How many cards in your cube can remove an indestructible Enchantment? Have you ever considered running or not running a removal spell based on whether or not it can hit a Theros God when it's not a creature?
Keranos can be a bomb in Izzet control decks (often off a splash) in longer, grindy matchups. But I found it painfully slow in matchups where you're under lots of early pressure, and that's the situation where I need my splashy bombs to shine.
I have considered him a few times but never put the money down. I think my main problem with him is, like all Theros gods, you have to be fine with them never really being a creature since and a 5 mana enchantment it doesn't excite me enough. Wouldn't be surprised if it plays better than it looks though and it's not like Izzet is the deepest of guilds.
I think O-ring variants are the best options in my cube, I don't think much else can exile an enchantment. I wouldn't let a card hitting a god or not change it's cube ranking.
He def plays better than he looks in certain cubes, but he's really matchup dependent. If you're dropping him t5 against a faster deck, there's a real chance you just draw land next turn and draw into another card that doesn't help you and that sucks. But if you're in a match up where you end up in parity often, he's really really stellar. It's incredibly easy to start clawing your way back in when or jumping far ahead you're either drawing an additional land or lightning bolt every turn.
He's less good in powered cubes since so many decks have explosive starts, and definitely better in cubes where midrange mirrors or control vs midrange is common. I currently don't run him as I have a powered cube and a small guild section, but if I see him in another cube I assume that faster decks aren't common whether due to meta (playgroups that hate drafting aggro, which is real) or cube construction (MODO legacy cube is Midrange City, USA) and there's a real chance I'll draft him.
Pretty good card; another in a long line of lightning strike/searing spear variants but this one has very marginal upside, not a lot of regeneration in cubes but it can't hurt to have.
Can you get the Scott M. Fisher art in black boarder? I think it's the one I am currently running but unfortunately white bordered. I hadn't seen that Snoddy art before, it looks pretty sweet. Not the biggest fan of the latest one with Chandra.
"Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire." Always a favorite.
Not much to say about Incinerate other than it's just a solid burn spell. It's not quite the baseline for two mana red direct damage spells, but it's just a notch above it. If your two mana burn spell isn't doing three damage, then it needs to be doing something sweet.
The Fifth Edition art doesn't come in black border, unfortunately for those that like it. I'm not a big fan, though. The Ice Age art is my favorite and I'm running the Deckmasters foil promo with that art.
I don't know that I have a favorite Jaya Ballard quote, but she does have some good ones. The Incinerate flavor text is among the greats. I hope we get some sweet new ones from her in Dominaria.
The Fifth Edition art doesn't come in black border, unfortunately for those that like it. I'm not a big fan, though. The Ice Age art is my favorite and I'm running the Deckmasters foil promo with that art.
That sucks, maybe it's time I bust out some paint and alter it. The Ice Age art is great, I recently found a playset when I was going through my box to make casual decks. It's a bit of a cliche but magic art ain't what it used to be, not in the "all new is terrible" way but just in terms of variance in how things look.
ANother small niggle, I don't like it when burn spell focus on the person casting it rather than the thing being burnt. I think that's why I really dislike the Chandra art, its technically well done but it doesn't do anything for me whilst something like Poole's Incinerate oozes feeling and drives home the card.
incinerate isnt in my cube due to feeling like a functional reprint since my cube has no regenerate. was tough to make that decision as I originally ran all three 2 mana 3-burners, but with the addition of abrade and trying to keep with the spirit of my cube I decided to cut lightning strike and incinerate.
I like the pyroclasm text about burning the small guys so the big ones have more room to fight.
ANother small niggle, I don't like it when burn spell focus on the person casting it rather than the thing being burnt. I think that's why I really dislike the Chandra art, its technically well done but it doesn't do anything for me whilst something like Poole's Incinerate oozes feeling and drives home the card.
I'm not in the "new art is worse than old art, get off my lawn!" camp either and I agree about burn spell art in general. There are some new arts that I prefer to old arts and vice versa. Let's rank the Incinerate options.
Based on art alone:
Mirage > Ice Age > Xth Edition > Legend Promo > Jace v Chandra > 5th Edition
Based on version:
Deckmasters foil > MPR Full Art > Foil Xth art > Mirage > Ice Age > Legend Promo > Jace v Chandra > 5th Edition
I found the delve cost to be pretty steep; a lot of black decks want to use their 'yard as a resource, and this competes with reanimation, recursion and other delve spells.
I don't think I ever tested it, but considering how important removal can be to keeping control decks alive in the early game, I don't think I'd want a straight removal spell that's basically impossible to case before turn 4.
I only want delve spells that are still great if you need to wait till the late game to cast them - which is why the only 2 I run are Tasigur and Dig. Both let control decks leave counter magic and other instant speed stuff up, Tasigur by often costing just B by the time you cast him and dig by being instant.
I ran Murderous Cut for a while but it didn't make the cut. The delve is pretty steep for what it does considering a lot of black decks want a stocked graveyard, you just have better uses for that resource.
I had it in an early version of my cube. A "free" 2/2 is hard to argue with but it just doesn't feel splashy enough to take up a guild slot.
I think it ended up playing more like a red card; green doesn't really need 2/2 bodies that aren't ramping but red was happy to get a "free" body with their lightning strikeor Kari Zev, Skyship Raider. I guess the more 2 drops with 1 colored mana in their cost (i.e. 1G or 1R) you have the easier it is to get full value out of her, so she has probably gotten stronger over the years as people cut back on mana intensive 2 drops but still not something I am interested in.
I have cut back on all of the broken fast mana (sol ring, grim monolith)for my cube so I don't tend to see crazy busted starts as often. Occasionally We still see T2 reanimates or tinkers, and the agro can pull of some backbreaking starts (Guide - Zurgo + removal - Rabblemaster) but I think some of that is down to my playgroups habits of forcing big mana decks all the time (... and then complaining agro is too stong).
If you support base aggro in both red and green, Emissary can be flexible enough to be worth including. Otherwise, it's not typically worth the real estate it takes up as a guild card.
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Keranos, God of Storms
How many cards in your cube can remove an indestructible Enchantment? Have you ever considered running or not running a removal spell based on whether or not it can hit a Theros God when it's not a creature?
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Although i do really like purphorus.
I think O-ring variants are the best options in my cube, I don't think much else can exile an enchantment. I wouldn't let a card hitting a god or not change it's cube ranking.
He's less good in powered cubes since so many decks have explosive starts, and definitely better in cubes where midrange mirrors or control vs midrange is common. I currently don't run him as I have a powered cube and a small guild section, but if I see him in another cube I assume that faster decks aren't common whether due to meta (playgroups that hate drafting aggro, which is real) or cube construction (MODO legacy cube is Midrange City, USA) and there's a real chance I'll draft him.
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He's kind of borning, but he pushes a specific deck that I want played. That said, Fevered Visions miht be more what I want in that regard.
Incinerate
What's your favorite Jaya Ballard flavor text?
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Can you get the Scott M. Fisher art in black boarder? I think it's the one I am currently running but unfortunately white bordered. I hadn't seen that Snoddy art before, it looks pretty sweet. Not the biggest fan of the latest one with Chandra.
"Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire." Always a favorite.
The Fifth Edition art doesn't come in black border, unfortunately for those that like it. I'm not a big fan, though. The Ice Age art is my favorite and I'm running the Deckmasters foil promo with that art.
I don't know that I have a favorite Jaya Ballard quote, but she does have some good ones. The Incinerate flavor text is among the greats. I hope we get some sweet new ones from her in Dominaria.
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That sucks, maybe it's time I bust out some paint and alter it. The Ice Age art is great, I recently found a playset when I was going through my box to make casual decks. It's a bit of a cliche but magic art ain't what it used to be, not in the "all new is terrible" way but just in terms of variance in how things look.
ANother small niggle, I don't like it when burn spell focus on the person casting it rather than the thing being burnt. I think that's why I really dislike the Chandra art, its technically well done but it doesn't do anything for me whilst something like Poole's Incinerate oozes feeling and drives home the card.
I like the pyroclasm text about burning the small guys so the big ones have more room to fight.
I think Lotleth Troll is the only cubable card that cares about the Regenerate clause, unless you're in Peasant or some other stipulation environment.
Jaya flavor texts are all pretty embarrassing, but Browse is the least bad.
I'm not in the "new art is worse than old art, get off my lawn!" camp either and I agree about burn spell art in general. There are some new arts that I prefer to old arts and vice versa. Let's rank the Incinerate options.
Based on art alone:
Mirage > Ice Age > Xth Edition > Legend Promo > Jace v Chandra > 5th Edition
Based on version:
Deckmasters foil > MPR Full Art > Foil Xth art > Mirage > Ice Age > Legend Promo > Jace v Chandra > 5th Edition
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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What's not to like? Just not a fan of jokey flavour text?
Murderous Cut
How consistent have spells with the Delve mechanic been for you in cube? Is today's card closer to Swords to Plowshares or Flesh to Dust?
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I only want delve spells that are still great if you need to wait till the late game to cast them - which is why the only 2 I run are Tasigur and Dig. Both let control decks leave counter magic and other instant speed stuff up, Tasigur by often costing just B by the time you cast him and dig by being instant.
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The delve cards I run I am happy with; Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise and Tasigur, the Golden Fang. Sometimes decks get a bit and try and squeeze all 3 in but it is rare.
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Burning-Tree Emissary
What's the most impressive early turn you've seen in cube?
I think it ended up playing more like a red card; green doesn't really need 2/2 bodies that aren't ramping but red was happy to get a "free" body with their lightning strikeor Kari Zev, Skyship Raider. I guess the more 2 drops with 1 colored mana in their cost (i.e. 1G or 1R) you have the easier it is to get full value out of her, so she has probably gotten stronger over the years as people cut back on mana intensive 2 drops but still not something I am interested in.
I have cut back on all of the broken fast mana (sol ring, grim monolith)for my cube so I don't tend to see crazy busted starts as often. Occasionally We still see T2 reanimates or tinkers, and the agro can pull of some backbreaking starts (Guide - Zurgo + removal - Rabblemaster) but I think some of that is down to my playgroups habits of forcing big mana decks all the time (... and then complaining agro is too stong).
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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!
Doom Blade
What are your favorite black removal spells? Which ones do you run?