Best fireball variant for cube? Devil's play has come in and out of my cube over the years, often as a mana sink with some 24th R/x playable.
Been on the bench for a while, but I think this card is much better.
Most excited that X can be 0 and you are able to hit a mana elf or a 1 drop on the draw. Lots of cheap 1 toughness creatures where that's relevant for tempo reasons.
The flashback will come up occasionally, often as a way to hit the opponent for lethal, but it's marginal value.
The X+1 part of the text is what makes this card so much better than the other variants.
I'm definitely testing htis one. If Spikefield Hazard has taught me anything, it's that there are a lot of spots where I'm *very happy* to have access to "R: deal 1 dmg". A fireball with that as the floor is something I'm into, especially since my list supports both Zirda and Devoted Druid as infinite mana combos, so I'm always looking to include X spells.
Definitely one of the more interesting Fireball variants. Being able to ping a creature / planeswalker for R is nice, especially with things like Ragavan / Hexdrinker running around now. As a removal spell, it doesn't scale as well as Purphoros's Intervention (which is currently my Fireball of choice), but it is better at hitting face. The flashback mode is interesting, although niche as far as flashback goes since it requires a planeswalker to flashback.
Depending on what else we get from this set, I might give this a spin over Purphoros's Intervention or Mizzium Mortars, since being able to cast it for R is pretty attractive. Overall I think this is a pretty good filler card / random Channel payoff.
I'm definitely testing htis one. If Spikefield Hazard has taught me anything, it's that there are a lot of spots where I'm *very happy* to have access to "R: deal 1 dmg". A fireball with that as the floor is something I'm into, especially since my list supports both Zirda and Devoted Druid as infinite mana combos, so I'm always looking to include X spells.
I can agree with that.
I would like to see more scalable cards that play well early + late (untapped creature lands, land spells etc.) such that fewer games are lost from mana floods.
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I like this card a lot. I think the replacement for me might be firebolt.
1/2 the time this will function as firebolt killing a 1 mana 1 toughness creature anyway but has the ability to scale. I find most decks that have firebolt struggle to get to 5 mana, and the decks that can make use of the 5 mana can run PW and benefit from this. Plus this will find more decks, I look forward to try and break this with Karn or Ugin for lethal damage on the flashback.
I like the front side of the card, but I don't like that the flashback does literal nothing if you don't have a PW in play (you can't even ping for 1 because you can't cast it for X=0).
It's been a long time since fireball or devil's play were good for us, and I don't know if this is enough to change that.
I like the front side of the card, but I don't like that the flashback does literal nothing if you don't have a PW in play (you can't even ping for 1 because you can't cast it for X=0).
It's been a long time since fireball or devil's play were good for us, and I don't know if this is enough to change that.
Well the flashback is pretty much a blank - I think we can all agree with that.
But yah, this is probably one of the best fireball variants out there - I'm not sure if its good enough to make it into my 720, but I'm hopeful as 1 CMC for 1 damage is fairly good given all the mana dorks + 1 drops in my cube.
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Oh, and with the recent addition of shatterskull smashing, the need for a scalable red X removal spell is lower. I do miss having a fireball variant in the cube for the big mana decks, so I may test this anyway, but I think it will probably be a side grade to devil's play at best.
With the printing of Falkenrath Pitfighter, I think this might not cut it. It is in no way a bad card and definitely one of the best fireball variations, but on the other hand red has gotten so strong that being playable as a 1 CMC removal + scalable fireball may not even cut it anymore. But on the other hand, it does play a very niche role for infinite mana combos ...
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My interest in this card has rekindled after watching Banefire overperform in the Magic Online Cube. Per my traditional Cube thinking Banefire has always seemed atrocious, but I’m apparently wrong, as I see people winning with it often and picking it mid-pack on Magic Online streams.
That being said, a Banefire variant that scales better as removal and can kill stuff on turn 1 might be better than I initially thought.
This has been playing out very well over the past year and has far and away been the best Fireball variant, IMO. I rarely see it cast via flashback, but being able to snipe a Hexdrinker / Ragavan / etc for R makes it really stand out from the other Fireball variants. I feel that Spikefield Hazard is probably the closest non-Fireball equivalent to this, IMO, and I liked this a lot more. The scalability alone is worth a lot more than the instant speed / land option, not to mention the rarely used (in my experience at least) flashback mode it has.
Best fireball variant for cube? Devil's play has come in and out of my cube over the years, often as a mana sink with some 24th R/x playable.
Been on the bench for a while, but I think this card is much better.
Most excited that X can be 0 and you are able to hit a mana elf or a 1 drop on the draw. Lots of cheap 1 toughness creatures where that's relevant for tempo reasons.
The flashback will come up occasionally, often as a way to hit the opponent for lethal, but it's marginal value.
The X+1 part of the text is what makes this card so much better than the other variants.
Definitely testing, with highish expectations.
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StaffDepending on what else we get from this set, I might give this a spin over Purphoros's Intervention or Mizzium Mortars, since being able to cast it for R is pretty attractive. Overall I think this is a pretty good filler card / random Channel payoff.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I can agree with that.
I would like to see more scalable cards that play well early + late (untapped creature lands, land spells etc.) such that fewer games are lost from mana floods.
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
1/2 the time this will function as firebolt killing a 1 mana 1 toughness creature anyway but has the ability to scale. I find most decks that have firebolt struggle to get to 5 mana, and the decks that can make use of the 5 mana can run PW and benefit from this. Plus this will find more decks, I look forward to try and break this with Karn or Ugin for lethal damage on the flashback.
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/63569
It's been a long time since fireball or devil's play were good for us, and I don't know if this is enough to change that.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Well the flashback is pretty much a blank - I think we can all agree with that.
But yah, this is probably one of the best fireball variants out there - I'm not sure if its good enough to make it into my 720, but I'm hopeful as 1 CMC for 1 damage is fairly good given all the mana dorks + 1 drops in my cube.
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
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
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
That being said, a Banefire variant that scales better as removal and can kill stuff on turn 1 might be better than I initially thought.
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StaffMy High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I like it quite a bit in ramp decks with a lot of PWers and in channel decks.
Fine playable in other archetypes too.
Last Updated 02/07/24
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