# of Nekrataal misses: 59
# of Skinrender misses: 55
Numbers are fairly close and slightly in Skinrender’s favor. However, Skinrender’s misses are much more relevant than Nekrataal’s. I can understand why one would play something over the other, but if I had to cut one it’d be Skinrender. Nekrataal hits bigger, more important targets and 2-power synergies outweigh zombie synergies for me.
I like that Chupacabra just isn’t strictly better than either card, but its effect certainly is. Will gladly play all 3 at 540, can’t wait to make Esper Nekrataal.dec featuring Palace Jailer and Hostage Taker.
What is a skinrender miss in this instance? A card that it doesn't outright kill? Because a number of those are still virtual 'hits' when you can reduce the creature to a manageable size. Obviously not all, but the reduction is not nothing whereas a nekrataal miss is always at best literal nothing and a real percentage of the time it's worse.
Man, I really don’t want to cut Skinrender. Zombie synergies aside, it is a very satisfying answer to Glen Elenor’s Archmage and Kitchen Finks. I think we’ll probably just play all 3, and consider that maximum saturation of the effect for us.
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I primarily play limited, so most of my spoiler season comments view cards through that lens.
I always have a soft spot for Nekrataal, being a great creature in the first booster pack I opened. Along with Uktabi Orangutan and man-o-war, it is one of the early relevent "comes into play" abilities.
That said, I will be testing this card over Nekrataal, and will likely be a permanent swap. I'd like to have this along side Skinrender for variety.
For those who are replacing vs adding in-addition to Nek/Skin: is it because you have a threshold for that # of effect? A threshold for the cost? You can't find a cut anywhere else? Your cube is a certain size?
I'm on the fence about what I'll cut for it. Right now I'm don't think I need yet another spot removal card it black, especially at 4cc. I've already been thinking about trimming some removal and was hoping for some good black cards that aren't removal.
I'll almost certainly be cutting Skinrender for this. I run Alesha, Grenzo, Reveillark, both Recruiters, sometimes Ojutai's command and the 2 power/toughness is super relevant in those cases - especially since this answers cards like GRISELBRAND for christ's sake. Best Nekrataal effect for cube IMO
Hard to find a cut for sure. I'm actually thinking it might be Liliana, Death's Majesty or Custodi Lich. I like my current four black 4-drops a lot. Maybe I can find something else to cut. Great card. Will make a lot of cubes. Wish it had been a tweaked version at a different cc.
I'm pretty excited for this and am cutting Nekrataal for it and leaving in Skinrender. They're fairly close, and Skinrender gets the nod because I'm stubbornly digging in on the Watermarket plan and don't want to lose a watermarked card.
I prefer skinrender to nekrataal, even ignoring the zombie synergies.
3/3 > 2/1 FS
Being able to hit a wider range of targets has been more useful in my experiences, than being unable to fully kill a big non artifact non black fatty.
Especially when there's reduncency in that weakness with shriekmaw , go for the throat, snuff out etc.
I expect the chupacabra to be better than both of them and am pretty happy they printed it!
Nekrataal might actully be my cut. That card is kind of awkward, yet many decks still need effects like that. Well, here is an effect like that.
But yeah, first card in the set I'm super excited to play.
I am easily cutting good ol' Nekretaal for this. The terror clause is real, and losing it and getting an extra toughness is WAY worth losing first strike and whatever corner case human interactions we had.
At 450 I'm probably going to cut Profane Command. This basically does what that card does most of the time but for less mana. The other abilities just don't come up anymore, so might as well make the swap.
I see every option on the Command used from time to time. It's too flexible to cut, IMO. I'm likely cutting Liliana, Death's Majesty. This will give me five creature-based removals in black in a 450 cube. I don't think that will be too many.
Card is probably slightly better than Nekrataal and Skinrender, but I really like the chunky body on the latter (Nekrataal is not in my list at the moment). Not sure about cutting Liliana, Death's Majesty since I've had limited time with it, and the small amount of experience has been positive. And Custodi Lich is definitely staying, he's a beast. Maybe Liliana, Heretical Healer? But that leaves me with only 3 three drops. Ugh...
At 450 I'm probably going to cut Profane Command. This basically does what that card does most of the time but for less mana. The other abilities just don't come up anymore, so might as well make the swap.
Uhh... I don't think the cards are remotely similar or comparable. Yeah you can kill a creature and get a creature on the board, but their function is so different.
The other abilities don't come up anymore? Killing your opponent with damage or creatures blocking doesn't happen any more?
I'm cutting my braids for this. She never gets drafted and even when she does, its not like she is fun to play against. Will probably end up cutting Nekrataal or Skinrender down the line though, having three copies of practically the same card is not something I'm over-the-moon about.
Wow. Too bad nobody drafts her in your group. Braids is one of my favorite black creatures and I think she's one of the 10 best black cards in the cube. She's the only staple 4-drop in black, IMO.
Braids is a tough one for those without experience to break through with. It's horrendous when you're behind, and usually players new to cube aren't great at drafting the decks that get out to a quick start and mostly gravitate towards midrange, where she can excel but only as much as she does in the match up. I agree that Braids is stellar, but it's not as intuitive as looking at Black Lotus and saying 'yes this card is good I want to play the Braids deck'
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Staff# of Nekrataal misses: 59
# of Skinrender misses: 55
Numbers are fairly close and slightly in Skinrender’s favor. However, Skinrender’s misses are much more relevant than Nekrataal’s. I can understand why one would play something over the other, but if I had to cut one it’d be Skinrender. Nekrataal hits bigger, more important targets and 2-power synergies outweigh zombie synergies for me.
I like that Chupacabra just isn’t strictly better than either card, but its effect certainly is. Will gladly play all 3 at 540, can’t wait to make Esper Nekrataal.dec featuring Palace Jailer and Hostage Taker.
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Nekrataal's FS, ability to hit bigger, more impactful creatures, and 2 power synergies makes it the keep.
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That said, I will be testing this card over Nekrataal, and will likely be a permanent swap. I'd like to have this along side Skinrender for variety.
I'm on the fence about what I'll cut for it. Right now I'm don't think I need yet another spot removal card it black, especially at 4cc. I've already been thinking about trimming some removal and was hoping for some good black cards that aren't removal.
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3/3 > 2/1 FS
Being able to hit a wider range of targets has been more useful in my experiences, than being unable to fully kill a big non artifact non black fatty.
Especially when there's reduncency in that weakness with shriekmaw , go for the throat, snuff out etc.
I expect the chupacabra to be better than both of them and am pretty happy they printed it!
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I am easily cutting good ol' Nekretaal for this. The terror clause is real, and losing it and getting an extra toughness is WAY worth losing first strike and whatever corner case human interactions we had.
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Card is probably slightly better than Nekrataal and Skinrender, but I really like the chunky body on the latter (Nekrataal is not in my list at the moment). Not sure about cutting Liliana, Death's Majesty since I've had limited time with it, and the small amount of experience has been positive. And Custodi Lich is definitely staying, he's a beast. Maybe Liliana, Heretical Healer? But that leaves me with only 3 three drops. Ugh...
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Uhh... I don't think the cards are remotely similar or comparable. Yeah you can kill a creature and get a creature on the board, but their function is so different.
The other abilities don't come up anymore? Killing your opponent with damage or creatures blocking doesn't happen any more?
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