Has anyone ever tried porting the classic necro deck over to cube? Basically you play cards like the above, then fill the rest of your deck with cheap threats and removal spells.
I think most of the cards are strong enough on their own that you don't have to dedicate slots exclusively to this. I have this in my 380, but our group meets infrequently enough that I haven't been able to evaluate this yet.
Questions/Thoughts
How does this play with other black archetypes like pox or black aggro? I realize the discard drawback of necropotence would hurt a bit, but I think it could still work. Really helps negate the potential card disadvantage of pox/smallpox.
Would this be too slow in today's cube of hyper fast red aggro?
Any other ideas for support cards? Duplicates of the above effects would be nice, or even black life gain cards.
Necropotence is one of the most insanely broken cards of all time, and in my opinion it's a staple at 360. It's of course hard to cast, but it's not like you have to play it on T3 to be good, quite the contrary. You don't need to construct your deck in any specific way, either (apart from being heavy black, of course).
I don't understand why people have Geralf's Messenger and (to a lesser extent) Pox in their Cubes and not Necro.
I wouldn't play (relative) trash like Zuran Orb to enable a "Necro deck", by the way, but you shouldn't need to.
I run Necro in my cube. Honestly, it doesn't get drafted much and sits in sideboards a lot. I'm probably cutting it when I move down to 450. Messenger and Pox have been better than Necro, and even they are often left out of decks.
There are two reasons why Necropotence in cube, while still powerful, is nowhere near the power it had in the nineties:
1. You have to draft a deck and a mana base that can support it.
2. The creatures in cube are better and faster than they were back then.
Necro is one of my "in again, out again" cards. I run it for a while, then cut it when it doesn't see play, then include it again because it just should be good. In some games, it is pretty good, but against fast aggro decks, it is way too risky and too often, players just don't want to maindeck it due to its cost.
I ran Necropotence up until a few weeks ago, when I cut it because I don't recall anyone having ever drafted it. Like Geralf's Messenger and Pox (which were also both cut recently), I find it's mana cost way too restrictive for the size of playgroup I usually draft with. While I certainly recognize it's power, I think it's difficult to play because of the fact that you need to really build a deck around it, to the point where the deck might not even work properly if you don't draw Necropotence. I think there are better alternatives out there.
I don't understand why people have Geralf's Messenger and (to a lesser extent) Pox in their Cubes and not Necro.
There are a couple of reasons. Pox is an archetype enabler. For me, that does a better job of justifying the cost than a CA engine does. And Messenger goes in more decks. Necro is pretty much an aggro card in the cube, because the primary black combo decks can't justify the BBB or deal with the exile drawback the Necro has on it. So it was a combination of function and flexibility that put Necro on the bench, even though we play those two other cards.
I love Necro, and there's always a chance it can make a reappearance in the future, but it simply saw less play than the other heavy=black spells did.
Has anyone ever tried porting the classic necro deck over to cube? Basically you play cards like the above, then fill the rest of your deck with cheap threats and removal spells.
I think most of the cards are strong enough on their own that you don't have to dedicate slots exclusively to this. I have this in my 380, but our group meets infrequently enough that I haven't been able to evaluate this yet.
Questions/Thoughts
Other cards:
I don't understand why people have Geralf's Messenger and (to a lesser extent) Pox in their Cubes and not Necro.
I wouldn't play (relative) trash like Zuran Orb to enable a "Necro deck", by the way, but you shouldn't need to.
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1. You have to draft a deck and a mana base that can support it.
2. The creatures in cube are better and faster than they were back then.
Necro is one of my "in again, out again" cards. I run it for a while, then cut it when it doesn't see play, then include it again because it just should be good. In some games, it is pretty good, but against fast aggro decks, it is way too risky and too often, players just don't want to maindeck it due to its cost.
Dark Confidant, Phyrexian Arena, Vampire Nighthawk and Skullclamp are cube staples though and half the cards on your lower list are also commonly played. In my opinion, none of them really influences the decision to cube with Necro though. If you want people to play it, you just have to reward them more for going heavy/mono black. I would always include cards like Liliana of the Dark Realms, Geralf's Messenger and Lashwrithe in addition to Necro. Gatekeeper of Malakir, Whip of Erebos and Gray Merchant of Asphodel would also help. The latter two provide a nice amount of lifegain to pay for the extra cards.
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
There are a couple of reasons. Pox is an archetype enabler. For me, that does a better job of justifying the cost than a CA engine does. And Messenger goes in more decks. Necro is pretty much an aggro card in the cube, because the primary black combo decks can't justify the BBB or deal with the exile drawback the Necro has on it. So it was a combination of function and flexibility that put Necro on the bench, even though we play those two other cards.
I love Necro, and there's always a chance it can make a reappearance in the future, but it simply saw less play than the other heavy=black spells did.
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