It's a nice combat trick. I like it more than Vines of Vastwood for the cube because you can get a decent combat boost (in addition to the hexproof) without needing the GG. I don't have room for it personally, but as far as combat tricks go, it's a premium one.
Definitely one of the best cubable combat tricks not attached to a creature. Many cubes tend to have a good amount of targeted removal, so Hexproof out of nowhere can throw a wrench in a lot of people's game plans.
I went 2-1-1 at the midnight pre-release last night. Had a very aggressive RW deck with some great vehicles: Renegade Freighter / Aethersphere Harvester / Heart of Kiran. I coasted through round 1 and 3. I punted game 2 of round 2 where I was up 1-0. I had a turn 2 Heart of Kiran, turn 3 1W 3/1 creature for the crew. I tapped my mana wrong, leaving open red instead of white to fake a Shock for no apparent reason and he blew up my Heart of Kiran with a Disenchant effect before damage. I the realized I had Built to Last in my hand which could have saved my HoK. Ended up getting overrrum by that Aetherwind Basker or whatever that giant green mythic lizard is called. Game 3 ended in a draw, but I would've ended up getting stomped on by the Basker again if it went another turn or two.
Round 4 I was up against a guy who was 3-0. Our store always does 4-round midnight pre-releases and anybody who goes 4-0 gets a free pre-release for the next main storyline set, so I had an attempt to dream crush a 4-0. Anecdotal: I won the OGW midnight pre-release without dropping a game #humblebrag
Anyways, my round 4 opponent basically had a GW version of my deck: fairly aggressive with a decent amount of vehicles. We went to game 3 and I blitzed him pretty hard, but then he cast Fumigate out of nowhere and I lost all my steam and lost. If I saw the Fumigate in an earlier game I definitely wouldn't have overextended. Not sure it would've mattered, but I had Aether Harvester that could have potentially won me the game in a few turns, just didn't have anything for the Crew 1
New AER cards that did work:
- Aether Harvester (MVP, Crew 1 makes this card very pushed in AER limited)
- Heart of Kiran (my deck had no issues crewing it)
- Aether Chaser
- Release the Gremlins (my promo foil)
- Hope of Ghirapur
Got a Kari Zev in one of my prize packs and a buddy of mine gave me his Baral's Expertise that he got in a pack that had a foil Tezz. Overall a fun night, especially since I was able to cube for the first time in over a month.
I've first picked Blossoming Defense before... in KLD limited, where it's been great. While I like the element of surprise that adding a few combat tricks brings to the cube environment, they tend not to be picked very highly or maindecked very often. Mutagenic Growth seemed like my best hope for having a straight-up pump spell because it can be played by any color for 0 mana, but it just wasn't seeing enough play for me to justify it taking up the slot. The additional utility as a conditional counterspell likely won't make up for the fact that combat tricks just don't seem to be what people want to be playing in cube. However, as combat tricks go, it's a good one so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out in the MTGO cube.
I was working for most of prerelease weekend, unfortunately, but I did get in one event where I went 3-1. It seems like a pretty cool set so far that really rewards aggressive deckbuilding and play. I didn't manage to pull many of the cards I was looking for, but did get a few of them in trades.
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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.
I'd like to try Recruiter of the Guard, but don't think I have room at 360. There's already so many 3-drops that have a specific purpose or advance the board state, whereas Recruiter is more of a utility creature. I'm already concerned that I've got too many 3-drops across some colors, since that slot seems pretty clogged in deck construction...
Recruiter of the Guard is great. It tutors up a ton of relevant targets, including some clutch build-around cards.
I replaced some random 3-drop with it, can't remember which one. Either a 1WW double-striker or one of the extra anthem guys. Regardless, Recruiter is way better than whatever it was I cut.
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...don't think I have room at 360.
I like it more than Hallowed Spiritkeeper for sure, and probably Mirror Entity as well. Eldrazi Displacer looks like it wants to come in too.
I like it more than Hallowed Spiritkeeper for sure, and probably Mirror Entity as well. Eldrazi Displacer looks like it wants to come in too.
I could see cutting Hallowed Spiritkeeper. Maybe I'll give that a try, since I have very little experience with the recruiters so it's hard to judge them. I'm not sure I want to cut Mirror Entity, because I'm very short on effects that give a power boost to token strategies and it has a very high ceiling in those decks. I am interested in Eldrazi Displacer for more playable blink support, but not sure my mana base can support it - I only have 9 nonbasics plus some mana rocks that could power the effect.
Anyone playing Eldrazi Displacer or other colorless matters cards in a small cube? How successful is it and how much support do you have?
Seems silly to replace Kor Skyfisher with RotG. For 3 mana you find skyfisher from your deck and put it in your hand. Then you can play RotG again for a different target after bouncing it with the Skyfisher.
I love Recruiter of the Guard and everything that it represents. Shows that WotC can put a creative spin on a super expensive card without just 100% colorshifting said card.
I'd like to try Recruiter of the Guard, but don't think I have room at 360. There's already so many 3-drops that have a specific purpose or advance the board state, whereas Recruiter is more of a utility creature. I'm already concerned that I've got too many 3-drops across some colors, since that slot seems pretty clogged in deck construction...
I like Recruiter more than Hallowed Spiritkeeper / Mirror Entity
I like it more than Hallowed Spiritkeeper for sure, and probably Mirror Entity as well. Eldrazi Displacer looks like it wants to come in too.
While I think Displacer / Recruiter can easily take Spiritkeeper / Entity's place, Displacer might be too difficult to work with the typical 360 dual / fetch / shock manabase.
Seems silly to replace Kor Skyfisher with RotG. For 3 mana you find skyfisher from your deck and put it in your hand. Then you can play RotG again for a different target after bouncing it with the Skyfisher.
I don't think you can do that with the toughness based white recruiter.
Nope. It has a lot of overlapping targets, but the differences in what they can grab makes them work quite differently from one another a lot of the time. For example, it can grab Flickerwisp, and you can use the effect to flicker the Recruiter and get another creature.
I added him because he seemed an interesting and fairly unique card, but haven't got to draft him much yet though he has been good when he has been played (snagged a counter and a wrath so far).
The effect can be a bit hit and miss but you rarely whiff completely, especially since the power level of the average card in cube is much higher than limited/standard. Its a nice form of card advantage as well since it can be disrupted with targeted discard, Wheel effects, Balance etc.
The effect outlasting Gonti is solid as well, you can trade him off and keep whatever awesome spell you have snagged. I do really wish he had flying or some other form of evasion.
I would love to see a more pushed version of this effect on a card, feel very black and seems strong in cube. Maybe a 2 mana 2/1 that "Gonti's" the top 2 cards rather than 4.
Recruiter of the Guard is amazing. My favorite deck to play it in is WB Mean Girls, since it tutors up both Thalias and Braids. I think I cut Soltari Trooper for it, and haven't missed it at all. Tutors are so important in cube. I wish there were more playable ones.
I don't play Gonti, but I've thought about it. I think I'm going to add Palace Jailer just for some different gameplay, and Gonti would go in for the same reason. Especially with black, I find that you play black for aggro, reanimator, or tutors, and that seems narrower than other colors. I wish there were more interesting cards at 4-7cmc for black, and Gonti is one of them. Alright, I think I just talked myself into trying it out.
I feel like a lord of luxury every morning when I brew pour-over coffee. I'm big on doing the small things the right way, and whenever I drink *****e coffee from a Bunn or whatever, I'm reminded of why I feel like that.
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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
Gonti is an okay tier 2-3 black 4-drop. His stats are barely there and I'd rather just draw my own cards. It's nice that you can still play the exiled cards after he dies, I think he'd be a lot better if he let you play your opponent's lands.
Went to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico last May, felt like a king for a week. I highly recommend Paradisus Cancun if anybody's looking for an all-inclusive resort in Cancun. I have a friend who goes there every year with his family and they say that hotel particularly stands out over the rest because the food is so damn good.
I freaking love Gonti. He is one of those creatures that adds a lot of fun and interesting interactions. I played him last week and got three triggers off of him in one game, plus my opponent even cloned him and stole my Consecration Sphinx.
The creature has descent stats with the deathtouch. I do not see him getting cut for a while.
First time I played Gonti, he ganked my control player's Snapcaster Mage off the top of his deck. And Snappy then let me counter his next move. Everything else from this point on is gravy.
Last time I felt like a lord of luxury (well, other than the above play!) was when I won a $100 voucher to a snazzy restaurant. We ditched the kids for the night and ate like kings.
I don't feel like I've given Gonti enough of a chance. I added him in my KLD update, and he didn't get played in the only full draft I've gotten in with my unpowered cube since. I cut it to make room when I got a copy of new Liliana, but, stories like the above as well as this thread from Reddit make me think that maybe I should give Gonti another chance. It seems like Gonti may well get there on power level, although probably isn't essential for any particular deck.
This summer I went to GP Montreal, and while I was there my wife and I went to a fantastic French game restaurant, where we got a patio table overlooking the cobblestone road and feasted on different cuts of exquisitely prepared venison, bison, and elk. I dined like a medieval lord of luxury.
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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.
I like Fleetwheel Cruiser although the card is underrated here. I think vehicles are a good addition to cube. It gives more reasons to add maindeck artifact hate cards, and the threat diversification helps against mass removals and creates more interesting games. Plus, I do not think they will ever print cube worthy equipment anymore unless it is a mistake. Vehicles are a way to still get some playable cards in that general design area.
I have liked Fleetwheel Cruiser but it has only appeared in a few decks so far. Seems to fit nicely as an agro curve topper or a midrange beat stick. Kinda wish I had more to say, its a solid (if a bit generic) addition.
I like Vehicles, they are an interesting take on equipment, I don't think I will be running too many but the best 2 or 3 will get a spot. I would like to see some that are more than just beaters, or that have unique abilities (none else want to see a catapult that flings its crew?). I would like bonuses for over crewing as well (kinda like a kicker variant).
I like that they can bring a different flavour to the game and fill a different niche than equipment, but I don't know if I want to see too many more for a set or two (Every set or so maybe, I don't think it's as universally applicable flavour wise as equipment is). There are only so many fast cars and airships we can have before it gets a bit stale IMHO (but i guess someone said that about swords and axes once upon a time), but maybe they will surprise us in a future set with coloured non-artifact vehicles like a siege elephant that needs to be crewed or a dragon that eats its crew.
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 went 2-1-1 at the midnight pre-release last night. Had a very aggressive RW deck with some great vehicles: Renegade Freighter / Aethersphere Harvester / Heart of Kiran. I coasted through round 1 and 3. I punted game 2 of round 2 where I was up 1-0. I had a turn 2 Heart of Kiran, turn 3 1W 3/1 creature for the crew. I tapped my mana wrong, leaving open red instead of white to fake a Shock for no apparent reason and he blew up my Heart of Kiran with a Disenchant effect before damage. I the realized I had Built to Last in my hand which could have saved my HoK. Ended up getting overrrum by that Aetherwind Basker or whatever that giant green mythic lizard is called. Game 3 ended in a draw, but I would've ended up getting stomped on by the Basker again if it went another turn or two.
Round 4 I was up against a guy who was 3-0. Our store always does 4-round midnight pre-releases and anybody who goes 4-0 gets a free pre-release for the next main storyline set, so I had an attempt to dream crush a 4-0. Anecdotal: I won the OGW midnight pre-release without dropping a game #humblebrag
Anyways, my round 4 opponent basically had a GW version of my deck: fairly aggressive with a decent amount of vehicles. We went to game 3 and I blitzed him pretty hard, but then he cast Fumigate out of nowhere and I lost all my steam and lost. If I saw the Fumigate in an earlier game I definitely wouldn't have overextended. Not sure it would've mattered, but I had Aether Harvester that could have potentially won me the game in a few turns, just didn't have anything for the Crew 1
New AER cards that did work:
- Aether Harvester (MVP, Crew 1 makes this card very pushed in AER limited)
- Heart of Kiran (my deck had no issues crewing it)
- Aether Chaser
- Release the Gremlins (my promo foil)
- Hope of Ghirapur
Got a Kari Zev in one of my prize packs and a buddy of mine gave me his Baral's Expertise that he got in a pack that had a foil Tezz. Overall a fun night, especially since I was able to cube for the first time in over a month.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I was working for most of prerelease weekend, unfortunately, but I did get in one event where I went 3-1. It seems like a pretty cool set so far that really rewards aggressive deckbuilding and play. I didn't manage to pull many of the cards I was looking for, but did get a few of them in trades.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Recruiter of the Guard
BONUS QUESTION
If you're running Recruiter of the Guard, what did it replace for you?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Flickerwisp
1 Hallowed Spiritkeeper
1 Mirror Entity
1 Monastery Mentor
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
I replaced some random 3-drop with it, can't remember which one. Either a 1WW double-striker or one of the extra anthem guys. Regardless, Recruiter is way better than whatever it was I cut.
I like it more than Hallowed Spiritkeeper for sure, and probably Mirror Entity as well. Eldrazi Displacer looks like it wants to come in too.
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 could see cutting Hallowed Spiritkeeper. Maybe I'll give that a try, since I have very little experience with the recruiters so it's hard to judge them. I'm not sure I want to cut Mirror Entity, because I'm very short on effects that give a power boost to token strategies and it has a very high ceiling in those decks. I am interested in Eldrazi Displacer for more playable blink support, but not sure my mana base can support it - I only have 9 nonbasics plus some mana rocks that could power the effect.
Anyone playing Eldrazi Displacer or other colorless matters cards in a small cube? How successful is it and how much support do you have?
I like Recruiter more than Hallowed Spiritkeeper / Mirror Entity
While I think Displacer / Recruiter can easily take Spiritkeeper / Entity's place, Displacer might be too difficult to work with the typical 360 dual / fetch / shock manabase.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I don't think you can do that with the toughness based white recruiter.
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!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
BONUS QUESTION
When's the last time you felt like a Lord of Luxury?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
The effect can be a bit hit and miss but you rarely whiff completely, especially since the power level of the average card in cube is much higher than limited/standard. Its a nice form of card advantage as well since it can be disrupted with targeted discard, Wheel effects, Balance etc.
Reanimating him for value (or blinking but its less on colour) seem a fun approach with the likes of Feldon of the Third Path or recurring nightmare, 2 power is handy for the likes of Alesha, Who Smiles at Death and Reveillark.
The effect outlasting Gonti is solid as well, you can trade him off and keep whatever awesome spell you have snagged. I do really wish he had flying or some other form of evasion.
I would love to see a more pushed version of this effect on a card, feel very black and seems strong in cube. Maybe a 2 mana 2/1 that "Gonti's" the top 2 cards rather than 4.
Recently got a free ride on the train, it was pretty ballin'.
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I don't play Gonti, but I've thought about it. I think I'm going to add Palace Jailer just for some different gameplay, and Gonti would go in for the same reason. Especially with black, I find that you play black for aggro, reanimator, or tutors, and that seems narrower than other colors. I wish there were more interesting cards at 4-7cmc for black, and Gonti is one of them. Alright, I think I just talked myself into trying it out.
I feel like a lord of luxury every morning when I brew pour-over coffee. I'm big on doing the small things the right way, and whenever I drink *****e coffee from a Bunn or whatever, I'm reminded of why I feel like that.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Went to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico last May, felt like a king for a week. I highly recommend Paradisus Cancun if anybody's looking for an all-inclusive resort in Cancun. I have a friend who goes there every year with his family and they say that hotel particularly stands out over the rest because the food is so damn good.
Just take a look at the google images:
https://www.google.com/search?q=paradisus cancun&espv=2&biw=955&bih=629&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjN4KHNhMfRAhWE8oMKHZppCSAQ_AUIBygC&dpr=2
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
The creature has descent stats with the deathtouch. I do not see him getting cut for a while.
Last time I felt like a lord of luxury (well, other than the above play!) was when I won a $100 voucher to a snazzy restaurant. We ditched the kids for the night and ate like kings.
My Stupidly Large Number of Current Decks
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Cube: the Gittening (My Multiplayer Cube) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor
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This summer I went to GP Montreal, and while I was there my wife and I went to a fantastic French game restaurant, where we got a patio table overlooking the cobblestone road and feasted on different cuts of exquisitely prepared venison, bison, and elk. I dined like a medieval lord of luxury.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Fleetwheel Cruiser
BONUS QUESTION
Do you think Vehicles are a good addition to MTG?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
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Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
I like Vehicles, they are an interesting take on equipment, I don't think I will be running too many but the best 2 or 3 will get a spot. I would like to see some that are more than just beaters, or that have unique abilities (none else want to see a catapult that flings its crew?). I would like bonuses for over crewing as well (kinda like a kicker variant).
I like that they can bring a different flavour to the game and fill a different niche than equipment, but I don't know if I want to see too many more for a set or two (Every set or so maybe, I don't think it's as universally applicable flavour wise as equipment is). There are only so many fast cars and airships we can have before it gets a bit stale IMHO (but i guess someone said that about swords and axes once upon a time), but maybe they will surprise us in a future set with coloured non-artifact vehicles like a siege elephant that needs to be crewed or a dragon that eats its crew.
I like vehicles, though I think most of 'em are too underpowered to shine in fully powered cubes (Copter and Cruiser being exceptions).
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!