Started this thread after a search didn't turn up a prior thread on the topic. If there is one I missed, mods please merge.
Is the consensus still that Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is the best Grixis card for cube? I'm asking because, at 450 cards, I'm not sure I want to run three high mana walkers - the other two being Karn and Ugin - but I'd still like a Grixis card in my cube.
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker all the way for me. At 540 I am fine with the 3 big walkers and there are a ton of great Grixis control decks that can be built in cube. My favorite is a PW heavy control deck that features as many (non Koth) RUB walkers as possible.
Seriously, at 3 cmc you get the Lilianas, Dack, Saheeli, Daretti, and Baby Jace, at 4 cmc you get new Chandra, JMS, and Ral Zarek, at 5 cmc you get commander Ob Nix, and Sarkhan Dragonspeaker, at 6cmc you get big Chandra, at 7 you get Karn, and at 8 you get Ugin and Nicol Bolas. Add in some removal, a couple good value creatures, and 3+ sweepers and you have yourself a br00tz deck that is so much fun to play. You can easily turn it into a Wildfire deck with just a few tweaks. If I see Nicol Bolas P1 I almost always try and force that deck. SOoooooo much fun.
Big Bad Bolas i.e. Triple B>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>all other options. Slave of Bolas felt weak in cube 5+ years ago, Crosis' Charm does look better but I can replicate those effects many times over in those colors that it's not worth running the hard-to-cast card no matter how flexible it is.
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is fun and it can be powerful in the right deck. It seems like a "just in there for the fun of it" card ...until it resolves, and then the sentiment changes to "oh ya, I forgot the card is actually good". It's still the best representative for Grixis if you're looking for one. And it's probably not close.
Crosis's Charm isn't half bad though. I mean, if I was playing a Grixis deck it would certainly make the final 40.
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is the best option, and can be legitimately good in an environment with signets. Cruel Ultimatum is playable if you have other cards that care about big instants and sorceries; it's a sick Arcane Savant target. Rise // Fall seems respectable; I wouldn't cube any of the others though.
We used to run Nightscape Familiar. In a control deck he can act as a repeatable speedbump while ramping to your bigger spells. He was OK but nothing special. I'd say Bolas is more fun.
We used to run Nightscape Familiar. In a control deck he can act as a repeatable speedbump while ramping to your bigger spells. He was OK but nothing special. I'd say Bolas is more fun.
Is the consensus still that Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is the best Grixis card for cube? I'm asking because, at 450 cards, I'm not sure I want to run three high mana walkers - the other two being Karn and Ugin - but I'd still like a Grixis card in my cube.
Is Bolas best? What are the other options? Slave of Bolas seems pretty swingy. Sedraxis Specter looks OK but nothing special. Grixis Charm doesn't impress me; Crosis's Charm is better. Rise // Fall looks good. There are also some great reanimator targets, like Thraximundar and Garza Zol, Plague Queen.
I'd love other cubists' thoughts on this wedge.
Cheers,
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Nicol Bolas 1.0 for the lolz I guess.
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I see that you're running two Abzan cards instead of a Grixis card. If you don't want to run Bolas, I'd rather have Siege Rhino than Slave of Bolas.
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Seriously, at 3 cmc you get the Lilianas, Dack, Saheeli, Daretti, and Baby Jace, at 4 cmc you get new Chandra, JMS, and Ral Zarek, at 5 cmc you get commander Ob Nix, and Sarkhan Dragonspeaker, at 6cmc you get big Chandra, at 7 you get Karn, and at 8 you get Ugin and Nicol Bolas. Add in some removal, a couple good value creatures, and 3+ sweepers and you have yourself a br00tz deck that is so much fun to play. You can easily turn it into a Wildfire deck with just a few tweaks. If I see Nicol Bolas P1 I almost always try and force that deck. SOoooooo much fun.
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Crosis's Charm isn't half bad though. I mean, if I was playing a Grixis deck it would certainly make the final 40.
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Card is sweet in Storm decks, FWIW.
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My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
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