Bloodbraid Elf is probably my favorite card in cube. It creates so many feel good moments, that don't inherently feel that awful to be up against. With the singleton nature of cube, it's not as easy to make sure that it's always backbreaking but at the same time I'm never disappointed when I cast it.
It's going to take Magic going in a really weird direction for me to ever cut BBE.
Bonus Answer - I've only ever seen a few waterfalls, Niagra and a backwoods one near where I used to live in Japan. Niagra Falls was certainly very impressive, but I don't know that I'd call it beautiful. The one in Japan was very pretty, but I only every really caught it in quick glimpses on a train.
I love cascade, like seriously love it. Shardless agent suffers in cube in my opinion due to its uncanny ability to whiff out a counterspell. Bituminous Blast doesn't compete on the power level required to make a guild slot and Maelstrom Wanderer is just too ridiculous to cube.
Bloodbraid Elf is just perfect though. Hard to think of many cards further from being cut than BBE. (On a side note, I would LOVE to see it unbanned in modern.... but that's another discussion for another forum)
Cascade is usually kinda meh in the cube or EDH, but I love it anyways. When shards of Alara came out, I was one of the first guys in my area to start playing jund cascade/aggro, and been in love with it ever since. Bloodbath elves are among my favorite magic cards of all time.
Been to Niagra, and seen a few small ones that don't have names.
Bloodbraid being an aggressive creature doesn't help it much in a cube where aggro doesn't exist. I've considered it, but it's mostly just cascade at that point. It's a really good card, but I guess it kinda just doesn't belong there.
Been to Niagra a couple times, and it's a really cool place, but I guess it's not my kind of beauty in a waterfall. I prefer something smaller and more intimate. I dunno, that's probably an overly-romantic viewpoint for something like a waterfall, though.
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Check out the thread for my cube if you have the time, and tell me how terrible it is.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
I think it would be a mistake to think of Bloodbraid Elf as only slotting into aggro decks. Just because it has haste doesn't mean you have to attack with it the turn it comes down. I run Bloodbraid Elf in one of my own EDH decks, where it's most likely to Cascade up a ramp, draw, or removal spell. The value of getting an extra card that gets cast for free really shouldn't be overlooked even in slower formats.
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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.
Bloodbraid Elf is great. As green aggro is not supported in my cube, it is not clearly better than Atarka. However, aggro decks do splash green for it, it is strong enough to be worth it.
I've been to Niagara falls and they are the most impressive waterfalls I've seen. But the most beautiful are at Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia.
Tokens in red did not have enough consistency and payoff at 720 and did not survive in my cube, with Purphoros thrown out with them. I'm an atheist.
My cube doesn't have enough red devotion for Purphoros, but he's still a house. We play token0centric strategies in almost every color combination, so Purphoros usually always finds a player willing to scoop him up.
I am not a religious person at all. I'm more or less an agnostic; live and let live when it comes to religion.
There is plenty of opportunity to have incidental devotion to Red in my cube, through Eidolon of the Great Revel, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Pia and Kiran Nalaar etc. However, this card produces his highest damage output in a token strategy, which doesn't necessarily lend itself to devotion.
I think that asking a question about religion on a web forum is tantamount to inviting a flame war, but much like wtwlf I am an agnostic who does not judge others for their beliefs. My personal philosophy is that I should live my life within the confines of my own moral code/ compass. If once I die there is an afterlife, I would like to be judged for my actions, not by whether or not I subscribed to the correct religious body.
Tokens are primary W/G and secondary B/R in my cube. He's mainly used in that deck for obvious reasons, as well as being a part-time curve topper for heavy red aggro decks. Purphoros can deal insane amounts of damage each turn, generally equating to at least a one-sided Sulfuric Vortex since the average deck running it will be producing at least one critter per turn.
My personal philosophy is that I should live my life within the confines of my own moral code/ compass. If once I die there is an afterlife, I would like to be judged for my actions, not by whether or not I subscribed to the correct religious body.
You and I have the exact same personal belief. We can go into things deeper if we wish, but as you say ...this isn't the proper channel for these kinds of discussions.
I love Purphoros. I can't remember whose cube has the custom card Collapsing Plane, but other than that, I can't think of a better red payoff card for tokens. There are lots of WR token possibilities in my cube, and every color has cards that could conceivably be paired with Purphoros.
Nonreligious and, most of the time, nonjudgmental.
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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
I've heard tales of the power of the Forge God, but finding a slot at 360 is quite hard, as even token strategies themselves are slightly less focused, leaning more towards weenie or aggro builds with token support. I may try him in the future.
I am closest to a Deist, believing that there MUST be more after human death. Something. As long as I believe that, I can sleep at night and go to the movies and play magic with friends and be totally fine! Also, ditto to the moral compass comment.
Purphoros lasted the longest out of any of the gods I tried, and since I built my cube from scratch during Theros block I tried quite a few, but I ultimately found Purphoros to be too narrow and clunky to survive the competition for red 4s at 450. Pia and Kirran Nalaar, Hero of Oxid Ridge, and Hellrider support anthem decks and other aggro strategies quite nicely while casting Purphoros on curve is usually essentially taking turn 4 off. My remaining red 4-drops are FTK, Sneak Attack, and Splinter Twin.
Even though I don't think gods work for cube, I do admire the way WoTC conceptualized the gods as a game mechanic - requiring constant devotion to exist in tangible form while providing subtle effects for "non-believers", and ultimately proving unreliable to mere mortals most of the time.
I think that asking a question about religion on a web forum is tantamount to inviting a flame war
So far so good on that front, and apologies to anyone who the question makes uncomfortable. I try to keep the questions in theme with the card, and this one leaves religion and metalworking as the only themes to riff on, so here we are. I was dragged to Methodist and Baptist churches growing up, but religion just stopped making sense to me at a pretty young age. I'm not shy about being an atheist, but I don't care to change anyone else's mind about any faith they may have. If it works for you, keep it up, and we'll all find out who's right about the afterlife soon enough.
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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.
Didn't like purphoros at first, but then I kept on losing to it and now I like it quite a bit. Won't throw it into every red deck but it's stellar in the ones where it belongs.
Not one bit religious; too many questions about *if* there was a god why would he/she/it let abc and xyz occur? I get that he's supposed to be testing us or some *****, but some of these 'tests' that people go through are ****ed up. At the same time, I'm not staunchly against religion because there is a LOT of good that comes out of it. I do research into free or low cost medical centers for my work, and the number of centers that are only in existence because their founders think Jesus would want that is astounding, and if it takes Jesus or Allah or Cthulu for some people to do the right thing without question then, ******* a, how can I say it's a bad thing? There is of course bad that comes from religion, but all things in life come with the good and the bad.
I think that asking a question about religion on a web forum is tantamount to inviting a flame war, but much like wtwlf I am an agnostic who does not judge others for their beliefs. My personal philosophy is that I should live my life within the confines of my own moral code/ compass. If once I die there is an afterlife, I would like to be judged for my actions, not by whether or not I subscribed to the correct religious body.
Things get more heated around here if you get into the singleton/non-singleton discussion.
I have Purphoros in a bunch of EDH decks, but I don't run any of the gods in the cube. I considered Athreos, but I thihk Purphoros is a combo piece, and my cube doesn't really have enough combo pieces to support him as he deserves.
I am a strongly religious, non-denominational Christian.
I enjoy Purphoros, he doesn't ask a whole lot to be good and isn't often a very early pick up for red. When I want him, I can get him and when I want him, he's REALLY good. Even as a 23rd card if I really screwed up my draft, he'll probably get in a bit of work as well. He hits the required amount of "fun" to justify his slot in my 450.
I like Purphoros quite a bit. He doesn't see a ton of play, but when he does make the final 40 he's very powerful in those decks.
I'm not religious at all, which is often kind of awkward living in Tennessee (and working for a bank). It's not uncommon for religion to come up in conversation in this area because most people just assume that you share their same beliefs. I don't normally draw attention to my beliefs (or lack thereof), though, unless it seems necessary for some reason. I try to live by a single mantra: don't be a dick. If you can just be a generally good person, you'll be just fine in life, no matter what your religion is.
I have Purphoros in a bunch of EDH decks, but I don't run any of the gods in the cube. I considered Athreos, but I thihk Purphoros is a combo piece, and my cube doesn't really have enough combo pieces to support him as he deserves.
I am a strongly religious, non-denominational Christian.
And Johnny nath's me on both fronts.
(Though, to be fair, I tend to shun the word "religious"... it's the difference between living by and enforcing a bazillion moral rules and obligations... and just living by the golden rule)
Purphoros is a total house and won't leave my cube for a long time. There are enough army in a can creatures and repeated ETB effects that it isn't so much a combo piece as a card that has synergy with quite a few different strategies. I love playing it and then either dropping Siege Gang or Hermit (or soon to be the new angel). Also, the activated ability half anthem comes up quite a bit. I don't think I have ever seen it turn into a creature though. Maybe once? Doesn't matter when it is such a house in the token decks, blink decks, and other places.
Not religious at all as much as I am spiritual. I have a more low key idea of how that all works and think it is more about the energy of everything than some thinking being with a plan. I used to actively talk into it, both with people and whatever it is out there, but now I kind of just let it be.
I like Purphoros, his damage output can be through the roof in the right shells. While he has a great, winning temperament, I don't prioritize drafting Purphoros and decide to go into tokens, but I'll scoop him up immediately once I know I'm going tokens.
It's going to take Magic going in a really weird direction for me to ever cut BBE.
Bonus Answer - I've only ever seen a few waterfalls, Niagra and a backwoods one near where I used to live in Japan. Niagra Falls was certainly very impressive, but I don't know that I'd call it beautiful. The one in Japan was very pretty, but I only every really caught it in quick glimpses on a train.
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Bloodbraid Elf is just perfect though. Hard to think of many cards further from being cut than BBE. (On a side note, I would LOVE to see it unbanned in modern.... but that's another discussion for another forum)
Been to Niagra, and seen a few small ones that don't have names.
Been to Niagra a couple times, and it's a really cool place, but I guess it's not my kind of beauty in a waterfall. I prefer something smaller and more intimate. I dunno, that's probably an overly-romantic viewpoint for something like a waterfall, though.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Purphoros, God of the Forge
BONUS QUESTION
How religious are you?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I've been to Niagara falls and they are the most impressive waterfalls I've seen. But the most beautiful are at Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia.
Tokens in red did not have enough consistency and payoff at 720 and did not survive in my cube, with Purphoros thrown out with them. I'm an atheist.
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I am not a religious person at all. I'm more or less an agnostic; live and let live when it comes to religion.
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 think that asking a question about religion on a web forum is tantamount to inviting a flame war, but much like wtwlf I am an agnostic who does not judge others for their beliefs. My personal philosophy is that I should live my life within the confines of my own moral code/ compass. If once I die there is an afterlife, I would like to be judged for my actions, not by whether or not I subscribed to the correct religious body.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
You and I have the exact same personal belief. We can go into things deeper if we wish, but as you say ...this isn't the proper channel for these kinds of discussions.
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!
Nonreligious and, most of the time, nonjudgmental.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I am closest to a Deist, believing that there MUST be more after human death. Something. As long as I believe that, I can sleep at night and go to the movies and play magic with friends and be totally fine! Also, ditto to the moral compass comment.
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
Even though I don't think gods work for cube, I do admire the way WoTC conceptualized the gods as a game mechanic - requiring constant devotion to exist in tangible form while providing subtle effects for "non-believers", and ultimately proving unreliable to mere mortals most of the time.
So far so good on that front, and apologies to anyone who the question makes uncomfortable. I try to keep the questions in theme with the card, and this one leaves religion and metalworking as the only themes to riff on, so here we are. I was dragged to Methodist and Baptist churches growing up, but religion just stopped making sense to me at a pretty young age. I'm not shy about being an atheist, but I don't care to change anyone else's mind about any faith they may have. If it works for you, keep it up, and we'll all find out who's right about the afterlife soon enough.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Not one bit religious; too many questions about *if* there was a god why would he/she/it let abc and xyz occur? I get that he's supposed to be testing us or some *****, but some of these 'tests' that people go through are ****ed up. At the same time, I'm not staunchly against religion because there is a LOT of good that comes out of it. I do research into free or low cost medical centers for my work, and the number of centers that are only in existence because their founders think Jesus would want that is astounding, and if it takes Jesus or Allah or Cthulu for some people to do the right thing without question then, ******* a, how can I say it's a bad thing? There is of course bad that comes from religion, but all things in life come with the good and the bad.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Things get more heated around here if you get into the singleton/non-singleton discussion.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
I am a strongly religious, non-denominational Christian.
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Cubetutor
I'm not religious at all, which is often kind of awkward living in Tennessee (and working for a bank). It's not uncommon for religion to come up in conversation in this area because most people just assume that you share their same beliefs. I don't normally draw attention to my beliefs (or lack thereof), though, unless it seems necessary for some reason. I try to live by a single mantra: don't be a dick. If you can just be a generally good person, you'll be just fine in life, no matter what your religion is.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
And Johnny nath's me on both fronts.
(Though, to be fair, I tend to shun the word "religious"... it's the difference between living by and enforcing a bazillion moral rules and obligations... and just living by the golden rule)
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Not religious at all as much as I am spiritual. I have a more low key idea of how that all works and think it is more about the energy of everything than some thinking being with a plan. I used to actively talk into it, both with people and whatever it is out there, but now I kind of just let it be.
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BONUS QUESTION
What burn spell do you play most often when you cube?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.