I like Bloom Tender a lot. I opened two of them, and I've had one in the cube forever, though I wish it were worth less. It's great. The floor is not that low in my cube, and the ceiling is bonkers. Scuttlemutt is especially fun. Why is this card so valuable? Do they use it in Modern?
I live amidst farmland. Before they plant the fields, they are dominated by endless yellow wildflowers. It's lovely.
Did not work in my cube. Not great in heavy green decks, and was too often a mana elf for twice the cost. Bloom Tender doesn't fix your mana. Actually, it rather requires great fixing to function - you want cards of 2-3 colors to be cast in the first three turns. Even in a deck tailored towards it with a nice spread of fixing lands and multicolored cheap cards (and that is hard in cube) the cards is unreliable. Sometimes you just draw permanents of one of your colors. Often cards you splash for are spells and not permanents in the first place. It also turned out to be easy to disrupt Bloom Tender's mana production, even unintentionally. Not only removals and bounce, but a counter to your only red permanent in hand can hurt, so will Thoughtseize. In boards where you have several permanents of several colors having that extra mana is often win more. I want my acceleration/fixing to help me get to that point, not be good after I'm already there.
I ran Bloom Tender in the reject rare cube briefly... until I realized its price tag. Good grief, why is this a $35 card?
Commander. The card gains so much value from always having a 3 or 4-color permanent that you can drop from the command zone and make Bloom Tender go ham. It's far less exciting when you have to power it up with traditional methods.
I echo the high-ceiling, low floor sentiment, and a low floor on a mana elf is not what I want. In fact, consistency is one of the most important aspects of green ramp, which is why Sylvan Caryatid is pretty much a staple and Utopia Tree didn't even really appear in the largest cubes for years before and after Caryatid. The third point of toughness helps, but really it's the hexproof and the fact that you are almost certain to untap with it in play.
Rhododendrons only blooms once, and it's around this time of year. In some of the swankier towns and neighborhoods around here they have giant rhodie hedges which, for yards and yards, will be covered in these massive blooms. The rhodie heghes grow to 8-10+ feet, and within a yard they can be 20-40+ feet wide. They're quite beautiful.
I like this card quite a bit. I know others have had negative experiences with it, but I can only go by my own experiences. If Surrak doesn't get haste, which it seems to a decent amount, then usually the next creature absolutely does and that's the one to worry about.
I wouldn't say I have explicitly tried to support fires, but I like the cards that do support that style. I'm excited to try Samut, I feel Im higher than others on her but we'll see.
I wish there were better Fires support cards. I've tried supporting it at different times, but Fires of Yavimaya is straight outclassed these days, Hammer of Purphoros is uncastable on curve in the kinds of decks I want to play it in. That leaves me with Lightning Greaves, which is awesome, and Lightning Mauler, which is pretty medium. Surrak and Sarkhan come down a turn too late for my taste. If there were a few better haste enablers at 2-3 mana, I'd be all about this archetype, but alas.
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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
Surrak was super medium for us. Tested it and cut it pretty quick.
Haven't supported the Fires archetype since my classic cube. Need a Fervor on legs to make it start working in this format. The threshold for beatdown cards that only assist your other cards in applying pressure (not applying pressure on their own) is pretty high. I'd like to support the strategy with cards that are organically good enough on their own, and haven't been able to do that yet. Could use a pushed Urabrask the Hidden variant in the 3cc slot. With things like Thalia, Heretic Cathar being printed, it might not be unreasonable.
Surrak was sweet in my midrange list but I don't want him in my combo list. He's too slow/inconsitent for aggro and midrange needs something besides a conditional fires effect on a big thing.
Commander. The card gains so much value from always having a 3 or 4-color permanent that you can drop from the command zone and make Bloom Tender go ham. It's far less exciting when you have to power it up with traditional methods.
I had a feeling that was it. It annoys me when Commander demand spikes the price of perfectly good cube cards (not the case with Bloom Tender, but with others).
RE: Surrak: he was fine, but just fine, and got the boot. I have some hasty creatures, and the usual equipment and artifacts that can help with that, but not the full Fires archetype. I don't think the cards are good enough for it, and if you tried for the archetype and missed the enabler, you'd just have a Gruul deck. Which may not be bad, but it wouldn't be the deck you were trying for.
I was eyeing up Surrak, the Hunt Caller yeaterday, I would really like some more hasty beaters for mid-range Grull since I feel my midrange isn't great in cube and Grull (in my mind) should exemplify mid range beats. Is Concordant Crossroads any good for this role? Double edged sword but I don't need to drop it turn 1 and should hopefully get more value out of it.
How reliable is Surraks haste? I think that is what keeps putting me off combined with the fact he only gives haste to one creature so he cant even slot into token decks.
I had Fires of Yavimaya in my cube in the beginning and I have tried all kinds of haste enablers in the past (Hellraiser Goblin even got a look in).Hammer of Purphoros has been solid for me so far and Ogre Battledriver is fun but hasn't been getting a lot of play lately (4 is a bit too much for him being weak on his own, but he is a boss for token decks).
Samut, Voice of Dissent seems like he will be a solid include for me, but again 5 seems a bit expensive to really get the most of him granting haste.
I love reflecting pool. It has it problems in that it doesn't fix your mana if you didn't have access to that mana already and it does sweet FA on turn one but those issues rarely annoy me because of the upside. It's worth noting unlike its cousin exotic orchard it can tap for colourless (providing you have another land that does).
I find that 90% of the time it is an untapped dual land, a tri-land pretty often and often a rainbow land so it is handy for hitting double or triple costs without having to dedicate extra slots to basics. I find it hard to thing of reasons not to maindeck it (but there are no doubt some).
I don't think I knew their was an older art for the card, it looks kinda sucky, shadowmoore (?) art all the way.
It's a pool table for me I'm afraid even though I'm bad at pool, I can't swin other than to save my life (and even then I havnt tested it recently).
Reflecting Pool is a card that always makes maindecks. It will never be a high pick though as it feeds off of already good mana bases and you cannot splash with it. Decks that play 3+ colors like it most, but those decks are less supported today in cubes than in the past. As I'm playing a large cube, I have the space for it and I do not foresee myself cutting it. Small cubes should not have the space.
I miss Reflecting Pool. I really like that land, as it's primary use is strengthening a 2-color manabase rather than enabling splashes and encouraging 3+ color decks. I'm always looking for ways to get it back into the cube.
The original Tempest art is amazing. Way better than the new art.
The orignal Tempest art is amazing. Way better than the new art.
Wha? Am I missing something? Looks like a brown puddle in brown ground. Maybe its just my phones resoloution.
I love the Adam Rex piece, and always have. One of my favorite arts from the era.
Here's a closeup:
Don't know if it changes your mind about it, but I think it's the far better piece of art, and I think it does a better job of representing how the card works.
Reflecting Pool is easy to underrate for newer players, since it doesn't actually give you any new mana sources on its own. As a result, it was actually very low on my list of priorities to acquire as I was building my cube. Amazingly, a very generous user from this forum actually sent me a foil Reflecting Pool as part of his Secret Santa present a couple of years back! It's turned out to be a great addition to my cube's mana base. Sometimes it's bad to see in your opening hand if you're otherwise land-light or short on a color, but it usually does a really good job of smoothing out mana bases, making it easier to hit double-colored casting costs and playing multiple spells per turn. I've grown to particularly appreciate it when I'm playing a 3+ color Zoo deck, because it goes a long way towards enabling curve-outs in multiple colors (most of the time).
I don't think you can go wrong with either art choice, but OG Tempest art isn't available in foil, and the newer Fred Fields art does really pop in foil.
I'm not a big fan of public swimming pools, but I'll still take any chance to go swimming over playing pool.
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
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Why not?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I live amidst farmland. Before they plant the fields, they are dominated by endless yellow wildflowers. It's lovely.
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
Commander. The card gains so much value from always having a 3 or 4-color permanent that you can drop from the command zone and make Bloom Tender go ham. It's far less exciting when you have to power it up with traditional methods.
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!
Rhododendrons only blooms once, and it's around this time of year. In some of the swankier towns and neighborhoods around here they have giant rhodie hedges which, for yards and yards, will be covered in these massive blooms. The rhodie heghes grow to 8-10+ feet, and within a yard they can be 20-40+ feet wide. They're quite beautiful.
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Surrak, the Hunt Caller
BONUS QUESTION
Have you tried supporting the Fires archetype in your cube?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I wouldn't say I have explicitly tried to support fires, but I like the cards that do support that style. I'm excited to try Samut, I feel Im higher than others on her but we'll see.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Haven't supported the Fires archetype since my classic cube. Need a Fervor on legs to make it start working in this format. The threshold for beatdown cards that only assist your other cards in applying pressure (not applying pressure on their own) is pretty high. I'd like to support the strategy with cards that are organically good enough on their own, and haven't been able to do that yet. Could use a pushed Urabrask the Hidden variant in the 3cc slot. With things like Thalia, Heretic Cathar being printed, it might not be unreasonable.
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://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
I would give my left arm for a Gruul deck in my cube to be viable. Fires is super sweet but it needs so many cards to commit.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/414
I had a feeling that was it. It annoys me when Commander demand spikes the price of perfectly good cube cards (not the case with Bloom Tender, but with others).
RE: Surrak: he was fine, but just fine, and got the boot. I have some hasty creatures, and the usual equipment and artifacts that can help with that, but not the full Fires archetype. I don't think the cards are good enough for it, and if you tried for the archetype and missed the enabler, you'd just have a Gruul deck. Which may not be bad, but it wouldn't be the deck you were trying for.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
How reliable is Surraks haste? I think that is what keeps putting me off combined with the fact he only gives haste to one creature so he cant even slot into token decks.
I had Fires of Yavimaya in my cube in the beginning and I have tried all kinds of haste enablers in the past (Hellraiser Goblin even got a look in).Hammer of Purphoros has been solid for me so far and Ogre Battledriver is fun but hasn't been getting a lot of play lately (4 is a bit too much for him being weak on his own, but he is a boss for token decks).
Samut, Voice of Dissent seems like he will be a solid include for me, but again 5 seems a bit expensive to really get the most of him granting haste.
I never supported fires, but I still have a decent amount of haste enablers. I'll be running Samut though, I expect her to be a crowd favorite.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Reflecting Pool
BONUS QUESTION
What kind of pool do you prefer, swimming pools or billiards?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I find that 90% of the time it is an untapped dual land, a tri-land pretty often and often a rainbow land so it is handy for hitting double or triple costs without having to dedicate extra slots to basics. I find it hard to thing of reasons not to maindeck it (but there are no doubt some).
I don't think I knew their was an older art for the card, it looks kinda sucky, shadowmoore (?) art all the way.
It's a pool table for me I'm afraid even though I'm bad at pool, I can't swin other than to save my life (and even then I havnt tested it recently).
The list on cube cobra
Read my blog on cube - Latest post June 2nd 2022
The original Tempest art is amazing. Way better than the new art.
I prefer billiards.
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!
Wha? Am I missing something? Looks like a brown puddle in brown ground. Maybe its just my phones resoloution.
I love the Adam Rex piece, and always have. One of my favorite arts from the era.
Here's a closeup:
Don't know if it changes your mind about it, but I think it's the far better piece of art, and I think it does a better job of representing how the card works.
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 agree that the old art is the better version. plus the old frame looks so much better than the yellow one.
Pool tables are great but swimming pools are better by far!
Swimming pools > billiards. I've loved swimming since I was a kid and I still swim laps for cardio.
My Eternal Cube on CubeTutor| |My Reject Rare Cube on CubeTutor| |My Peasant Cube on CubeTutor
I used to write for MTGS, including Cranial Insertion and cube articles. Good on you if you can find those after the upgrade.
I don't think you can go wrong with either art choice, but OG Tempest art isn't available in foil, and the newer Fred Fields art does really pop in foil.
I'm not a big fan of public swimming pools, but I'll still take any chance to go swimming over playing pool.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.