Ral Zarek has been getting picked really late recently, I've gotten it dead last. In our last draft wound up in the sideboard of an Izzet tempo deck. When I asked the player, he said he just felt he just had better options for 4-drops in both red and blue. It's hard to argue with this, as there are plenty of solid mono-color options at 4CMC in this guild, so Ral's on my watch list at the moment.
I'd like to hear some other cube owners' opinions on this. Are my players underrating Ral Zarek, or is it outclassed by its mono-colored competition in this slot?
Underratng it...
But He's nothing special in tempo.. Very playable, but not a high pick. It's artifact ramp where he really shines (monoliths and time vault).
He's unquestionably the second best izzet card, but there is a huge gap between the best and second best. I like the card but he is a midpack pick, not really a fp, and that's fine.
But both of those 'walkers are just great for us. I think their utility is high enough to include in nearly any deck, and Dack also has the sheer power to be a high pick overall.
IMO Ral is very dependent on the untap part of his +1 ability. Bolting is good, tapping down a blocker is ok, but if you can abuse the untap he goes from meh to stellar. He doesn't synergies with too much in my cube so he has only performed fairly but in cubes with a lot of Sol Ring and Basalt Monolith variants, or of course Time Vault, he's a rock star.
But both of those 'walkers are just great for us. I think their utility is high enough to include in nearly any deck, and Dack also has the sheer power to be a high pick overall.
Totally agreed, Dack was insane for me this past Holiday on MTGO, while everyone around was having mox and stuff on the board. Insane walker! Could be quite a 1st or 2nd in a lot of scenarios!
IMO Ral is very dependent on the untap part of his +1 ability. Bolting is good, tapping down a blocker is ok, but if you can abuse the untap he goes from meh to stellar. He doesn't synergies with too much in my cube so he has only performed fairly but in cubes with a lot of Sol Ring and Basalt Monolith variants, or of course Time Vault, he's a rock star.
This is probably why people aren't picking Ral very high in my cube. I only have 2 mana rocks (Grim Monolith and Thran Dynamo) that would give you more than an extra 1 by untapping it with Ral and I have zero plans to start running Time Vault, so in my cube Ral's +1 ability will be decent, but never broken. As an overall package, Ral still seems like a good enough walker to run but I can see why he's a lot more exciting in a powered ube.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
Don't underestimate how often getting other activated abilities is relevant, or tapping down blockers, or untapping your attackers, or tapping down their resources, or just ramping you by 1 (or fixing double-color mana for you) really is. The ability is way more awesome than it looks.
Don't underestimate how often getting other activated abilities is relevant, or tapping down blockers, or untapping your attackers, or tapping down their resources, or just ramping you by 1 (or fixing double-color mana for you) really is. The ability is way more awesome than it looks.
It's flexible. I wouldn't call it awesome though. Because the tap/untap is sorcery speed and linked you are only ever really using one side of it, unless you have the abusable pieces. It's not useless, but it's hard to get full value from it is what I'm trying to say.
Tapping their blocker and untapping my land is certainly an easy way to use both abilities. Or on defense, untapping my attacker and tapping down their resources during my second main phase is a thing. It's awesome because it's flexible and does a lot of stuff. Oh, and he has a pair of Bolts attached to him too.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Underratng it...
But He's nothing special in tempo.. Very playable, but not a high pick. It's artifact ramp where he really shines (monoliths and time vault).
Last Updated 02/07/24
Streaming Standard/Cube on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/heisenb3rg96
Strategy Twitter https://www.twitter.com/heisenb3rg
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
thats my cube
But both of those 'walkers are just great for us. I think their utility is high enough to include in nearly any deck, and Dack also has the sheer power to be a high pick overall.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Draft my cube!
Watch me stream!
http://cubetutor.com/cubeblog/993
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/23690
Totally agreed, Dack was insane for me this past Holiday on MTGO, while everyone around was having mox and stuff on the board. Insane walker! Could be quite a 1st or 2nd in a lot of scenarios!
Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
Zetsu's Ebay MTG Online Store
Zetsu's Poker Draft Method
This is probably why people aren't picking Ral very high in my cube. I only have 2 mana rocks (Grim Monolith and Thran Dynamo) that would give you more than an extra 1 by untapping it with Ral and I have zero plans to start running Time Vault, so in my cube Ral's +1 ability will be decent, but never broken. As an overall package, Ral still seems like a good enough walker to run but I can see why he's a lot more exciting in a powered ube.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
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!
It's flexible. I wouldn't call it awesome though. Because the tap/untap is sorcery speed and linked you are only ever really using one side of it, unless you have the abusable pieces. It's not useless, but it's hard to get full value from it is what I'm trying to say.
http://cubetutor.com/cubeblog/993
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/23690
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!
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG