Harbinger and Venser could go in both a UG bounce tempo and UR aggro tempo shell, relegating UB to the real true control archetype, Resto and Stonecloaker fit pretty nicely in GW ETB effects.
Asking you guys if
A. It's a viable option
B. What support I would include for it that is worthwhile within a cube? Powered? Unpowered?
Flash is certainly always a welcome effect to have on a good creature as it lets you get value by flashing in surprise blockers that can eat smaller creatures and hold up mana for countermagic without forgoing the opportunity to devolop your board. The best ones are always in demand and can fit into almost any deck, but will obviously be prioritized a bit higher by blue decks.
Has anybody tried it?
In the early days of my unpowered cube I did push flash in my green section as a gimmick to make it more interesting, and it was OK until I upped the overall power level a bit and it became harder to justify keeping some of the weaker flash creatures. Having a lot of flash creatures definitely made combat more exciting. I do actively support Simic flash/go as an archetype in my Peasant cube, where it's quite good, but in a traditional cube with rares there are generally more powerful options available than trying to build a deck around flash per se.
Still, flash is sweet, and if you're cube environment is a bit lower powered and you want to go deeper on flash, here are some of your better options:
Restoration Angel, Venser, Shaper Savant, Snapcaster Mage, Archangel Avacyn, and Vendilion Clique are top cards in any cube, powered or unpowered, period. Stonecloaker being unplayable without another creature to bounce means it hasn't been good enough for quite some time, and the competition in the white 3-drop slot has become downright fierce. Harbinger of the Tides wound up underperforming in most cubes because of the double blue in the casting cost, and the fact that it could only bounce tapped creatures made it too situational to be great. It's not terrible, mind you, but great tends to be the bar to clear to make it in blue in cube.
However, if you want to go a bit deeper on Flash critters there are quite a few reasonable options in blue. Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch are quite good as support for Splinter Twin combo, but they also put some work in for tempo and control decks. Dimensional Infiltrator and Rattlechains are fine as aggressive filler in more aggressive blue sections. Stunt Double seems pretty reasonable, especially since there are so many ETB effect creatures that can be great if you're copying them at instant speed, not to mention all of the monsters that get cheated in by ramp/reanimator/Sneak & Show decks. Some people have been having success with Torrential Gearhulk as an oversized Snappie/control finisher, and the MTGO cube designers can't seem to get enough of Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, although UUU makes it a bit narrow.
If you're really looking to go deep on flash, the second best color to explore is definitely green. The only green flash creature that sees play in most cubes is Mystic Snake, although that's really just a counterspell on legs. Boon Satyr is a pretty good combat trick/value critter, and along with Wolfir Avengir can help make the anemic green 3-drop slot a bit more aggressive. Great Oak Guardian is a decent choice for a green curve-topper in addition to Primeval Titan that can close out a game, wipe out a team of attackers, and even combo with Splinter Twin. Yeva, Nature's Herald isn't quite as beefy as green 4-drops available, but having flash and giving all your green creatures flash is pretty cool. Prophet of Kruphix may not have flash, but with enough counters it turns any deck into a flash/go deck all by itself, while giving you access to twice as much mana on the installment plan. In my Peasant cube I've also had success with Ambush Viper, Briarhorn, Pack Guardian, Beast Attack, Fleetfeather Cockatrice, Voidgrafter, and Bounding Krasis (combos with Twin!).
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465 card Unpowered cube thread. Draft it here and I'll be happy to return the favor.
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I'm trying to put in the (cubeable) flash creatures. Stonecloaker, Restoration Angel, Venser, Shaper Savant, Harbinger of the Tides.
Harbinger and Venser could go in both a UG bounce tempo and UR aggro tempo shell, relegating UB to the real true control archetype, Resto and Stonecloaker fit pretty nicely in GW ETB effects.
Asking you guys if
A. It's a viable option
B. What support I would include for it that is worthwhile within a cube? Powered? Unpowered?
Has anybody tried it?
Flash is certainly always a welcome effect to have on a good creature as it lets you get value by flashing in surprise blockers that can eat smaller creatures and hold up mana for countermagic without forgoing the opportunity to devolop your board. The best ones are always in demand and can fit into almost any deck, but will obviously be prioritized a bit higher by blue decks.
In the early days of my unpowered cube I did push flash in my green section as a gimmick to make it more interesting, and it was OK until I upped the overall power level a bit and it became harder to justify keeping some of the weaker flash creatures. Having a lot of flash creatures definitely made combat more exciting. I do actively support Simic flash/go as an archetype in my Peasant cube, where it's quite good, but in a traditional cube with rares there are generally more powerful options available than trying to build a deck around flash per se.
Still, flash is sweet, and if you're cube environment is a bit lower powered and you want to go deeper on flash, here are some of your better options:
Restoration Angel, Venser, Shaper Savant, Snapcaster Mage, Archangel Avacyn, and Vendilion Clique are top cards in any cube, powered or unpowered, period. Stonecloaker being unplayable without another creature to bounce means it hasn't been good enough for quite some time, and the competition in the white 3-drop slot has become downright fierce. Harbinger of the Tides wound up underperforming in most cubes because of the double blue in the casting cost, and the fact that it could only bounce tapped creatures made it too situational to be great. It's not terrible, mind you, but great tends to be the bar to clear to make it in blue in cube.
However, if you want to go a bit deeper on Flash critters there are quite a few reasonable options in blue. Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch are quite good as support for Splinter Twin combo, but they also put some work in for tempo and control decks. Dimensional Infiltrator and Rattlechains are fine as aggressive filler in more aggressive blue sections. Stunt Double seems pretty reasonable, especially since there are so many ETB effect creatures that can be great if you're copying them at instant speed, not to mention all of the monsters that get cheated in by ramp/reanimator/Sneak & Show decks. Some people have been having success with Torrential Gearhulk as an oversized Snappie/control finisher, and the MTGO cube designers can't seem to get enough of Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, although UUU makes it a bit narrow.
Your options for flash creatures in white drop off pretty dramatically after Restoration Angel and Archangel Avacyn, but Containment Priest, Hushwing Gryff, and Aven Mindcensor are flashy hate bears that are really effective against some strategies you might be supporting.
If you're really looking to go deep on flash, the second best color to explore is definitely green. The only green flash creature that sees play in most cubes is Mystic Snake, although that's really just a counterspell on legs. Boon Satyr is a pretty good combat trick/value critter, and along with Wolfir Avengir can help make the anemic green 3-drop slot a bit more aggressive. Great Oak Guardian is a decent choice for a green curve-topper in addition to Primeval Titan that can close out a game, wipe out a team of attackers, and even combo with Splinter Twin. Yeva, Nature's Herald isn't quite as beefy as green 4-drops available, but having flash and giving all your green creatures flash is pretty cool. Prophet of Kruphix may not have flash, but with enough counters it turns any deck into a flash/go deck all by itself, while giving you access to twice as much mana on the installment plan. In my Peasant cube I've also had success with Ambush Viper, Briarhorn, Pack Guardian, Beast Attack, Fleetfeather Cockatrice, Voidgrafter, and Bounding Krasis (combos with Twin!).
450 card Peasant cube thread. Draft it here.