If that was a 5 drop, I would totally play it. As a 6 drop, I'm ok with what we have so far, though I wouldn't fault anyone for playing this as it is strong. I think it's worse than something like Massacre Wurm, a card which itself doesn't see a ton of play, but the issue for high curve cards is less the quality of the card but the number of spots. I still want a solid, staple (or close to it) 6 drop creature to go with Grave Titan, but the other options aren't so bad that they're embarrassing.
Probably Batterskull. I tend to draft it a lot, and it can be such a tough card to fight through. 2nd choice is Jitte, 3rd choice is a creature holding both Batterskull and Jitte
i like noxious gearhulk. If i had a massacre wurm i'd probably run it instead but i am also not hyped on the BBB in its cost.
Noxious has performed well for me. It has kind of played like a 6cmc control magic as it always takes your opponents biggest threat and almost always gives you the biggest threat on the table. extra 2 mana for some lifegain and getting a 5/4 menace no matter what creature you take out is alright. the lifegain is great for stabilizing and its not even that bad of a reanimation target since when it hits early either your opponent will have 1 or no creatures and will have to play multiple creatures to block the threat or have removal for it.
Do you count Grim Lavamancer when making sure you have a high enough density of 1-drops for aggro, due to the reach it can provide? What about Mother of Runes?
I actually had Lavamancer in a Boros aggro deck last night. He was great and did a ton of work as repeatable removal and reach to push through the last points of damage. Lavamancer's a card that normally has a target on his head because people tend to respect the amount of damage he can deal in a typical burn or aggro deck.
I don't count cards like Lavamancer or Mom toward my aggro density. Those are cards that, while they are great in aggro decks, also see a fair amount of play in midrange and even control shells.
I keep meaning to pick up a Grim Lavamancer, I have played it in one of the digital games though and I was very impressed. He generates a really solid amount of reach when compared to most other 1 drops and lets you snipe opposing utility creatures without having to expend removal from hand.
I ran her years ago and she was pretty solid. Sometimes it is just a 5 mana Maelstrom Pulse with some random life gain but if you can protect her she can become a headache to deal with.
+1: Surprisingly solid protection given her 6 loyalty, they are going to have to give up alot of creatures to get her off the board
-3: Really solid removal but a pretty steep loyalty cost.
-7: Fun but not the most useful.
Over all I wouldn't say she is strong enough but she is good.
She feels like a pretty standard 5 mana value walker, which Wizards has gotten really good at making. Boring and there are better options.
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Vraska was pretty good back in the day when there was very few Oblivion Ring / Vindicate effects to deal with planeswalkers. Vraska aged poorly since RTR now that we have more than enough of those effects and the fact that cards are more aggressive and are able to go wide. I probably like Vraska 2.0 and Garruk, Apex Predator more than this Vraska.
My favorite token in the game is Ophiomancer's snake token, so damn annoying.
We ran this Vraska for a bit when she was released. She was fine, but I don't think her ultimate ever killed anyone despite it being kind of a cool way to win the game. There's just too many better options for that slot in Golgari now. I'd recommend The Gitrog Monster over this if you're still running her.
My favorite token has to go to Zombie. I love making Zombie tokens.
Way too often, this Vraska felt like a five mana removal spell, which isn't good enough for a cube card. Worse, if you try to build up to the ult, she could end up doing literally nothing, especially if you are under any kind of pressure. Not helping her case, Golgari has some of the best removal suites in the game, so she has very tough competition since her primary role is to destroy stuff.
My favorite tokens are definitely Myr tokens. Myr Battlesphere is one of the first cards I really latched onto when I started playing due to the amusing flavor of the card, and to this day it remains one of my favorite cards.
Has anyone seen the Unstable foil tokens? Those things are pretty sweet, could be some of my favorite cube tokens. Thopter or Gnome (replacing one of my Myrs) is my favorite token from the new set but they are all pretty good.
Diregraf Ghoul is solid. I prefer it to the Carnophages of the world. I'd rather my 2/2 aggro dork not hit me for one each turn in a deck that's probably going to include several self damage cards. Also, I love the art on the promo.
The thing about most successful tribal decks in constructed is that they tend to have a lot of synergy among their creatures. In goblins the lords are making your goblins bigger, cheaper, and faster and they work with each other. With cube being a world of 1-ofs it's hard to expect that type of creature type specific synergy without sacrificing something somewhere else. I wish some of the good tribal payoff cards were more generic instead of tribal specific. How about a Goblin Warchief that replaces all instances of Goblin with a more generic wording of "creature"? That'd be pretty sweet.
Solid, if boring, card. I mostly wish my playgroup took black aggro more seriously and would draft it. Black one-drops are often last picks unless I take them
Open Fire isn't a good cube card, and while the five damage mode is efficient, it seems like it can be difficult to trigger morbid consistently when you need it. I don't have any experience with pauper or peasant cubes, but does this see play there? I'm assuming that's how it made the average 720. Or is it just a relic of a few years past, before the release of better burn spells printed after Innistrad?
Yea the floor of Open Fire isn't quite made up for by the upside. Having to keep open 3 is a lot harder than with something like Tragic Slip where you just need the 1 open.
I think it's fine if you are really pushing agro or Rakdos has some sacrifice theme, but in general I think it is a bit unreliable for me.
Probably Batterskull. I tend to draft it a lot, and it can be such a tough card to fight through. 2nd choice is Jitte, 3rd choice is a creature holding both Batterskull and Jitte
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Yes. I think even a 4/4 for 5 might've been acceptable.
My favorite lifegain in the cube is Umezawa's Jitte but it's not used for lifegain that often.
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Noxious has performed well for me. It has kind of played like a 6cmc control magic as it always takes your opponents biggest threat and almost always gives you the biggest threat on the table. extra 2 mana for some lifegain and getting a 5/4 menace no matter what creature you take out is alright. the lifegain is great for stabilizing and its not even that bad of a reanimation target since when it hits early either your opponent will have 1 or no creatures and will have to play multiple creatures to block the threat or have removal for it.
Grim Lavamancer
Do you count Grim Lavamancer when making sure you have a high enough density of 1-drops for aggro, due to the reach it can provide? What about Mother of Runes?
I don't count utility 1-drops towards my 2-power 1-drop saturation when deckbuilding, no.
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I don't count cards like Lavamancer or Mom toward my aggro density. Those are cards that, while they are great in aggro decks, also see a fair amount of play in midrange and even control shells.
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Not really, I don't always main deck it in my aggro decks either.
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Vraska the Unseen
What is your favorite token in the game?
+1: Surprisingly solid protection given her 6 loyalty, they are going to have to give up alot of creatures to get her off the board
-3: Really solid removal but a pretty steep loyalty cost.
-7: Fun but not the most useful.
Over all I wouldn't say she is strong enough but she is good.
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Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
My favorite token in the game is Ophiomancer's snake token, so damn annoying.
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My favorite token has to go to Zombie. I love making Zombie tokens.
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My favorite tokens are definitely Myr tokens. Myr Battlesphere is one of the first cards I really latched onto when I started playing due to the amusing flavor of the card, and to this day it remains one of my favorite cards.
Diregraf Ghoul
Is there a tribal payoff card that doesn't have the support it needs to work in cube, but you wish it did?
The thing about most successful tribal decks in constructed is that they tend to have a lot of synergy among their creatures. In goblins the lords are making your goblins bigger, cheaper, and faster and they work with each other. With cube being a world of 1-ofs it's hard to expect that type of creature type specific synergy without sacrificing something somewhere else. I wish some of the good tribal payoff cards were more generic instead of tribal specific. How about a Goblin Warchief that replaces all instances of Goblin with a more generic wording of "creature"? That'd be pretty sweet.
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I run a zombie tribal theme that works well enough to win, but i goblins and elves are so close i hope some day they get the support they need.
I would love for merfolk to be tribal in cube!
I wish spell tribal (aka storm) was supported in a non-parasitic way, since spells are fun!!
Brimstone Volley
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I think it's fine if you are really pushing agro or Rakdos has some sacrifice theme, but in general I think it is a bit unreliable for me.