MTG Salvation

Quote from Bizarro Bike

Wall of Denial is a stupid card and I don't want it in my cube any more. Few people enjoy playing with it and everyone hates playing against it. Consider it banned.

We had a similar experience in my cube. I am not surprised to see the card banned. Good riddance!

Quote from majikian

Looks like a reasonable update.

I've been similarly disappointed with the various 5 mana mass pumps in White (both Stir and Swell). Brave the Elements is something I've been considering too so I'd be interested to hear how it does for you. I like how it can do double duty in protecting all your White guys from sweepers as well as being used for combat trick/alpha strike purposes.

Brave the Elements has been in my cube before. It's mostly used to stop removal spells, but it does occasionally grant two or three dudes evasion. I think it's a good card, but I might be a bit biased by my love of combat tricks.

I want the mass pump spells to be awesome, but they're too costly to be played reliably in a 15- or 16-land aggro deck. I wish so badly that we had some kind of Glorious Anthem card at uncommon.

Quote from BrownDog5117

We had a similar experience in my cube. I am not surprised to see the card banned. Good riddance!

Good riddance indeed. When a card is making games dramatically less fun in a format that exists solely to be fun, something drastic needs to be done.

The Theros Update


This update has increased the amount of removal in the cube, which is something that hasn't happened in a long while. Aggro has gotten better in the last year or so, but it's still not nearly as consistent as control is. Removal has become a much higher priority in the draft process, which is good. The days of tenth pick burn spells are gone. I will continue to watch the removal situation and cut some if need be.

-Death's Duet
+Gray Merchant of Asphodel

-Volcanic Dragon
+Traitorous Blood

-Cenn's Tactician
+Icatian Javelineers

-Relentless Skaabs
+Thassa's Emissary

-Darkblast
-Reckless Spite
+Terror
+Sengir Vampire

-Sentinel Spider
+Nessian Asp

If Reach of Branches doesn't have a few good shows in the near future, then Sentinel Spider will likely come back.

But darkblast is the boss daddy

You have unquestionably had better results with it than we have.

I suppose I could cut Tragic Slip instead.

It simply blanks all X/1s for the rest of the game unless you are dropping a bunch at once. One of the only removal spells you can topdeck and beat mother of runes with!

-Spin into Myth
+Genju of the Falls

Spin is a really cool card, but it's just too expensive.

-Tragic Slip
+Darkblast

Peer pressure.

-Fireblast
+Minotaur Skullcleaver

Viashino Firstblade has been pretty solid, so I'll give this fool a try.

-Vital Splicer
+Kozilek's Predator

Splicer is fine, but I want more ramp-ish cards. Also, RoE was probably my favorite limited format ever.

We haven't gotten to cube lately, and I haven't gotten ahold of the Commander Curses yet.

-Leonin Snarecaster
+Fencing Ace

Snarecaster might come back at some point.

-Silent Departure
-Fettergeist
-Zanam Djinn
-Power Sink
+Vedalken Mastermind
+Neurok Invisimancer
+Ghostly Flicker
+Peregrine Drake

More blink support because that deck is fun.

-Hearth Kami
-Rubblebelt Maaka
-Ancient Hydra
+Viashino Slaughtermaster
+Glarewielder
+Chartooth Cougar

-Deputy of Acquittals
+Momentary Blink

-Simic Charm
+Jhessian Infiltrator

It was a close decision between Charm and Plaxmanta.

...you missed Act of Aggression.

Okay, so maybe I went a little crazy with the Threatens.

My copy of Ancient Hydra got creased at some point, so I'm cutting it until I order some cards and get a new one. And that's probably not gonna be until the new set comes out, so why not try some different cards in the meantime?

Born of the Gods and Commander 2013 update:

-Pollen Remedy
-Knight of Meadowgrain
-Miraculous Recovery
+Sejiri Steppe
+Niveous Wisps

Miraculous Recovery is a really cool card, but no one is playing it anymore. I may try to find room for Ornitharch.

-Augur of Bolas
-Sleep
-Jace's Ingenuity
+Frost Breath

Cutting a few cards to make way for some hybrids. Augur misses too often. Ingenuity is probably the worst draw spell (though it's still a fine card); I just wasn't sure I needed that many of them.

-Thoughtpicker Witch
-Ravenous Skirge
-Infest
+Reanimate
+Curse of Shallow Graves
+Drown in Sorrow

-Ember Hauler
-Hanweir Lancer
-Traitorous Blood
-Act of Aggression
+Smoldering Spires
+Teetering Peaks
+Searing Blood

Cutting the two worst Threatens for some sweet utility lands.

-Gatstaf Shepherd
-Kalonian Tusker
-Gloomwidow
+Symbiosis
+Curse of Predation

Symbiosis comes in because Dauntless Onslaught has been pretty decent.

-Kird Ape
+Fanatic of Xenagos

-Loam Lion
+Hedge Troll

I understand that having a critical mass of one drops is necessary for aggro to flourish, but these cards aren't making it into decks.

+Somnomancer
+Curse of Chains

+Frostburn Weird
+Burning-Tree Emissary
+Snakeform

Weird is obviously better in blue decks, but that sort of makes up for the fact that Fire // Ice is better in red decks.

-Wasteland
+Stalking Stones

Wasteland hasn't been maindecked in many moons. I believe I will be selling it soon.

Quote from majikian

I guess it depends how often you see RG played as all-out aggro instead of being more midrangey?

I suspect this is the real issue at hand. Our RG decks do tend toward mid-range a bit more than pure aggro.

I'll be interested to hear how the "spell-lands" fare. They've mostly seemed to me like things you'd play in a deck but never pick highly or be particularly bothered about wheeling. Basically I worry that they'll mostly just clog packs.

I'm also worried about this. But they're replacing lowly picked cards anyway, so I suspect there won't have too much of an impact on the draft. I'll keep an eye on them and report back after a few drafts.

Also interesting that you're reporting good things from Dauntless Onslaught, I've had it under consideration for a while now and it almost made my last update (figured I'd give Embolden another chance to impress first).

I think Embolden is pretty much on par with Dauntless Onslaught. They both can thoroughly screw up combat, though three mana is a bit pricey.

-Goldnight Commander
+Disenchant

-Water Servant
-Gryff Vanguard
+Infiltrator il-Kor
+Ninja of the Deep Hours

-Cudgel Troll
+Naturalize

Thus far in my cubing career I have been against adding cards to my list that I view as strictly sideboard material. But, as my views on what a cube should be shift further and further away from "a collection of powerful cards" and more toward "a fun limited environment," I feel that perhaps having a few more artifact and enchantment removal options is more valuable than being able to say that every card is maindeckable.

Also, I finally found a copy of Infiltrator il-Kor. Huzzah.

Cutting a bunch of fringe cards for some other fringe cards. One of the benefits of a large cube is the ability to swap stuff in and out with relative ease.

-Test of Faith
+Excommunicate

-Whirlpool Whelm
-Neurok Invisimancer
-Soulsworn Spirit
+Nimbus Naiad
+Undo
+Wonder

-Terror
-Sudden Death
-Death Denied
+Wight of Precinct Six
+No Rest for the Wicked
+Snuff Out

-Viashino Fangtail
+Acidic Soil

-Young Wolf
-Viridian Emissary
+Leafcrown Dryad
+Trophy Hunter

-Jhessian Infiltrator
+Aether Mutation

-Chimeric Idol
+Spawning Pit

I find that to be a problem with big cubes. Whenever I have a card that underperforms in white (or green, at times) I have trouble because the cardpools don't allow me to have a good solution.

-Icatian Javelineers
-Prison Term
+Suture Priest
+Banishing Light

-Claustrophobia
-Dissolve
-Aethersnipe
+Snap
+Hour of Need
+Archaeomancer

I like Aethersnipe a fair amount, so it might come back at some point.

-Viscera Dragger
+Gnarled Scarhide

-Reach of Branches
+Nessian Game Warden

Swapping out one forests-matter card for another. Reach is really cool, but 2 power on a five drop is disappointing.

-Blightning
+Fire Covenant

Blightning is a very elegantly designed card, but it's also probably the weakest in the BR section, which is a shame. I shall miss thee, Blightning.

-Kingpin's Pet
-Maw of the Obzedat
+Tidehollow Sculler
+Zealous Persecution

-Rot Farm Skeleton
+Nyx Weaver

-Nimbus Swimmer
+Fleetfeather Cockatrice

-Trip Noose
-Fireshrieker
-Juggernaut
+Blasting Station
+Palladium Myr
+Thran Dynamo

I have no idea if Dynamo will be any good. But I know people will try it.

There are a few random cards I've not yet gotten a hold of that I wanted to include in this update, namely Ancient Tomb, Haunted Crossroads and Illusory Angel. Next time.

-Akrasan Squire
+Deftblade Elite

-Cavern Harpy
+Recoil

I'll likely be making a large update within a few weeks. I'm considering reducing the size of the guild sections by one card. I'm not entirely comfortable with how many gold removal spells there are.

-Fencing Ace
-Serra Angel
+Otherworldly Journey
+Ornitharch

The double strikers didn't see much play.

-Frost Breath
-Wonder
+Gush
+Æthersnipe

-Viashino Slaughtermaster
+Mogg War Marshal

Back by popular demand. I still don't like echo.

-Wild Nacatl
+Predator's Howl

I'm going to be doing a much larger examination of my gold and hybrid sections soon. I can pretty much guarantee that Nacatl will come back at that point.

-Mortify
+Maw of the Obzedat

I don't like having boring removal spells in my gold sections.

-Putrefy
+Deathreap Ritual

Not the most powerful card, I know, but it encourages the kind of BG decks my group likes.

-Blasting Station
+Mask of Memory

The M15 update:

-Genju of the Fields
+Ajani’s Presence

-Augury Owl
-Narcolepsy
-Crippling Chill
-Undo
+Quickling
+Military Intelligence
+Frost Lynx
+Illusory Angel

I have high hopes for Military Intelligence. I might cut one of the actual card-draw spells soon.

-Dead Reveler
-Keening Banshee
+Wakedancer

Morbid should be easy enough to trigger in black.

-Firefist Striker
-Minotaur Skullcleaver
-Ronin Houndmaster
+Altac Bloodseeker
+Borderland Marauder
+Raid Bombardment

-Abundant Growth
-Overgrown Battlement
-Sylvan Ranger
-Briarpack Alpha
+Devoted Druid
+Reclamation Sage
+Ulvenwald Bear
+Restock

I intend to try Ancient Silverback at some point, but I don't know what to cut.

-Spike Jester
+Blightning

-Centaur Healer
-Boggart Ram-Gang
+Wild Nacatl
+Marisi's Twinclaws

Gold hybrids. Cutting Ram-Gang feels weird. It's been in my cube for like five years, but I think it's slightly worse than Fanatic of Xenagos.

-Warleader’s Helix
+Rally the Peasants

Once again cutting boring removal from gold.

-Curse of Chains
-Somnomancer
+Inkfathom Infiltrator
+Cauldron Haze
+Silkbind Faerie

Shadowmoor was a weird block.

-Stalking Stones
+Chronomaton

Colorless lands are going to count as artifacts from now on.

Drafted tonight.

-Nessian Asp
+Ancient Silverback

I might revert this change; Asp is pretty solid. I just wanted to get the ape in to try him out. He was in a deck, but didn't get drawn.

Some thoughts on a few recently added cards: Military Intelligence was in a deck with Lorescale Coatl, which pleased me greatly. Wakedancer was in a mono-black sacrifice deck and was good. Raid Bombardment was kind of win-more; will continue to test. No Rest for the Wicked was a Raise Dead; will continue to test, but it's not looking good. Silkbind Faerie was good.

I cut the Mirage tutors years ago because I really disliked using tutors in singleton formats. But members of my group have mentioned that they could encourage people to draft narrower decks like spells-matter or reanimator. And they like drafting those decks a lot, so let's see what happens.

-Excommunicate
+Enlightened Tutor

-Darkslick Drake
-Thassa's Emissary
-Tidings
+Gitaxian Probe
+Mystical Tutor
+Latch Seeker

Emissary might come back.

-Ultimate Price
+Reckless Spite

-Rolling Thunder
+Fireball

-Ulvenwald Bear
-Nessian Game Warden
+Worldly Tutor
+Hurricane

Green five+ drops is getting really competitive. The bear might come back.

I like these changes.

What's your reason for dropping Rolling Thunder for Fireball? It's something I've considered, because my cube doesn't really need another dividable damage spell. The splashability of Fireball is becoming more appealing. I've also considered Disintegrate to give a little game towards anti-recursive strategies.

I've found that Fireball rarely hits multiple targets when it's cast. It's usually going to the dome for the win. This makes rethink Disintegrate. I might test it in place of fireball.

Quote from inscho »

It's something I've considered, because my cube doesn't really need another dividable damage spell. The splashability of Fireball is becoming more appealing.

Precisely this. Dividable burn is REALLY strong.

Quote from BrownDog5117 »

I've found that Fireball rarely hits multiple targets when it's cast. It's usually going to the dome for the win. This makes rethink Disintegrate. I might test it in place of fireball.

If I played a second X burn spell, it'd be Disintegrate.