Easily one of the best green cards in the cube. Early game acts similar to a cheap ramp spell by getting a mana dork, mid game picks up a utility creature or problem solver, late game can drop the hammer.
It's one of the best tools in black for midrange decks to grind out long-game card advantage in an otherwise bad control matchup. And it's quite passable in other situations. Still a clutch inclusion, IMO.
I used to follow boxing, but not for a long while now.
I still like arena a lot, it's slow but I'm usually a slower deck if I'm in black so it doesn't annoy me that much.
I don't follow sports, but occasionally I work at sporting events. Wrestling would be the only "sport" I follow, and even then its once or twice a year.
I like Arena a lot more in theory than in practice. It's a classic card that feels like it has to be included, but then so was Genesis. I'll keep playing it, probably for a long while, but it's slow and only good against control. I do love the original Mercadian Masques copy. That art plus the amazing old black frame and especially the font ... they don't make Magic cards that look that good anymore, I don't think.
I'm basically a pacifist and don't really care to watch people beat the tar out of one another. I remember being at a hockey game in my early teens and watching a fight, and as staff came out to chip away the bloody ice, the whole endeavor just felt stupid to me.
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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 love Arena (clearly), but feel like it's time is running out. It's missed more and more MDs as there are too many matches where doing nothing on turn three and then paying life to get anything means you lose. It still pops up here and there and I have enough love for it to never want to remove it, but being realistic is important and one day Arena will be out :'(
I used to really like that *****, but there is so much turn over and massive gaps in fight times that it's hard to keep up with if I'm only picking it up here and there. Plus people who are generally really into combat sports are kind of douchebags. This is of course a generalization--some of my best, nicest friends are hugely into combat sports--but I try not to surround myself with ******* idiots and asses and a lot of fight fans are ******* idiots and asses.
It's killer in the midrange vs control matchup but not useful elsewhere. Great in that matchup and I'm still happy to run it. However, I can see the day coming when it will be cut.
arena is one of my favourites but it just isnt making the cut in decks these days. sad times. it's been on the radar for cuts for a while. good to see others with similar thoughts.
I still really like Phyrexian Arena (old border Apoc foil, ftw). It does exactly what it says and two cards a turn is pretty good, even when it costs you a life. It's a great midrange card and a fine control card.
I don't follow any sports closely, but I do enjoy watching UFC when given the chance.
Phyrexian Arena doesn't make the cut for me any more at 450/465 either. Double black, not impacting the board at all the turn it comes down and needing a full two turns before actually providing card advantage have all left it on the outside looking in for me. Black has no shortage of other ways to provide card advantage that impacts the board directly with 187 creatures, reanimation effects, board wipes and token generation.
I dig original Apocalypse art as well as the art on the 8th/9th edition reprints, so I don't think you can really go wrong with either one, but what's up with that 8th Edition reminder text about what the upkeep step means?
I'm not big on sports in general, and bloody combat sports make me cringe. At my local expat bar UFC has a pretty hardcore following, so a lot of the time it's playing on the big screen TVs, and I can't stand seeing half naked people covered in blood while I'm trying to get my drink on. In college, I took an Olympic style foil-fencing class and wasn't particularly good at it but I really enjoyed it. It was great stress relief, and almost impossible for anyone to get hurt. I'd do that again.
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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.
Monolith is a chill dude. It's definitely no Dynamo, but it's good for bumping up your mana, even if it needs to be reset. It theoretically combos, but I don't have rings in my cube and I can't think of anything else I'd have that'd go infinite with it. Brago looooves basalt monolith in the same way that he loves mana vault. It's not close to the cutting board at the moment, at any rate. (Although my colorless section goes far deeper than most.) Not sure how it works out in a regular cube.
That is one doozy of a question. I feel like Star Wars doesn't count, since it's really fantasy with a sci-fi veneer.
I can't answer this. There's too many great classics and they're too diverse. It's also reminding me that there's a lot of classic sci-fi movies that I still need to watch. I haven't seen Blade Runner and I'm just ashamed.
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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)
If your deck is playing multiple 6+cc cards, Monoloth is certainly a powerful way to get them out early. But that's largely the only role it plays, since the mana can't be used every turn and the cost/mana-generation ratio doesn't do anything absurd. I like it for big mana decks and ramp shells, but it's not the kind of card I casually toss into any ol' midrange or control deck.
Blade Runner is by far my favorite sci-fi movie (and one of my favorite films of all time). Assuming that The Empire Strikes Back can't be used, of course, since it's almost more fantasy than sci-fi. I'm also pretty partial to Alien and Aliens, but the former is arguably more horror, and the second is arguably more action/adventure.
It's a fine card for the reasons other users stated, but also important to note it's an auto-include if you run Wake Thrasher as that's an infinite P/T combo.
Children of Men is one of my favorite movies. Awesome premise and amazing use of long shots--the last scenes are some of the coolest/most intense.
I like Monolith but I think it misses the cut at 450.
Blade Runner is my favorite movie, period. Other sci-fi films I love (excluding Star Wars because of the fantasy criticism) are Alien, Children of Men, the original The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Wrath of Khan, and, for it's utter WTFedness, Primer. You need to watch Primer at least twice to really get it and I love that about it.
I like it and will probably keep running it for a long time. Explosive ramp card for the right deck and together with Wake Thrasher part of the only infinite combo I run in my cube.
I hate picking favorites when I comes to movies, let me just point out Children of Men and Moon as two lesser known Sci-Fi movies that I really enjoyed.
Basalt Monolith is such a throwback card for me I cannot see cutting it ever...I wonder if they will make a 2 cmc version?
They already have! Grim Monolith has me covered so far as this kind of effect goes, but if I ever decide that it's too good I'll downgrade to Basalt Monolith.
If I did run it, I'd pretty much have to run the Revised edition. I don't want anything with the obsolete "Mono Artifact" in the type line, but I also can't stand running new silver-frame artifacts when there's an old frame version available.
My favorite sci-fi movie of all time is the original Terminator. Like Alien, it's just as much a horror movie as it is sci-fi, and it's an absolute nail-biter from start to finish. I dug the sequels, but none really ever held a candle to the original.
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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 Basalt Monolith but not enough to run it in my own cube.
Top 10 Sci Fi Movies:
1. Children of Men
2. The Thing
3. T2
4. 12 Monkeys
5. Wall-E
6. Akira
7. Brazil
8. Mad Max: Fury Road
9. The 5th Element
10. Aliens
Basalt Monolith is like the exact power level of mana ramp I want in cube. Really powerful, would be banned in Modern, but not so broken as to be a "mistake" or to cause hard feelings after a game.
Cutttups gave a really solid list I think. Aliens is my all-time favorite movie, and Terminator 2 is a close second. Akira is a great movie, but the graphic novel is sooo much better.
I'm not a fan of Rituals in cube and I see Basalt Monolith as a delayed, rebuyable Ritual. It can give you an unfairly fast start... or be a much worse Thran Dynamo. I'd rather stick to the slightly slower, but more reliable mana producers.
I don't like Tolarian Academy for similar reasons. In the right deck, it acts as super fast mana which I try to avoid in my unpowered cube.
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Favorite science fiction movies are The Matrix (watched 10+ times) and The 5th Element (watched 5 or 6 times). I recently saw Ex Machina, which is a really good non-action sci-fi movie.
I think my favorite card that is banned in Legacy (and thus from the Legacy cube) is Survival of the Fittest. Really useful for a variety of decks. Plus, pretty sick artwork (Edit: I mean the original art).
Phyrexian Arena
BONUS QUESTION
Do you enjoy combat-based sports (ex. boxing, wrestling, UFC, martial arts, fencing, etc.)?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I used to follow boxing, but not for a long while now.
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 don't follow sports, but occasionally I work at sporting events. Wrestling would be the only "sport" I follow, and even then its once or twice a year.
I'm basically a pacifist and don't really care to watch people beat the tar out of one another. I remember being at a hockey game in my early teens and watching a fight, and as staff came out to chip away the bloody ice, the whole endeavor just felt stupid to me.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I used to really like that *****, but there is so much turn over and massive gaps in fight times that it's hard to keep up with if I'm only picking it up here and there. Plus people who are generally really into combat sports are kind of douchebags. This is of course a generalization--some of my best, nicest friends are hugely into combat sports--but I try not to surround myself with ******* idiots and asses and a lot of fight fans are ******* idiots and asses.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
I don't follow any sports at all.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
I dont care for fighting sports.
I don't follow any sports closely, but I do enjoy watching UFC when given the chance.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
I dig original Apocalypse art as well as the art on the 8th/9th edition reprints, so I don't think you can really go wrong with either one, but what's up with that 8th Edition reminder text about what the upkeep step means?
I'm not big on sports in general, and bloody combat sports make me cringe. At my local expat bar UFC has a pretty hardcore following, so a lot of the time it's playing on the big screen TVs, and I can't stand seeing half naked people covered in blood while I'm trying to get my drink on. In college, I took an Olympic style foil-fencing class and wasn't particularly good at it but I really enjoyed it. It was great stress relief, and almost impossible for anyone to get hurt. I'd do that again.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Basalt Monolith
BONUS QUESTION
What's your all time favorite sci-fi movie?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
That is one doozy of a question. I feel like Star Wars doesn't count, since it's really fantasy with a sci-fi veneer.
I can't answer this. There's too many great classics and they're too diverse. It's also reminding me that there's a lot of classic sci-fi movies that I still need to watch. I haven't seen Blade Runner and I'm just ashamed.
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)
Blade Runner is by far my favorite sci-fi movie (and one of my favorite films of all time). Assuming that The Empire Strikes Back can't be used, of course, since it's almost more fantasy than sci-fi. I'm also pretty partial to Alien and Aliens, but the former is arguably more horror, and the second is arguably more action/adventure.
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!
Children of Men is one of my favorite movies. Awesome premise and amazing use of long shots--the last scenes are some of the coolest/most intense.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Blade Runner is my favorite movie, period. Other sci-fi films I love (excluding Star Wars because of the fantasy criticism) are Alien, Children of Men, the original The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Wrath of Khan, and, for it's utter WTFedness, Primer. You need to watch Primer at least twice to really get it and I love that about it.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
I hate picking favorites when I comes to movies, let me just point out Children of Men and Moon as two lesser known Sci-Fi movies that I really enjoyed.
My favorite Sci-Fi movie has gotta be Lord of the Rings.
Hate to be that guy, but wouldn't that technically be fantasy? (More specifically high-fantasy)
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
Favorite Sci-fi movie is the original Star Wars trilogy.
They already have! Grim Monolith has me covered so far as this kind of effect goes, but if I ever decide that it's too good I'll downgrade to Basalt Monolith.
If I did run it, I'd pretty much have to run the Revised edition. I don't want anything with the obsolete "Mono Artifact" in the type line, but I also can't stand running new silver-frame artifacts when there's an old frame version available.
My favorite sci-fi movie of all time is the original Terminator. Like Alien, it's just as much a horror movie as it is sci-fi, and it's an absolute nail-biter from start to finish. I dug the sequels, but none really ever held a candle to the original.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Top 10 Sci Fi Movies:
1. Children of Men
2. The Thing
3. T2
4. 12 Monkeys
5. Wall-E
6. Akira
7. Brazil
8. Mad Max: Fury Road
9. The 5th Element
10. Aliens
Draft my cube!
Watch me stream!
Cutttups gave a really solid list I think. Aliens is my all-time favorite movie, and Terminator 2 is a close second. Akira is a great movie, but the graphic novel is sooo much better.
Tolarian Academy
BONUS QUESTION
What's your favorite cube card that's been banned from other formats?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I don't like Tolarian Academy for similar reasons. In the right deck, it acts as super fast mana which I try to avoid in my unpowered cube.
...
Favorite science fiction movies are The Matrix (watched 10+ times) and The 5th Element (watched 5 or 6 times). I recently saw Ex Machina, which is a really good non-action sci-fi movie.
I think my favorite card that is banned in Legacy (and thus from the Legacy cube) is Survival of the Fittest. Really useful for a variety of decks. Plus, pretty sick artwork (Edit: I mean the original art).
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG