SGC is an easy 2nd best red 5-drop after Thundermaw Hellkite. It's a great curve-topper for aggro decks and go-wide strategies, especially Boros token/anthem decks, and it's also fantastic in grindy Jund RecSur decks.
The newer Elves vs. Goblins art isn't bad, but the original is much more fun and pretty accurately shows what the card does (3 goblins with spikes on their heads, catapult on the Commander's back). I'm happy to have it in foil, but I cheaped out and got the modern-frame M10 version instead of the old frame Scourge version.
When Blood-chin Rager came out I tried increasing my Warrior count, but no Warrior decks seemed to materialize. I've been tempted recently to include Captain of the Watch and try including more Soldiers as my white section has 14 Soldiers and Soldier token generators plus Gideon Jura and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. If there were one more Soldier lord that were playable on its own I'd pull the trigger.
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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 think Sun Titan is sweet. Vigilance helps protect you while it crashes in, and there are a lot of good cheap(er) permanents it can interact with from the graveyard, including Fetches and Strip Mine(s).
I don't really like Sun Titan and I think it is overrated. I think it is the worst card in the cycle for powerlevel in cube, but only second worst for actually making cube lists due to low competition in white. I prefer Elspeth, Sun's Champion basically all the time and Linvala, the Preserver in control and most cheat strategies. The 6/6 vigilance body is not that good at actually closing games. It is not uncommon not to have anything worthy in your graveyard when playing it, and having more than one quality target to play for two turns in a row is downright rare. Having a repeatable fetchland is nice, but not up to the level of six drops in cube. Sun Titan also doesn't scale well with cheat strategies, a common trait to all of white's commonly played six drops. The card might be better in smaller cubes due the increased chance of getting the few premium targets like Black Lotus.
It is about time we get another good white six drop.
It is about time we get another good (insert either white, black, blue, red, green, colorless, or a guild) (insert a mana cost between 0 and 7) drop.
In all honesty, I like sun titan. My biggest peave with it though is when someone tries to play it in an aggro deck and then they wonder why they can't cast it to close out the game.
Definitely one of my favorite white creatures though. I just put elesh-norn in though, so I have not decided which I like better since they sort of do different things and shine in different decks usually.
Sun Titan's solid. I honestly can't even remember the last time needing more than 2 things in the yard to recur with it even mattered because it tends to eat removal or bury the opponent in value by then. I'm not particularly looking for another white 6 to replace it, but I can see Metamind's point that it's the weakest of the Titans that sees play in most cubes. However, least busted Titan in cube is still pretty darn good.
I have a bigger quarrel with Sun Titan on flavor grounds. What does bringing stuff back from the graveyard have to do with the Sun? Sun Titan really should be changing places with Grave Titan as far as I'm concerned. My new and flavor-improved Sun Titan could make Knight tokens, and if it were black I guess Grave Titan would only be able to bring back creatures from the yard, but at least the names on both would make more sense.
I'm running the Duel Deck foil in my cube because I had one on hand as I was building the cube, but honestly, I prefer the art on both of the other versions because there is nothing solar about the art on the Duel Deck version.
Primeval Titan is my favorite Giant in cube, and the one I'm most likely to first pick because I love playing ramp, but I also have a soft spot for the underrated Quarry Colossus. It's been doing great work in my Peasant cube, as well as in some of my EDH decks.
What does bringing stuff back from the graveyard have to do with the Sun?
The Titan brings the sun along with it, and there's a new dawn, new day, and all that good stuff. The concept of the rising dawn renewing/rejuvenating life seems on point to me. *shrug*
I like Sun Titan and think he's the best overall 6 white drop creature. Unlike his black / red / green brothers though, I don't necessarily slam him in any deck that can get up to 6 mana in his colors, or cheaty face decks. Sometimes my UW control decks will only have mana rocks or Snapcaster Mage to get back, which makes other 6-drop spells more appealing.
I do like the fact that Sun Titan is unique in the fact that it plays differently every game, unlike Inferno / Grave Titan.
My favorite giant depends on the format. I like Sun Titan most in EDH and Primveal Titan most in cube.
One of my favorite fatties in the cube, as it can be a major combo piece, or just the mayor of Valuetown. I completely agree with how it changes game in and game out. It's playable in any deck running white, and can grab so many value permanents it's ridiculous. Recurring Nightmare combos so hard with this guy it's fantastic. While it's not the strongest beater, the added utility makes it very fun.
You're looking at him. Sun Titan shenanigans are just super fun.
The Titan brings the sun along with it, and there's a new dawn, new day, and all that good stuff. The concept of the rising dawn renewing/rejuvenating life seems on point to me. *shrug*
Since when does a new dawn or a new day bring things back from the dead? This effect is certainly in white's wheelhouse, but they probably should have named Sun Titan something like "Revival Titan" or "Restoration Titan" instead. Don't get me wrong, it's a great card, but the name doesn't make sense with this card at all.
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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 Sun Titan. I first learned of its strength playing it in a Hanna, Ship's Navigator EDH deck. I had a Mana Vortex out and kept getting back Flagstones of Trokair as I'm pounding in with a 6/6.
As far as favorite giant in Magic: I like four of the titans. I wish Countryside Crusher were a bit better, because it's a sweet effect for decks that want lands in the yard, or decks that want to stop drawing lands. But I love that card, even if I don't play it in anything.
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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 would run Necromancy, if it had a modern reprint. It's a highly playable reanimation spell and the instant clause can lead to great blowouts with the right setup. Like Animate Dead, the awkward oracle wording for Necromancy just cracks me up. So much rule text for such an easily understandable effect.
Since I run a modern frame cube, I usually have cards in their most clearly worded version. But usually, since we're not a very cutthroat group, if a player doesn't get a card he asks during draft and get's an answer.
The Titan brings the sun along with it, and there's a new dawn, new day, and all that good stuff. The concept of the rising dawn renewing/rejuvenating life seems on point to me. *shrug*
Since when does a new dawn or a new day bring things back from the dead? This effect is certainly in white's wheelhouse, but they probably should have named Sun Titan something like "Revival Titan" or "Restoration Titan" instead. Don't get me wrong, it's a great card, but the name doesn't make sense with this card at all.
Dawg, plants need the sun to riiiiise.
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Necromancy is sweet. I rarely use it for the instant speed purpose but the option is nice and gives it some depth.
Oracle and smart phones have eliminated a lot of the issues with *****ty wording. Oracle typically does a good job describing what's going on, and smart phones are the best.
I love Necromancy, it's definitely one of the best things you can recur with Sun Titan.
This is actually a funny coincidence that Sun Titan / Necromancy are back to back. The new MM Terminate has a Sun Titan on it, which may be the same Sun Titan on the Graveborn version of Animate Dead.
Necromancy is an awesome card. A good reanimation enabler at 3 mana, and the flash option adds some gameplay depth for value decks too.
I don't care much about wording unless the original text is egregious. In fact, a lot of cards are more intuitive as printed than they are with their oracle text. Animate Dead is a good example of that.
Ran Necromancy for a long long time. Good card. Especially nasty in multiplayer.
Card wording matters to me more today than it did in the past, and I do make card choices based on that. I'll choose a slightly lower powered card if the text is significantly more elegant. The wording of necromancy is a cluster and so is animate dead. Though I agree the original wording of many cards is more intuitive and easier to interpret than some oracle wordings. And in those cases, I favor cards with the original wording where possible.
They just don't make 'em like this anymore. These days, the going rate for reanimation spells seems to be 4 mana sorceries like Zombify. While the rules templating for reanimation auras like this and Animate Dead is awkward as hell for newer players, and does make your reanimated creatures vulnerable to enchantment removal, it's more than worth it for being able to bring a monster back from any graveyard for only 3. The instant speed clause doesn't come up that often, but when it does it's often a 2-for-1 by flashing in a surprise blocker that kills a creature in combat, while getting another cards's worth of value with an ETB effect. At 3 mana, Necromancy is less efficient than Animate Dead, Reanimate, or Dance of the Dead, but if you support reanimator you need the redundancy of all of them, and it's unlikely that they'll ever print another cubabale reanimation spell that costs less than 4.
I try very hard to be mindful of the wording on cards as when I draft my cube there are often players who are drafting it for the first time and there will always be cards that are unfamiliar to newer players. For older cards this usually means running a recent update with Oracle text and updated creature types (which can matter when you least expect it). I've had enough players make misplays like trying to Mystical Tutor for land, shuffling their decks after playing an original edition Impulse, and interrupting drafts to ask what an "interrupt" is, that I've found it worth it to make a point of having the clearest wording possible. In general, I prefer not to run cards with mechanics only used in a set or two that don't have reminder text explaining them. WotC's generally been pretty good about this in more recent sets, but CN2 was a real offender here with Goad and Monarch, so I've vetoed them for my cube. A quick survey of my playgroup showed that most of them didn't know the difference between Fading and Vanishing, so Parallax Wave is also out.
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450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I have really enjoyed den protector, it's 3 casting modes make it very flexable; it is a 2/1 for 2 that fills curves and works great with equipment (T2 den protector, T3 grafted war gear), a 2/2 for 3 that can be upgraded when nessicary or a 3/2 for 5 that regrowths. All modes only use 1 green mana so it's easier to splash and beats down better than eternal witness.
The big downside it's not an ETB trigger so it can't be abused like eternal witness, but that cards a staple in its own rights and den protector fills a different role.
Megamorph (like morph) also lets you break up the mana cost which makes them less risky in the face of counter magic since you only pay some of the cost and they don't know what it is when you cast it. One it hits the board there is very little they can do about the effect.
I thought Megamorph was a pretty poor design choice. I would have preferred them to just be morph but with a line of text to the effect of "when this card is turned face up put a +1/+1 counter on it", to me this would be cleaner design since you don't have to make a cluttered, derivative new keyword.
I think it was key worded so wizards could drive home that it was the mechanic from the set; I know Rosewater was disappointed when no one thought of "cycles from play" as a thing (yavimaya elder for example), so this time round they decided to make it as clear as possible.
It could have been better to call it "morph 1" and add counters equal to its morph value. This way older morph cards still work as printed but it would open up other design spaces for cards with "morph 5", "morph X" or even having two different morph costs in future. What happens in the future when they go back to morph and decide to try 2 counter? Will we get "Super Megamorph"?
In short Megamorph is OK from a gameplay standpoint but didn't need its own keyword.
Den Protector is sweet. Even though you don't get any ETB shenanigans the regrowth effect is still sweet and the evasion is nice when it's on.
Megamorph is kind of dumb IMO since the only difference is the +1+1 counter. I get it was done for synergistic reasons and such due to the +1+1 counters and I like it more than morph since counters are good and what not, but it's kind of a lame mechanic when you break it down. It feels like a tacked on ability to be different, when that difference is only marginal.
Den Protector is a good, versatile card. I enjoy morph creatures.
To me, megamorph falls under the "so bad, it's good" category. Yeah, the name is dumb, but getting a cycle of mega morphin' power rangers is well worth it.
I love Necromancy, because even though the wording isn't great, it makes complete sense. It's great to either bring something back permanently, or as a surprise blocker. I don't mind weird wording too much.
I stopped running Den Protector because I only had 2 morph creatures, and it was almost always blatantly obvious what was coming down. It's still pretty good, all things considered, and one of the better megamorphers. Megamorph was pretty bland. They could have just had it normal morph and added "and put a +1/+1 counter on it" no problemo.
I stopped running Den Protector because I only had 2 morph creatures, and it was almost always blatantly obvious what was coming down. It's still pretty good, all things considered, and one of the better megamorphers. Megamorph was pretty bland. They could have just had it normal morph and added "and put a +1/+1 counter on it" no problemo.
I never minded so much that my opponents have a 90% chance of guessing what creature it is since the ones I'm running are never intended to "get" them. For me Den Protector is just a creature with 3 casting options.
I think it comes down to morph representing 2 very different things in retail limited vs cube. It retail you are often banking on them not knowing what it is but in cube it represents flexibility.
The newer Elves vs. Goblins art isn't bad, but the original is much more fun and pretty accurately shows what the card does (3 goblins with spikes on their heads, catapult on the Commander's back). I'm happy to have it in foil, but I cheaped out and got the modern-frame M10 version instead of the old frame Scourge version.
When Blood-chin Rager came out I tried increasing my Warrior count, but no Warrior decks seemed to materialize. I've been tempted recently to include Captain of the Watch and try including more Soldiers as my white section has 14 Soldiers and Soldier token generators plus Gideon Jura and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. If there were one more Soldier lord that were playable on its own I'd pull the trigger.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Sun Titan
BONUS QUESTION
What's your favorite giant in MTG?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My favorite giant in MTG is probably Grave Titan or Inferno Titan.
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!
Favorite Giant is Boldwyr Intimidator.
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It is about time we get another good white six drop.
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Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
In all honesty, I like sun titan. My biggest peave with it though is when someone tries to play it in an aggro deck and then they wonder why they can't cast it to close out the game.
Definitely one of my favorite white creatures though. I just put elesh-norn in though, so I have not decided which I like better since they sort of do different things and shine in different decks usually.
Also, Who doesn't love a classy hill giant.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
I have a bigger quarrel with Sun Titan on flavor grounds. What does bringing stuff back from the graveyard have to do with the Sun? Sun Titan really should be changing places with Grave Titan as far as I'm concerned. My new and flavor-improved Sun Titan could make Knight tokens, and if it were black I guess Grave Titan would only be able to bring back creatures from the yard, but at least the names on both would make more sense.
I'm running the Duel Deck foil in my cube because I had one on hand as I was building the cube, but honestly, I prefer the art on both of the other versions because there is nothing solar about the art on the Duel Deck version.
Primeval Titan is my favorite Giant in cube, and the one I'm most likely to first pick because I love playing ramp, but I also have a soft spot for the underrated Quarry Colossus. It's been doing great work in my Peasant cube, as well as in some of my EDH decks.
Good choice! It's a bit slow for cube, but it's such a flavorful card. It's been doing great work in my Lovisa Coldeyes EDH deck.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
The Titan brings the sun along with it, and there's a new dawn, new day, and all that good stuff. The concept of the rising dawn renewing/rejuvenating life seems on point to me. *shrug*
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 do like the fact that Sun Titan is unique in the fact that it plays differently every game, unlike Inferno / Grave Titan.
My favorite giant depends on the format. I like Sun Titan most in EDH and Primveal Titan most in cube.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
You're looking at him. Sun Titan shenanigans are just super fun.
Since when does a new dawn or a new day bring things back from the dead? This effect is certainly in white's wheelhouse, but they probably should have named Sun Titan something like "Revival Titan" or "Restoration Titan" instead. Don't get me wrong, it's a great card, but the name doesn't make sense with this card at all.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
As far as favorite giant in Magic: I like four of the titans. I wish Countryside Crusher were a bit better, because it's a sweet effect for decks that want lands in the yard, or decks that want to stop drawing lands. But I love that card, even if I don't play it in anything.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Necromancy
BONUS QUESTION
How important is the clarity of wording on a card to you in deciding whether or not to run (a particular edition of) it?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Since I run a modern frame cube, I usually have cards in their most clearly worded version. But usually, since we're not a very cutthroat group, if a player doesn't get a card he asks during draft and get's an answer.
Dawg, plants need the sun to riiiiise.
----------------
Necromancy is sweet. I rarely use it for the instant speed purpose but the option is nice and gives it some depth.
Oracle and smart phones have eliminated a lot of the issues with *****ty wording. Oracle typically does a good job describing what's going on, and smart phones are the best.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
This is actually a funny coincidence that Sun Titan / Necromancy are back to back. The new MM Terminate has a Sun Titan on it, which may be the same Sun Titan on the Graveborn version of Animate Dead.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I don't care much about wording unless the original text is egregious. In fact, a lot of cards are more intuitive as printed than they are with their oracle text. Animate Dead is a good example of that.
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!
Card wording matters to me more today than it did in the past, and I do make card choices based on that. I'll choose a slightly lower powered card if the text is significantly more elegant. The wording of necromancy is a cluster and so is animate dead. Though I agree the original wording of many cards is more intuitive and easier to interpret than some oracle wordings. And in those cases, I favor cards with the original wording where possible.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
I try very hard to be mindful of the wording on cards as when I draft my cube there are often players who are drafting it for the first time and there will always be cards that are unfamiliar to newer players. For older cards this usually means running a recent update with Oracle text and updated creature types (which can matter when you least expect it). I've had enough players make misplays like trying to Mystical Tutor for land, shuffling their decks after playing an original edition Impulse, and interrupting drafts to ask what an "interrupt" is, that I've found it worth it to make a point of having the clearest wording possible. In general, I prefer not to run cards with mechanics only used in a set or two that don't have reminder text explaining them. WotC's generally been pretty good about this in more recent sets, but CN2 was a real offender here with Goad and Monarch, so I've vetoed them for my cube. A quick survey of my playgroup showed that most of them didn't know the difference between Fading and Vanishing, so Parallax Wave is also out.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Den Protector
BONUS QUESTION
Megamorph: Intuitively named riff on an classic mechanic, or anticlimactic nonsense?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
The big downside it's not an ETB trigger so it can't be abused like eternal witness, but that cards a staple in its own rights and den protector fills a different role.
Megamorph (like morph) also lets you break up the mana cost which makes them less risky in the face of counter magic since you only pay some of the cost and they don't know what it is when you cast it. One it hits the board there is very little they can do about the effect.
I thought Megamorph was a pretty poor design choice. I would have preferred them to just be morph but with a line of text to the effect of "when this card is turned face up put a +1/+1 counter on it", to me this would be cleaner design since you don't have to make a cluttered, derivative new keyword.
I think it was key worded so wizards could drive home that it was the mechanic from the set; I know Rosewater was disappointed when no one thought of "cycles from play" as a thing (yavimaya elder for example), so this time round they decided to make it as clear as possible.
It could have been better to call it "morph 1" and add counters equal to its morph value. This way older morph cards still work as printed but it would open up other design spaces for cards with "morph 5", "morph X" or even having two different morph costs in future. What happens in the future when they go back to morph and decide to try 2 counter? Will we get "Super Megamorph"?
In short Megamorph is OK from a gameplay standpoint but didn't need its own keyword.
Megamorph is kind of dumb IMO since the only difference is the +1+1 counter. I get it was done for synergistic reasons and such due to the +1+1 counters and I like it more than morph since counters are good and what not, but it's kind of a lame mechanic when you break it down. It feels like a tacked on ability to be different, when that difference is only marginal.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
To me, megamorph falls under the "so bad, it's good" category. Yeah, the name is dumb, but getting a cycle of mega morphin' power rangers is well worth it.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I stopped running Den Protector because I only had 2 morph creatures, and it was almost always blatantly obvious what was coming down. It's still pretty good, all things considered, and one of the better megamorphers. Megamorph was pretty bland. They could have just had it normal morph and added "and put a +1/+1 counter on it" no problemo.
I never minded so much that my opponents have a 90% chance of guessing what creature it is since the ones I'm running are never intended to "get" them. For me Den Protector is just a creature with 3 casting options.
I think it comes down to morph representing 2 very different things in retail limited vs cube. It retail you are often banking on them not knowing what it is but in cube it represents flexibility.