But even in monored, can be very sweet. Admittedly, it's harder to hit delirium in cube as it's far rarer to get an artifact like Mishra's Bauble into the yard, however at tight cube lists fetchland density is high enough and creature, land, instant, sorcery is not particularly difficult to hit.
I played this in MTGO modern cube a couple times. I wasn't able to get the delirium early enough to be useful in aggressive decks, and neither were opponents that ran it. The surveil wasn't bad, but I often found myself wishing it were an aggressive 1 drop instead. If you run it, then it should be for the surveil ability to slot into grixis spells matter decks, and not for the stat boost.
That said, that was just modern cube, and not a legacy+/vintage cube so it may play different in that situation.
I’m going to test this. I recently added Delver of Secrets after not having it for 10 years, and it has been doing well which is a good indicator for this card. A lot of great support for blue tempo/aggressive decks has been printed over the past couple years. I like the mention of Rakdos Spells in the OP which is also an archetype we’ve had some success with.
I'm just not sure how easy it would be to trigger delirium ...
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I definitely think it's better than Delver, but that's not saying much, IMO. My issue with Delver in cube is that it doesn't translate well to cube in two ways:
- Lack of library manipulation to consistently transform it.
- Lack of free counterspells to consistently protect it.
While DRC giving your spells surveil and being a better topdeck in the late game is nice, it doesn't solve any of Delver's main weaknesses in cube. I'm not going to go out of my way to run things like Seal of Fire / Mishra's Bauble / Mental Note / Thought Scour / etc unless I was going to go all in to support delirium.
What I like about Dragon's Rage Channeler is getting 1-2 Surveil of the creature without trigger delirium/ an attack is not the end of the world. Its floor isn't too bad.
The problem with Delver or Ur spells matter isn't that the cards aren't there but its not a color I have room for.
I've been thinking about a small delirium package for my cube:
What I like about these cards is they themselves put cards into the graveyard to fuel not only themselves but also graveyard synergies such as Unearth, Delve, Bloodghast etc.
They're not the worst on their own, but would significantly go up in value if delirium is further supported.
I find graveyard decks in cube are often a bit too slow and expensive compared to other decks. What I like about these cards is they are hyper efficient and help to fuel delirium themselves but I feel i'm missing 1-2 good creature enablers to make this work.
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Here's an example RB delirium deck I drafted that I think would perform very well in cube.
Note that I am able to play Lurrus as a companion in the SB, which is very powerful.
The curve is extremely low and disruptive, similar to current modern Rakdos decks.
Hence, why I consider this a potentially very viable archetype.
Here's an example RB delirium deck I drafted that I think would perform very well in cube.
Note that I am able to play Lurrus as a companion in the SB, which is very powerful.
The curve is extremely low and disruptive, similar to current modern Rakdos decks.
Hence, why I consider this a potentially very viable archetype.
That looks like a pretty nice deck. I'm curious about Unholy Heat. I'm getting less excited about Firebolt day by day ...
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Here's an example RB delirium deck I drafted that I think would perform very well in cube.
Note that I am able to play Lurrus as a companion in the SB, which is very powerful.
The curve is extremely low and disruptive, similar to current modern Rakdos decks.
Hence, why I consider this a potentially very viable archetype.
Here's an example RB delirium deck I drafted that I think would perform very well in cube.
Note that I am able to play Lurrus as a companion in the SB, which is very powerful.
The curve is extremely low and disruptive, similar to current modern Rakdos decks.
Hence, why I consider this a potentially very viable archetype.
Nice deck, love a low curve rakdos or mardu aggro deck. But would have thought you could cut 1 or 2 lands, no?
Yeah the Black Lotus and Mishra's Bauble in the 0 slot with the lands may be confusing - I moved those.
it's actually 15 lands plus a Chrome Mox and 2 of those lands are Strip Mine and Shatterskull Smashing which can be used for non land purposes. So I think it's pretty reasonable. Having Lurrus of the Dream-Den as a companion also provides you flood insurance as it gives you a late game card advantage engine to fall back on, also you do want to be able to get to 4 lands to kick Tourach, Dread Cantor and escape Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger.
I've struggled to fill graveyards. This could definitely help. The question is who to cut ...
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It's WAY harder to get delirium in cube than in constructed but, I significantly underestimated how strong surveiling 1 every non-creature cast is.
It's a very powerful effect on a 1 mana creature.
It wont be as good as it is constructed, but It may still be good enough. It fuels it's own delirium, and in some decks, you don't even need to turn on delirium for it to be a playable card.
If you do it slowly, a 3/3 flyer for 1 in the mid game is still a good card.
Here's an example RB delirium deck I drafted that I think would perform very well in cube.
Note that I am able to play Lurrus as a companion in the SB, which is very powerful.
The curve is extremely low and disruptive, similar to current modern Rakdos decks.
Hence, why I consider this a potentially very viable archetype.
Nice deck, love a low curve rakdos or mardu aggro deck. But would have thought you could cut 1 or 2 lands, no?
Yeah the Black Lotus and Mishra's Bauble in the 0 slot with the lands may be confusing - I moved those.
it's actually 15 lands plus a Chrome Mox and 2 of those lands are Strip Mine and Shatterskull Smashing which can be used for non land purposes. So I think it's pretty reasonable. Having Lurrus of the Dream-Den as a companion also provides you flood insurance as it gives you a late game card advantage engine to fall back on, also you do want to be able to get to 4 lands to kick Tourach, Dread Cantor and escape Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger.
Surveil has been an absolutely great ability. Surveil for 2 can often approximate draw 1, especially in aggressive decks that often have trouble hitting their 4th land or filtering away excess lands.
I feel Dragon Rage has a very good home in the 450-620 size cube as the density of Fetches/ Moxen will be higher and it is also a serviceable 1 drop for Welder, Control, Reanimator decks to play the Search for Azcanta role.
I'm a bit reluctant at 720 as I feel this might be closer to something like Thraben Inspector, where its good everyone, but never great.
Prior to Ragavan or Falkrenrath Pit Fighter, I would have played this in my cube. But with the bar for red 1 drops being so high, he's on my watch list - I'm waiting for a few more graveyard cards like Kroxa, more cards to help delirium like Bitterblossom or decent non-creature spells.
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DRC is proving to be a house in modern and legacy.
With cube curves trending ever lower, DRC seems like a strong option.
It's certainly better than Delver of Secrets, and will slot perfectly into a BR spells matter aggressive deck alongside Sedgemoor Witch. Obviously pairs great with Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger as well.
But even in monored, can be very sweet. Admittedly, it's harder to hit delirium in cube as it's far rarer to get an artifact like Mishra's Bauble into the yard, however at tight cube lists fetchland density is high enough and creature, land, instant, sorcery is not particularly difficult to hit.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
That said, that was just modern cube, and not a legacy+/vintage cube so it may play different in that situation.
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This feels a lot like Grim Flayer.
I'm just not sure how easy it would be to trigger delirium ...
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
- Lack of library manipulation to consistently transform it.
- Lack of free counterspells to consistently protect it.
While DRC giving your spells surveil and being a better topdeck in the late game is nice, it doesn't solve any of Delver's main weaknesses in cube. I'm not going to go out of my way to run things like Seal of Fire / Mishra's Bauble / Mental Note / Thought Scour / etc unless I was going to go all in to support delirium.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
The problem with Delver or Ur spells matter isn't that the cards aren't there but its not a color I have room for.
I've been thinking about a small delirium package for my cube:
- Mindwrack Demon
- Grim Flayer
- Dragon's Rage Channeler
What I like about these cards is they themselves put cards into the graveyard to fuel not only themselves but also graveyard synergies such as Unearth, Delve, Bloodghast etc.
Almost playable that may benefit from Delirium
- Traverse the Ulvenwald
- Unholy Heat
- To the Slaughter
They're not the worst on their own, but would significantly go up in value if delirium is further supported.
I find graveyard decks in cube are often a bit too slow and expensive compared to other decks. What I like about these cards is they are hyper efficient and help to fuel delirium themselves but I feel i'm missing 1-2 good creature enablers to make this work.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
Note that I am able to play Lurrus as a companion in the SB, which is very powerful.
The curve is extremely low and disruptive, similar to current modern Rakdos decks.
Hence, why I consider this a potentially very viable archetype.
https://cubecobra.com/cube/deck/60e78a8e82955b1044dd4dcd
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
That looks like a pretty nice deck. I'm curious about Unholy Heat. I'm getting less excited about Firebolt day by day ...
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
Nice deck, love a low curve rakdos or mardu aggro deck. But would have thought you could cut 1 or 2 lands, no?
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Yeah the Black Lotus and Mishra's Bauble in the 0 slot with the lands may be confusing - I moved those.
it's actually 15 lands plus a Chrome Mox and 2 of those lands are Strip Mine and Shatterskull Smashing which can be used for non land purposes. So I think it's pretty reasonable. Having Lurrus of the Dream-Den as a companion also provides you flood insurance as it gives you a late game card advantage engine to fall back on, also you do want to be able to get to 4 lands to kick Tourach, Dread Cantor and escape Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger.
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Dark Confidant are also good backup card advantage engines to provide gas for your lands.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
It's a very powerful effect on a 1 mana creature.
It wont be as good as it is constructed, but It may still be good enough. It fuels it's own delirium, and in some decks, you don't even need to turn on delirium for it to be a playable card.
If you do it slowly, a 3/3 flyer for 1 in the mid game is still a good card.
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Missed the Lotus/Bauble, yeah this seems reasonable actually, though being greedy I may have gone for 14 lands...
I am going to give DRC a shot over Akoum Hellhound and see how he does.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
I feel Dragon Rage has a very good home in the 450-620 size cube as the density of Fetches/ Moxen will be higher and it is also a serviceable 1 drop for Welder, Control, Reanimator decks to play the Search for Azcanta role.
I'm a bit reluctant at 720 as I feel this might be closer to something like Thraben Inspector, where its good everyone, but never great.
Prior to Ragavan or Falkrenrath Pit Fighter, I would have played this in my cube. But with the bar for red 1 drops being so high, he's on my watch list - I'm waiting for a few more graveyard cards like Kroxa, more cards to help delirium like Bitterblossom or decent non-creature spells.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i