Not gonna lie, I've P1P1'd Stormblood Berserker more times than I feel comfortable admitting. Card's good.
Mountain or Forest. No joke. I love the unglued lands more than any other lands, though Island looks kinda crappy. Mountain and Forest are perfect. Unhinged lands are also up there, but I love the unglued frame, and the fact that they're not washed out with only one color. Been shifting all the land cards in my cube to un-lands, but it's a slow process.
As for promo full art/textless, I like Terror. Great for them getting Spencer to reimagine his original, classic art.
I got a hold of the full-art Stormblood Berserker for my Peasant cube. My 7yo now knows this card by name (and has smashed me in the face with it).
One of my buddies has the full-art Jori En, and it's smexy... but my heart will forever belong to full-art Reclamation Sage...
Consecrated Sphinx is pretty busted. But it's more of a draw engine than a control finisher, since it can't defend itself very well.
My favorite control finishers are Ætherling and Morphling, because they do everything I need a control finisher to do. They protect themselves, they protect me, and they do both of those things while still supplying a quick and reliable clock.
My favorite control finisher is probably Jace, the Mind Sculptor. If a walker doesn't count then it's probably Consecrated Sphinx, as it's a control finisher that also helps you keep ahead in the game.
Consecrated Sphinx is just expensive enough that I'd prefer to trade for it if I can, but I never see it in anyone's trade binder and no one on Pucatrade has seen fit to send it to me yet. Now that it's cracked the Power Rankings, and since I'm seeing so many people singing its praises here I may just pony up and buy it.
I certainly do count planeswalkers as control finishers, and my favorite one is Elspeth, Sun's Champion. It does a great job of protecting itself as well as its controller, and can often take over and end a game quite quickly just by spamming the board with tokens.
Also, since we're talking about a card from the Power Rankings, don't forget to vote in black if you haven't already done so. You only have one day left!
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I'm in the same boat, the Sphinx looks like a lot of fun but slightly out of my cash price range. I also consider drawing 2 cards in a blue deck to be protection, since I'm hopefully drawing counters.
Aetherling is probably my favourite control finisher since he is nigh impossible to kill. I have a fond spot for Meloku the clouded mirror since he/she (?) can poop out for days on offence and defence.
I managed to snag a Sphynx early on when she only cost $5 so I've been able to run her for years. I like the card and it's strong and 10,000% cubable, but she's definitely not a group favorite. Probably because very few control finishers are group favorites because they specialize in making it impossible for the opponent to win, and that tends to make people annoyed during gameplay. This one in particular, with only 4 power tends to take longer to close out games than cards like Aetherling, but is pretty much just as inevitable. All the same I think this is a staple and it will take a lot for me to axe it from my cube.
Got a foil one half a year ago for 40$ and never looked back... The card is so shiny!
It also very powerful, and I love to pick it in cube very early... But also, this card is my main example of why I think Commander ruined everything; cards like this that doesn't see competitive play, should never reach to a ridiculous price tag.
My favorite finisher of all time has to be Cruel Ultimatum. If I have to choose a creature, Inkwell Leviatan, with bonus points if you hard cast it
It seems like Consecrated Sphinx took a while to catch on for cubes for some reason. Maybe I'm remembering that wrong. Mirrodin Besieged was quite some time ago. I'm glad it did, though. It's a kill or be killed type of card. It doesn't protect itself per se, but it draws you two extra cards per turn cycle, which makes protecting it by other means that much easier.
My favorite control finisher is Wurmcoil Engine. I've seen so many games where Wurmcoil just turned the tables immediately. I also have a fondness for Sheoldred, Whispering One, but I know she's a bit of a pet card for my group (and by my group, I mean me).
I really like Stromkirk Noble, I'd say he's close behind Goblin Guide in the red 1-drop section. The "can't be blocked by Humans"-clause is more relevant than most people think at first. He can take over a game fast, if no answer is found to him soon. Also, the one in my cube is prone to show off his Madcap Skills, which has become a meme for my playgroup.
There isn't really am aggro 1-drop I want to get rid off, but I wish there was a modern black border version of Savannah Lions already, because I like to run cards with history like that (they should have been in Eternal Masters, not Elite Vanguard, if you ask me).
[c]Stromkirk Noble is perfectly adequate. The limited evasion comes in handy often enough, and I see this guy get to 2/2 and 3/3 fairly often. I think the largest P/T I saw was 5/5 against a W/x deck with lots of humans.
Stromkirk Noble isn't exactly consistent, but I really like how it has the potential to snowball out of control if not dealt with quickly. One-drops that are must-answer creatures are the kind of card that makes aggro exciting to play and draft, and even though it's less consistent than Jackal Pup or Diregraf Ghoul, it's the kind of one-drop I'd really like to see more of. My only gripe with it as a cube designer is that since it's the only card I run that makes the very commonly retconned Human creature type matter, I find myself paying a lot more attention to which edition of different creatures I run than I'd like to.
I want my aggro one-drops to be exciting on their own, and not just cogs in a necessary critical mass, so Stromkirk Noble's not a card I'm in any particular hurry to replace. Tormented Hero is. It's worse in every way that matters than Savannah Lions or Diregraf Ghoul, with trinket text that has never mattered in any cube match I know of. I also hated the heroic mechanic Theros limited with the fury of 1000 suns, so I resent ever having to see it on any card in my cube. In fact, I think I may have just talked myself into replacing it with Vampire Lacerator right now.
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Image is pretty great and probably a staple at any size.
I hate the new legend rule. It just disturbs me from a flavor perspective that there could be two Meloku or Braids on the same battlefield. Ditto with the 'walkers. Of course, I still liked the original legends rule.
Stromkirk Noble is the next one-drop I have to add. I'm going from 360 to 450 slowly, and at some point I've found myself an aggro one-drop short in each color. Noble seems like a fun form of evasion, and it's cheap enough to try it out and see if I like how it actually plays without being out more than a buck.
Phantasmal Image is a card I actually just added a week ago. It seems sweet and I can't wait to draft it and True-Name Nemesis, which I picked up at the same time. Maybe land those with Master of Waves and Opposition . . . yes.
This legend rule is the only one I've ever played under, so I think it's fine. Flavor-wise the old rule makes more sense, but it seems dumb to screw over gameplay for flavor reasons. I imagine EDH played a big part in the change, too.
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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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Yeah, Image is worth playing any cube size, I think.
I dislike the new legend rule, though I understand why they did it. Back in the day, they rarely reprinted legendary characters/artifacts/etc, and planeswalkers basically had an inherent legendary rule based on the character. Now that they're contractually obligated to redo the same few characters over and over and over and over and over and over and over the old rule is now counter intuitive to the new moneymakers.
Phantasmal Image is very good. I've seen people consistently underrate it. Hell, I've first picked it out of some packs.
I actually like the new legend rule (and, by proxy, the new planeswalker rule). I dislike getting punished for my opponent playing some of the same cards as me. The same logic is why I heavily disliked landwalk and why I'm glad it's been phased out.
Mountain or Forest. No joke. I love the unglued lands more than any other lands, though Island looks kinda crappy. Mountain and Forest are perfect. Unhinged lands are also up there, but I love the unglued frame, and the fact that they're not washed out with only one color. Been shifting all the land cards in my cube to un-lands, but it's a slow process.
As for promo full art/textless, I like Terror. Great for them getting Spencer to reimagine his original, classic art.
One of my buddies has the full-art Jori En, and it's smexy... but my heart will forever belong to full-art Reclamation Sage...
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What's your favorite control finisher?
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Probably in the top three with Snappy and Deadeye Navigator in that realm.
Fave control finisher? Hmm... tough one... I have had a fondness for Steel Hellkite in such situations in the past...
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My favorite control finishers are Ætherling and Morphling, because they do everything I need a control finisher to do. They protect themselves, they protect me, and they do both of those things while still supplying a quick and reliable clock.
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Grave Titan is hard to deal with outside of wraths and he generates a cluttered board.
I certainly do count planeswalkers as control finishers, and my favorite one is Elspeth, Sun's Champion. It does a great job of protecting itself as well as its controller, and can often take over and end a game quite quickly just by spamming the board with tokens.
Also, since we're talking about a card from the Power Rankings, don't forget to vote in black if you haven't already done so. You only have one day left!
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Aetherling is probably my favourite control finisher since he is nigh impossible to kill. I have a fond spot for Meloku the clouded mirror since he/she (?) can poop out for days on offence and defence.
It also very powerful, and I love to pick it in cube very early... But also, this card is my main example of why I think Commander ruined everything; cards like this that doesn't see competitive play, should never reach to a ridiculous price tag.
My favorite finisher of all time has to be Cruel Ultimatum. If I have to choose a creature, Inkwell Leviatan, with bonus points if you hard cast it
@TheGroglord: Meloku the Clouded Mirror is a he.
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My favorite control finisher is Wurmcoil Engine. I've seen so many games where Wurmcoil just turned the tables immediately. I also have a fondness for Sheoldred, Whispering One, but I know she's a bit of a pet card for my group (and by my group, I mean me).
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Favorite control finisher is Aetherling because of how durable it is. If you have the mana, about the only way to kill it is Containment Priest
Stromkirk Noble
BONUS QUESTION
What aggro 1-drop are you most eager to replace?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
There isn't really am aggro 1-drop I want to get rid off, but I wish there was a modern black border version of Savannah Lions already, because I like to run cards with history like that (they should have been in Eternal Masters, not Elite Vanguard, if you ask me).
This would be an example of a 1-drop that I'll be happy replacing. That, and the non-zombie 2-power 1-drops in black that have a drawback.
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I want my aggro one-drops to be exciting on their own, and not just cogs in a necessary critical mass, so Stromkirk Noble's not a card I'm in any particular hurry to replace. Tormented Hero is. It's worse in every way that matters than Savannah Lions or Diregraf Ghoul, with trinket text that has never mattered in any cube match I know of. I also hated the heroic mechanic Theros limited with the fury of 1000 suns, so I resent ever having to see it on any card in my cube. In fact, I think I may have just talked myself into replacing it with Vampire Lacerator right now.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
BONUS QUESTION
What did you think about the change to the Legend rule in M14 making it possible to clone opponents' legends without forcing both to be sacrificed?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I hate the new legend rule. It just disturbs me from a flavor perspective that there could be two Meloku or Braids on the same battlefield. Ditto with the 'walkers. Of course, I still liked the original legends rule.
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Phantasmal Image is a card I actually just added a week ago. It seems sweet and I can't wait to draft it and True-Name Nemesis, which I picked up at the same time. Maybe land those with Master of Waves and Opposition . . . yes.
This legend rule is the only one I've ever played under, so I think it's fine. Flavor-wise the old rule makes more sense, but it seems dumb to screw over gameplay for flavor reasons. I imagine EDH played a big part in the change, too.
EDH: UGEdric
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I dislike the new legend rule, though I understand why they did it. Back in the day, they rarely reprinted legendary characters/artifacts/etc, and planeswalkers basically had an inherent legendary rule based on the character. Now that they're contractually obligated to redo the same few characters over and over and over and over and over and over and over the old rule is now counter intuitive to the new moneymakers.
I still dislike it.
I actually like the new legend rule (and, by proxy, the new planeswalker rule). I dislike getting punished for my opponent playing some of the same cards as me. The same logic is why I heavily disliked landwalk and why I'm glad it's been phased out.
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I'm not a big fan of the new legend rule. The previous one was better, IMO.
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