If you aren't already running Exhume, that is my vote over both Necromancy and Dance of the Dead. Primarily because it's a much simpler card to understand for newer players (text on Necromancy in particular is an eyesore and a half). Exhume rewards good play and deck building decisions and is very satisfying to use. Necromancy is arguable the more powerful card though, being one sided with a cast as instant option.
Black reanimate effects and the order I'd probably run them (which is based on a lower power rare list): Recurring Nightmare - it's broken (I've dropped this from my midrange cube because it's too good). Reanimate - reads clean, drawback is real, cost makes it great for fast/broken reanimator strategies. Also borderline too good for lower powered cubes. Exhume - my #3 primarily because of how elegant the card is. Very easy to break symmetry against most things you will face. Very satisfying to get value off this. Dread Return - slow but just has so much play to it. With all the tokens in cube, it's stupid easy to flashback too. Busted in combination with living death and in sacrifice strategies. Even if I cut reanimator, I'd find a slot for this regardless in my cube. Animate Dead - eye sore text is the only reason this isn't higher. But it's clearly very good despite needing a lawyer to interpret how the card works. Necromancy - amazing art but text part is also an eye sore. The instant option is what makes this one exciting though, and it's a tad cleaner than animate dead.
Unless you are running a giant cube or have a major thing for reanimator, not sure you really need more than that.
You're a better man than I'll ever be if you use Mind Twist on yourself as a discard outlet.
LOL.
@oakcitylarry
The reason why many people run more than 360 cards is because it allows people to expand on more archetypes. After you fit all the staples in a 360 cube, there's very little room for anything else. What you said is also true, more and more printings of cards have allowed cubes to grow and get to a point where there is not a huge discrepancy in power between the cards. If you don't draft often then 360 is probably fine and you won't start to feel that the cards can become repetitive. At 360 with my peasant cube, this didn't happen until about two years for me.
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I'm going to cut Hellspark Elemental from my cube and I already run Keldon Marauders. I'm not committing some sacrilegious act here by doing so, right?
@THUNDERWANG - The bigger the cube, the less often the archetypes come together, right? I mean if you are only drafting half the cube, half the cards you need for an archetype are statistically sitting on the sideline.
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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Generally, yes, depending on how big the cube is you will see less of the cards you need to for an archetype. But I'm not going to dismiss bigger cubes because many managers take great care in making sure that different archetypes are coming together at a fairly consistence rate. You could always just add more cards to support a specific archetype if you go past 360 and season to taste, but there are a few things to consider as well. You said you don't draft often and you should take that into consideration when you create your cube and play test. The method in which you draft most definitely affects how easily it is to draft an archetypes. Do you normally draft with 8 players? Do you play with 2 players and Glimpse Draft? Rotisserie Draft? Sealed? You will see different amounts of cards for each one and different methods provide varying degrees of selection. Here's a very useful reddit post that I've bookmarked explaining multiple different ways to draft, the approximate time it takes, and the amount of cards seen: https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgcube/comments/5jbaqn/cube_draft_format_primer/?st=ixzcpnor&sh=c7ac36ac
I think most people just default to 8 player drafts and shape their cube from there. Ultimately, you should decide how easily you want archetypes to come together, especially the ones that revolve around more riskier-to-pick-early cards like Kiki Jiki. You did mention how you would hopefully be playing with your kids, so perhaps keeping your cube list lean at 360 will make it easier for them assemble the pieces. Personally, I routinely draft with 4-6 people and I was tired of seeing cards like Mind Twist and Tinker so often, so I upped the size of the cube by 90 cards to see where it would go from there.
Edit: BTW, you're missing Inkwell Leviathan and Sphinx of the Steel Wind in your list. They're both great Reanimate and Tinker Targets.
I leave out Sphinx of the Steel Wind because the tri-color nature of the card makes it so it would rarely be hard cast and thus goes in fewer decks. Dragonlord Atarka is kind of in the same boat. It was either Inkwell Leviathan or Palinchron due to size constraints and I have thought that the potential to generate infinite mana with something like Tolarian Academy. Also Inkwell protects itself without investment while Palinchron needs mana. As far as tinker targets go, there are still 5 good targets (more if you aren't as picky). In a small cube I am hoping that is enough.
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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Guys, the new influx of awesome colorless aggro creatures is amazing for my cube and solves problems I've had for a long time. I've in trouble though because I run a 180 cube and my artifact section is super tight. Please help.
Currently running: Solemn Simulacrum, Wurmcoil Engine, Mimic Vat. Want to make room for at least one of Fleetwheel Cruiser and Metallic Mimic but maybe both.
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An accurate description of myself:
Quote from Megiddo »
You're the dude who just lies a lot and makes people hate you and then magically becomes town later, right?
No on the Mimic. It just can't crack 180. The Cruiser probably can't either, but it's much closer. Maybe over Vat at that size? Don't know how much ETB midrange support you have to break Vat in such a small cube, but maybe it's great there? IDK.
My cube isn't optimized for power. I'm closer to 540 power level, maybe even slightly less.
I'm specifically trying to push aggro colorless support because Red is the only primary aggressive color. White and black are secondary aggressive and green and blue want nothing to do with it. Having colorless options makes it easier to define more archetypes within the colors, so that's what I'm attempting.
Vat is pretty awesome and does broken things, but these are desperate times.
Edit: I'm going to update my cube list on cubetutor real quick, so check back in like 20 minutes if you want to be able to examine the whole cube. (Haven't updated it in quite a while.)
Also, Pick 2 from Terramorphic Expanse, Mana Confluence, and Ash Barrens. Basically trying to decided whether City of Brass #2 or Evolving Wilds #2 is more important as I want to test Ash Barrens.
Edit#2: List updated in my signature if you would like context.
Tough one.... I'ma go with Aether Chaser though since he has better stats by himself and is incidental tokens support.
Mauler was really inconsistent for me. If I soulbonded with my one drop it was just a 2/1 haste that died to everything. If I saved it for a 3 drop ans thathat t got killed in response the mauler was just a 2/1 that died to everything. I found most of the 3/2 were better. I think the first on chaser is a big deal.
Mauler's stock might go up if you support (in addition to aggro) a heavy reanimator or fatty cheat package (I once had it in a Tooth and Nail deck with the original Emrakul), but otherwise I think I'd rather have the card that doesn't require other cards to have upside.
It's in an interesting spot, because it has the body/cost of an aggro creature and the effect of a midrange/archetype support card. It can be hard to find the perfect shell for it, but interactions do crop up where it proves its worth. Every time it slides down towards the chopping block, it pairs with a Hero of Bladehold or Kalonian Hydra and holds onto its slot.
I don't see myself cutting Mauler for a long time. That Emrakul/Edrazi example is something that happens regularly if you support that with Tooth and Nail and such.
I'll vote for Mauler...they both suck when they don't work, but Mauler giving a 3-drop or something else haste has more upside than a Thopter token when it does work.
Wave is way more interesting. It depends on if you support blink in UW, though. Parallax Wave fills a nice spot in that deck, as well as going into aggro and control shells. Fumigate is pretty much just for control.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Agreed w/ B&R. 4cc non-creature slot in white is stacked, and the 5cc spell slot is empty. I think Fumigate is better for control and Wave is better for other shells, but the competition is just too fierce/deep.
Fumigate. 4 cmc spells in white are stacked. Plus from a certain size the two 4 mana wraths in white are not enough and Fumigate is the best of the rest.
Black reanimate effects and the order I'd probably run them (which is based on a lower power rare list):
Recurring Nightmare - it's broken (I've dropped this from my midrange cube because it's too good).
Reanimate - reads clean, drawback is real, cost makes it great for fast/broken reanimator strategies. Also borderline too good for lower powered cubes.
Exhume - my #3 primarily because of how elegant the card is. Very easy to break symmetry against most things you will face. Very satisfying to get value off this.
Dread Return - slow but just has so much play to it. With all the tokens in cube, it's stupid easy to flashback too. Busted in combination with living death and in sacrifice strategies. Even if I cut reanimator, I'd find a slot for this regardless in my cube.
Animate Dead - eye sore text is the only reason this isn't higher. But it's clearly very good despite needing a lawyer to interpret how the card works.
Necromancy - amazing art but text part is also an eye sore. The instant option is what makes this one exciting though, and it's a tad cleaner than animate dead.
Unless you are running a giant cube or have a major thing for reanimator, not sure you really need more than that.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
@oakcitylarry
The reason why many people run more than 360 cards is because it allows people to expand on more archetypes. After you fit all the staples in a 360 cube, there's very little room for anything else. What you said is also true, more and more printings of cards have allowed cubes to grow and get to a point where there is not a huge discrepancy in power between the cards. If you don't draft often then 360 is probably fine and you won't start to feel that the cards can become repetitive. At 360 with my peasant cube, this didn't happen until about two years for me.
-
I'm going to cut Hellspark Elemental from my cube and I already run Keldon Marauders. I'm not committing some sacrilegious act here by doing so, right?
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
I think most people just default to 8 player drafts and shape their cube from there. Ultimately, you should decide how easily you want archetypes to come together, especially the ones that revolve around more riskier-to-pick-early cards like Kiki Jiki. You did mention how you would hopefully be playing with your kids, so perhaps keeping your cube list lean at 360 will make it easier for them assemble the pieces. Personally, I routinely draft with 4-6 people and I was tired of seeing cards like Mind Twist and Tinker so often, so I upped the size of the cube by 90 cards to see where it would go from there.
Edit: BTW, you're missing Inkwell Leviathan and Sphinx of the Steel Wind in your list. They're both great Reanimate and Tinker Targets.
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
Currently running: Solemn Simulacrum, Wurmcoil Engine, Mimic Vat. Want to make room for at least one of Fleetwheel Cruiser and Metallic Mimic but maybe both.
My cube: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/9981
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!
I'm specifically trying to push aggro colorless support because Red is the only primary aggressive color. White and black are secondary aggressive and green and blue want nothing to do with it. Having colorless options makes it easier to define more archetypes within the colors, so that's what I'm attempting.
Vat is pretty awesome and does broken things, but these are desperate times.
Edit: I'm going to update my cube list on cubetutor real quick, so check back in like 20 minutes if you want to be able to examine the whole cube. (Haven't updated it in quite a while.)
Also, Pick 2 from Terramorphic Expanse, Mana Confluence, and Ash Barrens. Basically trying to decided whether City of Brass #2 or Evolving Wilds #2 is more important as I want to test Ash Barrens.
Edit#2: List updated in my signature if you would like context.
My cube: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/9981
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!
Mana confluence> Terramorphic
Tough one.... I'ma go with Aether Chaser though since he has better stats by himself and is incidental tokens support.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Mauler was really inconsistent for me. If I soulbonded with my one drop it was just a 2/1 haste that died to everything. If I saved it for a 3 drop ans thathat t got killed in response the mauler was just a 2/1 that died to everything. I found most of the 3/2 were better. I think the first on chaser is a big deal.
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!
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Brimstone Volley or Arc Lightning?
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
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!
- Parallax Wave
- Fumigate
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Fumigate.
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!
Arc Lightning by far
Fumigate. 4 cmc spells in white are stacked. Plus from a certain size the two 4 mana wraths in white are not enough and Fumigate is the best of the rest.
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
I'll go against the grain here and vote for Wave. Unlike Fumigate, which is just another Wrath-effect, Wave can actually do something unique.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani