I wasn't too high on Cruiser at first glance but it's quite the powerhouse. The fact that its colorless gives other aggressive non-red colors to have a hastey curvetopper like Hero / Hellrider. The fact that it also self-drives is cool and relevant to what's going on today with Uber testing self-driving cars in San Francisco.
I think vehicles were a great thing for MTG since it was a creative and powerful spin on equipment. It's not something I see WotC doing all the time, but I love the fact that they did it. If vehicles do become a somewhat recurring theme, I doubt any of them will be as good as Copter / Cruiser. It was definitely a conscious decision to push vehicles in their debut and they over-succeeeded with Copter. I feel Copter getting banned means they'll be extra cautious with any potential equipment / artifacts in the future.
I was specifically asked to cut Fleetwheel Cruiser after its inaugural run, my drafters didn't think it was strong enough and I don't think they cared for the flavor either. Since aggro decks have no shortage of options for quality 4-drop curve toppers, I didn't see much reason to fight them on it. Smuggler's Copter demands more respect, since the banning in Standard, and discard outlets are always at a premium, so that'll probably stick around for a while.
Flavorwise, I really don't think cars, trains, and helicopters belong in a fantasy environment and I don't think the Crew mechanic particularly captures the flavor of being in a vehicle. If the vehicle gets destroyed, whoever crewing it always emerges unscathed. If you the creature crewing a vehicle gets killed, the vehicle just keeps going like nothing happened. I'm not feeling any of it. It also doesn't help that they pushed the power level of a few of them to the point where they've warped Standard and retail limited. They may have banned Copter in Standard, but I'm really sick of facing down Turn 3 pain trains when I'm on the draw in limited. Because they're so format-defining, I'm happy to run the most iconic vehicles in each of my cubes, but I'm really hoping that the vehicular experiment is one that WotC never revisits so that they eventually remain as curios of a bygone era.
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I like the flavour more for the bigger vehicles, airships for example have been a long running inclusion in magic and usually feel "Magic" enough. Trains are a stretch but I assume when we are off kaladesh we will see chariots, gliders and other war machines (e.g. A battering ram that needs 3 power to push).
My main problem with the fleet wheel cruisers flavour is I don't get where it's 5 power comes from, a train hitting for 5 I get, but not so much a dragster. Didn't return to ravnica have some vechicals? It was some kinda of armoured car that was indestructible when it attacked; I could see that being an indestructible vehicle that makes its crew indestructible,
I think vechicals done right could be pretty flavourful, the dragsters and trains are a bit too much for me though. (The cards are solid includes though)
I don't mind the skyships so much either. There's a pretty long history of them in the game by now, particularly the saga of the Skyship Weatherlight. Hot air balloons go all the way back to Alpha, so definitely no problems with that.
Didn't return to ravnica have some vechicals? It was some kinda of armoured car that was indestructible when it attacked;
Yeah, that was Armored Transport. In the art it looks more like a robot, but if it's a "transport" I guess someone's riding around inside it. There weren't many artifact creatures in that block, and the only other one that might possibly be considered a vehicle is Street Sweeper, but that definitely looks unmanned to me.
On to the next card. Replacing Ohran Viper, here's someone who probably won't be riding any trains or flying any helicopters anytime soon....
I was specifically asked to cut Fleetwheel Cruiser after its inaugural run, my drafters didn't think it was strong enough and I don't think they cared for the flavor either. Since aggro decks have no shortage of options for quality 4-drop curve toppers, I didn't see much reason to fight them on it.
Agreed. I think I'm a bit more skewed as I support less aggro theaters than some cubers here (no green aggro) but my aggro decks aren't playing a lot of 4s (1-3 at most, with 3 feeling like a lot) and aren't lacking because of that. It doesn't help that my players typically aren't looking to play aggro as well, so if we have 3-4 players, 1 at most will be an aggro deck. It's not bad, Im just not as high on it as others.
Selvala is powerful but she's a bit too risky for my taste since your opponent gets the first crack at the draw trigger when played on curve. Also, I always think she looks like a centaur the way her wolf is positioned.
Can't just pick one 2/3 as my favorite.... Liliana, HH / Hanweir Garrison / Reflector Mage are all pretty up there though.
I am still not sure if Selvala will stay or not. She is very hard to evaluate. She is riskier to deploy than any other green creature that I can think of.
I like selvala a lot and think she's one of the stronger green 3 drops... But the variance on her performance is very high.
Sometimes she eats a removal spell right away, sometimes an opponent casts an inferno titan that draws them a card and kills your selvala.
Sometimes she generates 5 mana helps cast an eldrazi on turn 4/5 and draws multiple cards.
I see a lot of focus on her card draw ability. If you look at the statistics , it's clear it's a net positive, although it's a small one. The real strength is in her ability to generate a boat ton of mana AND fix mana perfectly.
I haven't tried Selvala, but I don't like the potential for the opponent to draw cards off of it before Selvala's controller. I can't say I care for the double green in the casting cost of a creature that's supposed to fix mana. I'd probably run the more consistent Shaman of Forgotten Ways over this if I were in the market for a 3-drop mana dork.
My favorite 2/3 in cube these days is Spell Queller. So far, it's really impressed me, and nothing else does anything quite like it.
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Selvala is strong in the super ramp deck. She creates high amounts of mana and fixing, with low effort. The card draw aspect is the least important part of her.
On top of my head, I like Reflector Mage. U/W tempo got a lot more viable recently.
Quagmire and its dual manland friends are stellar. I run 9 of them in my 450, with Stirring Wildwood being beat out by Horizon Canopy. After the big three, this is the next best cycle of duals. Quagmire itself is in the middle of the pack of power of the cycle.
Quagmire is fine, not great not bad, if it was mono colored and activated for 1BB/1GG/2G/2B I don't think I would play it but tapping for two colors is huge.
Wurmcoil Engine, as it's my favorite big creature as well.
Hissing Quagmire (along with the rest of the man lands) are all solid includes; I have to admit I was a little skeptical at first about the power of man lands at first, I got the power of the "good" ones but I had discounted the rest but since I have been playing with them I have changed my mind.
Quagmire can be especially interesting as the threat of activation often carries it (a real rattlesnake card). When it's active your opponents have to think twice about attacking with their biggest guy, if they choose not to (as they often do) you can just spend the mana on an instant EoT.
As far as death touch goes I like Hornet Queen for the sheer ability to stall any board or Vampire Nighthawk for value. Honorary mention to Sidisi.
I like Hissing Quagmire quite a bit, having deathtouch and bring only 3 mana to activate probably puts it in the upper half of the manlands. Being green means it's also more likely to be recurred, which makes the deathtouch even more potent.
Grave Titan is my favorite creature with deathtouch despite deathtouch being irrelevant most of the time.
It's not the scariest manland, but unless your opponent has instant speed removal in hand, it's almost impossible for your Hissing Quagmire not to trade off with something. I'm happy to have it in any deck that needs black and green mana.
For rare cubing, it's hard to argue with Baleful Strix, as it's nearly always a 2-for-1. For Peasant cube, I'm always trying out different small deathtouch creatures. In that environment I particularly like Wasteland Viper, as a 1-drop with deathtouch is a solid play on defense at every stage of the game in that environment, and it's a great offensive combat trick. The general of my favorite EDH deck, Glissa, the Traitor, also has deathtouch.
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Ugh! Totally forgot that Wurmcoil Engine had deathtouch. That's obviously the best deathtouher in cube.
Sidisi is probably fine in larger cubes because black 5-drops are pathetically shallow. I think it's probably the 4th or 5th best one, with Shriekmaw, Custodi Lich, and Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath being clearly better.
I guess Mystic Snake is my favorite snake in Magic, but I've found Coiling Oracle to be really versatile.
For rare cubing, it's hard to argue with Baleful Strix, as it's nearly always a 2-for-1.
He's not bad in peasant cubes as well.
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Not really a fan of Sidisi. He's fine, but I often don't want to be finding the thing that wins me the game for 5 mana--I want to be playing the card that wins me the game. Sometimes this is no problem, but other times it feels like the jankiest tutor.
Sakura Tribe Elder is my favorite. I like the concept of some old-ass snake sacrificing himself so I can cast Ancestral Recall.
I don't have the full cycle of manlands on either friendly or foe, and I'd kinda like to run them as a cycle, so not putting them in until I have a full friend or enemy cycle. Quagmire isn't bad. It's one of the better ones of the recent cycle.
My favorite deathtoucher is still Acidic Slime. Not the strongest card, but solid value.
EDIT: whoops, new card.
I don't have Undead Sidisi, probably wouldn't run him. He's kinda mehhhhh, but any kind of tutoring is potentially strong.
Kinda have to agree with Mystic Snake. Classically good.
Never really liked Sidisi much. Outside of a dedicated sacrifice deck, she wasn't great. The deck that wants the defensive body and tutors the most (control, Wildfire, etc) have too low of a creature count to use her Exploit effectively. She didn't last long.
I think vehicles were a great thing for MTG since it was a creative and powerful spin on equipment. It's not something I see WotC doing all the time, but I love the fact that they did it. If vehicles do become a somewhat recurring theme, I doubt any of them will be as good as Copter / Cruiser. It was definitely a conscious decision to push vehicles in their debut and they over-succeeeded with Copter. I feel Copter getting banned means they'll be extra cautious with any potential equipment / artifacts in the future.
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Flavorwise, I really don't think cars, trains, and helicopters belong in a fantasy environment and I don't think the Crew mechanic particularly captures the flavor of being in a vehicle. If the vehicle gets destroyed, whoever crewing it always emerges unscathed. If you the creature crewing a vehicle gets killed, the vehicle just keeps going like nothing happened. I'm not feeling any of it. It also doesn't help that they pushed the power level of a few of them to the point where they've warped Standard and retail limited. They may have banned Copter in Standard, but I'm really sick of facing down Turn 3 pain trains when I'm on the draw in limited. Because they're so format-defining, I'm happy to run the most iconic vehicles in each of my cubes, but I'm really hoping that the vehicular experiment is one that WotC never revisits so that they eventually remain as curios of a bygone era.
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My main problem with the fleet wheel cruisers flavour is I don't get where it's 5 power comes from, a train hitting for 5 I get, but not so much a dragster. Didn't return to ravnica have some vechicals? It was some kinda of armoured car that was indestructible when it attacked; I could see that being an indestructible vehicle that makes its crew indestructible,
I think vechicals done right could be pretty flavourful, the dragsters and trains are a bit too much for me though. (The cards are solid includes though)
Yeah, that was Armored Transport. In the art it looks more like a robot, but if it's a "transport" I guess someone's riding around inside it. There weren't many artifact creatures in that block, and the only other one that might possibly be considered a vehicle is Street Sweeper, but that definitely looks unmanned to me.
On to the next card. Replacing Ohran Viper, here's someone who probably won't be riding any trains or flying any helicopters anytime soon....
Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
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Agreed. I think I'm a bit more skewed as I support less aggro theaters than some cubers here (no green aggro) but my aggro decks aren't playing a lot of 4s (1-3 at most, with 3 feeling like a lot) and aren't lacking because of that. It doesn't help that my players typically aren't looking to play aggro as well, so if we have 3-4 players, 1 at most will be an aggro deck. It's not bad, Im just not as high on it as others.
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Can't just pick one 2/3 as my favorite.... Liliana, HH / Hanweir Garrison / Reflector Mage are all pretty up there though.
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Favorite 2/3? Catacomb Sifter! I love that little value critter. So many interesting little interactions and gameplay decisons.
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I think my favorite 2/3 creature for the cube is Feldon of the Third Path.
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Sometimes she eats a removal spell right away, sometimes an opponent casts an inferno titan that draws them a card and kills your selvala.
Sometimes she generates 5 mana helps cast an eldrazi on turn 4/5 and draws multiple cards.
I see a lot of focus on her card draw ability. If you look at the statistics , it's clear it's a net positive, although it's a small one. The real strength is in her ability to generate a boat ton of mana AND fix mana perfectly.
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My favorite 2/3 in cube these days is Spell Queller. So far, it's really impressed me, and nothing else does anything quite like it.
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On top of my head, I like Reflector Mage. U/W tempo got a lot more viable recently.
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Hissing Quagmire
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I think Ophiomancer is the best deathtoucher in cube but I think I enjoy Hornet Queen more.
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Wurmcoil Engine, as it's my favorite big creature as well.
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Quagmire can be especially interesting as the threat of activation often carries it (a real rattlesnake card). When it's active your opponents have to think twice about attacking with their biggest guy, if they choose not to (as they often do) you can just spend the mana on an instant EoT.
As far as death touch goes I like Hornet Queen for the sheer ability to stall any board or Vampire Nighthawk for value. Honorary mention to Sidisi.
Grave Titan is my favorite creature with deathtouch despite deathtouch being irrelevant most of the time.
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My favorite cube creature where the deathtouch is relevant is either Baleful Strix or Ophiomancer.
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For rare cubing, it's hard to argue with Baleful Strix, as it's nearly always a 2-for-1. For Peasant cube, I'm always trying out different small deathtouch creatures. In that environment I particularly like Wasteland Viper, as a 1-drop with deathtouch is a solid play on defense at every stage of the game in that environment, and it's a great offensive combat trick. The general of my favorite EDH deck, Glissa, the Traitor, also has deathtouch.
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Baleful Strix is also my favorite deathtouch creature.
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Sidisi, Undead Vizier
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Sidisi is probably fine in larger cubes because black 5-drops are pathetically shallow. I think it's probably the 4th or 5th best one, with Shriekmaw, Custodi Lich, and Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath being clearly better.
I guess Mystic Snake is my favorite snake in Magic, but I've found Coiling Oracle to be really versatile.
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He's not bad in peasant cubes as well.
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Not really a fan of Sidisi. He's fine, but I often don't want to be finding the thing that wins me the game for 5 mana--I want to be playing the card that wins me the game. Sometimes this is no problem, but other times it feels like the jankiest tutor.
Sakura Tribe Elder is my favorite. I like the concept of some old-ass snake sacrificing himself so I can cast Ancestral Recall.
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My favorite deathtoucher is still Acidic Slime. Not the strongest card, but solid value.
EDIT: whoops, new card.
I don't have Undead Sidisi, probably wouldn't run him. He's kinda mehhhhh, but any kind of tutoring is potentially strong.
Kinda have to agree with Mystic Snake. Classically good.
I currently play two snakes in my cube, Sakura-Tribe Elder and Lotus Cobra.
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My favorite snake in MTG is either Mystic Snake or Lotus Cobra.
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