Terminate is solid but not solid enough to make the cut these days. I had it in my cube at the beginning, but my changelog shows I took it out in the DTK update (for Kolaghan's Command). It had been surviving on nostalgia for a while.
Terminate is a fine card, but with the evolution in the quality of mono-colored removal, I don't think it's quite good enough to justify a multicolor slot anymore.
Terminate is a solid, efficient removal spell. Great choice for any Rakdos deck, but it's the cube slot that it has trouble competing in. Rakdos is stacked to the brim with Daretti / Kolaghan's Command at the top and Dreadbore being a more useful version of Terminate (unless you're not playing walkers). Can never go wrong with 2-mana instant kill any creature. I love the original art / card frame and frown whenever I see anything else in EDH / Cube.
My current Rakdos section is Kolaghan's Command / Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast / Dreadbore / Rakdos Cackler. I really don't see this section changing anytime soon.
Terminate is good, efficent and one of the strongest removals, but the competition in Rakdos is steep and black and red have no shortage of good removals. I like Dreadbore a bit more, and even that card is on the chopping block for me.
I also don't see much reason to run Terminate, Dreadbore does its job much better as it can also hit 'walkers. There isn't any red or black removal spell that hits as many targets as Terminate as efficiently, but there are enough cheap removal spells that hit over 90% of the creatures in the typical cube that Terminate doesn't seem quite so necessary. However, if you want Rakdos to have access to an additional unconditional removal spell, it's the best choice.
Terminate does get there at Peasant, though, and I'm running a foil of the new MM3 version.
In my unpowered cube I'm running the following in my Rakdos section:
I did try Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast, but without enough of dedicated artifact-deck support it was pretty underwhelming as my cube's Rakdos decks skew toward the aggressive, so Olivia, Mobilized for War has been a better fit as well as an additional discard outlet for reanimator decks.
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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.
Flesh Carver is awesome. I remember being blown away when it was spoiled, and I'm still just as impressed. It is so hard to remove completely, and being splashable is awesome. Staple.
My mother makes a pot roast that falls apart in your mouth. It's literally perfect.
As odd as this might sound to some (and predictable to others), I greatly dislike the power and efficiency of Flesh Carver. Splashable, always a 2 for 1, and with even a single piece of fodder to sac to it the card is dumb. I also think Intimidate is a stupid key word. It's fear. Just call it what it is. Here's an example of Wizard's obsession with key words being overkill.
If power is your goal though, it's a slam dunk. Might be black's best 3 drop creature.
Wow, didn't know how much love this guy still gets. I stuck him in my cube when he was new and never looked back but ill have to make an effort to pick him higher next draft.
Other than maybe Ophiomancer, Flesh Carver is the best black 3cc creature. It has evasion, generates card advantage in combat and against removal, it's a sacrifice outlet, it's splashable, and it scales in power as the game progresses. There's nothing I want more from a 3cc creature.
American Waygu beef filet mignon from Wolfgang Puck's CUT steakhouse in Vegas. Cut through it with my fork.
I also have overlooked this card. Probably due to not being in a real set. Seems really good though and I should be looking to pick one up sometime soon.
I hope the next commander set has a few goodies for us. I was not highly impressed with last years personally.
I also have overlooked this card. Probably due to not being in a real set. Seems really good though and I should be looking to pick one up sometime soon.
I hope the next commander set has a few goodies for us. I was not highly impressed with last years personally.
Real set or not, many of our most exciting cards come from Conspiracy and Commander releases these days.
C16 had literally nothing except Ash Barrens for me, and was a huge bust considering how good previous Commander releases have been. I hope they were just focused on pushing the partner and 4-color cards, and that this time they'll push a larger spectrum of cards.
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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
Frankly I don't see how this card could be bad even in theory. It's a 2/2 for 2B with intimadate that can abuse black's recursive creatures to get better and replaces itself when it dies. For 2B. That's unprecedented.
I also have overlooked this card. Probably due to not being in a real set.
A lot of people I draft with tend to undervalue Commander cards, probably because they never get the chance to make waves in Constructed the way so many other cube staples, but it's always worth it to keep an eye out for gems from the cards printed for Commander precons because it's where WoTC can loose a bit to design new cards for eternal formats without having to worry about screwing up Standard and Limited. Flesh Carver's been a great example of that, it's great value, it's easy to abuse, and it can end a game pretty quickly if left unchecked.
I'm a fan of all kinds of meat, but nothing makes my mouth water like southern US style barbecued pork ribs.
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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've had a lot of experienced / active magic players play my cube and not even know X card from Commander / Conspiracy exist. Throwing off players like that is always fun, it's nice to know that I can still surprise seasoned players out of nowhere.
Exhume is not bad. The power of exhume largely relies on 1) having entomb, and 2) how much your players want to run dedicated reanimator since it's inconsistent outside of there. I would run pretty much all the other reanimation spells in a lot of black decks, but exhume really only lands in the dedicated reanimator deck for me. I could see not running it in smaller cubes.
Favorite symmetrical card to break is Upheaval. So ******* good.
Exhume might be the best reanimation spell for dedicated reanimator shells. But it isn't nearly as effective of a value card as most of the other ones are, making it quite a bit more narrow.
Favorite symmetrical card to make asymmetrical is probably Wildfire. But Balance and Upheaval are always near the top of that list.
I've had a lot of experienced / active magic players play my cube and not even know X card from Commander / Conspiracy exist. Throwing off players like that is always fun, it's nice to know that I can still surprise seasoned players out of nowhere.
Back when Urza's was in standard is when I first started branching out and making my first scrarch built deck with a theme and goal, instead of just out of what I had. That deck was black white lifegain and reanimation. Despite being hilariously crappy, I loved that deck, and remember all the cards in it fondly. Exhume was one of those cards. It's not the best reanimator enabler, but dark rit, entomb, exhume is among the best turn 1 plays you can make.
There are a lot of big symmetrical cards, but I'm fond of Innocent Blood. Simple, elegant, quick, and quite strong when used judiciously.
Exhume is one of the 4 playable reanimation spells ever printed that costs less than 3, so if you want to support reanimator decks that can cheat out a fatty in the first two turns this card is indispensable even if there are times it's too dangerous to cast, it's more than worth the risk.
My favorite symmetrical card to break is easily Smokestack. It's slow to get started, but if you have a way to sac an extra permanent or 2 each turn, like a token generator or Rancor, it can create lopsided board states like few other cards.
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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.
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My Rakdos section is currently: Rakdos Cackler, Dreadbore, Vial Smasher the Fierce, Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast, and Kolaghan's Command.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
I currently run Rakdos Cackler, Dreadbore, Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast and Kolaghan's Command in my section, in addition to my BR mana sources.
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!
My current Rakdos section is Kolaghan's Command / Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast / Dreadbore / Rakdos Cackler. I really don't see this section changing anytime soon.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
My Rakdos section is pretty classic:
Rakdos Cackler
Dreadbore
Kolaghan's Command
Falkenrath Aristocrat
Murderous Redcap
Terminate does get there at Peasant, though, and I'm running a foil of the new MM3 version.
In my unpowered cube I'm running the following in my Rakdos section:
I did try Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast, but without enough of dedicated artifact-deck support it was pretty underwhelming as my cube's Rakdos decks skew toward the aggressive, so Olivia, Mobilized for War has been a better fit as well as an additional discard outlet for reanimator decks.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
BONUS QUESTION
What's the best meat you've ever tasted? (Apologies to our vegetarian friends....)
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My mother makes a pot roast that falls apart in your mouth. It's literally perfect.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
If power is your goal though, it's a slam dunk. Might be black's best 3 drop creature.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
American Waygu beef filet mignon from Wolfgang Puck's CUT steakhouse in Vegas. Cut through it with my fork.
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!
Note that Flesh Carver is pretty nutso with Ophiomancer
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
I hope the next commander set has a few goodies for us. I was not highly impressed with last years personally.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
I had some peppered elk that was absolutely fantastic. I would have gotten a ton, but it was like $8 for a sandwich's worth.
Real set or not, many of our most exciting cards come from Conspiracy and Commander releases these days.
C16 had literally nothing except Ash Barrens for me, and was a huge bust considering how good previous Commander releases have been. I hope they were just focused on pushing the partner and 4-color cards, and that this time they'll push a larger spectrum of cards.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Best piece of meat is a tie between a Waygu beef steak and a Galloway beef steak I had in two different steak houses here in town.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
A lot of people I draft with tend to undervalue Commander cards, probably because they never get the chance to make waves in Constructed the way so many other cube staples, but it's always worth it to keep an eye out for gems from the cards printed for Commander precons because it's where WoTC can loose a bit to design new cards for eternal formats without having to worry about screwing up Standard and Limited. Flesh Carver's been a great example of that, it's great value, it's easy to abuse, and it can end a game pretty quickly if left unchecked.
I'm a fan of all kinds of meat, but nothing makes my mouth water like southern US style barbecued pork ribs.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Exhume
BONUS QUESTION
What's your favorite symmetrical card to break?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Favorite symmetrical card to break is Upheaval. So ******* good.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Favorite symmetrical card to make asymmetrical is probably Wildfire. But Balance and Upheaval are always near the top of that list.
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!
My favorite card to break the symmetry on is Balance, probably because I've been doing it for over 20 years.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
arachnogenesis always gets people in my cube haha
There are a lot of big symmetrical cards, but I'm fond of Innocent Blood. Simple, elegant, quick, and quite strong when used judiciously.
My favorite symmetrical card to break is easily Smokestack. It's slow to get started, but if you have a way to sac an extra permanent or 2 each turn, like a token generator or Rancor, it can create lopsided board states like few other cards.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.