BR aggro is by far the scariest aggro archetype in our cube and is one of my personal favorite decks to build. If supported well it's a real monster of a deck.
From weekly cubing, 3-0s:
a mono black aggro deck on 12/29,
a UB tempo deck went 3-0 last night
a BW aggro deck on 12/10
a BR aggro deck on 12/02 (since recording 3-0s a few months ago.)
I like its base stats for a bunch of different casual formats but Cube is one place I'm unsure of this card. Most of R or W aggro decks lean heavily on one color and lightly on the other. Is this the three drop you want in W/r beats? Will R/w beats have WW to use its ability?
I'm not convinced that R/b is a thing to be honest. I know everyone is raving that black got a ton of souped up Jungle Lions in the last few sets, but I never see any reports of how well Black aggro decks are doing.
One thing worth mentioning is that 3 first strike is much more aggressive at 2 (Porcelain Legionnaire) than 3 -- at 3 a big selling point is that it comes down and blocks immediately. Not sure how that translates to Cube.
I draft Rakdos Rakdos all the time in my cube. Its really aggressive and has some nice disruption.
I'm not convinced that R/b is a thing to be honest. I know everyone is raving that black got a ton of souped up Jungle Lions in the last few sets, but I never see any reports of how well Black aggro decks are doing.
Like others cubers have already mentionned, I can also confirm that black aggro is actual a thing, and a big one! Mono-Black or Black-splash-Red are both insane strategy to apply!
Black 1-drops that have been print recently, like Bloodsoaked Champion, Gnarled Scarhide or even Tormented Hero bring more early power for those kind of deck and the already well known cards like Nekrataal and Skinrender fits well in this new kind of gameplan. While being black, those decks also gain acces to nice card advantage engine like Dark Confidant and Phyrexian Arena. Mutlicolor ones like Falkenrath Aristocrat, Grenzo Dungeon Warden and Spike Jester also bring some spice. So there's no doubt that Alesha could help as well in there. Larger cube have more chances to actually give her some game time but she deserves a real test anyhow.
In fact, with MTGO Holiday Cube also pushing into that direction by bringing in card like Master of the Feast (Even if I'm not a fan of...) and Phyrexian Obliterator (Insane!), we can see that WotC is thinking the same about it.
I like this card more than Chandra's Phoenix (by a very significant margin). I also like it more than Flamespeaker. The single red cost is great, and it doesn't need to connect with the opponent to gain value.
Except maybe the new Goblin Rabblemaster, in terms of creatures, Chandra's Phoenix is the best red 3-drop for cube of any kind. I've no doubt about it. Alesha is certainly great too, but will never outclass Chandra's pet. The fact that she needs another color to be worthing it is a big factor as well. The phoenix only needs some burn to become insane and is quite nice without it though.
Except maybe the new Goblin Rabblemaster, in terms of creatures, Chandra's Phoenix is the best red 3-drop for cube of any kind. I've no doubt about it.
Wow. That has not even been remotely close to my experience with any cube I've ever drafted. Phoenix was a really easy cut, and it's not even something I keep in my on-deck binder anymore. Maybe if my cube was huge, like bigger than 720+ or something, but nothing smaller than that.
I've decided to give Alesha another go after playing with her some in a buddy's cube. Her body and first strike compare favorably to the other red 3-drops.
We've cut Chandra's Phoenix a while back now. There are a couple other 3-drops I'm already not running that I would put ahead of it too...
I'm really satisfied with Alesha thus far. Other red 3-drops will get cut way before Alesha is next. Chandra's Phoenix was never close to being really good, so that was an easy cut for me also.
Let's take a look at the standing for this position. But first, let's split them in 2 sections : Combo-oriented staples and Agressive-oriented staples. I prefer to process like this, because this is so hard to compare cards that aren't pushing into the same direction. After, we will be in better position to determine where's Alesha WSaD place at.
Combo's one :
1) Imperial Recruiter
2) Feldon of the Third Path (He is nice! Brings back the OG Welder/Tinker Combo! I Need to find him a spot!)
3) Squee, Goblin Nabob
4) Dualcaster Mage
5) Guttersnipe (For Storm-oriented cube only)
Since Alesha WSaD isn't a combo card, I won't elaborate more on them. They are all good cards, but can't really be compare to her.
Agressive's one :
1) Goblin Rabblemaster (Seems to became everyone's favorite, and I agreed.)
2) Manic Vandal (Will get that second spot only in heavily powered cube. If not, he could fall to the 4th.)
3) Chandra's Phoenix (Agressive, recursive and evasive threat. Easy to bring her ability connect in any red deck.)
4) Fire Imp (Little 2 for 1 maker. Nice in other decks too.)
... First four of it bring 2 for 1, and the following ones don't...
5) Flamewake Phoenix (Great cube card bring by FRF. Passing under the radar right now. Deserves a test because he brings a sometime 2 for 1.)
6) Prophetic Flamespeaker (If he hits, bring 2 for 1. Needs swords or equipment to shine. Quite bad on a stall board. More a tempo oriented guy.)
7) Countryside Crusher (Block land drawing. Powerful and unique ability. Not bringing 2 for 1 but ensure quality draw.)
I think Alesha WSaD goes somewhere in the first four because she brings 2 for 1 as well. I don't know really for sure, but I would personally give the 4th spot, in front of Fire Imp. All the others brings a easiest 2 for 1 to the table and I can't see any of them leave the cube easily. And she's certainly not bumping out Chandra's Phoenix, IMO.
All I can see on her that is close to a downside is the fact she actually needs you to spend WW or BB to use her ability. That is a factor for sure, but Wr and Br aggro are still going to love it big time.
Was a time when Zo-Zu the Punisher, Magus of the Moon and Hell's Thunder were a thing, but I think they are now restricted to 720 and more cube only.
I would run Imperial Recruiter if I had one, but it's not a high-priority pickup right now. I ended up cutting the Phoenix for Fire Imp, because I liked the 2-for-1 option over the recursive threat. I like Zo-Zu better because it supports aggro (and I'm also looking to bring in Ankh of Mishra) more directly than the Flamespeaker, and I don't find that my aggro decks consistently have a high enough density of 4+ power to reliably slot in Flamewake Phoenix. I think that Chandra's Phoenix might make it back in if I increase my cube size, but I just haven't found it to be compelling enough to swap out any of my existing 3-drops.
I just run Alesha as my Mardu card so she doesn't compete with red cards. That said, there's no question about running her over the Phoenix. I found Phoenix really disappointing.
This is turning into a nightmare, so many great cards and only 1 slot for each wedge.
Your cube doesn't have to be totally, completely 100% colour balanced. If you ran two Mardu cards...who cares? I just slotted Alesha in my red section. Same with Soulfire Grandmaster. I only run one tri-colour multicoloured card: Siege Rhino.
This is turning into a nightmare, so many great cards and only 1 slot for each wedge.
Your cube doesn't have to be totally, completely 100% colour balanced. If you ran two Mardu cards...who cares? I just slotted Alesha in my red section. Same with Soulfire Grandmaster. I only run one tri-colour multicoloured card: Siege Rhino.
I couldn't agree more. The tribrids are more flexible than 2 color gold cards, so IMHO any time you can cut a Guild card to make room for a tribrid you're creating more options for your drafters. I cut Boros cards for Alesha and SFGM, an Orzhov card for Mardu Horde-chief, and an Azorius card for Shu-yun.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
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This card has been spectacular for us. Yesterday was turn 3 Alesha followed by turn 4 Avalanche Riders. Opponent scooped pretty quickly after that lol.
I couldn't agree more. The tribrids are more flexible than 2 color gold cards, so IMHO any time you can cut a Guild card to make room for a tribrid you're creating more options for your drafters. I cut Boros cards for Alesha and SFGM, an Orzhov card for Mardu Horde-chief, and an Azorius card for Shu-yun.
That's right, Brtual Hordechief. I cut a hybrid which probably isn't in most cubes, Curse of Chains, to make room for Shu Yun. I'm not sure why, but UW tempo decks see more play in my cube than Izzet tempo decks that would want Shu Yun. Based on player feedback so far, I'm not planning to keep Shu Yun much longer.
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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.
A low pick in my cube, but have seen do enough great things to be happy with her.
Have thought about cutting her many times and each time I do, I manage to see her do something impressive in action.
From holding down agro decks on defense, to recurring strong utility creatures (manic vandal, pack rat) to putting a very fast clock on the opponent (goblin rabblemaster, seige gang commander etc).
a mono black aggro deck on 12/29,
a UB tempo deck went 3-0 last night
a BW aggro deck on 12/10
a BR aggro deck on 12/02 (since recording 3-0s a few months ago.)
I used to write cube articles on StarCityGames, now for GatheringMagic and podcast about cube (w/Antknee42.)
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
I draft Rakdos Rakdos all the time in my cube. Its really aggressive and has some nice disruption.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq
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Like others cubers have already mentionned, I can also confirm that black aggro is actual a thing, and a big one! Mono-Black or Black-splash-Red are both insane strategy to apply!
Black 1-drops that have been print recently, like Bloodsoaked Champion, Gnarled Scarhide or even Tormented Hero bring more early power for those kind of deck and the already well known cards like Nekrataal and Skinrender fits well in this new kind of gameplan. While being black, those decks also gain acces to nice card advantage engine like Dark Confidant and Phyrexian Arena. Mutlicolor ones like Falkenrath Aristocrat, Grenzo Dungeon Warden and Spike Jester also bring some spice. So there's no doubt that Alesha could help as well in there. Larger cube have more chances to actually give her some game time but she deserves a real test anyhow.
In fact, with MTGO Holiday Cube also pushing into that direction by bringing in card like Master of the Feast (Even if I'm not a fan of...) and Phyrexian Obliterator (Insane!), we can see that WotC is thinking the same about it.
Except maybe the new Goblin Rabblemaster, in terms of creatures, Chandra's Phoenix is the best red 3-drop for cube of any kind. I've no doubt about it. Alesha is certainly great too, but will never outclass Chandra's pet. The fact that she needs another color to be worthing it is a big factor as well. The phoenix only needs some burn to become insane and is quite nice without it though.
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Wow. That has not even been remotely close to my experience with any cube I've ever drafted. Phoenix was a really easy cut, and it's not even something I keep in my on-deck binder anymore. Maybe if my cube was huge, like bigger than 720+ or something, but nothing smaller than that.
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We've cut Chandra's Phoenix a while back now. There are a couple other 3-drops I'm already not running that I would put ahead of it too...
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Let's take a look at the standing for this position. But first, let's split them in 2 sections : Combo-oriented staples and Agressive-oriented staples. I prefer to process like this, because this is so hard to compare cards that aren't pushing into the same direction. After, we will be in better position to determine where's Alesha WSaD place at.
Combo's one :
1) Imperial Recruiter
2) Feldon of the Third Path (He is nice! Brings back the OG Welder/Tinker Combo! I Need to find him a spot!)
3) Squee, Goblin Nabob
4) Dualcaster Mage
5) Guttersnipe (For Storm-oriented cube only)
Since Alesha WSaD isn't a combo card, I won't elaborate more on them. They are all good cards, but can't really be compare to her.
Agressive's one :
1) Goblin Rabblemaster (Seems to became everyone's favorite, and I agreed.)
2) Manic Vandal (Will get that second spot only in heavily powered cube. If not, he could fall to the 4th.)
3) Chandra's Phoenix (Agressive, recursive and evasive threat. Easy to bring her ability connect in any red deck.)
4) Fire Imp (Little 2 for 1 maker. Nice in other decks too.)
... First four of it bring 2 for 1, and the following ones don't...
5) Flamewake Phoenix (Great cube card bring by FRF. Passing under the radar right now. Deserves a test because he brings a sometime 2 for 1.)
6) Prophetic Flamespeaker (If he hits, bring 2 for 1. Needs swords or equipment to shine. Quite bad on a stall board. More a tempo oriented guy.)
7) Countryside Crusher (Block land drawing. Powerful and unique ability. Not bringing 2 for 1 but ensure quality draw.)
I think Alesha WSaD goes somewhere in the first four because she brings 2 for 1 as well. I don't know really for sure, but I would personally give the 4th spot, in front of Fire Imp. All the others brings a easiest 2 for 1 to the table and I can't see any of them leave the cube easily. And she's certainly not bumping out Chandra's Phoenix, IMO.
All I can see on her that is close to a downside is the fact she actually needs you to spend WW or BB to use her ability. That is a factor for sure, but Wr and Br aggro are still going to love it big time.
Was a time when Zo-Zu the Punisher, Magus of the Moon and Hell's Thunder were a thing, but I think they are now restricted to 720 and more cube only.
Zetsu's Cube on CubeTutor.com
Zetsu's Ebay MTG Online Store
Zetsu's Poker Draft Method
Right now I'm at:
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
Feldon of the Third Path
Fire Imp
Goblin Rabblemaster
Manic Vandal
Zo-Zu the Punisher
I would run Imperial Recruiter if I had one, but it's not a high-priority pickup right now. I ended up cutting the Phoenix for Fire Imp, because I liked the 2-for-1 option over the recursive threat. I like Zo-Zu better because it supports aggro (and I'm also looking to bring in Ankh of Mishra) more directly than the Flamespeaker, and I don't find that my aggro decks consistently have a high enough density of 4+ power to reliably slot in Flamewake Phoenix. I think that Chandra's Phoenix might make it back in if I increase my cube size, but I just haven't found it to be compelling enough to swap out any of my existing 3-drops.
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Your cube doesn't have to be totally, completely 100% colour balanced. If you ran two Mardu cards...who cares? I just slotted Alesha in my red section. Same with Soulfire Grandmaster. I only run one tri-colour multicoloured card: Siege Rhino.
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https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/3pq
I couldn't agree more. The tribrids are more flexible than 2 color gold cards, so IMHO any time you can cut a Guild card to make room for a tribrid you're creating more options for your drafters. I cut Boros cards for Alesha and SFGM, an Orzhov card for Mardu Horde-chief, and an Azorius card for Shu-yun.
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 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
You mean Brutal Hordechief right?
Which Azorius card did you cut for Shu-Yun? IMO, he's way more of an Izzet card than he is an Azorius card.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
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!
A low pick in my cube, but have seen do enough great things to be happy with her.
Have thought about cutting her many times and each time I do, I manage to see her do something impressive in action.
From holding down agro decks on defense, to recurring strong utility creatures (manic vandal, pack rat) to putting a very fast clock on the opponent (goblin rabblemaster, seige gang commander etc).
Last Updated 02/07/24
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