I used to run Boon Satyr, then replaced it with Troll Ascetic, and now I'm running Managorger Hydra as my 3cc green beater of choice. Easier casting cost, eventual evasion, and plus it's fun. Satyr was fine but that's all, and I like running more interesting cards unless they're just so hyperefficient that I can't get around it.
Combat tricks in cube? Well, there are lots of blue bounce spells, a few tuck effects, red burn, black edicts and targeted kill spells, the usual morphs in each color, and my new favorite, Selfless Spirit ... but nothing like Berserk. I used to run Ghor-Clan Rampager, but I hated that card so much.
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I ran Boon Satyr briefly. It's OK but nothing amazing. I wouldn't fault anyone in a cube of 630+ cards from running it just to fill slots. Obviously, if your cube has any kind of enchantment theme, this gets much better.
I wish there were combat tricks good enough for cube, but for the most part there aren't. Vines of Vastwood and Mutagenic Growth are passable. Removal and bounce can fill that role to some extent. Also, Disenchant and Smash to Smithereens can sometimes be combat tricks when you crack someone's SoFI during an attack.
I run Boon Satyr because (A) flash creatures are a really nice tool to make green creature decks a bit more multi-dimensional and (B) it is one of the few cubable combat tricks. He is ok, but not great. Always on the brink of being cut, but still holding its ground.
I tried it in my cube after it won me a standard tournament with Mono Green Devotion deck. Sadly, it cost way too much to compete with the crazy things you can do in cube, and 2 thoughness really hurt it. I still own a foil copy of it tho
Combat tricks... I had Vines of Vastwood and Harm's Way for like 7 years... they were great untill Wizards decided to print some nuts creatures so those combat tricks were the first cards to be cut.
Boon Satyr is a fine card, but the 1GG cost kept it out of a lot of the lists that would actually want such a card, and it was ultimately replaced. If your green beatdown decks are often GG/x shells, Satyr is an awesome guy. But ultimately the mana cost proved too prohibitive for what our typical green aggro shells look like.
I always want to include more combat tricks, but so few of them are actually good enough. I'm always hoping for more modal spells that can double as combat tricks.
I've actually been fairly impressed with Boon Satyr in more "fair" cubes. It can usually blow out combat in your favor gets you value even if the bestow target is killed out from under you, which is a big deal to me. As it is now though, he has not made the cut in mine.
I tend not to use combat tricks. I do like Wretched Confluence as a psuedo trick since it's just such a powerful value card to begin with. I dislike putting straight combat tricks in my cubes because they tend to only be used by certain decks. I'd rather put in cards that have a wider range.
The problem with combat tricks is that they by definition require you to have another card in play. By extension, they often demand that your opponent be unable to interact with them as well. Boon Satyr and Ghor-Clan Rampager get around that by also being relatively efficient creatures.
You can do so many powerful things in cube that there's not much need for cards that are directly dependent on one another unless they are allowing broken stuff, and combat tricks don't do that.
I run Boon Satyr right now, but he always gets the eye when I'm changing things around, and I don't think he'll last much longer.
I ran Boon Satyr and cut it, looking at my list, I have no idea whyr... now I'm thinking about adding it back in. I run a host of heroic cards and +1/+1 counters matter cards so Boon Satyr would fit in nicely.
All the tricks I run generally do something else that synergizes with my archetypes. I don't run cards like Giant Growth for instance.
I really like Boon Satyr and has a very brief stay in my cube and did not even appear. There are lots of powerful creatures in cube for sure but the combat trick aspect can be great. I am always considering him to return.
I don't run combat tricks in cube, and perhaps that is the reason I want to add a few decent ones.
I ran Boon Satyr, but ultimately it didn't last because as a creature it trades down too easily because it only has 2 power, meaning that it was too often a lousy play for 3. I've often said that green really needs to have quality 3-drop beaters, so if it were a 3/3 that Bestowed for +3/+3. I think this creature would be excellent. As printed, it doesn't quite cut it as a 4/2. One point of toughness makes a huge difference.
As a few people have already mentioned, there just isn't a place in most high-power cubes for classic combat tricks because they are too situational and in an environment with a lot of cheap instant speed removal there's too much potential for blowouts. I think there's something to be said for dedicating few cube slots to combat tricks, but it does mean sacrificing power to do so.
Boon Satyr was okay, but that 1GG casting cost was a huge hurdle since green is usually the tertiary color in a green aggro deck. A 3/3 for 2G with Bestow 2GG would've been really good, but it didn't last very long the way he is. If I were to play another green 3-drop, I'd probably put Tireless Tracker in before Boon Satyr.
I don't play any Giant Growth effects, but I did play Mutagenic Growth for a while. I always consider creatures with flash as combat tricks for the cube, with Restoration Angel / Archangel Avacyn being the two best ones. Wish I had space for Great Oak Guardian in my cube....
Xenagos is so incredibly underrated in multiplayer - he stays alive long enough to ramp into oblivion there. I don't know how he's still only $4 a copy.
That said, I ultimated him once... never again...
He's in my six-wide Gruul section next to Sarkhan Vol and Huntmaster of the Fells. So I've got three 4-drops, and they account for 50% of my guild (and I could probably stand to drop one of the others for BBE, too, even in Multiplayer). One day, they'll print some decent 3-drops not named Domri Rade...
Nothing adds pressure like repeated 2/2 hastes. Insane in g/r aggro or fast midrange, essential in or against midrange decks, as haste is the pw bullet keyword around here.
I'd rank him second in gruul after bbe, and before sarkhan. Sarkhan is busted or worthless whereas xenagos is neat to great. Wish there was a satyrblossom, I'd play that.
He's good but rarely amazing. Like so many other cards, looks bad compared to the new Chandra. The increase of 2/3s in cube hurts him. He performed much better than Sarkhan Vol here, but I am thinking of cutting the reveler to give Huntmaster of the Fells a second run.
I am running BBE, Xenagos and Arlinn Kord. I find that besides BBE, the next three in line are close in powerlevel.
I like Xenagos quite a bit, especially in ramp or as an aggro curve topper. But I also like him in a weird Wildfire variant that plays all the mana dorks, Xenagos, casts Wildfire on T4 or so, and then acts as the threat thereafter. It's pretty versatile. I get that Sarkhan Vol has a unique set of abilities, but that seems like a strike against it rather than for it. I'd be way more interested in Vol if I ran a Fires archetype, for instance. But alone, he just seems lonely. Xenagos fits into way more existing decks.
My Gruul section is: Tattermunge, Bloodbraid, Xenagos, and Atarka. If I stop supporting or pretending to support green aggro, Tattermunge will go and be replaced by . . . something? Help us out, Wizards.
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I am a bit addicted to 4 drop enchantments that keep pumping out 2/2's. The haste is a nice bonus, but not often important. I decided to keep him and cut Huntmaster when Arlinn Kord came out, due to their incredible similarity. Every so often I wonder if Domri Rade would be better in Xenagos's slot...but I don't think he is. That's mainly my cube conscience bothering my about my 4 drops. I run... 4... But Rampager is LIKE a 2 drop!!
Xenagos is fantastic. He supports both ramp and tokens and can cheat out fatties. A deck with Xenagos, See The Unwritten and Eldrazi is beastly. I love Xenagos and can't see replacing him anytime soo (though I run a M14-Present day cube).
I like Xenagos, but the 4 cost spot for gruul is extremely competitive, taking up most of my gruul cards. Been trying to avoid letting it all clump up on it.
As far as Xenagos, he's my favorite Gruul planeswalker, and the one I happen to have a copy of, but I don't know for sure how to rank him against the numerous other options.
I actually quite like Xenagos. He's an interesting design for a planeswalker and repeatedly pumping out hasters is actually a very scary thing for a fair amount of decks.
He's one of two RG four drops in mine: Him and BBE. In fact, those are the only pure Gruul cards in my cube (barring Raging Ravine). I just don't find them all that interesting tbh.
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Combat tricks in cube? Well, there are lots of blue bounce spells, a few tuck effects, red burn, black edicts and targeted kill spells, the usual morphs in each color, and my new favorite, Selfless Spirit ... but nothing like Berserk. I used to run Ghor-Clan Rampager, but I hated that card so much.
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I wish there were combat tricks good enough for cube, but for the most part there aren't. Vines of Vastwood and Mutagenic Growth are passable. Removal and bounce can fill that role to some extent. Also, Disenchant and Smash to Smithereens can sometimes be combat tricks when you crack someone's SoFI during an attack.
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As true combat tricks, I currently run:
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
Combat tricks... I had Vines of Vastwood and Harm's Way for like 7 years... they were great untill Wizards decided to print some nuts creatures so those combat tricks were the first cards to be cut.
I always want to include more combat tricks, but so few of them are actually good enough. I'm always hoping for more modal spells that can double as combat tricks.
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I tend not to use combat tricks. I do like Wretched Confluence as a psuedo trick since it's just such a powerful value card to begin with. I dislike putting straight combat tricks in my cubes because they tend to only be used by certain decks. I'd rather put in cards that have a wider range.
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
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You can do so many powerful things in cube that there's not much need for cards that are directly dependent on one another unless they are allowing broken stuff, and combat tricks don't do that.
I run Boon Satyr right now, but he always gets the eye when I'm changing things around, and I don't think he'll last much longer.
All the tricks I run generally do something else that synergizes with my archetypes. I don't run cards like Giant Growth for instance.
I don't run combat tricks in cube, and perhaps that is the reason I want to add a few decent ones.
As a few people have already mentioned, there just isn't a place in most high-power cubes for classic combat tricks because they are too situational and in an environment with a lot of cheap instant speed removal there's too much potential for blowouts. I think there's something to be said for dedicating few cube slots to combat tricks, but it does mean sacrificing power to do so.
One of the things I really like about having a Peasant cube, is that because it's a lower power, more interactive environment it's no sacrifice to include combat tricks that can make combat full of surprises. My favorites there include Harm's Way, Weapon Surge, Invigorate, Tragic Slip, Ghor-clan Rampager, Wasteland Viper and Darkblast.
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I don't play any Giant Growth effects, but I did play Mutagenic Growth for a while. I always consider creatures with flash as combat tricks for the cube, with Restoration Angel / Archangel Avacyn being the two best ones. Wish I had space for Great Oak Guardian in my cube....
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I definitely recommend trying Tireless Tracker.
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Xenagos, the Reveler
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How many 4-drops are in your Gruul section?
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That said, I ultimated him once... never again...
He's in my six-wide Gruul section next to Sarkhan Vol and Huntmaster of the Fells. So I've got three 4-drops, and they account for 50% of my guild (and I could probably stand to drop one of the others for BBE, too, even in Multiplayer). One day, they'll print some decent 3-drops not named Domri Rade...
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I run two 4-drops in my 3-card Gruul section.
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I also run BBE and Ghor-Clan Rampager, so technically 3, but gcr is more often than not a 2 drop combat trick.
I'd rank him second in gruul after bbe, and before sarkhan. Sarkhan is busted or worthless whereas xenagos is neat to great. Wish there was a satyrblossom, I'd play that.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=484979
I am running BBE, Xenagos and Arlinn Kord. I find that besides BBE, the next three in line are close in powerlevel.
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My Gruul section is: Tattermunge, Bloodbraid, Xenagos, and Atarka. If I stop supporting or pretending to support green aggro, Tattermunge will go and be replaced by . . . something? Help us out, Wizards.
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Pauper: UR Delver
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The only other 4 drop is Mina and Denn, Wildborn which I'm testing.
I run Huntmaster of the Fells, Xenagos, the Reveler, Bloodbraid Elf, and trying Ghor-Clan Rampager at the 4 spot.
Currently, 50% of my Gruul cards have CMC=4. Bloodbraid and Sarkhan.
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I plan to swap something out for Dragonlord Atarka pretty soon, and possibly also Voltaic Brawler.
As far as Xenagos, he's my favorite Gruul planeswalker, and the one I happen to have a copy of, but I don't know for sure how to rank him against the numerous other options.
He's one of two RG four drops in mine: Him and BBE. In fact, those are the only pure Gruul cards in my cube (barring Raging Ravine). I just don't find them all that interesting tbh.
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer