Since nobody else seems to want to make a topic...
I kind of like this. Being a hidden conspiracy is what makes it playable imo. Your opponents will have to second guess blocks all the time, and you can switch the named card every game. Or you can just put it on something evasive and beat face without committing extra cards to it. Definitely trying it out.
I like the idea of making your opponent's blocks that much more stressful, but I'm not sure the payoff is high enough. Firebreathing is not the most mana-efficient way to push damage through.
I think there are some decks that would happily turn one of their creatures into a firebreather. Aggressive red decks could love this card once they get into top deck mode or need more damage off their 1 or 2 drop.
On a purely powerlevel basis, this is clearly good enough for most cubes, and probably a high pick. The same is true of almost every hidden agenda conspiracy, including the U,B, and G ones we've seen. Not taking up a deck slot is incredibly efficient -- they effectively act as 0 mana split second auras that cantrip which are always drawn with the named creature. Since cube is a format where you usually get more than enough playables, effects that upgrade your deck without taking a card slot are highly valuable (manlands and other utility lands function broadly similarly, but tend to weaken your manabase from a purely mana-producing perspective).
That said, my group is not optimizing directly for powerlevel, and we haven't included any of the hidden agendas. Even the ones that aren't overpowered for our unpowered cube don't seem to worth a cube slot to us despite being relatively high picks if they were included.
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I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
That said, my group is not optimizing directly for powerlevel, and we haven't included any of the hidden agendas. Even the ones that aren't overpowered for our unpowered cube don't seem to worth a cube slot to us despite being relatively high picks if they were included.
I'm having a hard time understanding what if anything this means.
In any case, I'm planning to slot one conspiracy OR draft-matters card per color. I'm going to try out Volatile Chimera first, but if it proves to be too annoying/disruptive, Incendiary Dissent is my next choice in red so far.
Incendiary Dissent looks decent as extra sauce for a cheap first striker or one drop, and particularly with Prophetic Flamespeaker for those who are running that.
Although a strong inclusion I probably don't want to dedicate a slot to this, since there's a limit to how interesting it will be as an effect.
That said, my group is not optimizing directly for powerlevel, and we haven't included any of the hidden agendas. Even the ones that aren't overpowered for our unpowered cube don't seem to worth a cube slot to us despite being relatively high picks if they were included.
I'm having a hard time understanding what if anything this means.
In any case, I'm planning to slot one conspiracy OR draft-matters card per color. I'm going to try out Volatile Chimera first, but if it proves to be too annoying/disruptive, Incendiary Dissent is my next choice in red so far.
In retrospect that was a pretty dense/awkwardly constructed sentence. I'll unpack it into the component pieces.
1. Some cubes have a policy, or at least claim to have a policy, of simply including the most powerful cards.
2. My group does not. We're perfectly happy to include weaker cards that we feel play more enjoyably.
3. Relatedly, we haven't and don't plan to include any hidden agendas.
4. We avoid some hidden agendas (Double Stroke, Iterative Analysis, Summoner's Bond) *because* they are too powerful for our environment, like we avoid Moxen.
5. Other hidden agendas (such as Incendiary Dissent) are of roughly correct powerlevel for our cube.
6. The hidden agendas referenced in 5) would be highish picks if we did choose to run them (worth a slot on a powerlevel basis).
7. However, they would take up one of the ~510 slots in our cube without being crucial to any archetypes or (in our opinion) particularly interesting.
8. Therefore, related to 2), we don't run them.
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I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
Yeah, all the Agendas that name cards are obviously way better in a format where you can end up with multiples of the same card. The spy kit is sweet tech though and might be a reason to include them if you were on the fence about them. I don't include any conspiracies in my main cube, but I may build a new one to do so!
Since nobody else seems to want to make a topic...
I kind of like this. Being a hidden conspiracy is what makes it playable imo. Your opponents will have to second guess blocks all the time, and you can switch the named card every game. Or you can just put it on something evasive and beat face without committing extra cards to it. Definitely trying it out.
Also, follow us on twitter! @TurnOneMagic
That said, my group is not optimizing directly for powerlevel, and we haven't included any of the hidden agendas. Even the ones that aren't overpowered for our unpowered cube don't seem to worth a cube slot to us despite being relatively high picks if they were included.
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
In any case, I'm planning to slot one conspiracy OR draft-matters card per color. I'm going to try out Volatile Chimera first, but if it proves to be too annoying/disruptive, Incendiary Dissent is my next choice in red so far.
Although a strong inclusion I probably don't want to dedicate a slot to this, since there's a limit to how interesting it will be as an effect.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
In retrospect that was a pretty dense/awkwardly constructed sentence. I'll unpack it into the component pieces.
1. Some cubes have a policy, or at least claim to have a policy, of simply including the most powerful cards.
2. My group does not. We're perfectly happy to include weaker cards that we feel play more enjoyably.
3. Relatedly, we haven't and don't plan to include any hidden agendas.
4. We avoid some hidden agendas (Double Stroke, Iterative Analysis, Summoner's Bond) *because* they are too powerful for our environment, like we avoid Moxen.
5. Other hidden agendas (such as Incendiary Dissent) are of roughly correct powerlevel for our cube.
6. The hidden agendas referenced in 5) would be highish picks if we did choose to run them (worth a slot on a powerlevel basis).
7. However, they would take up one of the ~510 slots in our cube without being crucial to any archetypes or (in our opinion) particularly interesting.
8. Therefore, related to 2), we don't run them.
Interested in Custom Card Creation.
My Cube:Cardinal Custom Cube
A custom version of a third modern masters: MM2019
(filter->rarity to see in set rarity).
http://cubetutor.com/cubeblog/993
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/23690