Short of something like Illusionary Mask, Lion's Eye Diamond is the card that perplexes new players more than any other. It doesn't strike me as much of a cube card unless you really want to go in on storm. It's certainly not a card I've ever considered playing.
My most expensive artifact is probably Chromatic Lantern, but the top pick for my artifacts is probably Obelisk of Alara, which constantly impresses me.
Quite the timing on this card of the day post. Lion's Eye Diamond is a card I'm going to be trading for shortly as buying one outright is ridiculous yet I feel it's a critical card for storm.
Speaking of which, LED is a card that really only belongs in a combo cube. I've been watching a lot of cube drafting on youtube to get more comfortable with different ways storm and other combo packages can come together. LED pairs extremely well with draw 7's and especially well with Yawgmoth's Will. Fill your yard over the first few turns with spells, play will, then crack LED in response. Replay LED from the yard after will resolves and you now have 6 colored mana and 3 storm count plus whatever other mana you can generate in lands and/or rituals and your yard is now your hand. I don't think there's an easier way to get that chain going outside black lotus or something equally silly. I would likely not touch LED with a 50 foot pole if I didn't have Yawgs Will and at least one draw 7 and knew storm was open. So it's super narrow but clearly also very powerful in this archetype. The only other card with this level of degeneracy in storm IMO is Dream Halls.
I really don't like supporting storm in cube. It's fun to see go off, but if you try to draft storm and it doesn't go well you end up with a deck that does literally nothing. LED is a card I wouldn't even consider if I wasn't supporting storm, and I'm a long way from supporting storm.
The most expensive non-power artifact I run is Mox Diamond and after that is collectors edition Chaos Orb.
The price tag and narrowness of LED has kept me from even thinking about trying it, too. Thanks to ahadabans for the detailed explanation of exactly how good it can be in the right cube!
Iona is brutal in EDH, where I love it. Some day I'm going to live the dream with my Gaddock Teeg deck, and have Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Iona, Thorn of Amethyst, Sanctum Prelate, Sphere of Resistance, and Teeg himself out. But in cube . . . no thanks. It's exclusively a reanimator target, and it doesn't completely hose cube decks like Elesh Norn does.
For white fatties, I just run Elesh Norn. I used to run Angel of Serenity, and it's not close most of the time. Norn is just brutal.
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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'm not a fan of this card either, although it seems like its static ability would do a lot more in a dueling format than in EDH. Still, for 9 mana, I want upside and protection that's more reliable than (usually) crippling only part of the opponent's deck. If I were in the market for another white reanimation target, I'd rather have Avacyn, Angel of Hope than Iona.
Elesh Norn is also my only white 7+ drop, although in my Peasant cube I'm currently testing Seraph of the Suns over Quarry Colossus.
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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've been playing Workshop since bolstering the artifact.dec package, and it is certainly powerful in the right deck. I don't count it as a land during deck construction, and that's really helped mitigate the limit on the kinds of cards it can help cast.
Workshop is the most expensive land in my cube, since it has passed Library in value.
Workshop is the most expensive land in my cube, since it has passed Library in value.
Wow, I had no idea. Interesting to hear that it's working for you. I'm not explicitly supporting the artifact.dec archetype because my cube's unpowered, so it's a bit too narrow. However, I've seen it lead to some extremely explosive starts in the MTGO cube in decks going deep on artifacts. It also seems to rot in sideboards, but the MTGO cube designers are willing to go quite a bit deeper on some very specific archetypes than the typical MTGS cube manager.
My ABU duals are proxies, and my Rishadan Port is a World Championship Edition, so my most valuable land is my Zendikar Scalding Tarn.
I don't play Mishra's Workshop, but I did just proxy it, so it's an option in the box of spare cube cards. My cube is unpowered at the moment, but I'm in the process of powering it up for a while to see how my group likes it. My ABU duals are proxied, too, so like spike my priciest land is a Zendikar Tarn that I finally gave in and ordered after getting tired of waiting for reprints. Of course, the day it and 3 other Zendikar fetches arrived, the reprints were announced. Ah well.
I don't run Genesis Wave but I love casting it in EDH. It's one of those cards that if I went up to 540, I'd probably include it as a fun-of. Green ramp payoffs for me include Craterhoof to support the elf decks, Woodfall Primus and Terrastadon for general value beef, entwined Tooth and Nail, and of course the colorless options of Sunderino, Ulamog, Emrakul, and Ugin. I wish green would get another option or two at 8+ mana, since I'm not in love with Nasty Terrasty.
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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
Mishras seems like a cool card but i wont play it in my unpowered cube even though i support the artifact deck in grixis colors.
My most exoensive card is a revised underground sea.
As far as genesis wave is conserned i do not run it, but have never given it much thought either. I think i would want by big spells to affect the board state and this can still miss.
Genesis Wave is a fun and exciting card because it has the potential to do really silly things. But it was too random and inconsistent for us, and when I reach massive Wave mana, I prefer something like Tooth and Nail or just hardcasting an 8+CMC monster that I know will give me big value.
Genesis Wave is the green Mind's Desire. Stupid high ceiling but hard to unlock the upper echelon. It's clearly powerful in a deck built around it but you need a super degenerate mana engine for it to be a slam dunk. This card is probably better in a combo cube or one with less disruption where you can get this type of engine online more consistently. If 4-5 is the best you can wave for on average, this card is bad IMO. You need to be getting 6/7 drops/cards deep.
The price tag plus concerns about consistency have kept me from trying Genesis Wave. Similar concerns kept me from trying Craterhoof Behemoth, which I'm giving a shot after pulling one in MM3 draft. If I manage to trade for a copy of Wave, or the price comes down with a reprint, I might give it a shot.
In green I'm running the 'Hoof, Terastodon, and Woodfall Primus as my 8+ drops, and in colorless I'm running Newlamog, OG Kozilek, Sundering Titan, and Ugin. Price tag's the only thing keeping me from giving Tooth and Nail a shot.
I wish green would get another option or two at 8+ mana, since I'm not in love with Nasty Terrasty.
Sandwurm Convergence and Stonehoof Chieftain seem like pretty legit contenders for big green mana rewards if you're interested in trying something new over Terastodon. COnvergence is even a bulk rare.
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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.
The Abyss is one of my favorite cards in Magic and it's an all star around here. I love crafting decks around it. Heavy black control is just about the only control deck I truly feel comfortable playing.
If you haven't guessed already, we support Stax pretty heavily. We also run Pox with great success. I've first picked it more times than I'd like to admit.
I've been having good results with The Abyss since re-introducing it. It's good for the Stax archetype, it can be powerful with token engines, and it's great in decks where your win conditions are immune to it. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.
I support Stax decks with the repeatable engine cards, but not with the 1-shot effects. Basically the deck came together organically, by simply using the best cards, and now it's a really powerful deck.
I also re-introduced The Abyss when AER came out and I put the artifact deck support in my unpowered cube. It's a great control card for superfriends and artifacts. Can't say I've used it in Stax shells, I tend to build pretty attrition aggro Stax lists, but I can see the implications. I've been building a lot of defensive Esper control lists lately with The Abyss / Maze of Ith / Gideon of the Trials.
I play a lot of attrition type cards that support Stax and other strategies. Can't wait for that Magus of the Crucible!
Glad this card came up. It's on my list of cards to proxy and consider in the update when I power my cube, but I'm leaning more toward Nether Void, and think I only have room for one of those enchantments. Smallpox is a pet card of mine and I think it's only getting better as black gets better recursive creatures and now with Ramunap Excavator being added. I think this would go well in the sort of 18 land Loam Pox lists I really like trying to play, although they don't always come together. Nether Void is more straightforward and less of a build-around. Maybe I'll try to squeeze both in.
As I said, one of my pets is Smallpox due to my Modern days being built around it. I enjoy playing Hymn, Sinkhole, Smallpox, Strip Mine, Crucible, Braids, and Smokestack quite a bit, and both of the enchantments I'm looking at help out slightly different versions of the deck.
The Abyss also has the benefit of helping the artifact decks that can cast it. Having this out with a Lodestone Golem or whatever seems pretty brutal.
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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
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My most expensive artifact is probably Chromatic Lantern, but the top pick for my artifacts is probably Obelisk of Alara, which constantly impresses me.
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.
Speaking of which, LED is a card that really only belongs in a combo cube. I've been watching a lot of cube drafting on youtube to get more comfortable with different ways storm and other combo packages can come together. LED pairs extremely well with draw 7's and especially well with Yawgmoth's Will. Fill your yard over the first few turns with spells, play will, then crack LED in response. Replay LED from the yard after will resolves and you now have 6 colored mana and 3 storm count plus whatever other mana you can generate in lands and/or rituals and your yard is now your hand. I don't think there's an easier way to get that chain going outside black lotus or something equally silly. I would likely not touch LED with a 50 foot pole if I didn't have Yawgs Will and at least one draw 7 and knew storm was open. So it's super narrow but clearly also very powerful in this archetype. The only other card with this level of degeneracy in storm IMO is Dream Halls.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
The most expensive non-power artifact I run is Mox Diamond and after that is collectors edition Chaos Orb.
My most expensive card depends on what source you use to price cards. It's either an original foil Tarmogoyf, a signed Library of Alexandria or Moat
"Everybody dies, Tracey. Someone's carrying a bullet for you right now, doesn't even know it. The trick is to die of old age before it finds you."
My
540> 360 Powered CubeMy most expensive artifact is a near tie between my original Stronghold copy of Mox Diamond and my Masterpiece Sword of Light and Shadow.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Iona, Shield of Emeria
BONUS QUESTION
What 7+ drops do you run in white?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I run Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. If I was forced to run a 2nd one, it would be Angel of Serenity.
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!
For white fatties, I just run Elesh Norn. I used to run Angel of Serenity, and it's not close most of the time. Norn is just brutal.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Elesh Norn is also my only white 7+ drop, although in my Peasant cube I'm currently testing Seraph of the Suns over Quarry Colossus.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Mishra's Workshop
BONUS QUESTION
What's the most expensive land in your cube?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Workshop is the most expensive land in my cube, since it has passed Library in value.
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!
Wow, I had no idea. Interesting to hear that it's working for you. I'm not explicitly supporting the artifact.dec archetype because my cube's unpowered, so it's a bit too narrow. However, I've seen it lead to some extremely explosive starts in the MTGO cube in decks going deep on artifacts. It also seems to rot in sideboards, but the MTGO cube designers are willing to go quite a bit deeper on some very specific archetypes than the typical MTGS cube manager.
My ABU duals are proxies, and my Rishadan Port is a World Championship Edition, so my most valuable land is my Zendikar Scalding Tarn.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
Genesis Wave
BONUS QUESTION
What are the rewards for green ramp decks that get to 8 mana or more in your cube?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
I don't run Genesis Wave but I love casting it in EDH. It's one of those cards that if I went up to 540, I'd probably include it as a fun-of. Green ramp payoffs for me include Craterhoof to support the elf decks, Woodfall Primus and Terrastadon for general value beef, entwined Tooth and Nail, and of course the colorless options of Sunderino, Ulamog, Emrakul, and Ugin. I wish green would get another option or two at 8+ mana, since I'm not in love with Nasty Terrasty.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
My most exoensive card is a revised underground sea.
As far as genesis wave is conserned i do not run it, but have never given it much thought either. I think i would want by big spells to affect the board state and this can still miss.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
Woodfall Primus, Terastodon, Craterhoof Behemoth, Thornling (!), Tooth and Nail & Green Sun's Zenith in addition to Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Sundering Titan, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Emrakul, the Promised End. Plus all the great 6-7cc targets, good Xcc cards and all the bomb off-color stuff you can collect too.
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/
In green I'm running the 'Hoof, Terastodon, and Woodfall Primus as my 8+ drops, and in colorless I'm running Newlamog, OG Kozilek, Sundering Titan, and Ugin. Price tag's the only thing keeping me from giving Tooth and Nail a shot.
Sandwurm Convergence and Stonehoof Chieftain seem like pretty legit contenders for big green mana rewards if you're interested in trying something new over Terastodon. COnvergence is even a bulk rare.
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/modular-cube-5-colors.800/
Retro combo cube thread
http://riptidelab.com/forum/threads/retro-combo-cube.1454/
The Abyss
BONUS QUESTION
How deeply, if at all, do you support Stax in your cube?
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.
If you haven't guessed already, we support Stax pretty heavily. We also run Pox with great success. I've first picked it more times than I'd like to admit.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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I support Stax decks with the repeatable engine cards, but not with the 1-shot effects. Basically the deck came together organically, by simply using the best cards, and now it's a really powerful deck.
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've cut down a little on stax effects, because my group really doesn't like playing that strategy, and it rarely gets used.
Also, Enchant World effects were a concept that died too young.
I play a lot of attrition type cards that support Stax and other strategies. Can't wait for that Magus of the Crucible!
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
As I said, one of my pets is Smallpox due to my Modern days being built around it. I enjoy playing Hymn, Sinkhole, Smallpox, Strip Mine, Crucible, Braids, and Smokestack quite a bit, and both of the enchantments I'm looking at help out slightly different versions of the deck.
The Abyss also has the benefit of helping the artifact decks that can cast it. Having this out with a Lodestone Golem or whatever seems pretty brutal.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered