I could see slotting Keranos in over one of the Izzet value spells just for something different. I do like the 'walkers and Duplicate more, though. I can also see where you're coming from with the clone effect being powerful, but boring.
The problem with keranos is that, way, way too often he does literally nothing for 5 mana the turn you play him because a lot of izzet decks have trouble keeping the devotion count, so you just paid 5 mana to not impact the board in any way and get either a rift bolt or single card next turn. I won't deny he's amazing in grindy matchups, but against midrange or aggro he is just the worst*, especially with the quality of creatures that exist in cube.
*Obviously not actually the worst, as he is still a very good magic card, but the worst when compared to the other choices for Izzet sections.
For reference, my other mana rocks are: Chrome Mox, Coalition Relic, Coldsteel Heart, Mana Crypt, Mox Diamond, Sol Ring in a 480 cube. Or should I cut something else, and keep all those 13 rocks?
For reference, my other mana rocks are: Chrome Mox, Coalition Relic, Coldsteel Heart, Mana Crypt, Mox Diamond, Sol Ring in a 480 cube. Or should I cut something else, and keep all those 13 rocks?
Cut Lantern. The effect is quite nice but lacks redundancy. Thus, it's a little underwhelming as a mana rock for 3 that produces only 1.
For reference, my other mana rocks are: Chrome Mox, Coalition Relic, Coldsteel Heart, Mana Crypt, Mox Diamond, Sol Ring in a 480 cube. Or should I cut something else, and keep all those 13 rocks?
Cut Lantern. The effect is quite nice but lacks redundancy. Thus, it's a little underwhelming as a mana rock for 3 that produces only 1.
Thanks!
That's my first choice too. Just curious to see if anyone has a better suggestion.
I really like Chromatic Lantern as a "fair" mana rock, but given the options in your cube, it is probably the best choice of the lot.
EDIT:
I'm looking to cut a card from each of my guild sections to make room for Signets. Each guild currently has 4 lands (ABUR dual, fetch, shock, and check), and then 5 nonland cards (ok technically Gruul has a 5th land). I'm not looking to remove a land, so here are my thoughts for each:
I've never played with Brago, Ashiok, Sygg, or Keranos. I'm listing them do cut, but you know them better than me.
Lightning Helix was awesome back when we didn't had Searing Spear and Lightning Strike. Now it's just feels like still having Absorb in Azorius - a perfectly fine card, but not good enough to waste a slot with.
Ancient Grudge is similar. There is enough good monocolored artifact hate.
So:
Brago
Ashiok or Sygg
Blightning
Ancient Grudge or Kessig
Ajani
Utter End
Vraska
Mauler
Keranos
Helix
Detention Sphere - With Banishing Light, Oblivion Ring, and Council's Judgement, there's no reason for another copy of these effects to take up a gold slot. Sphinx's Revelation is amazing for control decks.
Dimir
Sygg, River Cutthroat or Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver - To be honest, I've never cubed with either, but I also haven't heard great things about either. Far // Away has been great not only in Dimir decks but also for the occasional Azorius/Izzet tempo deck that needs another bounce spell. I value versatility very highly.
Rakdos
Blightning - This never really seemed to get picked in my cube.
Gruul
Ancient Grudge - There are much better/less narrow artifact destruction available in each color, so I wouldn't tie up a gold slot here.
Selesnya
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes - Probably, I like the other cards you list.
Orzhov
I cut Unburial Rites a long time ago for costing way too much mana for what it does, but I also feel the same way about Utter End.
Golgari
Vraska the Unseen - That was a tough cut for me too, but too often Vraska was just a 5 mana Maelstrom Pulse.
Simic
Sagu Mauler - cut Agreed.
Izzet
If Keranos tested badly for you, cut that. Otherwise Electrolyze is the least exciting spell there.
I don't really want to cut any of the Boros cards, so definitely need help here (or maybe just not run Boros Signet).
There are a lot of posters here who will disagree with me on this, but I'm a huge fan of hybrids, and Figure of Destiny and Boros Reckoner have been outstanding in my cube. I say cut a mono white card and a mono red card to make room for both of those hybrids and then you can just add signet and another Boros card. If you're not willing to categorize hybrids as something other than true gold, than I'd agree with wildice on cutting Helix as it's the card there that's least likely to pull a player into Boros.
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I like Izzet Charm more than F/I because it supports reanimator.
Cythare,
If you run a powered cube of average or small size, I'd recommend not running the signets at all (or just running the blue ones). If aggro is well supported in cube, hardly anyone will ever draft the Rakdos, Boros, Gruul, or Golgari signets. I found my cube ran smoother when I supplied the players with more universally playable mana rocks and used the guild slots for business spells.
On Ashiok vs. Sygg... I would choose depending on the archetypes present in your cube. If you have mill present, Ashiok is the gal. If you have a lot of the classical MBC drain cards onboard (e.g. Tendrils of Corruption, Exsanguinate, Bloodchief Ascension), I would go with Sygg.
Sygg would also play nicely next to red, and is an easier cast (given its hybrid CC), but damn, Ashiok is a lot of fun to land...
Ashiok is a good card in midrange decks against control and other slower midrange decks. Sygg is a decent choice for UB tempo decks and devotion decks. So depending on what you support/need, one could be the right call over the other.
I like Ashiok more than Sygg in a vacuum. I also think it'd be a tossup between Sygg and Inkfathom Infiltrator to help boost those UB tempo/aggro builds.
I'm going to second Inkfathom Infiltrator. I just recently added it to my cube, and with my recent push towards blue and black devotion, it fits perfectly to support those AND support attacking blue and black archetypes. I also like it better than Sygg.
Inkfathom Infiltrator
When I ran this card, I found that it was basically a BB aggro dude. Blue decks very rarely wanted to play it. Even with some support for blue tempo decks and blue devotion, blue is almost always just the secondary color in an aggressive deck, so UU was hard to come by.
Sygg, River Cutthroat
I have never cubed with this guy, but I find him very intriguing. The stats are bad for aggressive decks, but he can provide some easy card advantage in those decks, be they Simic tempo or Rakdos aggro. His stats make him also an option for slower, controlish decks. He can block early and turn your medium- to finisher-sized flyers into card advantage. He seems to be a flexible card that goes into many different decks. I like him more than Ashiok.
Nightveil Specter
This is the Dimir hybrid creature that I added when I added Thassa, Master and Gray Merchant to my cube. The latter has recently left and I wonder if I should replace Specter with one of the above guys, since they are easier to cast. Specter needs a heavy blue, heavy black or straight Dimir deck to be castable.
I also value Hero slightly higher than Lacerator due to all the lifeloss that black already has. Plus, it comes with its own little achievement (Kill the opponent with the heroic trigger!).
I was thinking of replacing Chandra, Nalaar with another red planeswaker. I already have Koth and not sure what would be the good replacement for Chandra. How would you rank Chandra, Pyrmoancer, Daretti and Sarkahn, the Dragonspeaker? I was thinking of going with one of the cheaper cards and either going with Darretti or Chandra, Pyromancer.
My regulars are starting to complain that I have too many planeswalkers in my list, so I'm trying out a rule where only one of each planeswalker name is allowed in my list (in other words, can't have Jace Beleren and Jace, the Mind Sculptor together). The only problem I have with implementing this is the name "Garruk". Each of the first three Garruks are all insane, and it's really tough picking between them.
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*Obviously not actually the worst, as he is still a very good magic card, but the worst when compared to the other choices for Izzet sections.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
For reference, my other mana rocks are: Chrome Mox, Coalition Relic, Coldsteel Heart, Mana Crypt, Mox Diamond, Sol Ring in a 480 cube. Or should I cut something else, and keep all those 13 rocks?
Cut Lantern. The effect is quite nice but lacks redundancy. Thus, it's a little underwhelming as a mana rock for 3 that produces only 1.
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Thanks!
That's my first choice too. Just curious to see if anyone has a better suggestion.
EDIT:
I'm looking to cut a card from each of my guild sections to make room for Signets. Each guild currently has 4 lands (ABUR dual, fetch, shock, and check), and then 5 nonland cards (ok technically Gruul has a 5th land). I'm not looking to remove a land, so here are my thoughts for each:
Geist of Saint Traft
Detention Sphere
Brago, King Eternal
Supreme Verdict
Sphinx's Revelation - cut
Dimir
Sygg, River Cutthroat
Baleful Strix
Far // Away - cut
Psychatog
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
Rakdos
Rakdos Cackler
Dreadbore
Blightning
Falkenrath Aristocrat
Murderous Redcap - cut?
Gruul
Kessig Wolf Run - cut
Ancient Grudge
Domri Rade
Bloodbraid Elf
Ghor-Clan Rampager
Selesnya
Qasali Pridemage
Voice of Resurgence
Kitchen Finks
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes - cut?
Mirari's Wake
Orzhov
Lingering Souls
Vindicate
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Utter End - cut
Unburial Rites
Golgari
Deathrite Shaman
Abrupt Decay
Maelstrom Pulse
Pernicious Deed
Vraska the Unseen - cut, unfortunately
Simic
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Trygon Predator
Mystic Snake
Kiora, the Crashing Wave
Sagu Mauler - cut
Izzet
Izzet Charm
Electrolyze
Dack's Duplicate
Ral Zarek
Keranos, God of Storms - cut
Boros
Figure of Destiny
Boros Charm
Lightning Helix
Boros Reckoner
Ajani Vengeant
I don't really want to cut any of the Boros cards, so definitely need help here (or maybe just not run Boros Signet).
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Lightning Helix was awesome back when we didn't had Searing Spear and Lightning Strike. Now it's just feels like still having Absorb in Azorius - a perfectly fine card, but not good enough to waste a slot with.
Ancient Grudge is similar. There is enough good monocolored artifact hate.
So:
Brago
Ashiok or Sygg
Blightning
Ancient Grudge or Kessig
Ajani
Utter End
Vraska
Mauler
Keranos
Helix
Azorius
Detention Sphere - With Banishing Light, Oblivion Ring, and Council's Judgement, there's no reason for another copy of these effects to take up a gold slot. Sphinx's Revelation is amazing for control decks.
Dimir
Sygg, River Cutthroat or Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver - To be honest, I've never cubed with either, but I also haven't heard great things about either. Far // Away has been great not only in Dimir decks but also for the occasional Azorius/Izzet tempo deck that needs another bounce spell. I value versatility very highly.
Rakdos
Blightning - This never really seemed to get picked in my cube.
Gruul
Ancient Grudge - There are much better/less narrow artifact destruction available in each color, so I wouldn't tie up a gold slot here.
Selesnya
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes - Probably, I like the other cards you list.
Orzhov
I cut Unburial Rites a long time ago for costing way too much mana for what it does, but I also feel the same way about Utter End.
Golgari
Vraska the Unseen - That was a tough cut for me too, but too often Vraska was just a 5 mana Maelstrom Pulse.
Simic
Sagu Mauler - cut Agreed.
Izzet
If Keranos tested badly for you, cut that. Otherwise Electrolyze is the least exciting spell there.
There are a lot of posters here who will disagree with me on this, but I'm a huge fan of hybrids, and Figure of Destiny and Boros Reckoner have been outstanding in my cube. I say cut a mono white card and a mono red card to make room for both of those hybrids and then you can just add signet and another Boros card. If you're not willing to categorize hybrids as something other than true gold, than I'd agree with wildice on cutting Helix as it's the card there that's least likely to pull a player into Boros.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Cythare,
If you run a powered cube of average or small size, I'd recommend not running the signets at all (or just running the blue ones). If aggro is well supported in cube, hardly anyone will ever draft the Rakdos, Boros, Gruul, or Golgari signets. I found my cube ran smoother when I supplied the players with more universally playable mana rocks and used the guild slots for business spells.
Cheers,
rant
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Sygg would also play nicely next to red, and is an easier cast (given its hybrid CC), but damn, Ashiok is a lot of fun to land...
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Inkfathom Infiltrator
When I ran this card, I found that it was basically a BB aggro dude. Blue decks very rarely wanted to play it. Even with some support for blue tempo decks and blue devotion, blue is almost always just the secondary color in an aggressive deck, so UU was hard to come by.
Sygg, River Cutthroat
I have never cubed with this guy, but I find him very intriguing. The stats are bad for aggressive decks, but he can provide some easy card advantage in those decks, be they Simic tempo or Rakdos aggro. His stats make him also an option for slower, controlish decks. He can block early and turn your medium- to finisher-sized flyers into card advantage. He seems to be a flexible card that goes into many different decks. I like him more than Ashiok.
Nightveil Specter
This is the Dimir hybrid creature that I added when I added Thassa, Master and Gray Merchant to my cube. The latter has recently left and I wonder if I should replace Specter with one of the above guys, since they are easier to cast. Specter needs a heavy blue, heavy black or straight Dimir deck to be castable.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
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My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
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My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
Which should I cut for Ethereal Ambush? Shambleshark or Winged Coatl?
GB Midrange HomebrewBG
Modern
Affinity X
EDH
Jarad, Golgari Lich LordBG
No idea. You may find help for your cube in the Pauper & Peasant area instead, here: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/pauper-peasant-discussion
My 630 Card Powered Cube
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So, I'm looking for some help in picking the best of these three: Garruk Wildspeaker, Garruk Relentless, and Garruk, Primal Hunter.
EDIT: I think Primal Hunter is the easiest one to replace, thanks to Nissa, Worldwaker. The other two are much tougher.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
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Cheers,
rant
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