Crystal Shard > Waterfront Bouncer by marginal amounts. You don't need to discard cards to churn out ETB value, but you can't outright bounce your opponent's cards either. If you want these effects in cube, try to find room for both. Post your cube list and we can try to find another cut for ya
I think I like SGM more. Lone Missionary is nice for the blink deck, but that deck's never really hurting for targets, and Missionary is unimpressive outside of that deck if you're not playing against red aggro*. Even if SGM can't buy back Ancestral Recall and Timewalk, getting to six mana and buying back counterspell can be a nice soft lock.
*Unless, you find the red deck a little too good in your cube, in which case I guess adding Missionary gains some merit as a way to curve that.
I've always been partial to lone missionary. Good roadblock for aggro, acceptable in those decks, and blinking it a couple times gives you so much life. There are late game applications to Soulfire, but even in a powered cube they were tough to get together. It's a lot easier to get value out of Missionary than it is Soulfire IMO.
Lone Missionary is one of those cards that looks unassuming but overperforms. I would play it over Soulfire Grand Master; especially in an unpowered cube.
I like Scroll more because it can be aimed at creatures, and Vise is less important now that the 2-power 1-drop saturation is high enough to effectively do its job without the inconsistencies. The new mulligan rule has also dramatically increased the effectiveness of mulligans, and starting hand values are slightly lower than they used to be.
I love Black Vise on turn one in an aggro deck. It's won me several games by effectively starting my opponent out less than 15 life. However, if I were to have to pick one or the other to put into cube, I'd go with Scroll because it's just better overall. Black Vise can be a dead draw and really only wants to be played in aggro decks. Cursed Scroll is a solid play at pretty much any point in the game, it's reach, it's removal, it's just an all around good card.
On the subject of Academy Rector, that archetype intrigues me, but it looks incredibly narrow and like you'd be including several high priced enchantments that won't fit into any other decks. Is there a way to support it and not run a bunch of 15th pick enchantments?
I love Black Vise on turn one in an aggro deck. It's won me several games by effectively starting my opponent out less than 15 life. However, if I were to have to pick one or the other to put into cube, I'd go with Scroll because it's just better overall. Black Vise can be a dead draw and really only wants to be played in aggro decks. Cursed Scroll is a solid play at pretty much any point in the game, it's reach, it's removal, it's just an all around good card.
On the subject of Academy Rector, that archetype intrigues me, but it looks incredibly narrow and like you'd be including several high priced enchantments that won't fit into any other decks. Is there a way to support it and not run a bunch of 15th pick enchantments?
Those enchantments can still go into Show and Tell / Eureka decks.
Future Sight is another good target for Academy Rector, and it's playable in any heavy blue deck. It's incredibly powerful with things like top, scroll rack and brainstorm. It also doesn't seem unreasonable to get something like Sylvan Library with Academy Rector. It doesn't have to be a super expensive target to be worth it. Library is busted good and paying 4 mana for it (with a free chump block) seems OK to me as a backup plan to whatever your best target might be. I'd also be happy grabbing a treachery or even a control magic (kill my rector give me your dude sounds sweet).
Hmm. Since most of you guys preferred Lone Missionary to Soulfire Grand Master, I might give it a try since my white has almost 0 life gain. Of the cuts I'm willing to make, I've narrowed it down to Secure the Wastes and Declaration in Stone. I'm just not sure if it's worth cutting any of those cards for Lone Missionary. Any thoughts?
Champion of the Parish is great. One of white's best 1 drops. Practically everything is a human, especially in white, so the card might as well trigger on any creature. It can get huge for a one drop with no further mana commitment. Ceiling is very high. Please don't swap that for a generic 2/1.
I was never a big fan of Champion of the Parish. According to my cubetutor, there's 62 human creatures in my cube. That's not a bad number, but when you take a closer look at the curve, it's very hard to actually curve into a 2-cmc human unless you're playing Boros since black / blue / green really doesn't have too many humans at the 2-cmc slot. Besides Hanweir Garrison, none of my token generators / army in a cans produce humans.
I think Xathrid Necromancer / Mayor of Avabruck are better human payoff cards, and Stromkirk Noble is a much better 1-drop grow creature. White already has plenty of one drops that get bonuses / level up over time: Kytheon / Student of Warfare / Figure of Destiny / Steppe Lynx / etc.
360 Multiplayer with a tack-on EDH Generals module Tragic Slip vs. Executioner's Capsule?
Slip is the incumbent. Capsule is getting a look-in due to Glissa, the Traitor being in the Generals module, as well as potential interactions with the UR Artifacts archetype.
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!
Of those I play only Commit // Memory
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
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!
-
I got a quick one for you guys: Soulfire Grand master or Lone Missionary in unpowered
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
Now that I think about it, recent printings like Abrade / Supreme Will kind of make me want to re-test SGM....
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
*Unless, you find the red deck a little too good in your cube, in which case I guess adding Missionary gains some merit as a way to curve that.
[180 classic cube]
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
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 High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
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 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!
On the subject of Academy Rector, that archetype intrigues me, but it looks incredibly narrow and like you'd be including several high priced enchantments that won't fit into any other decks. Is there a way to support it and not run a bunch of 15th pick enchantments?
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
Those enchantments can still go into Show and Tell / Eureka decks.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
450 Unpowered Cube Cobra
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
I think Xathrid Necromancer / Mayor of Avabruck are better human payoff cards, and Stromkirk Noble is a much better 1-drop grow creature. White already has plenty of one drops that get bonuses / level up over time: Kytheon / Student of Warfare / Figure of Destiny / Steppe Lynx / etc.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Tragic Slip vs. Executioner's Capsule?
Slip is the incumbent. Capsule is getting a look-in due to Glissa, the Traitor being in the Generals module, as well as potential interactions with the UR Artifacts archetype.
My Stupidly Large Number of Current Decks
PucaTrade with me!
The Multiplayer Power Rankings
Cube: the Gittening (My Multiplayer Cube) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor
The N00b Cube (Peasant cube for new players) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor