After almost 6 months, I finally finished reading this entire thread : )
It has been enormously interesting and has influenced my cube a lot - one of the top4 resources in terms of influence. Thanks all who have been posting cards and commenting them!
Now, after over one month, the last card of the day of the year, which I think was not discussed here yet.
I like Ankh, but I have such a hard time finding room for generic aggressive colorless cards. Hopefully it'll make a return at some point though, because it's a good card.
In general, non-creature reach is more reliable. But there are a handful of creatures that are really good at closing games out.
Card is fine, but hard to make space for at small sizes. I don’t play it, but I think I’d play it at sixes 450+ As aggro needs more support the larger you get.
I like Ankh fairly well as a reach card for aggressive decks. How do you guys think it compares in today's market up against something like Throne of the God-Pharaoh? I've played with both and it seems to me like Throne has more damage output on average for high creature count aggressive decks.
I like how Ankh attacks from a slightly different angle. The issue I had with Throne is if the opponent wiped my board and/or kept me from turning my creatures sideways, it stops doing damage. But in a deck applying pressure to my opponent's mana, they have to play lands in order to cast spells, and Ankh deals 4-6 damage pretty reliably for 2.
What I see with Ankh is that sometimes it holds the non-aggro player in a state that it can't really use the card advantage it has since it cannot deploy more lands, which gives more time to the aggro player to draw the last few damage. I like the tension this adds.
Bonus Question
How do you value alternate win conditions in your cube? Would you include a card that is not the most powerful in its slot to add a new way of winning?
I dislike that Ankh is not reliable reach when drawn late. Very polar in performance, like Black Vise. Besides the issues of the aggro mirror, it is a weaker card in a powered cube as there is a lot of artifact mana to mitigate the drawback. Also weaker in a large cube as the fetch density is lower. I don't play it at 720 (cubed it a very long time ago).
I'm not a huge fan of Approach. It can be a good way to win a grindy game against a slower beatdown deck, but I found it to be too slow in situations where you are getting beaten down, and redundant in situations where you've stabilized well enough to redraw/cast it anyways. Plus, I'm not big on alternate win conditions either, so I'm even less drawn to it than usual.
My playgroup loves alternate win-conditions, and Approach has played quite well here. we've had a lot of success with Nexus of Fate, and they both play well in control decks that have lots of velocity/tutors/CA/planeswalkers, so the redundancy there has been nice.
Bonus Questions
1) If you would add just this card to your cube, would it be easy to break symmetry?
2) If you just cannot find a card to buy to your cube, do you have issues with proxying?
I have never played this and don't know if I'd add it. I wonder if it's easy to break symmetry - also, since I"d be playing green I'd probably want to run some mana dorks. Could fit in a UG control shell, though. Or in a wildfire shell.
I don't currently proxy anything in the cube, and don't want to start unless I'm adding a cycle of duals.
Since card draw is great in cube, I expected this card to not necessarily shine, but the fact that it can be discarded for advantage makes it great in some decks.
I like Volrath's Stronghold a lot. It can really help a lot of different decks out as long as they have the mana to use it's ability.
Yes I first pick lands quite a bit, especially fetches and duals. It makes it so much easier later in the draft to splash that card that get's passed or you open but is not in your colors. I don't tend to pick utility lands first though.
Volrath's Stronghold is great. Like rant said, if you're in any sort of B/X value deck, you'll definitely want to include this utility land. Chaining a Shriekmaw to create a virtual Abyss for your opponent feels pretty good.
As to picking lands first, I rarely do. I think the pros you see streaming or posting game play videos drastically overrate picking early fixing in cube. I see where they're coming from. Cube decks will ultimately have plenty of playables, so it's ok (and important) to pick up some fixing over a decent enough card that you may end up running. If you've got two solid six drops in your control deck and you see a fixing land in a pack with a Wurmcoil, you should probably take the fixer. You don't necessarily need another finisher, even though Wurmcoil might replace one of your current ones. However, if it's P1P1 and you're presented with that same choice, I would argue that taking the fixing land is never correct.
Oracle Text
Imprint — Whenever a nontoken creature dies, you may exile that card. If you do, return each other card exiled with Mimic Vat to its owner's graveyard.
3, T: Create a token that's a copy of a card exiled with Mimic Vat. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
Bonus Questions
1) [Rule Question] If the token is of a creature with persist, does it create the copy with the counter?
2) If you don't play mimic vat, what would need to change for you to play it? Converted mana cost? Cost of activation?
I like Mimic Vat pretty well, but it doesn't see as much play here as it once did. It's a fun card, though, and it can generate some pretty sick value in the right deck.
If you Mimic Vat a Murderous Redcap, the Redcap token will come into play and trigger the damage ability. At EOT, you'll exile the token. Persist only triggers when the creature dies, so it won't trigger here because the Redcap token was exiled. Redcap is still a good creature to put in the Vat, though. Three mana for a blocker and a two damage you can point anywhere is still good value.
It has been enormously interesting and has influenced my cube a lot - one of the top4 resources in terms of influence. Thanks all who have been posting cards and commenting them!
Now, after over one month, the last card of the day of the year, which I think was not discussed here yet.
Ankh of Mishra
Bonus Question
In your aggro decks, do you prefer cards that provide reach to be creatures (Hellrider, Thundermaw Hellkite) or non-creatures (Sulfuric Vortex, Ankh of Mishra)?
In general, non-creature reach is more reliable. But there are a handful of creatures that are really good at closing games out.
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rant
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It's summer here in Brazil, and it sure looks like there's two suns in the sky right now.
Approach of the Second Sun
Bonus Question
How do you value alternate win conditions in your cube? Would you include a card that is not the most powerful in its slot to add a new way of winning?
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Bonus Questions
1) If you would add just this card to your cube, would it be easy to break symmetry?
2) If you just cannot find a card to buy to your cube, do you have issues with proxying?
I don't currently proxy anything in the cube, and don't want to start unless I'm adding a cycle of duals.
Bonus Question
How many sessions do you take to analyze whether a new card should be included or not?
Still got it baby.
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rant
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Bonus Question
Do you ever first pick lands?
Yes I first pick lands quite a bit, especially fetches and duals. It makes it so much easier later in the draft to splash that card that get's passed or you open but is not in your colors. I don't tend to pick utility lands first though.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
I first pick lands sometimes, but I don't like first picking fixing lands in most packs.
Cheers,
rant
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And yes, I've first-picked lands.
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
As to picking lands first, I rarely do. I think the pros you see streaming or posting game play videos drastically overrate picking early fixing in cube. I see where they're coming from. Cube decks will ultimately have plenty of playables, so it's ok (and important) to pick up some fixing over a decent enough card that you may end up running. If you've got two solid six drops in your control deck and you see a fixing land in a pack with a Wurmcoil, you should probably take the fixer. You don't necessarily need another finisher, even though Wurmcoil might replace one of your current ones. However, if it's P1P1 and you're presented with that same choice, I would argue that taking the fixing land is never correct.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
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Oracle Text
Imprint — Whenever a nontoken creature dies, you may exile that card. If you do, return each other card exiled with Mimic Vat to its owner's graveyard.
3, T: Create a token that's a copy of a card exiled with Mimic Vat. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
Bonus Questions
1) [Rule Question] If the token is of a creature with persist, does it create the copy with the counter?
2) If you don't play mimic vat, what would need to change for you to play it? Converted mana cost? Cost of activation?
If you Mimic Vat a Murderous Redcap, the Redcap token will come into play and trigger the damage ability. At EOT, you'll exile the token. Persist only triggers when the creature dies, so it won't trigger here because the Redcap token was exiled. Redcap is still a good creature to put in the Vat, though. Three mana for a blocker and a two damage you can point anywhere is still good value.
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
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!