More swings and misses. Like a lot of the other cards if I happen to open the 2-mana PW in draft I guess I'll add him, but he seems unexciting. I guess against control decks he's ok as a 2 mana storm seeker, but not that great if they happen to have any ways to deal damage. And other than that he seems actively bad.
The crusade is cool but not good enough. And that one drop also doesn't seem good enough to me. I'm not excited by a 1/1 with firebreathing and giving it to another guy seems not particularly excited.
I guess against control decks he's ok as a 2 mana storm seeker, but not that great if they happen to have any ways to deal damage. And other than that he seems actively bad.
He's more of a 2 mana, suspend 3 Storm Seeker. That seems particularly bad no matter how slow the opposing deck is. It might have been mitigated somewhat if it could hit creatures too.
Boo! I was too excited to read the one drop correctly. Thought it was "both paired creatures get +1/+0".
The devil walker is a card... I think he is good but not sure. Assuming you use him every turn and he takes no damage he can ultimate on turn 5. Guess we'll be having a lot of discussion about him. I think he's 450 material and maybe even 360.
can you explain why you're optimistic? from what i can see he's mostly about his first ability, which is neutral at best and detrimental at worst.
He's a planeswalker and he's two mana. Wizards probably pushed this about as much as they could without being busted in half. Planeswalkers are super-difficult to evaluate without playing with them, and this is unprecedented territory. I'm optimistic until proven otherwise.
bonfire might be worth it. the effect is underexplored, so it's hard to know where the sweet spot is. lavalanche and flame wave look noticeably inferior to this, which would make it the best example of this effect printed so far. i like that it's a sweeper you can play in any deck, even aggro.
the fact that its worst case non-miracle effect (at 2R) is potentially quite good makes me optimistic about this one. wiping an opponent's tokens or aggro beaters with only one red mana available is definitely not bad. wiping their x/2s and dealing 2 to them for 4R isn't awful, either, actually.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I actually think Lavalanche > Bonfire. More than any other miracle card, it's unlikely you're casting it for its miracle cost, since not only can't you have it in your opening hand, you also can't draw it early. So assuming it's gonna be XXR, lavalanche is more efficient.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
I'm mostly waiting for a white Balance for 3WW with miracle 1W. Balancing Act was never broken, so a slightly more expensive version with a whatever-the-odds-are chance of casting it off the top should be fine, right?
I'm mostly waiting for a white Balance for 3WW with miracle 1W. Balancing Act was never broken, so a slightly more expensive version with a whatever-the-odds-are chance of casting it off the top should be fine, right?
that sounds horrible. if a card was ever about timing, it was balance.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
But it would at least illustrate the concept of a miracle doing something awesome when you top-deck it
p.s. I don't like the Stonewright at all. Firebreathing is one of the least useful abilities to duplicate. We only have a handful of cards with the mechanic and I feel like they've already set the (low) ceiling on how far or how creative soulbond can go.
Tibalt seems pretty bad, I'm calling no way on 360, but he might make the cut in larger cubes. His -6 is the only real reason worth playing him (and keeping mountain-mountain and using the +1), but yeah, I definitely don't see this guy doing that much.
I might be wildly misevaluating him, but he seems pretty bad.
I wish they would have just made the red guy +1/+0 with no firebreathing, then he'd be awesome.
Not to beat a dead horse, but I think the thing that people are failing to expound on is what I, MYSELF, want out of a card like Vexing Devil.
I can venture to say that nearly ALL of the time I actually WANT it to be a creature, it'll be 4 damage, unless my opponent is already at 4 or less life (in which case we REALLY wish it were a 4 damage burn spell). So we can basically disregard the actual 4/3 body part of this card almost entirely. Just saying that, oh I wouldn't mind a 4/3 body for 1 isn't telling the whole tale because the times where you REALLY need it to be that 4/3 it'll almost never be a 4/3 (and when it is, it's either because your opponent is dead to the 4 damage or he/she can deal with it rather easily).
So, now lets evaluate the far that the card is a 4 damage Lava Spike that has the chance of being a 4/3 body. I believe that most of the time I would prefer this card actually BE 4 damage because I know the above scenario. The problem, however, lies in ALL the times it actually is a 4/3 body. There are just those times when you NEED that 4 point burn spell to go to the face that you'll just NEVER EVER get it. When you are staring down your opponents Wall of Denial, Wall of Omens, and random Planeswalker against your army of Jackal Pup, Chandra's Phoenix, what would you rather have? The 4 mana burn to KIA the PW or the 4/3 body that doesn't get there? I'm sure your opponent gives you the 4/3 body and laughs as his PW buries you in card advantage.
So now we've got a card that almost NEVER gives us what we want unless we are:
A.) ALREADY winning (such as in the T1 Jackal Pup, T2 Marauder example)
B.) We actually only THOUGHT we wanted that but in reality our opponent decided that's what HE wanted and not what we actually needed.
Comparing this card to the likes of Gifts Ungiven is just criminal! Gifts is not exactly a choice that you are giving your opponent. There has not been a time where I've EVER cast gifts and not gotten at LEAST 1 card I DEFINITELY wanted. 100% of the time, your opponent is forced to play by your rules and give you what they:
A.) Assume they can deal with.
B.) Assume you DON'T want.
C.) Loses them the game slower.
How does this, at all, correlate with Vexing Devil is completely beyond me.
Even the 3 available 3UU Time Walk variants aren't good enough.
I really disagree with this, to be honest. I think that these are some of the best cards in the cube. Getting an extra land drop, planeswalkers' +1s, attacks, and mana--FOR FREE in both mana and cards--is nuts.
I'll be honest, they're at their best in G/U or Bant. Garruk 1 is by far the best accompaniment, but any planeswalker or solid attacking creature will work. Once you start talking about flashing them back (Snapcaster, Recoup), and regrowing them (Regrowth, Restock), it becomes almost as good as the classic.
Wizards probably pushed this about as much as they could without being busted in half.
why do you say that? wizards doesn't print walkers to be specifically powerful in cube. they've printed walkers that aren't before, so it's not like it would be a first time. and the article spoiling this card specifically states that they balanced his low cost by making him very narrow. very narrow is usually a bad mix with cube.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded - a good build around me card. Madness flashback likes this card. But not for cube. In a way I am relived.. save money!
Bonfire of the Damned - I think this will cost too much. 5 mana for a one sided pyroclasm? 7 for a slagstorm? The Miracle cost is decent, but normally for mass removal the timing is important, which you cant control if you want to pay for the Miracle.
Stonewright - a decent one drop which is relevant late game. Bond this with an evader or just attack with 2 against 1 defender and you can push the last few points of damage. I dunno still seems not worth it.
Cathars' Crusade - crazy with tokens. Lingering souls give 2 3/3 and after flashback, 2 5/5's. But not for Cube.
why do you say that? wizards doesn't print walkers to be specifically powerful in cube. they've printed walkers that aren't before, so it's not like it would be a first time. and the article spoiling this card specifically states that they balanced his low cost by making him very narrow. very narrow is usually a bad mix with cube.
There's a number of ways it could have been pushed without being busted:
The card could be costed at 1RR. That's still a very impactful design since there is currently no red walker with that cost.
+1 effect: Draw a card, then discard a card. Why isn't this feasible? It's already proven to be a red effect with Faithless Looting. Coming right after that, the randomness seems like a contradiction in design.
-2 effect: Deal damage to target creature or player. The cost is already extremely steep. It requires three turns of +1 without any disruption from your opponent (two turns if you're dumping the walker). The effect is already weak by dint of being heavily dependent on your opponent's choices. Completely removing this walker's ability to impact the board is a mistake, I think.
-6: Insurrection on a walker is amazing. It's too bad the rest of the package is so lackluster.
It's too bad they handicapped this walker to accommodate the turn 2 play. I understand why they did it - dropping a planeswalker that early can be pretty powerful since on-board disruption is generally not there to counter it yet, unlike third-turn onwards for other walkers. None of the abilities are synergistic, either - check out how awesome Tamiyo's first and second abilities are together, or Liliana Vess's +1 combined with her ultimate, or all of Jace3's abilities. By comparison I feel like this is a mash-up of mediocre abilities that do nothing together.
Tibalt, the Slightly Warm-Blooded1RR
Planeswalker - Tildar
+1: Draw a card, then discard a card.
-4: Tibalt, the Slightly Warm-Blooded deals damage equal to the number of cards in target player's hand to that player or target creature he or she controls.
-6: Insurrection
Starting loyalty: 2
Unfortunately, due to Wizards' desire to push novelty and do something new with walkers every set, we get stuck with an uncubeable card that tarnishes the name of planeswalkers.
I'm mostly waiting for a white Balance for 3WW with miracle 1W. Balancing Act was never broken, so a slightly more expensive version with a whatever-the-odds-are chance of casting it off the top should be fine, right?
That would actually break legacy. Even if it was 5WW, a balance effect is powerful enough to make playing creatures prohibitive.
I'm not really excited about anything in the past two days from a cube point of view though. But at least I'm happy that the set is somewhat powerful.
Tibalt makes me so sad. His first ability is completely useless unless I'm holding a hand full of blanks and I don't remember the last time I was holding a hand full of blanks in the first four turns even in an aggro deck. I would have to be seriously flooded to even consider his +1. You put your entire hand and ability to curve out properly in jeopardy for 0 actual immediate gain. At least with Desperate Ravings you get +1 card advantage to make up for the random discard. All you can say with this guy is that you risk really screwing yourself to put power on lay-away but then even the power is conditional.
I'm a little underwhelmed by the 2CC PW. I might give him a try regardless but I think he'll be mediocre at bast. If only the +1 was a loot ability instead of a random ability :(.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Sorcery (M)
~ deals X damage to target player and each creature he or she controls.
Miracle XR
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
The crusade is cool but not good enough. And that one drop also doesn't seem good enough to me. I'm not excited by a 1/1 with firebreathing and giving it to another guy seems not particularly excited.
He's more of a 2 mana, suspend 3 Storm Seeker. That seems particularly bad no matter how slow the opposing deck is. It might have been mitigated somewhat if it could hit creatures too.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
The devil walker is a card... I think he is good but not sure. Assuming you use him every turn and he takes no damage he can ultimate on turn 5. Guess we'll be having a lot of discussion about him. I think he's 450 material and maybe even 360.
He's a planeswalker and he's two mana. Wizards probably pushed this about as much as they could without being busted in half. Planeswalkers are super-difficult to evaluate without playing with them, and this is unprecedented territory. I'm optimistic until proven otherwise.
(list not current)
My Cube Google Docs Spreadsheet: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AibgWfz0ukmOdDNhOHlucjcxUi1wVy00NDhLbDUtUlE&hl=en_US#gid=8
(list is always current)
the fact that its worst case non-miracle effect (at 2R) is potentially quite good makes me optimistic about this one. wiping an opponent's tokens or aggro beaters with only one red mana available is definitely not bad. wiping their x/2s and dealing 2 to them for 4R isn't awful, either, actually.
Mana cost to cast, damage dealt to creatures and player:
1, 0
3, 1
5, 2
7, 3
9, 4
Miracle is a lot better but it you won't be able to play your land for the turn and it's very unreliable.
Why?
Because when it comes the time for the U/R walker it's very unlikely that he'll also have some random ability.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
that sounds horrible. if a card was ever about timing, it was balance.
p.s. I don't like the Stonewright at all. Firebreathing is one of the least useful abilities to duplicate. We only have a handful of cards with the mechanic and I feel like they've already set the (low) ceiling on how far or how creative soulbond can go.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
I might be wildly misevaluating him, but he seems pretty bad.
I wish they would have just made the red guy +1/+0 with no firebreathing, then he'd be awesome.
Blimpy's Aggro-Focused Cube (powered 360)
I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve my cube. Take a look and ask a question, or give a constructive critique whenever you can.
I can venture to say that nearly ALL of the time I actually WANT it to be a creature, it'll be 4 damage, unless my opponent is already at 4 or less life (in which case we REALLY wish it were a 4 damage burn spell). So we can basically disregard the actual 4/3 body part of this card almost entirely. Just saying that, oh I wouldn't mind a 4/3 body for 1 isn't telling the whole tale because the times where you REALLY need it to be that 4/3 it'll almost never be a 4/3 (and when it is, it's either because your opponent is dead to the 4 damage or he/she can deal with it rather easily).
So, now lets evaluate the far that the card is a 4 damage Lava Spike that has the chance of being a 4/3 body. I believe that most of the time I would prefer this card actually BE 4 damage because I know the above scenario. The problem, however, lies in ALL the times it actually is a 4/3 body. There are just those times when you NEED that 4 point burn spell to go to the face that you'll just NEVER EVER get it. When you are staring down your opponents Wall of Denial, Wall of Omens, and random Planeswalker against your army of Jackal Pup, Chandra's Phoenix, what would you rather have? The 4 mana burn to KIA the PW or the 4/3 body that doesn't get there? I'm sure your opponent gives you the 4/3 body and laughs as his PW buries you in card advantage.
So now we've got a card that almost NEVER gives us what we want unless we are:
A.) ALREADY winning (such as in the T1 Jackal Pup, T2 Marauder example)
B.) We actually only THOUGHT we wanted that but in reality our opponent decided that's what HE wanted and not what we actually needed.
Comparing this card to the likes of Gifts Ungiven is just criminal! Gifts is not exactly a choice that you are giving your opponent. There has not been a time where I've EVER cast gifts and not gotten at LEAST 1 card I DEFINITELY wanted. 100% of the time, your opponent is forced to play by your rules and give you what they:
A.) Assume they can deal with.
B.) Assume you DON'T want.
C.) Loses them the game slower.
How does this, at all, correlate with Vexing Devil is completely beyond me.
I really disagree with this, to be honest. I think that these are some of the best cards in the cube. Getting an extra land drop, planeswalkers' +1s, attacks, and mana--FOR FREE in both mana and cards--is nuts.
I'll be honest, they're at their best in G/U or Bant. Garruk 1 is by far the best accompaniment, but any planeswalker or solid attacking creature will work. Once you start talking about flashing them back (Snapcaster, Recoup), and regrowing them (Regrowth, Restock), it becomes almost as good as the classic.
why do you say that? wizards doesn't print walkers to be specifically powerful in cube. they've printed walkers that aren't before, so it's not like it would be a first time. and the article spoiling this card specifically states that they balanced his low cost by making him very narrow. very narrow is usually a bad mix with cube.
Bonfire of the Damned - I think this will cost too much. 5 mana for a one sided pyroclasm? 7 for a slagstorm? The Miracle cost is decent, but normally for mass removal the timing is important, which you cant control if you want to pay for the Miracle.
Stonewright - a decent one drop which is relevant late game. Bond this with an evader or just attack with 2 against 1 defender and you can push the last few points of damage. I dunno still seems not worth it.
Cathars' Crusade - crazy with tokens. Lingering souls give 2 3/3 and after flashback, 2 5/5's. But not for Cube.
There's a number of ways it could have been pushed without being busted:
The card could be costed at 1RR. That's still a very impactful design since there is currently no red walker with that cost.
+1 effect: Draw a card, then discard a card. Why isn't this feasible? It's already proven to be a red effect with Faithless Looting. Coming right after that, the randomness seems like a contradiction in design.
-2 effect: Deal damage to target creature or player. The cost is already extremely steep. It requires three turns of +1 without any disruption from your opponent (two turns if you're dumping the walker). The effect is already weak by dint of being heavily dependent on your opponent's choices. Completely removing this walker's ability to impact the board is a mistake, I think.
-6: Insurrection on a walker is amazing. It's too bad the rest of the package is so lackluster.
It's too bad they handicapped this walker to accommodate the turn 2 play. I understand why they did it - dropping a planeswalker that early can be pretty powerful since on-board disruption is generally not there to counter it yet, unlike third-turn onwards for other walkers. None of the abilities are synergistic, either - check out how awesome Tamiyo's first and second abilities are together, or Liliana Vess's +1 combined with her ultimate, or all of Jace3's abilities. By comparison I feel like this is a mash-up of mediocre abilities that do nothing together.
Tibalt, the Slightly Warm-Blooded 1RR
Planeswalker - Tildar
+1: Draw a card, then discard a card.
-4: Tibalt, the Slightly Warm-Blooded deals damage equal to the number of cards in target player's hand to that player or target creature he or she controls.
-6: Insurrection
Starting loyalty: 2
Unfortunately, due to Wizards' desire to push novelty and do something new with walkers every set, we get stuck with an uncubeable card that tarnishes the name of planeswalkers.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
That would actually break legacy. Even if it was 5WW, a balance effect is powerful enough to make playing creatures prohibitive.
I'm not really excited about anything in the past two days from a cube point of view though. But at least I'm happy that the set is somewhat powerful.
Trade List
360 Unpowered Cube | Cubetutor