I think the consensus is that most people hate them but we run them despite our hatred for them (at least this is the case for me).
Something that helps mitigate the planeswalker issue is to run more removal for them. They're printing more walkers than answers so this doesn't solve the problem but it helps.
At least for me, that is not a good solution, because it focuses the play even more on the Planeswalkers. I simply don't want to see too many of them during a draft, no matter how many answers I may have.
My thought is to keep the number of PWs limited, but still have creative ways to deal with them (Vampire Hexmage, etc). I specifically don't want a deck to be running 3-4 PWs every time we draft.
On the outside, I think my balance is good right now. I RARELY pop off a PW's ultimate, and most of my playgroup find a way to deal with the PW before the ultimate is activated anyways.
Depending on the size of the Cube, I don't think it's realistic to run them ALL anyways. So, it really is up to the Cube's manager to decide which are best to stay in. That's the prevailing logic, yes?
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
I don't hate DFCs at all. You just turn them over in the sleeve when they're ready to transform. It's not a big enough deal to even call it a problem. And there's several that are good enough to include. Missing out on Garruk would be a tragedy.
And there may be a threshhold for too may planeswalkers in the cube, but we're not there yet. Even at 360 I have room for several more before it becomes a problem.
In my group, I'm going to have guys that need to side the other face of the card -- how do you draft those cards? I mean, you have to take it out of the sleeve while drafting to read it, yes?
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
I agree with wtwlf about DFCs, after the shock of seeing a magic card without a card back has worn off, they're actually pretty cool and really no trouble at all during play. Garruk Relentless is a really cool planeswalker too, I'd hate to have to choose only one Garruk - gun to my head, I'd probably default to Wildspeaker.
In my group, I'm going to have guys that need to side the other face of the card -- how do you draft those cards? I mean, you have to take it out of the sleeve while drafting to read it, yes?
Ya, if they don't know what it is. Similar to foreign cards, textless cards, altered cards that remove part of the game text, or any card that may have significant oracle wording they can be looked up online, asked about or just look at the back of the card. If you don't know what it does, you can just look. Or check online or something. When they were drafted in the set, everyone got to see the exact card you chose, and it doesn't impact the draft much at all.
Also if they have to pull it out of the sleeve or look a card up, the only thing they reveal is that the card is in the draft pack. Your neighbor to the left/right might find out if you took it, but no one else should be the wiser. It's a pretty minor effect, I agree.
Good day to all of my friends that I haven't communicated with in quite some time!
I've taken a break from the Cube, and it sat for a couple of years without any attention. Well, my Crew and I busted it out a couple of weeks ago and are now moving to make some updates/changes to it.
While reviewing my decklist, I found that Green is way short in numbers and while I do have them plugged for now, I know some mana-producing creatures will be finding their way in, such as Fyndhorn Elves and Arbor Elf and their like.
In the meantime, please review my decklist (I've updated it in the OP) and shoot me some feedback.
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Good to see you posting again man. Ya, eidolon's list is pretty much spot-on. When you can acquire some of those suggested cards, find your least favorite of the "uncommon" ones and just start swapping 'em out. Being away from the cube world for 2-3 years leaves things looking woefully out of date. But that's to be expected. They've printed a lot of good cards bro. Welcome back!
I've been reading up on your "Top 20 Cards" for each set as they come out, and that's helping me adjust to the plethora of new information.
As you can tell, I started swapping some stuff in already. I'm going to stop by my storage unit tonight to pick up a couple of boxes of cards so I can sift through those for some stuff, as well as my binder. For the most part, I got rid of a mess of proxies and updated some regular cards with some "cooler" ones (i.e. swapped out a 7th Edition Disenchant -- what's that version even doing in there?? -- for an Alpha one. I'm a total dork for the ABU cards...I prefer the awful artwork whenever I can get my hands on them).
It'll take me a few weeks, but I'll get this thing nice and dialed.
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
The top 20 articles work great for generating buzz and discussion around spoiler season, but they're not written for posterity. I'd use my list or eidolon's comparison numbers for the best information on which current cards to use. In fact, I think CubeTutor (which is a great new tool, btw) allows you to search the most commonly cubed cards by set. Something to think about.
The top 20 articles work great for generating buzz and discussion around spoiler season, but they're not written for posterity. I'd use my list or eidolon's comparison numbers for the best information on which current cards to use. In fact, I think CubeTutor (which is a great new tool, btw) allows you to search the most commonly cubed cards by set. Something to think about.
I literally just found CubeTutor about an hour ago. What a great tool.
What I was referring to from your Top 20s was just getting my brain back in line with Cube-thinking and reading up on cards in general. Good stuff.
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Cali and Aznopium! Thanks for the love! This is awesome.
Rant -
I'm absolutely down. I've been spending the last few weeks just trying to catch up on info.
My Crew and I jammed the Cube a few weeks back and realized how much fun that was...
Tangent: I drafted this incredibly awesome BUw Control deck where I literally had every blue spell I wanted and every evil black spell I could get my hands on. Cryptic and Profane Command coupled with Desertion were my only spells that cost more than 3cc; I even got to fire off the 3rd turn 1994-Classic-You-Dream-About-It-Combo of Mana Drain for 3 on their second turn, into Swamp -> Dark Ritual -> Mind Twist for 6!!! My boy starred at me for a second and said, "I'm actually considering conceding this game right now."
...returning to the previous paragraph: ...so I'm putting some effort into updating the Cube. I've been doing a lot of reading and a lot of buying (getting rid of the last few proxies we have and getting "cooler" versions of old school staples). It's been fun!
Let me get my bearings again and going into this summer, we'll get a 2014 Power Rankings going. Eidolon is a fan of the metrics of such things if I remember correctly (he jumped into this forum about the time I was stepping out).
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom: The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray). The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it. The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
I haven't found Reassembling Skeleton or Lotleth Troll to be underpowered. They're simply niche. They're very good at what they do when they're being used for their exact purpose.
Fiendslayer Paladin, Reassembling Skeleton and Lotleth Troll are all a bit underpowered, but Balefire Dragon is far from playable. With all the good removal available you can't just pay 7 mana for a creature and have it die without generating any value for you - especially not in red which has a hard time and little incentive getting to so much mana in the first place.
Reassembling Skelton is one of the best shenanigans cards in black. He is quickly becoming my favorite black card.
19 Apr 2014 Update:
OUT -> IN
Akroma, Angel of Wrath -> Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Hand of Honor -> Fiendslayer Paladin
Innocent Blood -> Thoughtseize
Sorin Markov -> Reassembling Skeleton
Crater Hellion -> Balefire Dragon
Spiritmonger -> Lotleth Troll
Predator Ooze -> Polukranos, World Eater
Kavu Titan -> Arbor Elf
I call this post "Hey, look at all those cards I use to cube with". I forgot all about Kavu Titan.
I've never liked any of the oblivion ring styled creatures. It feels so bad when you o-ring there creature with a good CIP effect and they destroy your dude getting a resuse of the effect. At 425 you should have more than enough good White 3 drops. I would play Mirran Crusader and Brimaz, King of Oreskos(understandable he is a bit expensive)
My thought is to keep the number of PWs limited, but still have creative ways to deal with them (Vampire Hexmage, etc). I specifically don't want a deck to be running 3-4 PWs every time we draft.
On the outside, I think my balance is good right now. I RARELY pop off a PW's ultimate, and most of my playgroup find a way to deal with the PW before the ultimate is activated anyways.
Depending on the size of the Cube, I don't think it's realistic to run them ALL anyways. So, it really is up to the Cube's manager to decide which are best to stay in. That's the prevailing logic, yes?
NorCal Crew Collective Cube on Cube Tutor
My 2009 Cube Draft Article - "With The First Pick..."
2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
And there may be a threshhold for too may planeswalkers in the cube, but we're not there yet. Even at 360 I have room for several more before it becomes a problem.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
NorCal Crew Collective Cube on Cube Tutor
My 2009 Cube Draft Article - "With The First Pick..."
2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
I agree with wtwlf about DFCs, after the shock of seeing a magic card without a card back has worn off, they're actually pretty cool and really no trouble at all during play. Garruk Relentless is a really cool planeswalker too, I'd hate to have to choose only one Garruk - gun to my head, I'd probably default to Wildspeaker.
Ya, if they don't know what it is. Similar to foreign cards, textless cards, altered cards that remove part of the game text, or any card that may have significant oracle wording they can be looked up online, asked about or just look at the back of the card. If you don't know what it does, you can just look. Or check online or something. When they were drafted in the set, everyone got to see the exact card you chose, and it doesn't impact the draft much at all.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
My Cube Blog @theCubeMiser on Twitter
I've taken a break from the Cube, and it sat for a couple of years without any attention. Well, my Crew and I busted it out a couple of weeks ago and are now moving to make some updates/changes to it.
While reviewing my decklist, I found that Green is way short in numbers and while I do have them plugged for now, I know some mana-producing creatures will be finding their way in, such as Fyndhorn Elves and Arbor Elf and their like.
In the meantime, please review my decklist (I've updated it in the OP) and shoot me some feedback.
Thanks y'all!
NorCal Crew Collective Cube on Cube Tutor
My 2009 Cube Draft Article - "With The First Pick..."
2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
Here are some quickie suggestions:
Out -> In
Akroma, Angel of Wrath -> Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Sunspear Shikari -> Soldier of the Pantheon
Thieving Magpie -> True-Name Nemesis
Desertion -> Consecrated Sphinx
Kagemaro -> Gravecrawler
Sudden Death -> Hero's Downfall
Liliana Vess -> Liliana of the Veil
Skizzik -> Firedrinker Satyr
Chandra Ablaze -> Young Pyromancer
Silvos -> Hornet Queen
Rampaging Baloths Primeval Titan
Fellwar Stone -> Mind Stone
Mindslaver -> Coalition Relic
Phyrexian Processor -> Phyrexian Revoker
Thawing Glaciers -> Undiscovered Paradise
Spiritmonger -> Lotleth Troll
Absorb -> Detention Sphere
Bituminous Blast -> Rakdos Cackler
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Definitely some cool ones that'll upgrade the Cube. Thank you!
NorCal Crew Collective Cube on Cube Tutor
My 2009 Cube Draft Article - "With The First Pick..."
2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
Just kidding. I know a lot of those are newer cards that I haven't got my hands on yet, but I'll analyze some of them for future addition.
Thanks.
NorCal Crew Collective Cube on Cube Tutor
My 2009 Cube Draft Article - "With The First Pick..."
2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I've been reading up on your "Top 20 Cards" for each set as they come out, and that's helping me adjust to the plethora of new information.
As you can tell, I started swapping some stuff in already. I'm going to stop by my storage unit tonight to pick up a couple of boxes of cards so I can sift through those for some stuff, as well as my binder. For the most part, I got rid of a mess of proxies and updated some regular cards with some "cooler" ones (i.e. swapped out a 7th Edition Disenchant -- what's that version even doing in there?? -- for an Alpha one. I'm a total dork for the ABU cards...I prefer the awful artwork whenever I can get my hands on them).
It'll take me a few weeks, but I'll get this thing nice and dialed.
NorCal Crew Collective Cube on Cube Tutor
My 2009 Cube Draft Article - "With The First Pick..."
2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I literally just found CubeTutor about an hour ago. What a great tool.
What I was referring to from your Top 20s was just getting my brain back in line with Cube-thinking and reading up on cards in general. Good stuff.
NorCal Crew Collective Cube on Cube Tutor
My 2009 Cube Draft Article - "With The First Pick..."
2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
Welcome back to the swing of things. Gotta start thinking/analyzing like a cube manager again.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Have there been other recent returns that I'm unaware of?
Thanks Pringles and Goodking! Good to see familiar faces!
NorCal Crew Collective Cube on Cube Tutor
My 2009 Cube Draft Article - "With The First Pick..."
2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
MTGS Average Peasant Cube 2023 Edition
Follow me. I tweet.
glad to see you back on the forums. still miss your awesome top 20 X rankings.
hope you stick around for a bit!
Opm's Cube on MTGS
Wife's Etsy Store (Hair Accessories for Girls)
I've been thinking about those top20s a lot recently. SE if you want to do them again, I'd be willing to help as long as it's over the summer.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Rant -
I'm absolutely down. I've been spending the last few weeks just trying to catch up on info.
My Crew and I jammed the Cube a few weeks back and realized how much fun that was...
Tangent: I drafted this incredibly awesome BUw Control deck where I literally had every blue spell I wanted and every evil black spell I could get my hands on. Cryptic and Profane Command coupled with Desertion were my only spells that cost more than 3cc; I even got to fire off the 3rd turn 1994-Classic-You-Dream-About-It-Combo of Mana Drain for 3 on their second turn, into Swamp -> Dark Ritual -> Mind Twist for 6!!! My boy starred at me for a second and said, "I'm actually considering conceding this game right now."
...returning to the previous paragraph: ...so I'm putting some effort into updating the Cube. I've been doing a lot of reading and a lot of buying (getting rid of the last few proxies we have and getting "cooler" versions of old school staples). It's been fun!
Let me get my bearings again and going into this summer, we'll get a 2014 Power Rankings going. Eidolon is a fan of the metrics of such things if I remember correctly (he jumped into this forum about the time I was stepping out).
19 Apr 2014 Update:
OUT -> IN
Akroma, Angel of Wrath -> Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Hand of Honor -> Fiendslayer Paladin
Innocent Blood -> Thoughtseize
Sorin Markov -> Reassembling Skeleton
Crater Hellion -> Balefire Dragon
Spiritmonger -> Lotleth Troll
Predator Ooze -> Polukranos, World Eater
Kavu Titan -> Arbor Elf
NorCal Crew Collective Cube on Cube Tutor
My 2009 Cube Draft Article - "With The First Pick..."
2009 Official Cube Power Rankings
2010 Official Cube Power Rankings
2014 Official Cube Power Rankings
Silent Edge's Tidbits of Wisdom:
The Lewis Theory - When the presence of a single card makes every other card in your deck better (see Lewis, Ray).
The Rubber Edict - You'd rather have it and not use it, than need it and not have it.
The Shotgun Wedding - Don't commit early unless you absolutely have to.
Twitter: @archplus3
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Reassembling Skelton is one of the best shenanigans cards in black. He is quickly becoming my favorite black card.
I call this post "Hey, look at all those cards I use to cube with". I forgot all about Kavu Titan.
I've never liked any of the oblivion ring styled creatures. It feels so bad when you o-ring there creature with a good CIP effect and they destroy your dude getting a resuse of the effect. At 425 you should have more than enough good White 3 drops. I would play Mirran Crusader and Brimaz, King of Oreskos(understandable he is a bit expensive)
The Baleful Dragon slot would be better filled by Thundermaw Hellkite.
Calvin and Hobbes
Cube Tutor