MTG Salvation

I think he's saying that he wants planeswalkers to be as vulnerable as possible in his cube, so he considers that a downside.

If so, then that's my bad for misunderstanding. But his parenthetical statement "...damage can only be dealt to creatures, and has no effect on noncreature permanents" seemed pretty absolute. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't missing the full potential of Harm's Way (a card I've been impressed with so far, incidentally).

This thread has convinced me to put in more combat tricks in cube. Not a lot, but enough to mess with people's minds, and to give aggro (especially green) a new dimension.

The charms are really a boon to combat tricks (as is Ghor-Clan Rampager) because they are cheap to use, but not dead if you don't have creatures, or don't need pump.

I like simic charm.

Agreed. Simic Charm has been quite solid since adding it in. It does a lot more stuff than it appears to on the surface.

I'll chime in and say that I've been very happy with Blood Lust thus far. As a combat trick, it can:
1) Add 4 power to one of your creatures. This is a lot out of nowhere, especially on double-strikers or tramplers.
2) Reduce a creature's toughness an opponent controls to 1. This is great if you've got cheap burn or when they attempt to block something of yours. There's nothing quite like killing a titan with your 2 power 1-drop.

All of this at instant speed for 2 mana. It's actually surprisingly versatile for just looking like 'yet another pump spell' on the surface.

I ran Sudden Spoiling for the longest time, hoping to have a blast fudging combat. I finally cut it because it was too hard to get the right scenario to abuse it the best. Especially now that there are so many solid cube cards (I have a really hard time finding cuts at 540), there is no room for cards like this =/

Quote from Darklich528

I'll chime in and say that I've been very happy with Blood Lust thus far. As a combat trick, it can:
1) Add 4 power to one of your creatures. This is a lot out of nowhere, especially on double-strikers or tramplers.
2) Reduce a creature's toughness an opponent controls to 1. This is great if you've got cheap burn or when they attempt to block something of yours. There's nothing quite like killing a titan with your 2 power 1-drop.

All of this at instant speed for 2 mana. It's actually surprisingly versatile for just looking like 'yet another pump spell' on the surface.

I have it in my 1994 Classic Magic cube list. It's a much better spell than it looks.

Anytime someone mentions bloodlust I have to bring up berserk. They used to be cornerstones of my old kird ape beat down deck. I recently picked up a berserk and am loving it with all the double stikers in the cube, maybe bloodlust will get a spin as well.

Wondering if anyone has thoughts on combats tricks from the last few sets. Triton Tactics and Gods Willing both seem strong and cheap, with uses outside combat as well.

Availability of combat tricks makes the game much more interesting one to play.
To make a really enjoyable cube, I think the best thing to do is to lower the power level enough so that standard combat tricks like Giant Growth become viable (this enables you to pick other cards from a much larger pool as well!). If you want to draft the most powerful cards, we already have the mtgo cube for that.

Anyhow, my favorite combat trick card is Leaden Fists. I love the flexibility of this card - it can pump up your blocker, or can disable an opponent's creature. The flash is really nice too, as you can use it in an instant-heavy blue deck without hindering your counter spells.
As for more standard combat trick, Swift Justice can flip the life race and win the game for you in aggro vs aggro matchups.

Vines of Vastwood and Simic Charm are both decent combat tricks that do other valuable things too. Ghor-Clan Rampager is an aggressive trick only, but it's a powerful impact when you use it. Boon Satyr is solid, but 5 mana is a TON for a combat trick. And Harm's Way is still one of the nastiest combat tricks for the price. There's also Briarhorn, who would be a lot more reasonable if it didn't have to compete with the other savage 4cc spells in the cube. Despite the high cost, Stonewood Invocation is still a pretty nasty spell and can have a huge impact on the game. And I think Mutagenic Growth is probably undervalued—free combat tricks are really good.

The only one I run though is Contagion. It can have a massive impact on the board, it's a sick free instant speed combat trick, doubles as removal and is valuable even in hardcast mode.

I wouldn't exactly call drafting the online cube, drafting with the most powerful cards. There are quite a few clunkers.

Even in Theros retail limited, I'm leery of combat tricks that are only effective in specific combat situations and are total blanks on an empty board.

However, my cube probably runs more instant speed combat tricks than most, which I'm happy to do because the potential for combat surprises make games more challenging. Nearly every combat trick in my cube has multiple functions, though, so they're not total blanks when you can't use a combat trick or have an empty board. I'm running 3 blood rush creatures - Ghor-Clan Rampager, Pyrewild Shaman, and Slaughterhorn - they're uncounterable and are warm bodies in a pinch that are fairly efficient, plus Briarhorn and Boon Satyr. I'm running 3 charms that include a combat trick mode - Boros Charm, Simic Charm, and Selesnya Charm - and they're all fantastic for their versatility. Tragic Slip pulls double duty as a combat trick and hard removal, and to a lesser extent so does Zealous Persecution.

The only instant speed pump spell I'm running that serves no other function is Mutagenic Growth, and I agree with wtwlf that it's probably underrated. It pops up in aggro decks of every color and is really hard to play around.

Anyhow, my favorite combat trick card is Leaden Fists. I love the flexibility of this card - it can pump up your blocker, or can disable an opponent's creature. The flash is really nice too, as you can use it in an instant-heavy blue deck without hindering your counter spells.

I'd never heard of this one before. It looks interesting because Blue doesn't get a whole lot of instant speed Giant Growth or removal, but I don't think I'd want it. As removal, it reminds me of Avenging Arrow or Executioner's Swing, it's removal that normally won't work until the creature's already attacked once. A lot of the time that's just too late. I'd rather use Narcolepsy or even Claustrophobia for that effect. Using it to pump your own blocker is basically giving your opponent a 2 for 1 because you're taking your own creature out too. I'll pass on that one.

Quote from Spike Rogue

Leaden Fists

I'd never heard of this one before. It looks interesting because Blue doesn't get a whole lot of instant speed Giant Growth or removal, but I don't think I'd want it. As removal, it reminds me of Avenging Arrow or Executioner's Swing, it's removal that normally won't work until the creature's already attacked once. A lot of the time that's just too late. I'd rather use Narcolepsy or even Claustrophobia for that effect. Using it to pump your own blocker is basically giving your opponent a 2 for 1 because you're taking your own creature out too. I'll pass on that one.

I agree that Leaden Fists isn't good enough for mtgo-level cubes where one hit from a creature with a sword, but it's still a great defensive card for blue in cubes with adjusted power level (like mine. I think it can survive in your's too)

I'll just name off some scenarios to illustrate the flexibility of this card:

• You have a counterspell in your hand, but your opponent didn't play anything on his turn. Oh well, I guess I'll just incapacitate one of his attackers instead. (The point - instant speed semi-attacker-removal in blue is great.)
• You have your Omenspeaker up for defense, but your opponent tries to Lightning Boltit to get his attackers through. You cast Leaden Fists in response, now you have a huge 4/6 defender on board without any loss of card advantage. You just gained a lot of tempo as well, as your opponent probably can't attack you anymore that turn.
• Your opponent attacks into your Omenspeake with a 3/3 elephant token. You use this as a combat trick, your opponent's 3/3 dies, and you're left with a 4/6 blocker.
• You're attacking, but are 3 damage short from killing your opponent. Bam.

While each individual case might not be that strong, a single card in your hand having all of those options is great.
It being an aura is just an icing on the cake if you happen to run enchantment support like Kor Spiritdancer, or may be even Commune with the Gods.

Blood Lust is an awesome spell.

Another thread I deemed worthy of a necro.
How do people see combat-tricks nowadays? Ghor-Clan Rampager always seemed like a painful inclusion for a guild-slot, but maybe I'm wrong.
Green is the main color that provides combat-tricks in my cube with Blossoming Defense, Heroic Intervention, Sylvan Might, Clear Shot and Spidery Grasp. Spidery Grasp and Clear Shot are very questionable, but I wanted green to also have some instant-speed interaction with the board. Sylvan Might draws quite some power from flashback imo, and the trample is nice. Allowed it some shots in reanimator- and cheaty-decks, where one could safely discard it (or have it milled to Oath of Druids) and not worry about somebody chump-blocking your fattie, although given, many of those have trample already. I also run Skarrg-Goliath, but honestly, it didn't see any play so far.

Yesterday I remembered my success with Applied Biomancy at GP Strasbourg and wondered, whether it might be good enough. It won't fizzle due to somebody removing one target, which is an extreme downside of combat-tricks in general. Moreover, you can just use it to bounce a creature when your board is empty. It's a guild slot however.

Outside of green I'm only running Boros Charm and Reckless Charge, both of which have been so fantastic with Young Pyromancer and Monastery Mentor that I feel they deserve their spot in cube.

What do you all think of combat-tricks nowadays? Do you like the shakeup they can generate in combat, or do you simply smirk and point removal at the creature your opponent tried to buff?

A nice day to you all

I'd play Vines of Vastwood over Might, Shot, and Grasp.

I think most combat tricks are too underpowered for traditional cubes, but it would be nice to have some available.

Cheers,
rant

The problem WOTC faces now is that any combat trick that would be good enough for cube would be broken in constructed, especially in modern infect.

Its weird to see blood lust getting so much love, is it still a thing? I'm assuming it has faded from cubes by now, or am I missing some sweet tech?

Does adding combat tricks actually help aggro?

I can see how it might help the environment to run Built to Smash or Temur Battle Rage over Wild Slash or Searing Spear by giving aggro a second-tier option that isn’t even a card to midrange/control, but given draft dynamics and the flexibility control decks get with a higher curve, it seems like this would bring power level down across the board and weaken Aggro’s cardpool while also pushing control to dig deeper into other colors and higher-cost defense.

Also no one’s talked about the technically-combat-trick/really-1-card-combo Hatred. Just putting the card in the cube warps every game involving swamps and makes for interesting play patterns.

Pretty much the only combat trick I run is Blessed Alliance, but I love it and it's been great for my group. It can lead to some crazy combat blowouts in creature based matches and is not a terrible control card either.