I completely forgot about Duergar Hedge-Mage, I used to love that card when I had a huge cube. That's something I'm going to keep my eye on if we ever get enemy battle duals.
I completely forgot about Duergar Hedge-Mage, I used to love that card when I had a huge cube. That's something I might actually keep my eye if we ever get enemy battle duals.
Someone else pointed out that cards like the Hedge-Mage have been getting cut/picked last a lot recently due to their general un-sexiness.
I'd include those cards in this order:
Chained > Palm => Assemble > Hedge-Mage > Warleader's Helix
Another option is Iroas, God of Victory, which I'd probably rank ~2nd on that list, but Chained to the Rocks is a clear 1st to me.
I've been looking at my red 3CC creatures for a while now. Scab-Clan Berserker, Guttersnipe, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh and to some extent Goblin Heelcutter have been valued very low and rarely picked or includedd in draft decks. I've considered to add Dualcaster Mage instead of one of these cards as it can be very powerful with/against something like Ancestral Recall, Time Walk or most burn/destroy/counter/draw spells in the cube. It seems pretty good in a reactive shell, e.g. U/R Counterburn or Grixis Control.
Do you think Dualcaster is better than any of those listed creatures? If so, which card would you cut - how would you rank them?
With school and work, I haven't been able to cube often so I'm not clear on how good cards from Khans to the present actually are. With that in mind: Ire Shaman vs. Blistering Firecat. I'm making room for Magus of the Wheel.
Vision is better in Control, and Cruise is better in Tempo. Depending on how often your group plays those shells, you could play either, both, or even neither.
Firecat is better for traditional hard-red aggro, and Shaman is better in decks that may run into color issues with their mana. I'm playing Shaman over Firecat right now for both the play and mana flexibility.
I like Geists more in tempo & devotion decks, and Impersonator more in generic blue midrange and control decks. Especially decks that are going to want to copy big manafacts.
I don't know the "serra level" of my cube or whatever, but my cube rule is no cards over $10; no swords, power 9, JTMS, etc... think of it as a peasant cube with some cheap but good rares and mythics thrown in. So with that sort of power level in mind, which one should I include?
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Both forever, but I like preordain because it has a chance to be essentially draw 3 if you bottom two useless cards.
But by this logic, you can "draw four" with Ponder when you shuffle a bad three away.
I'd say the comparative value depends on the density of shuffle effects in your cube. Preordain more permanently gets rid of the cards you don't want, as long as you don't shuffle after. Ponder leaves you suck with chaff if you really want one of three but the other two are bad, but if you can shuffle after, it gets really strong.
It's also worth noting that Ponder provides a shuffle effect itself, which can help improve the quality of Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top, Scroll Rack, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and others.
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Both forever, but I like preordain because it has a chance to be essentially draw 3 if you bottom two useless cards.
But by this logic, you can "draw four" with Ponder when you shuffle a bad three away.
I'd say the comparative value depends on the density of shuffle effects in your cube. Preordain more permanently gets rid of the cards you don't want, as long as you don't shuffle after. Ponder leaves you suck with chaff if you really want one of three but the other two are bad, but if you can shuffle after, it gets really strong.
It's also worth noting that Ponder provides a shuffle effect itself, which can help improve the quality of Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top, Scroll Rack, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and others.
Well, with the shuffle on ponder you aren't guaranteed to remove the cards you don't want. It's also bad when you see 1 good card and two bad cards with ponder - you can bottom one with preordain and keep the other, you can't do that with ponder. As I said, they are both cards I can't imagine cutting, but I have liked preordain more. I also don't usually play decks with top or rack (not really my style and I draft better decks in other archetypes in my experience) which might make me respect the shuffle less.
In general, I have found preordain just better at filtering my draws, which is usually what I want out of the card.
But I slightly prefer Ponder because it digs the deepest. In a singleton format full of a lot of unique effects, I want to use the cantrip that sees the most cards before I make a decision about what card I draw.
Those are both great ideas. Thanks!
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Someone else pointed out that cards like the Hedge-Mage have been getting cut/picked last a lot recently due to their general un-sexiness.
Another idea we thought of was Deflecting Palm, but another 2cc trick after Lightning Helix and Boros Charm seems like overkill.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Chained > Palm => Assemble > Hedge-Mage > Warleader's Helix
Another option is Iroas, God of Victory, which I'd probably rank ~2nd on that list, but Chained to the Rocks is a clear 1st to me.
I've been looking at my red 3CC creatures for a while now. Scab-Clan Berserker, Guttersnipe, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh and to some extent Goblin Heelcutter have been valued very low and rarely picked or includedd in draft decks. I've considered to add Dualcaster Mage instead of one of these cards as it can be very powerful with/against something like Ancestral Recall, Time Walk or most burn/destroy/counter/draw spells in the cube. It seems pretty good in a reactive shell, e.g. U/R Counterburn or Grixis Control.
Do you think Dualcaster is better than any of those listed creatures? If so, which card would you cut - how would you rank them?
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Firecat is better for traditional hard-red aggro, and Shaman is better in decks that may run into color issues with their mana. I'm playing Shaman over Firecat right now for both the play and mana flexibility.
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For my cube I need to decide between Crypt Champion, Bump in the Night, Agonizing Demise, and Strangling Soot.
I don't know the "serra level" of my cube or whatever, but my cube rule is no cards over $10; no swords, power 9, JTMS, etc... think of it as a peasant cube with some cheap but good rares and mythics thrown in. So with that sort of power level in mind, which one should I include?
UW Caw-Blade
GW Bogles
U Delver
GBTolarian Community College's/Turn One Thoughtseize's $2 Dredge
UR DrakeRUG Murasa Tron
UWR TwinGW BoglesB 8-Rack (budget)UWR Delver/GeistUW Gifts TronUR Bedlam DelverWRG Burn
UBR Death's Shadow
UR Artifacts(~M15)UW Heroic(~Theros)WBR Warriors(~KTK)R Aggro(~Origins)RUG Wombo-Combo Energy (~Kaladesh)
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Luckily for Rakdos, all their good cards (except Kolaghan's Command) are well under $10.
- Rakdos Cackler
- Terminate
- Dreadbore
- Falkenrath Aristocrat
- Murderous Redcap
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But by this logic, you can "draw four" with Ponder when you shuffle a bad three away.
I'd say the comparative value depends on the density of shuffle effects in your cube. Preordain more permanently gets rid of the cards you don't want, as long as you don't shuffle after. Ponder leaves you suck with chaff if you really want one of three but the other two are bad, but if you can shuffle after, it gets really strong.
It's also worth noting that Ponder provides a shuffle effect itself, which can help improve the quality of Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top, Scroll Rack, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and others.
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Well, with the shuffle on ponder you aren't guaranteed to remove the cards you don't want. It's also bad when you see 1 good card and two bad cards with ponder - you can bottom one with preordain and keep the other, you can't do that with ponder. As I said, they are both cards I can't imagine cutting, but I have liked preordain more. I also don't usually play decks with top or rack (not really my style and I draft better decks in other archetypes in my experience) which might make me respect the shuffle less.
In general, I have found preordain just better at filtering my draws, which is usually what I want out of the card.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
But I slightly prefer Ponder because it digs the deepest. In a singleton format full of a lot of unique effects, I want to use the cantrip that sees the most cards before I make a decision about what card I draw.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 49th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from MKM!