I remember being so blown away by the original Ravnica as a whole, I have a big soft spot for Lightning Helix. I don't know if it's literally my favorite life gain card in the entire cube, but I'll throw it in for discussion's sake.
I like Thragtusk. Good in midrange, good with Recurring Nightmare and friends, not even awful to Sneak Attack in a pinch, etc. Just a good card. I like other green 5s more, but it's not going anywhere for a while yet.
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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
Thragtusk is great, it's good in any deck that uses green mana and it's almost impossible to not gef a 2-for-1 out of it unless your cube is running Pacifism effects even if you're playing it in a "fair" deck. It's an absolute house in RecSur and blink decks, and with the EMA reprint it's even a budget card now, so there's no excuse not to have it in your cube.
Steve_man, that Swagtusk meme is the most awesome thing I've seen all day.
I run a very limited number of planeswalkers, so I don't run Oath of Nissa, but I've seen the card do good work in 5 color Super Friends on the MTGO cube. A solid Cantrip; not as good as the Blue Cantrips, but still good, especially in decks with multiple Planeswalkers.
I think Damnation would be my favorite color shifted card. Now that there are more Black sweepers, it doesn't really feel off color anymore, but even with more competition, Damnation has remained a top-tier option, maybe second only to Toxic Deluge.
A green card selection cantrip comparable to options in blue, but suffers from additive distraction. This type of cards makes for better decks and better games, by mitigating mana floods and screws and digging for answers at the right time.
A green card selection cantrip comparable to options in blue, but suffers from additive distraction. This type of cards makes for better decks and better games, by mitigating mana floods and screws and digging for answers at the right time.
What is additive distraction? In this case is it the extra text about mana where the card really is just a cantrip?
A green card selection cantrip comparable to options in blue, but suffers from additive distraction. This type of cards makes for better decks and better games, by mitigating mana floods and screws and digging for answers at the right time.
What is additive distraction? In this case is it the extra text about mana where the card really is just a cantrip?
Probably, since the planeswalker text could not be on here and it would still be a great card. I've ran this in decks that only have green PWs and it was good there.
Oath of Nissa is great, gives green a nice Ponder effect that is very off-color and the planeswalker clause is becoming more relevant as we get more 3-cmc walkers. It's been especially helpful for casting the 1BB Lilianas.
My favorite colorshifted card is Mana Tithe. Nobody expects the Mana Tithe!
Wtwlf did some math on Oath of Nissa when it came out that convinced me that in your average green deck, it's comparable to the blue cantrips. That's huge.
As far as off-color effects: Sylvan Library is really off-color these days. What a great card, especially with green's shuffle effects.
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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
Oath of Nissa hasn't seen much play in my cube since it was added, but even without the text about planeswalker mana-fixing, it's a solid card for smoothing out draws in a color that usually doesn't have access to this kind of effect.
My favorite color-shifted effect has to be Song of the Dryads, it's great having a pseudo-Oblivion Ring available in green.
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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.
Hanweir Garrison is great. It (of course) would be better as an ETB, but that would be the most insane creature at CMC 3 and makes up for it to a degree by sending them in ala Hero.
There isn't anything I can think of. The only packages I regularly keep an eye on are the Kiki packages, which aren't going anywhere, and the storm package, which is currently in and will stay for a bit. I avoid including stuff like Empty the Warrens or even Lotus Petal by themselves since I try to maintain my list for xmage purposes and would never want sour grapes from 'wait, but's
I havn't got round to picking one up yet but I look forward to trying him out. Seems good for aggressive decks but also in a deck that wants to go wide or abuse tokens. I think I will try it out as a 2-for-1 pick with Hanweir Battlements and see how that turns out, it might be enough to make it a pretty high pick and it's an excuse to include meld.
My drafters don't play too much magic outside of cube so aren't really aware of archtypes that aren't in my cube (Storm, Kikki combo) so I don't have to worry about them drafting a deck I don't support.
Hanweir Garrison is a beast. I was surprised a lot of people were on the fence about him when it was first spoiled when I was just like "uhh, Red Mini Hero of Bladehold is obviously awesome." I could understand the reservations of Rabblemaster when he was new, but Bladehold's power seems a bit more obvious, even without the meld.
Any constructed format tournament legal card is fair game in my cube, the only reservations I have is power level with fast mana / power 9 type things. I don't think things can go too wrong if a newcomer drafts Hanweir Garrison. Worse case scenario, they draft a bunch of tutors?
Sadly, I just haven't seen this card in action since I've added it, but I'm glad to hear that it's been performing well for everyone else.
Rules text that has no meaning in the context of my cube like the Meld text on this card does bug me, and I do hear complaints about it from people that have drafted my cube, but it has yet to be a deal-breaker for any one card.
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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.
City of Brass is great, can't see a reason to ever cut it unless you have some uniqueness rule and choose, the superior, Mana Confluence (I don't run confluence simply because I haven't got round to getting one). It makes the main deck pretty much 100% of the time in my experience.
It also makes for an extra bit of depth of complexity over Mana Confluence since it has the double edged sword since you can tap your opponents city of brass to kill them; I don't know if the extra complexity is necessarily a good thing, but it has led to some interesting games so i like it.
I would like at least a few more 5-colour lands on the level of City, Gemstone Mine and confluence. I would happy cut Paliano, the High City, Exotic Orchard and Reflecting Pool for rainbow lands. 5 or 6 might be enough but I wouldn't say no to more, it would really depend on when 5-colour-good-stuff decks become over drafted.
I don't think I really have an upper limit for 5-colour fixing, I mean 10 would be a lot but I could see cutting manlands out if I had a set of 10 5-colour land and using the old slots for more utility, after that it would get a lot more awkward. Obviously they have to able to hold their own in cube and be interesting enough, there are plenty of 5-colour fixers I don't run. I might start getting bored if we got 3 or 4 more renamed city of brass but I like to think wizards are more inventive than that.
Best painland ever. Sure, it can potentially get you in trouble if the other guy has a way to keep tapping it *cough cough*, but more often than not will be fantastic fixing. I love the OG Tedin art the most. The 5th edition Wanerstrand art is the outlier for me, while I normally like his work his CoB just wasn't up to his usual.
I run a couple 5 color fixers, but figure that since I don't have heavy 3 color support, I don't need a lot more. If I started supporting the shards harder, or worked towards more of a 5 color strat I would think I need more.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Steve_man, that Swagtusk meme is the most awesome thing I've seen all day.
Sphinx's Revelation is easily my favorite lifegain card, too. Honorable mention to Feudkiller's Verdict, which is fantastic in Peasant cube and my Trostani, Voice of Selesnya EDH deck.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
My favorite card that gains life in the cube might be Ajani Vengeant.
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Oath of Nissa
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What color-shifted card/effect do you like most?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I think Damnation would be my favorite color shifted card. Now that there are more Black sweepers, it doesn't really feel off color anymore, but even with more competition, Damnation has remained a top-tier option, maybe second only to Toxic Deluge.
[180 classic cube]
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What is additive distraction? In this case is it the extra text about mana where the card really is just a cantrip?
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Probably, since the planeswalker text could not be on here and it would still be a great card. I've ran this in decks that only have green PWs and it was good there.
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My favorite colorshifted card is Mana Tithe. Nobody expects the Mana Tithe!
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As far as off-color effects: Sylvan Library is really off-color these days. What a great card, especially with green's shuffle effects.
EDH: UGEdric
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Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
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My favorite color-shifted effect has to be Song of the Dryads, it's great having a pseudo-Oblivion Ring available in green.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Hanweir Garrison
BONUS QUESTION
Are there any cards you won't run because of concerns about false signals in your cube?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
There isn't anything I can think of. The only packages I regularly keep an eye on are the Kiki packages, which aren't going anywhere, and the storm package, which is currently in and will stay for a bit. I avoid including stuff like Empty the Warrens or even Lotus Petal by themselves since I try to maintain my list for xmage purposes and would never want sour grapes from 'wait, but's
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
My drafters don't play too much magic outside of cube so aren't really aware of archtypes that aren't in my cube (Storm, Kikki combo) so I don't have to worry about them drafting a deck I don't support.
I don't have a buildup for storm in there, so I try to keep out cards that are too blatantly storm shell cards.
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!
Any constructed format tournament legal card is fair game in my cube, the only reservations I have is power level with fast mana / power 9 type things. I don't think things can go too wrong if a newcomer drafts Hanweir Garrison. Worse case scenario, they draft a bunch of tutors?
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Rules text that has no meaning in the context of my cube like the Meld text on this card does bug me, and I do hear complaints about it from people that have drafted my cube, but it has yet to be a deal-breaker for any one card.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
BONUS QUESTION
How many 5-color fixing lands is enough for your cube?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
It also makes for an extra bit of depth of complexity over Mana Confluence since it has the double edged sword since you can tap your opponents city of brass to kill them; I don't know if the extra complexity is necessarily a good thing, but it has led to some interesting games so i like it.
I would like at least a few more 5-colour lands on the level of City, Gemstone Mine and confluence. I would happy cut Paliano, the High City, Exotic Orchard and Reflecting Pool for rainbow lands. 5 or 6 might be enough but I wouldn't say no to more, it would really depend on when 5-colour-good-stuff decks become over drafted.
I don't think I really have an upper limit for 5-colour fixing, I mean 10 would be a lot but I could see cutting manlands out if I had a set of 10 5-colour land and using the old slots for more utility, after that it would get a lot more awkward. Obviously they have to able to hold their own in cube and be interesting enough, there are plenty of 5-colour fixers I don't run. I might start getting bored if we got 3 or 4 more renamed city of brass but I like to think wizards are more inventive than that.
I run a couple 5 color fixers, but figure that since I don't have heavy 3 color support, I don't need a lot more. If I started supporting the shards harder, or worked towards more of a 5 color strat I would think I need more.
[180 classic cube]