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.
This sums it up for me rather nicely. I'm currently running Arlinn Kord as my 4CMC Gruul walker, but I'll be cutting her for Xenagos in my next update. Xenagos supports the ramp and Wildfire decks that come out of Gruul far better than Sarkhan Vol or Arlinn.
The only other Gruul 4-drop I'm running is BBE.
Tattermunge will go and be replaced by . . . something?
Might I suggest Flinthoof Boar? It helps aggro and fast midrange decks rather nicely as an efficient 2 or 3 drop. I'll be cutting the underwhelming Voltaic Brawler to bring back the Boar. It's not as exciting as a lot of the 4 drops available in Gruul, but it's a solid roleplayer in two key CMC slots for the guild.
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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 Xenagos since he's versatile and fits into a lot of decks: ramp / tokens / aggro / etc. He has a much better WCS / ACS than Sarkhan and I think they're pretty equal in terms of their slot in Gruul, just comes down to personal preference.
Currently I play three 4-drops in Gruul: BBE, Sarkhan, and Xenagos, with my 4th Gruul card being Atarka. I think BBE, Sarkhan, and Xenagos are generally better than the other 4-drops like Arlinn Kord, Huntmaster of the Fells, and Ghor-Clan Rampager.
This custom card is what I'm playing in my R/G section... Just because R/G isn't deep enough. Xenagos is fine, but never absurd.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger looks busted and unfun in the linear way, which is why I don't play with it. Getting to 10 mana, swinging, win. Too boring for my taste.
However, pizza. Pizza isn't boring for my taste. Just give me pizza any time of the day!
The new Ulamog is sweet. It's a hell of a cast trigger if you can cast it, and it's also still just a good creature to get into play by cheating/reanimator means too, since it's an indestructible 2-turn clock.
Probably my favorite eldrazi. My cube has a ****load of draw, so milling yourself is very possible, and one swing of this Titan is usually 2 or 3 cards left in the deck.
Ulamog is sweet. It's not like it's easy to get out. Reanimating it is risky and requires an all-in strategy. Ramp decks can cast it but require an all-in strategy. If you warp your plan that much, I think you deserve a card that just wins like this one usually does.
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
Whether ramping or cheating, Ulamog is of the best monsters you can have. It doesn't feel unfair as it takes a lot of time and effort for it to come online. Also it ultimately dies to many removals much cheaper than him and is raceable (somewhat depending on how it was cheated).
Newalmog is my choice for the 1 "unkillable, congrats, you did it" option. In fact, look around you. MOSTofthepopularreanimationtargets DON'T have protection, hexproof, indestructibility, etc. Ulamog is way more expensive, can't be tinkered or ordered. If you manage to get there with him, you kind of deserve to "win". (Although Reanimator is just as easy, and even with Sneak Attack or Through the Breach, he shreds the board apart.)
He encompasses everything I want the original Titans to do, without taking up 3 slots and dodging reanimator. 360 is crazy small, so I can't afford to support the "cheat" archetype AND "reanimator". I need to bunch them all together into one genre. So Newlamog is the perfect choice.
He's pretty much my groups favorite reanimation target and a total BA. At 540 I run all 3 2.0 Eldrazi Titans and I'd rank Newlamog first in power and second in popularity. My group just loves Emrakul 2.0.
I like the new Ulamog. I definitely like it more than the old Ulamog. Right now I actually don't have any of the Titans in my cube since I, personally, feel like they're kinda unfun with stuff like Show and Tell and Sneak Attack. I'd rather have things that can potentially be beaten like Sunderino, the Battleball, Griseldaddy, etc.
My ceaseless hunger is for hoagies. A good ham and turkey or Italian style hoagie is my absolute favorite food.
It really only dies to white removal, which feels pretty unfair. Indestructible and being huge might as well say "protection from black and red".
Bounce works against reanimator and most cheat cards. It is also dealt with by Control Magic effects, edicts and Song of the Dryads/Imprisoned in the Moon. In my experience most decks had at least one answer to it, even if imperfect.
I'm also a really big fan of Newlamog, and right now it's the only one of the new Eldrazi titans I'm running, alongside old Kozilek as my biggest ramp/Sneak & Show targets. Apparently I like it quite a bit more than most, because I'm one of only 2 people to have voted for it in this years Colorless Power Rankings (I ranked it at #17).
I am ceaselessly hungry for Korean tabletop barbecue! You get to grill your own meat right at your table and wrap it in a lettuce leaf.
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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.
He wasn't bad, but I think he's probably only the 3rd best Orzhov Sorin. Good in token decks where the anthem is big game, but as a value 'walker, having to {=2} him to get a body meant trouble on boards that were even marginally congested. I think WB is too stacked for this guy, unfortunately.
I think my next visit will be to California to do a Disneyland trip with my son in a couple years.
other tokenbot pws for four do more. I don't think this would compete for a top slot in almost any guild, only being able to reliably get one token out of it is a bummer. He's still ok as a cube card though and I ran him before the recent influx of good orzohv cards.
I'm currently housesitting for some people who went to Hawaii.
I admit I haven't tested them extensively, but I actually like this version of Sorin a bit more than the others. Though I think Solemn Visitor and Lord of Innistrad are much closer than most seem to think. I mean, Sorin SV and Sorin LoI fill a pretty similar role in aggroish BW decks, but I just like giving lifelink to the whole team a bit more than a single lifelinker, and I like the ability to produce 2/2 fliers a bit more than the ability to produce 1/1 lifelinkers. Sorin LoI has a better ult, but I don't think that's going to be relevant most of the time. Either of these 'walkers is most likely going to die pretty soon after hitting the board: LoI will leave behind a 1/1 and/or an unremovable anthem, SV will leave behind a 2/2 and/or some extra life gained. I find it hard to say either is hugely better than the other, so it's mostly a personal preference.
Also, all of the other top cards in BW are what I would call pure value, I think it's nice to have a good curve topper for a specific archetype rather than a more basic value walker.
Sorin is alright, but ultimately felt underpowered. He's good when you're ahead and he can help stabilize you, but there are a lot of boards that don't give a ***** about a 4 mana walker at low loyalty + a 2/2 if you get there. He's definitely not bad and if Orzhov wasn't so stacked he'd be an include, but orzhov is so stacked so he happily sits.
Usually don't leave the New England area too often. I weekly head in Boston to see my gf and will occasionally head to a mountain to hike or camp.
Sorin is dece, but I always end up playing Lord of Innistrad more. Solemn Visitor is cool sideboard tech against Mono red, but having a build your own army and permanent anthem is pretty powerful. I'll admit that I haven't tried the new one yet though. I've heard the new one isn't amazing though.
My next trip is for GP Vegas! I have long term plans to visit the UK, but paying my own tuition/buying MTG and working full time makes that a bit difficult to save and find time for.
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad's ability to increase his loyalty while protecting himself/developing the board is the key difference. Like, if Elspeth, Knight-Errant's token-making ability was changed to a {-2} to create a 2/2 token, she would go from incredible to incredibly cuttable. The good token-making 'walkers make tokens at a loyalty neutral or loyalty positive exchange, because that's how they can effectively protect themselves. Garruk Wildspeaker is one of the few examples that works differently, but that's because his ramp ability and immediate Overrun are both so valuable, and the loyalty cost/token size ratio is way above-average.
Agree with what was posted above me, LoI is generally preferable. Better when you have fewer creatures and in aggressive decks against mass removals. I don't think you would want to have two Sorins at the exact same mana cost even if you play 8 cards per guild. Especially as the six mana version is better imo than SV and is much different than the two in the guild and cube context. It is certainly a fine card that will be played if included, but has too much direct competition within its own guild.
My next trip will probably be to Spain in the summer, and after that to the states in the fall.
BBE is my num 1 spot, and i like dragonlord atarka as my third spot
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
This sums it up for me rather nicely. I'm currently running Arlinn Kord as my 4CMC Gruul walker, but I'll be cutting her for Xenagos in my next update. Xenagos supports the ramp and Wildfire decks that come out of Gruul far better than Sarkhan Vol or Arlinn.
The only other Gruul 4-drop I'm running is BBE.
Might I suggest Flinthoof Boar? It helps aggro and fast midrange decks rather nicely as an efficient 2 or 3 drop. I'll be cutting the underwhelming Voltaic Brawler to bring back the Boar. It's not as exciting as a lot of the 4 drops available in Gruul, but it's a solid roleplayer in two key CMC slots for the guild.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Currently I play three 4-drops in Gruul: BBE, Sarkhan, and Xenagos, with my 4th Gruul card being Atarka. I think BBE, Sarkhan, and Xenagos are generally better than the other 4-drops like Arlinn Kord, Huntmaster of the Fells, and Ghor-Clan Rampager.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
BONUS QUESTION
What are you ceaselessly hungry for?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger looks busted and unfun in the linear way, which is why I don't play with it. Getting to 10 mana, swinging, win. Too boring for my taste.
However, pizza. Pizza isn't boring for my taste. Just give me pizza any time of the day!
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!
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=484979
like netn10, I could eat pizza forever.
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I am ceaselessly hungry for coffee.
EDH: UGEdric
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He encompasses everything I want the original Titans to do, without taking up 3 slots and dodging reanimator. 360 is crazy small, so I can't afford to support the "cheat" archetype AND "reanimator". I need to bunch them all together into one genre. So Newlamog is the perfect choice.
This is still the best place for high-power-level cube chat & debate.
Here's to many more years at MTGS *clink*
In short. STAPLE.
My ceaseless hunger is for hoagies. A good ham and turkey or Italian style hoagie is my absolute favorite food.
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
Bounce works against reanimator and most cheat cards. It is also dealt with by Control Magic effects, edicts and Song of the Dryads/Imprisoned in the Moon. In my experience most decks had at least one answer to it, even if imperfect.
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
I am ceaselessly hungry for Korean tabletop barbecue! You get to grill your own meat right at your table and wrap it in a lettuce leaf.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Sorin, Solem Visitor
BONUS QUESTION
Where do you plan to visit next, solemnly or otherwise?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I think my next visit will be to California to do a Disneyland trip with my son in a couple years.
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'm currently housesitting for some people who went to Hawaii.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=484979
Also, all of the other top cards in BW are what I would call pure value, I think it's nice to have a good curve topper for a specific archetype rather than a more basic value walker.
Usually don't leave the New England area too often. I weekly head in Boston to see my gf and will occasionally head to a mountain to hike or camp.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
My next trip is for GP Vegas! I have long term plans to visit the UK, but paying my own tuition/buying MTG and working full time makes that a bit difficult to save and find time for.
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
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!
He is ok, I played him in khans of tarkir limite decks and some casual play, just not cube worthy.
I am going to Amsterdam near Christmas with a friend; first time going for culture and not weed, so I'm very excited.
My next trip will probably be to Spain in the summer, and after that to the states in the fall.
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022