Reality Smasher for sure. Thought-Knot is cool and disruptive and all, but Smasher hits hard, fast, survives Wildfire and Languish if you're into those sorts of decks, and is slightly easier to cast on-curve.
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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.
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Evolutionary Leap would be my choice. Eldritch Evolution's requirements are too specificbto guarantee the value of Birthing Pod or the raw power of Natural Selection. Leap serves a quite different function, but is a great way to grind out value in critter based decks.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
In trying to figure out what gets cut and what stays in my Azorius section, I'm wondering what folks' direct cube experience and evaluation of the following 3 cards is relative to each other:
How would you rank these against each other, and why? If they are somewhat close, I'm thinking about rotating them in and out until my playgroup decides what they like best, but if there's a clear winner in somebody's mind, I'd like to hear a pitch for it!
Sphere is solid removal that's playable in everything, and unlike other o-ring effects, it's good against an army of tokens. Sphere is actually getting better with age. Queller is great, but it competes with both Mage AND Geist, which are better 3cc tempo creatures, and I don't want to dedicate 3 gold slots to the exact same role in the exact same spot in the curve.
Depends on the rest of the cube. I love Treasure Cruise in the UWR spells decks with Monastery Mentor and Young Pyromancer and whatnot. It's also great in UR counterburn, which is sort of a subspecies of the earlier decks.
Whirler Rogue is great with Opposition and in the artifact and blink decks, if you support them. It really depends on your composition in blue, but right now I'm running Cruise and not Rogue, though it's the blue card that's first on the list when I expand to 450.
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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
Sphere is solid removal that's playable in everything, and unlike other o-ring effects, it's good against an army of tokens. Sphere is actually getting better with age. Queller is great, but it competes with both Mage AND Geist, which are better 3cc tempo creatures, and I don't want to dedicate 3 gold slots to the exact same role in the exact same spot in the curve.
Hrmm, I did a quick vote with some members of my playgroup and predictably, Sphere is safe, while Spell Queller is unanimously favored over Reflector Mage.
Stone is probably better because it can answer an army of tokens and also can't be destroyed to undo the effect.
I prefer Deglamer/Unravel the Æther to both options, I think. Claim is better in powered cubes IF you also don't play green beatdown decks. 4 life is a big drawback when you're winning through the red zone. Natural State might be better than Claim if you're playing green aggressive decks AND want a 1cc Naturalize effect.
Sphere is solid removal that's playable in everything, and unlike other o-ring effects, it's good against an army of tokens. Sphere is actually getting better with age. Queller is great, but it competes with both Mage AND Geist, which are better 3cc tempo creatures, and I don't want to dedicate 3 gold slots to the exact same role in the exact same spot in the curve.
I don't care for sphere as much because I think White Blue already has enough effects against token / swarm strategies. I prefer supreme verdict for that or any other wrath effects. Hard to hit periments have o-ring and the like.
So while I don't disagree with which card is better in a cube-vacuum, I think in terms of versatility I would go with mage>Queller>Sphere
I see the appeal of Queller; it's a powerful Magic card. But blue decks splashing white love to have good universal removal, and in decks that don't have access to WW, outs to mass token generation are few and far between. So I think it provides a needed effect for a lot of decks, and it gives me a card in that slot that isn't yet another 3cc tempo creature. I don't want all my gold cards from a single guild to only go into one deck.
Hornet Queen > Avenger >>>green warden. I'm a bit higher on Avenger than most I feel, but I think Queen is a bit better overall due to the evasion and guaranteed power of its creatures. Plus if you cheat out Queen you still get the full package, whereas an avenger on t3 or t4 might be a little underwhelming in comparison.
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Pick one: Eldritch Evolution or Evolutionary Leap
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450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
@Wang: Leap! Good grindy card can help vs control decks.
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Yeah I think I won't be adding C in the end. The one I really wanted to try was Eldrazi Displacer.
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Detention Sphere
Reflector Mage
Spell Queller
How would you rank these against each other, and why? If they are somewhat close, I'm thinking about rotating them in and out until my playgroup decides what they like best, but if there's a clear winner in somebody's mind, I'd like to hear a pitch for it!
Sphere is solid removal that's playable in everything, and unlike other o-ring effects, it's good against an army of tokens. Sphere is actually getting better with age. Queller is great, but it competes with both Mage AND Geist, which are better 3cc tempo creatures, and I don't want to dedicate 3 gold slots to the exact same role in the exact same spot in the curve.
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Depends on the rest of the cube. I love Treasure Cruise in the UWR spells decks with Monastery Mentor and Young Pyromancer and whatnot. It's also great in UR counterburn, which is sort of a subspecies of the earlier decks.
Whirler Rogue is great with Opposition and in the artifact and blink decks, if you support them. It really depends on your composition in blue, but right now I'm running Cruise and not Rogue, though it's the blue card that's first on the list when I expand to 450.
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Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Hrmm, I did a quick vote with some members of my playgroup and predictably, Sphere is safe, while Spell Queller is unanimously favored over Reflector Mage.
My vote goes to Rogue because I feel that Opposition needs all the blue love that it can get.
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Cruise and Rogue are both solid cards. I think it really depends on what your blue section needs more of.
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Thanks Steve, man that makes sense!
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Nature's Claim or Naturalize: I think in a Powered Cube I would prefer Nature's Claim. Being able to pop a Sol Ring or Mana Vault before it can be used feels sooo good.
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I prefer Deglamer/Unravel the Æther to both options, I think. Claim is better in powered cubes IF you also don't play green beatdown decks. 4 life is a big drawback when you're winning through the red zone. Natural State might be better than Claim if you're playing green aggressive decks AND want a 1cc Naturalize effect.
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I don't care for sphere as much because I think White Blue already has enough effects against token / swarm strategies. I prefer supreme verdict for that or any other wrath effects. Hard to hit periments have o-ring and the like.
So while I don't disagree with which card is better in a cube-vacuum, I think in terms of versatility I would go with mage>Queller>Sphere
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