I don't like it either. Losing the extra resource is just so very painful. It takes Arena from fantastic to meh when you have to pay for it every turn. And the 1% of cube cards that untap lands don't even remotely make up for it. At first I was like "oh, I like the fact that the draw is optional!" ...and then I realized, No I don't, I always want to be drawing 2 cards a turn.
I disagree with this (and think I'm one of the few..) I think that a worse Phy Arena is still cubeable, and I don't think this is even that much worse.
I'm not convinced a worse Arena is cubeable. Arena is one of those cards nowadays that I've always loved and think of as good, but I can't remember the last time I saw it in play in one of my drafts. Every time I'm considering black cuts I think about it, and I always decide that it's too good to cut, but the fact that I even think about is telling that a worse one wouldn't be playable.
I also don't need a Phyrexian Arena that dies to Avalanche Riders.
I'm not convinced a worse Arena is cubeable. Arena is one of those cards nowadays that I've always loved and think of as good, but I can't remember the last time I saw it in play in one of my drafts. Every time I'm considering black cuts I think about it, and I always decide that it's too good to cut, but the fact that I even think about is telling that a worse one wouldn't be playable.
I also don't need a Phyrexian Arena that dies to Avalanche Riders.
I think being susceptible to LD is the least of the drawbacks, since there really isn't that much in cube.
My Cube:
Now, that gives us 19/450 (4.2%) for basic (the most likely candidate for the enchantment) and 22/450 (4.9%) for nonbasics. Some of those (4) can already destroy Phyrexian Arena. So in reality, the additional hate is mostly centered in Red, so you might side it out against them if you see some LD in your first game, but other than that I don't see it really factoring into the card's evaluation as much.
There's a fair amount of extra ways to kill it now, and more importantly, it allows your opponent to kill two of your cards with one of theirs (whether this results in Parity for you or not, it's still bad).
And being turned off by Pithing Needle is also a big drawback.
But this is all an aside. The big drawback is that it requires me to use extra resources to draw cards. I have to use up lands to draw cards. That's the best aspect of Arena's draw ...it's free. That's not the case for Underworld. HUGE drawback. Makes them play functionally different almost.
The deck that would love this card is 4-5cc. They want to be able to pass turns, draw at instant speed and maybe not pay the life in the later games. And the 1BB cost is a problem for those decks. That's why I think this card really needed to be 2B to have a chance of being cubed in my group.
I'm not saying the reason it's uncubeable is because it dies to LD. I'm saying it's already a problem that it's a Phyrexian Arena with upkeep 1, but dying to LD is kind of a nail in the coffin.
It's a one mana creature that can't really be cast on turn 1 without some kind acceleration. And after turn 1, it's a lot less impressive, really. I'll rather pay 1U for a 2/1 Flying in any case. It need to at least be a Mistral Charger or Stormfront Pegasus for me to consider it.
Blue does have quite a few creatures that the Faerie Impostor synergizes with. Aether Adept, Man-'o-War, Spellstutter Sprite, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique, Riftwing Cloudskate, Sea Gate Oracle, Mulldrifter, Dungeon Geists, and Sower of Temptation, off the top of my head. It's definitely a mid-game play instead of an early-game one, but it's worth considering.
Fae is a sure-fire for me. I think this card is just silly in cubes. So many interactions and it's so aggressively costed. It's an enabler as well as a quality aggro piece thanks to many CIP/ETB effects of critters. Also works later with titan things, sower effects, persecutor (if you run it), and tokens
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I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
Two fun new cards that are at least considerable. The BG one isn't good enough to crack cubes with all the awesome new BG cards we've gotten, but man I could think of fun things to do with that in my cube.
The blue one, on the other hand, is really interesting. There's a lot of potential in a card like that.
I don't think I'm going to be running any of those three spoiled (or Chapin's spoiled card on SCG.com), but at least we have confirmation now on the Deadbridge Goliath!
The only one of the new batch I'm considering is the bounce spell, and it likely will not make the cut (at 720). Into the Roil is better and that card isn't anything special.
Blue one is a probably... and thats my final answer, because bouncing your own stuff is a benefit a lot of the time.
I'd like to refrain from going overboard on this since hindsight makes fools of us all, but this seems like a slam dunk to me. It's always going to have some value, and if you get to 7 you just bounce their board during their end step, untap, and probably win pretty easily from that point.
The only one of the new batch I'm considering is the bounce spell, and it likely will not make the cut (at 720). Into the Roil is better and that card isn't anything special.
The overload is a complete blow-out though.
I don't know why people are so sure that into the roil is a better card without playing the new bounce spell. It's a pretty low opportunity cost for a potential blowout. I'm not sure though, it depends how often they can just dump everything the next turn.
I don't know why people are so sure that into the roil is a better card without playing the new bounce spell. It's a pretty low opportunity cost for a potential blowout. I'm not sure though, it depends how often they can just dump everything the next turn.
It is because in most environments the critical turns of the game are fairly early (between turns 3 and 5) where both modes of into the roil are effective. Rift is strictly worse (can't bounce your own things) with its first mode, and the 2nd mode is strictly a late game effect. Yeah, that overload ability is powerful, but the self-bounce utility loss early and tempo+card parity offered by ItR that CR doesn't make up for it.
I would play it in a large cube probably, but not in the smaller registers.
If it bounced lands too, it would be a snap include (the mana cost would need fixing, though). A one-sided Upheaval for only one extra mana is ridiculous. Unfortunately, this isn't it.
Also nice to see confirmation on Deadbridge Goliath. Casting cost was a little touch-and-go for a while there.
Jarad's Orders is one mana too expensive for standard Cubes but I think it will find a home in my Tribal Cube along with Faerie Imposter. Cyclonic Rift is a card to watch out for and deserves testing.
Blue does have quite a few creatures that the Faerie Impostor synergizes with. Aether Adept, Man-'o-War, Spellstutter Sprite, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique, Riftwing Cloudskate, Sea Gate Oracle, Mulldrifter, Dungeon Geists, and Sower of Temptation, off the top of my head. It's definitely a mid-game play instead of an early-game one, but it's worth considering.
Glen Elendra Archmage and Venser, Shaper Savant, too. I plan on testing it. I think it might be a keeper--and if not now, then certainly in a few years when we've had more powerful CIP creatures for blue.
Glen Elendra Archmage and Venser, Shaper Savant, too. I plan on testing it. I think it might be a keeper--and if not now, then certainly in a few years when we've had more powerful CIP creatures for blue.
It's a single blue mana, so his effect can be splashed in any deck that has a high concentration of ETB effects, with a body that isn't irrelevant.
On another note, I don't really know what to think about the new Detain Enchantment. At first I was like "This is trash" but after thinking about it and reading some of the comments in the spoiler thread, i think it may actually not be that bad. It acts like a Journey to Nowhere that can switch to the best target each turn, though it doesn't really stop activated abilities since they can activate in response. Hmmm, nvm. Its way to slow and low impact.
Precinct Captain WW
Creature - Human Soldier
First strike
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, put a 1/1 white Soldier creature token onto the battlefield.
2/2
Its a shame that the new white two drop costs WW. Thanks to first strike he can cause some trouble in combat and thanks to his ability he might force the opponent to some weird blocks. Is he good enough for 450? I am not sure.
Dealing combat damage to a player is pretty difficult. I wouldn't mind trying him out in place of Knight of Meadowgrain but I'm not sure that he is better.
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I disagree with this (and think I'm one of the few..) I think that a worse Phy Arena is still cubeable, and I don't think this is even that much worse.
(CubeTutor & MTGS)
360 Peasant Cube!
Custom Cube
RWU Miracles RWU
I also don't need a Phyrexian Arena that dies to Avalanche Riders.
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
I think being susceptible to LD is the least of the drawbacks, since there really isn't that much in cube.
My Cube:
1 Armageddon
1 Ravages of War
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Molten Rain
1 Pillage
1 Wildfire
1 Burning of Xinye
1 Sinkhole
1 Acidic Slime
1 Bramblecrush
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Vindicate
1 Sundering Titan
1 Karn Liberated
1 Pithing Needle (Can shut off the effect)
1 Wasteland
1 Dustbowl
1 Cryptic Command
1 Capsize
Now, that gives us 19/450 (4.2%) for basic (the most likely candidate for the enchantment) and 22/450 (4.9%) for nonbasics. Some of those (4) can already destroy Phyrexian Arena. So in reality, the additional hate is mostly centered in Red, so you might side it out against them if you see some LD in your first game, but other than that I don't see it really factoring into the card's evaluation as much.
(CubeTutor & MTGS)
360 Peasant Cube!
Custom Cube
RWU Miracles RWU
And being turned off by Pithing Needle is also a big drawback.
But this is all an aside. The big drawback is that it requires me to use extra resources to draw cards. I have to use up lands to draw cards. That's the best aspect of Arena's draw ...it's free. That's not the case for Underworld. HUGE drawback. Makes them play functionally different almost.
The deck that would love this card is 4-5cc. They want to be able to pass turns, draw at instant speed and maybe not pay the life in the later games. And the 1BB cost is a problem for those decks. That's why I think this card really needed to be 2B to have a chance of being cubed in my group.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
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My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My cube
My cube on Cube tutor
I'm OP_Forever. I'll be putting this in my signature for a while so everyone know I change my nickname.
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
The blue one, on the other hand, is really interesting. There's a lot of potential in a card like that.
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My MTGSalvation Cube Page (not always up to date, but sweet pics of my alters)
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=484979
Faerie should have been 1U with flash.
Modern: Jund Legacy: RUG Delver EDH: Captain Sisay
Don't forget this guy. I think all three new cards fall short of most cubes.
(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 overload is a complete blow-out though.
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'd like to refrain from going overboard on this since hindsight makes fools of us all, but this seems like a slam dunk to me. It's always going to have some value, and if you get to 7 you just bounce their board during their end step, untap, and probably win pretty easily from that point.
This thing might not be the stone cold blowout that upheaval is, but Its easier to build around and sometimes its much better.
I don't know why people are so sure that into the roil is a better card without playing the new bounce spell. It's a pretty low opportunity cost for a potential blowout. I'm not sure though, it depends how often they can just dump everything the next turn.
Draft it on Cubetutor!
It is because in most environments the critical turns of the game are fairly early (between turns 3 and 5) where both modes of into the roil are effective. Rift is strictly worse (can't bounce your own things) with its first mode, and the 2nd mode is strictly a late game effect. Yeah, that overload ability is powerful, but the self-bounce utility loss early and tempo+card parity offered by ItR that CR doesn't make up for it.
I would play it in a large cube probably, but not in the smaller registers.
[Remixes] - [The Brutal Cube - 360 Powered] - [My Cube Article] - ['Print-This' Wishlist]
Also nice to see confirmation on Deadbridge Goliath. Casting cost was a little touch-and-go for a while there.
My Cube (DeckStats)
My Pauper Cube: 540 (CubeTutor link!)
Level 1 Judge
Glen Elendra Archmage and Venser, Shaper Savant, too. I plan on testing it. I think it might be a keeper--and if not now, then certainly in a few years when we've had more powerful CIP creatures for blue.
My Cube on Cube Tutor
It's a single blue mana, so his effect can be splashed in any deck that has a high concentration of ETB effects, with a body that isn't irrelevant.
On another note, I don't really know what to think about the new Detain Enchantment. At first I was like "This is trash" but after thinking about it and reading some of the comments in the spoiler thread, i think it may actually not be that bad. It acts like a Journey to Nowhere that can switch to the best target each turn, though it doesn't really stop activated abilities since they can activate in response. Hmmm, nvm. Its way to slow and low impact.
(CubeTutor & MTGS)
360 Peasant Cube!
Custom Cube
RWU Miracles RWU
Creature - Human Soldier
First strike
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, put a 1/1 white Soldier creature token onto the battlefield.
2/2
Dealing combat damage to a player is pretty difficult. I wouldn't mind trying him out in place of Knight of Meadowgrain but I'm not sure that he is better.