3
Artifact Creature
At the beginning of your turn’s combat, randomly choose one of the counters that aren’t on crystal giant (of the 10 types of counters in this set). Put a counter of that type on Crystal Giant.
3/3
This seems like it could be a fun card for cube to help round out any midrange or aggressive decks. Not the most exciting splashy card, but it will be fun to see it play a little differently each time. Not being any required color reminds me a bit of being like porcelain legionnaire, except you are never certain what abilities you are going to get, and it will be different each time you play it. Just for reference, the 10 tokens are
+1/+1
Deathtouch
First Strike
Flying
Hexproof
Lifelink
Menace
Trample
Reach
Vigilance
Casting this on turn 3, by your 4th attack phase this will have 2 abilities on it and it will only get harder to deal with each turn. eventually turning into a 4/4 flying, first strike, menace, deathtouch, lifelink, trample, vigilance, hexproof creature should be able to end most games
I saw someone's initial translation as only having 4 of those counter options to choose from, not all 10. So it may as a 4/4 w/ 3 abilities. Which is decent, but for 3 mana and waiting 4 turns it's only okay.
If that's not correct, and it can collect all 10 eventually, it's going to be a fun card. Not great, but probably fun.
It's kind of filler, but I'm always down for more low CMC artifact creatures that can go in any deck and are totally fine. Honestly, whether or not this makes the cut in my 720 is entirely based on how good the Mechagodzilla art is, but I think it'll make it.
It's kind of filler, but I'm always down for more low CMC artifact creatures that can go in any deck and are totally fine. Honestly, whether or not this makes the cut in my 720 is entirely based on how good the Mechagodzilla art is, but I think it'll make it.
from what i can still find, it looks like all 10 tokens are part of the real translation (but i can't actually read the card, just other websites translation of this). Might be a card worth testing as a good filler card for cubes with multicolor aggro deck support
I can see the word "To-ra-n-pu-ru" (Trample) written in katakana on that card. It specifically names what counters can go on it... though it does look like there are 9 or 10 possibilities to be chosen based on the number of commas in the earlier text. I think all of the options are spelled out.
For fun factor, I want to try this in my artifact cube. The trigger is before combat, so by its first attack, it would have gained 2 keywords already. Not sure of it will last, though.
The official text actually interests me more. If you can get a +1/+1 counter on it another way, or can get another type of counter on it somehow (less likely in cube), you can narrow down the list of potential random options. I initially expected it to be a "that hasn't been chosen this way" text just from past templating styles.
But frankly +1/+1 is one of the better counters, so I don’t think that’s one of the options you’re trying to minimize. Reach and trample are almost misses, vigilance and deathtouch are mediocre at best, and the other 6 are generally solid. The problem is that several of the abilities are matchup dependent (menace is good if you’re the aggressor, lifelink is great against aggro, etc), and I’m not sure this is good enough overall.
Just looking through the different combinations, I think there are about 35% of the combinations I would be happy to get on my first attack, and about 35% where I am not super happy with it, but I am not disappointed, and about 30% of the time I will be disapointed. Of the 30% I am disappointed, most of those combinations involve reach or trample. even with having one of those be a counter on the first attack, many of the combinations with either of those become pretty good if you get to attack a 2nd time. (granted, reach is worse and it sucks if you have reach and flying). Overall I think this card is going to overperform, but then again, I tend to like cards with a little variance in them more that most people on here.
This seems like a much more mediocre version of Stonecoil Serpent ...a card I already think is mediocre for the cube as it is. That card can be a colorless 3/3 for 3 with 3 abilities that you don't have to wait multiple turns to get, and you can drop it anywhere in the curve instead of it being a static 3cc creature.
Don't get me wrong, the Mechagodzilla looks like a lot of fun; I just don't think it's going to be particularly great. I'd be happy to be wrong though, because it looks quite cool.
The logistics of keeping up with the ability counters seems abysmal. That wouldn't stop me from including it if it were good enough, but three mana 3/3 that slowly gets better just seems a bit below par for cube. I agree with wtwlf. I'd cube Stonecoil Serpent over this and that card is already just kinda ok.
Stonecoil Serpent looks like a pretty relevant comparison. I would likely test that first, even though this card looks quite fun and I don't think the book-keeping would be that problematic.
While its fair to compare it to stonecoil due to how they both are generic beater curve filler, I don't think its fair to compare its 2 random key words to the 3 abilities of stonecoil. Afterall, getting trample and reach on this giant would be one of the worst possible combinations. The crystal giant can become a 4/4 flying for 3 or a 3/3 deathtouch lifelink.
All this said, I'm not interested in random beaters like this and will take stonecoil over it for its ability to be played at any mana cost.
I'm interested in testing this because of all the synergies artifact creatures have in cube.
My goal is to one day support a mishras work shop creature deck and every set I'm getting closer, this guy would be amazing with shops.
I mean, in a few turns, he can easily turn into a mini baneslayer angel for only a 3 mana investment.
If you can REALLY slow the game down.. He can take over the game by himself.
4/4 flying, hexproof, first strike, lifelink, , vigilance, deathtouch
is pretty solid for 3 mana
By the time you attack with him the first turn, most combinations of 2 keywords are already pretty close to "on curve" for cube.
Takes a bit too long to get great though, so I don't like him outside of a desperation playable or artifact synergies.
I'm actually going to say no to this card. 3 mana 3/3 is just too slow.
Secondly, I really like to comment about the potential logistics problems associated with this card. I think its just a bit too much to have a game midway where the creature has has flying and first strike. Then you need to roll to determine which new ability he has and need to keep track of all this.
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So, I was wondering about the odds you get a "good" pair of abilities, versus ending up with a crappy pair after 2 combats (aka the first opportunity to attack), and it feels like the odds you get something good is fairly high. Basically, since there's 10 abilities, and you're getting two randomly, there's 45 possible permutations (since order basically doesn't matter). So let's go through the list and pick out the "good" combos. First off, to me at least, anything involving +1/+1, Flying, or Double-strike is pretty good value for your 3 drop. A 3 mana 4/4 with an ability, 3/3 flyer, or 3/3 doublestriker all seem well above curve, so we can probably say that any permutation that involves those is good. So right off the bat, that gives us 24 combos out of 45 that are good (Each of them takes up 9 of the combos, but overlap in 3 spots, so 27-3 gets you 24 unique combos that have flying, double strike, or +1/+1). There's maybe one or two of those that are borderline, such as 4/4 reach, but I still think they fall on the side of good value for your cost. Additionally, the combo of Deathtouch and First Strike adds another one to the good pile. That brings us up to 25 combos that I'm willing to call uneqivocally good. If those are all the combos you're after, then you've got about a 55% chance of getting them right away. After that, things get a lot more situational. First strike by itself feels strong against aggro, but doesn't matter if you're not getting involved in creature combat. On the flip side, Hexproof seems vital against control, but just might not matter if you're getting overrun. Lifelink has a similar swinginess, where your current life total may be super important, or may just not matter much. If any one of those are valuable, that adds about 6 more combos (5 for First Strike), bumping your odds up to about 67-69%. It feels like, in the majority of matchups, one of Hexproof or Lifelink is valuable, so there's probably an argument that you're around 69% to land a combo that's valuable for your matchup. And that's just in the first two combats, obviously as turns continue you're more likely to hit something valuable, until you finally get to full mechagodzilla form.
So, I was wondering about the odds you get a "good" pair of abilities, versus ending up with a crappy pair after 2 combats (aka the first opportunity to attack), and it feels like the odds you get something good is fairly high. Basically, since there's 10 abilities, and you're getting two randomly, there's 45 possible permutations (since order basically doesn't matter). So let's go through the list and pick out the "good" combos. First off, to me at least, anything involving +1/+1, Flying, or Double-strike is pretty good value for your 3 drop. A 3 mana 4/4 with an ability, 3/3 flyer, or 3/3 doublestriker all seem well above curve, so we can probably say that any permutation that involves those is good. So right off the bat, that gives us 24 combos out of 45 that are good (Each of them takes up 9 of the combos, but overlap in 3 spots, so 27-3 gets you 24 unique combos that have flying, double strike, or +1/+1). There's maybe one or two of those that are borderline, such as 4/4 reach, but I still think they fall on the side of good value for your cost. Additionally, the combo of Deathtouch and First Strike adds another one to the good pile. That brings us up to 25 combos that I'm willing to call uneqivocally good. If those are all the combos you're after, then you've got about a 55% chance of getting them right away.
So, I was wondering about the odds you get a "good" pair of abilities, versus ending up with a crappy pair after 2 combats (aka the first opportunity to attack), and it feels like the odds you get something good is fairly high. Basically, since there's 10 abilities, and you're getting two randomly, there's 45 possible permutations (since order basically doesn't matter). So let's go through the list and pick out the "good" combos. First off, to me at least, anything involving +1/+1, Flying, or Double-strike is pretty good value for your 3 drop. A 3 mana 4/4 with an ability, 3/3 flyer, or 3/3 doublestriker all seem well above curve, so we can probably say that any permutation that involves those is good. So right off the bat, that gives us 24 combos out of 45 that are good (Each of them takes up 9 of the combos, but overlap in 3 spots, so 27-3 gets you 24 unique combos that have flying, double strike, or +1/+1). There's maybe one or two of those that are borderline, such as 4/4 reach, but I still think they fall on the side of good value for your cost. Additionally, the combo of Deathtouch and First Strike adds another one to the good pile. That brings us up to 25 combos that I'm willing to call uneqivocally good. If those are all the combos you're after, then you've got about a 55% chance of getting them right away.
He can't get double strike.
Ahh, right, forgot that was a commander exclusive token. Then yeah, a lot worse, probably looking at a 55% odds of a good pair even with including one of hexproof and lifelink.
This card has gotten more discussion than I'd have guessed. I just don't see the point. Are you hoping over several turns it becomes a better Vampire Nighthawk?
This card has gotten more discussion than I'd have guessed. I just don't see the point. Are you hoping over several turns it becomes a better Vampire Nighthawk?
I see what you're implying, but I disagree strongly. I think this is clearly better than nighthawk.
This card can single handidly win the game against the majority of board states if left unchecked for long enough.
Sure this wont happen very often, but that upside is so much better than anything nighthawk can do.
And honestly, it only takes a few turns where it's as good nighthawk.. and one turn before it's 85% as good.
In 7 turns its 300000% better than nighthawk.
You can play "protect the queen" with this card, you can't with nighthawk.
So on turn 7 it could be a Sunblade Angel that only initially cost 3, it's still bad. Vampire Nighthawk has the right suite of abilities at the relevant time and even that is borderline in small/midsize cubes. Generally, I believe in employing a little nuance with my opinions because reasonable minds can disagree on many cards--especially more complex designs. This card is not complex. I'm stunned that a card which adds one keyword at random (or a +1/+1 counter) per turn on a base 3/3 for 3 is divisive at all. Card is fun yes, but it is not competitive in most cube environments. If you want to play it for the novelty, go nuts, don't play it if a high-powered environment (not power as in power 9) is part of your cubes design philosophy.
I don't think Nighthawk is a good card for cube either. Don't think this card is great, just better than nighthawk... and people are underestimating a card that can take over a game by itself compared to a card that can't.
Also arguing a point with exaggerated hyperbole discredits your opinion.
Ever heard of a straw-man argument?
nighthawk is guaranteed to stonewall any threat if you need it.
Nighthawk is guaranteed to have evasion if you need it.
Nighthawk is guaranteed to give you lifegain if you need it.
this card does none of that. this card says 10% of the time i'll be what you need.
I don't want a card that isn't what I want 90% of the time.
3
Artifact Creature
At the beginning of your turn’s combat, randomly choose one of the counters that aren’t on crystal giant (of the 10 types of counters in this set). Put a counter of that type on Crystal Giant.
3/3
This seems like it could be a fun card for cube to help round out any midrange or aggressive decks. Not the most exciting splashy card, but it will be fun to see it play a little differently each time. Not being any required color reminds me a bit of being like porcelain legionnaire, except you are never certain what abilities you are going to get, and it will be different each time you play it. Just for reference, the 10 tokens are
Casting this on turn 3, by your 4th attack phase this will have 2 abilities on it and it will only get harder to deal with each turn. eventually turning into a 4/4 flying, first strike, menace, deathtouch, lifelink, trample, vigilance, hexproof creature should be able to end most games
If that's not correct, and it can collect all 10 eventually, it's going to be a fun card. Not great, but probably fun.
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from what i can still find, it looks like all 10 tokens are part of the real translation (but i can't actually read the card, just other websites translation of this). Might be a card worth testing as a good filler card for cubes with multicolor aggro deck support
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Don't get me wrong, the Mechagodzilla looks like a lot of fun; I just don't think it's going to be particularly great. I'd be happy to be wrong though, because it looks quite cool.
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On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
All this said, I'm not interested in random beaters like this and will take stonecoil over it for its ability to be played at any mana cost.
My goal is to one day support a mishras work shop creature deck and every set I'm getting closer, this guy would be amazing with shops.
I mean, in a few turns, he can easily turn into a mini baneslayer angel for only a 3 mana investment.
If you can REALLY slow the game down.. He can take over the game by himself.
4/4 flying, hexproof, first strike, lifelink, , vigilance, deathtouch
is pretty solid for 3 mana
By the time you attack with him the first turn, most combinations of 2 keywords are already pretty close to "on curve" for cube.
Takes a bit too long to get great though, so I don't like him outside of a desperation playable or artifact synergies.
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Secondly, I really like to comment about the potential logistics problems associated with this card. I think its just a bit too much to have a game midway where the creature has has flying and first strike. Then you need to roll to determine which new ability he has and need to keep track of all this.
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2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
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5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
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He can't get double strike.
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
I see what you're implying, but I disagree strongly. I think this is clearly better than nighthawk.
This card can single handidly win the game against the majority of board states if left unchecked for long enough.
Sure this wont happen very often, but that upside is so much better than anything nighthawk can do.
And honestly, it only takes a few turns where it's as good nighthawk.. and one turn before it's 85% as good.
In 7 turns its 300000% better than nighthawk.
You can play "protect the queen" with this card, you can't with nighthawk.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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Also arguing a point with exaggerated hyperbole discredits your opinion.
Ever heard of a straw-man argument?
Last Updated 02/07/24
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nighthawk is guaranteed to stonewall any threat if you need it.
Nighthawk is guaranteed to have evasion if you need it.
Nighthawk is guaranteed to give you lifegain if you need it.
this card does none of that. this card says 10% of the time i'll be what you need.
I don't want a card that isn't what I want 90% of the time.