn Weird? The card is looking more and more real every-time I look at it. It also helps that it's hybrid so it doesn't necessarily have to compete with the U/R multicolor cards.
Another vote for Izzet Charm. Recent testing has shown me that it's much better than I thought. It will be going in my next update.
I concur on RG Wildfire being the most commonly run in my cube. And it's done with mana rocks and cultivate type effects versus mana elves. But it certainly can work in UR, and might even be a better fit honestly due to the synergy with what blue can add. The only problem which was already mentioned is the over reliance on mana rocks. Those are in high demand, which is why RG is where Wildfire more often ends up.
In my next update, I'm moving all hybrid cards to my mono colored sections. So if I treat Frostburn Weird as a blue 2 drop or red 2 drop, it might have a home (though probably not - I think there are better choices). I do appreciate his ability to be defensive early in the game and offensive late in the game though.
There is no way I'd run it in my gold section however - too many other options I'd choose first.
What are people's current thoughts on Frostburn Weird? The card is looking more and more real every-time I look at it. It also helps that it's hybrid so it doesn't necessarily have to compete with the U/R multicolor cards.
It's been solid in testing. It'll probably come out for the next good Izzet card we get, but it's been playing well enough for me to not cut it immediately. Kinda surprised by it myself.
Could I get some feedback on steam augury's performance? every time i think about it, the reason FoF is so great is because you can pick what you need when you're desperate, or the CA if you're not. it seems like steam augury only ever lets you pick the CA option (unless your opponent makes bad piles, which is unlikely). does it merit a high spot in izzet only because the competition is so bad?
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Yep. I've tried him out in a while to compliment my "Spells Matters" sub-theme in red. I've just removed him for Ral Zarek, and don't think he'll return anytime soon, even though I think about adding a couple of storm cards (without extra ritual support).
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For me, I've always assumed it was a controllish color pair, possibly ending up in Grixis or UWR control. But lately, all the UR decks have been aggressive tempo decks. I think this changes what sorts of cards I want to include in the section - case in point Izzet Boilerworks. It's been in there because it's good for the control decks. But with how I'm seeing the pair lately, I'm probably swapping that for a more aggressive land.
How do you guys view your UR color pair?
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This. Also, the artifact deck is usually Grixis.
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This. Plus I've seen decks that add Wildfire to the artifact deck. There is such synergy between the cards that make Wildfire good and the cards that make Upheaval good that blue can't be ignored as a Wildfire color.
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The reason for blue is as the posters above have written: card draw and good control cards.
Green is not the most natural fit. Wildfire wants as few creatures as possible. What is the point in casting creatures when you blow them all up two turns later? Green mana ramp mainly focusses on mana elves which are not best friends with Wildfire.
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For us it's largely because artifact mana is in such high demand. You end up with more ramp when going green... Sakura Tribe Elder, Wall of Blossoms, Yavimaya Elder, Cultivate, Kodama's Reach and Garruk 1.0 are all good. A couple of mana elves smooth it out (not a big deal really if you lose em). You also get a lot of creatures that actually survive the Wildfire (5+ toughness, persist/undying) starting as early as 4cc (Phantom Centaur, Blastoderm) and up (at 5cc you get Thragtusk, Vorapede and now Hydra). Prime Time is almost certainly a win. Also, Plow Under is awesome.
I'm thinking of replacing Izzet Charm with Izzet Signet...
I won't exclude mana dorks from those lists, but I do prioritize the non-creature ramp more because of how it interacts with Wildfire. Also, it depends on if I get the Earthquake/Rolling Earthquake in my pool too. I love those effects in Wildfire decks, and they're another pseudo-nombo with the elves.
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This. Plus, green has some good regenerators if you an extra mana or two when you drop the Wildfire. The Garruks are fantastic in Wildfire decks.
I like Izzet Charm much more than the signet, but I run a powered cube where the signets are unnecessary.
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We run power as well and still often find that we are short on mana rocks. The moxes get snatched up very quickly and the Wildfire/Upheaval isn't as scary if the opponent has moxes to recover.
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I'd rank it #2 or #3. It's very good. I'm still deciding if it's better than Fire/Ice.
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I concur on RG Wildfire being the most commonly run in my cube. And it's done with mana rocks and cultivate type effects versus mana elves. But it certainly can work in UR, and might even be a better fit honestly due to the synergy with what blue can add. The only problem which was already mentioned is the over reliance on mana rocks. Those are in high demand, which is why RG is where Wildfire more often ends up.
In my next update, I'm moving all hybrid cards to my mono colored sections. So if I treat Frostburn Weird as a blue 2 drop or red 2 drop, it might have a home (though probably not - I think there are better choices). I do appreciate his ability to be defensive early in the game and offensive late in the game though.
There is no way I'd run it in my gold section however - too many other options I'd choose first.
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It's been solid in testing. It'll probably come out for the next good Izzet card we get, but it's been playing well enough for me to not cut it immediately. Kinda surprised by it myself.
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