I knew the spell-lands would be low picks and fairly low impact, but Steppe just didn't do anything relevant half the time. The red ones are much better. Triplicate Spirits won't be nearly as good here as it is in M15, but I bet it'll at least be decent.
The last of the WW creatures make their exit. I don’t like cutting evasive creatures for ground creatures, but I think it’ll probably be alright. The curses make me want a little bit more enchantment removal.
It seems like I’m the only one around here not running the Abomination. Sengir Vampire continues his trend of getting cut and put back in. He'll probably be back at some point.
Just making sure Grafted Wargear/Crystal Shard/Shrines/etc. don’t get out of hand. The spell lands aren’t great, but Smoldering Spires could return at some point.
I’m cutting all of the lands in the two color sections and replacing them with the five wedge lands and the ten new refuges. Each color receives another card. This also nicely solves the oddity of having one fewer land/one more spell in RW.
In the first draft, I first-picked Reassembling Skeleton and forced the BG sacrifice deck, and it worked out beautifully. Thoughtpicker Witch is a very good card. While I didn't win the draft, I certainly had the coolest deck.
In the second draft, I first-picked Staggershock and ended up with mono-red aggro. There were some incredibly close games (particularly against the WB sacrifice deck featuring Thoughtpicker Witch and Blood Artist), but I ended up winning the draft.
---
In light of recent discussions here, I'm making some more changes:
Even the dedicated ramp decks could find better things to do for four mana than cast Dynamo. I know it may be difficult to assemble the Scepter deck in a cube this large, but I'm giving it a shot anyway.
With the recent increase in token producers (Raise the Alarm, Triplicate Spirits, Mogg War Marshal, Hordeling Outburst), it may be time to do some Commanding.
In the first draft, I drafted a GU ramp splashing for a few burn spells and went 2-0 (we only played two rounds). Curse of Predation was incredibly strong. The other 2-0 deck was a RW aggro deck. He won his first round on the back of color-screwing his opponent with Strip Mine.
In the second draft, I drafted a black control deck splashing for Fireball and Flametongue Kavu, and again went 2-0. The other 2-0 deck was a BG sacrifice deck.
Sooooooo, I'm cutting Strip Mine. It's just not a fun card.
My curse of predation won 2 of the 4 games it was played in. Like, very obbviously by itself. The other times I was just stonewalled by removal or kitchen finks+putrid leech. Still the best green card in my opinion.
We haven't cubed in a long while, but the new set will likely spur us into playing again. I began thinking about potential slots for new cards and noticed a few weak links in black.
I still don't like protection. Knight of Glory is set to get replaced when Fate Reforged is released. Looking at other people's recent updates, apparently Quest for the Gravelord is back in vogue, so I'll try to find some cuts to try that again.
I really like the BG sacrifice deck, and I push it harder than anyone else here (I think). It's typically fair to good against control and midrange decks, but obviously suffers against aggro.
The lack of black sacrifice creatures is somewhat made up for by the colorless sac outlets (Culling Dais, Spawning Pit and Blasting Station). Also, most of the sacrifice decks also have green and so rarely have an issue splashing red for Goblin Bombardment (or Threatens). That said, I might put Nantuko Husk back in at some point if I feel I need more. I'll keep an eye on it.
Tenacious Dead is probably the worst of the sacrifice food. But I think that the deck needs that style of card so badly that a less-than-stellar one is still probably worth playing. Brood of Cockroaches is nice in that it doesn't cost mana immediately in the way that the Dead do, but it's slow (can't use it more than once per turn). I hadn't thought of Sultai Emissary though, so that will likely come in.
In terms of staples you might be missing, the only thing that really sticks out to me is Golgari Germination. I think that card is quite strong, though I think I'm the only one around here running it. So who knows, maybe I'm crazy. I also run Deathreap Ritual.
It's a fun deck and it's won a few drafts, but it can also just fall apart against a decent start from an aggro deck.
My issue with Nemesis of Mortals is that he isn't reliably cheap. He's certainly not a bad card, but there are a lot of big green dudes to choose from and many of them have more relevant abilities like trample in the case of Gravetiller Wurm or regeneration in the case of Ancient Silverback. I keep trying to find room for Nessian Asp, too.
One of my friends first picked it...and then ended up putting it in his sideboard because his RGu deck couldn't support double blue.
I first picked Agony Warp and ended up with a sweet UB reanimator deck splashing red for Fireball and Fire Covenant. The highlight of my night: I Reanimated my opponent's Krosan Tusker, but he Aether Mutationed it back and began beating me down with the saprolings and some Beast Attack tokens. At two life, I Victimized Tower Geist and Trostani's Summoner back into play and immediately Cloned the Summoner to stabilize the board. Geist was soon joined by Murder of Crows and they dealt the full twenty before my opponent could find a way to break through.
The finals of the draft was a RW aggro deck vs. a Ru aggro deck. From what I saw, they had very close games, but RW drew a few too many lands.
I have mixed feelings on Brave the Elements. It's a very good card in heavy white decks, but only in heavy white decks. Decks with fewer than like 10 white creatures generally won't run it. But when it's good, it's great. And it's so cheap!
I decided to add Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor to see if I could encourage people to draft an Isochron Scepter deck. And I figured, well, if I'm adding two of them, might as well try the third one, too. Enlightened and Mystical end up in various control and midrange decks with some frequency. People enjoy playing with them. Worldly Tutor is worse than the other two and likely won't last much longer (unless I see someone do something awesome with it). There just aren't that many awesome dudes to get. (The Scepter deck still hasn't come together. My cube is probably just too big.)
I like Blessings of Nature a lot. It's a lot easier to cast than Incremental Growth and nearly as powerful, and I ran IG for quite some time. I thought miracle was an uninteresting and too random mechanic in AVR, but in small amounts (as in it being the only miracle card in the cube), it can make games really exciting.
Overrun is clearly the stronger card of the two, but I can understand if you're reluctant to run cards that reward going heavily into one color (Gray Merchant of Asphodel comes to mind).
If I were forced to cut one of them, it'd likely be Blessings of Nature. Overrun is just too strong.
That said, I don't think I'm close to cutting Blessings anytime soon.
As much as I love the healer, there seems to just... come a point where it isn't working anymore. It was really good when boards would be clogging up and it would make me win all combats, but I guess as combat has become more about avoiding interaction for me it's worse. (I cut mine a long ways back)
Missionary got cut at a point when aggro was severely struggling and I was concerned about the number of lifegain dudes in the cube. I forgot to put it back in when aggro got good.
There aren't a lot of decks interested in expensive red cards, but there are a few and this seems like a pretty good one. Also, I didn't want Dragon Hunter's abilities to be flavor text.
My group is concerned that aggro has gotten a little too good. I'm making a number of small changes to try to make control a little bit stronger, but I really don't want to overdo it. Also, there's some more support for tokens decks.
Have you considered Desert instead of Quicksand? Obviously Quicksand kills more cards, but most aggro decks have plenty of X/1's and I could see Desert quickly turning into card advantage.
We don't get to cube as often as I'd like.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
+Triplicate Spirits
I knew the spell-lands would be low picks and fairly low impact, but Steppe just didn't do anything relevant half the time. The red ones are much better. Triplicate Spirits won't be nearly as good here as it is in M15, but I bet it'll at least be decent.
-No Rest for the Wicked
+Haunted Crossroads
No Rest did create a few interesting games where you had to think about combat differently, which I liked. But it was frequently a Raise Dead.
-Moroii
+Psychatog
I've been reevaluating some cards I previously cut. If Tog doesn't impress than Moroii will come back. I like Moroii.
-Fanatic of Xenagos
+Kird Ape
Ditto for Kird Ape.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
-Benalish Cavalry
-Soltari Monk
-Soltari Priest
+Raise the Alarm
+Seeker of the Way
+War Priest of Thune
+Timely Hordemate
The last of the WW creatures make their exit. I don’t like cutting evasive creatures for ground creatures, but I think it’ll probably be alright. The curses make me want a little bit more enchantment removal.
+Sleep
+Thoughtpicker Witch
+Spiteful Returned
+Twisted Abomination
-Blind Creeper
-Sengir Vampire
It seems like I’m the only one around here not running the Abomination. Sengir Vampire continues his trend of getting cut and put back in. He'll probably be back at some point.
-Smoldering Spires
-Teetering Peaks
-Crimson Mage
-Ashmouth Hound
-Searing Spear
+Monastery Swiftspear
+Generator Servant
+Reckless Reveler
+War-Name Aspirant
+Hordeling Outburst
+Manic Vandal
Just making sure Grafted Wargear/Crystal Shard/Shrines/etc. don’t get out of hand. The spell lands aren’t great, but Smoldering Spires could return at some point.
+Brindle Shoat
-Jelenn Sphinx
+Sky Hussar
-Hedge Troll
+Selesnya Charm
-Gorgon Flail
+Artisan of Kozilek
-Azorius Guildgate
-Sejiri Refuge
-Dimir Aqueduct
-Jwar Isle Refuge
-Akoum Refuge
-Rakdos Guildgate
-Gruul Guildgate
-Kazandu Refuge
-Graypelt Refuge
-Selesnya Guildgate
-Orzhov Basilica
-Orzhov Guildgate
-Izzet Boilerworks
-Izzet Guildgate
-Golgari Guildgate
-Golgari Rot Farm
-Boros Guildgate
-Viashino Firstblade
-Simic Growth Chamber
-Simic Guildgate
+Sandsteppe Citadel
+Mystic Monastery
+Opulent Palace
+Nomad Outpost
+Frontier Bivouac
+Tranquil Cove
+Dismal Backwater
+Bloodfell Caves
+Rugged Highlands
+Blossoming Sands
+Scoured Barrens
+Swiftwater Cliffs
+Jungle Hollow
+Wind-Scarred Crag
+Thornwood Falls
I’m cutting all of the lands in the two color sections and replacing them with the five wedge lands and the ten new refuges. Each color receives another card. This also nicely solves the oddity of having one fewer land/one more spell in RW.
There are plenty of Khans cards that I'm still considering (Riverwheel Aerialists, Mardu Heart-Piercer, Heir of the Wilds, among others), but I'd like to see how the draft format plays out before making any more changes.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
In the first draft, I first-picked Reassembling Skeleton and forced the BG sacrifice deck, and it worked out beautifully. Thoughtpicker Witch is a very good card. While I didn't win the draft, I certainly had the coolest deck.
In the second draft, I first-picked Staggershock and ended up with mono-red aggro. There were some incredibly close games (particularly against the WB sacrifice deck featuring Thoughtpicker Witch and Blood Artist), but I ended up winning the draft.
---
In light of recent discussions here, I'm making some more changes:
-Dauntless Onslaught
+Griffin Guide
While I do think Onslaught and Symbiosis are good cards, they can be unwieldy.
-Stormbound Geist
+Arcane Denial
-Goblin Fireslinger
+Tormenting Voice
I'm not sure how I have allowed Goblin Fireslinger to remain in the cube this long. It's not a good card.
-Symbiosis
-Vines of Vastwood
+Mutagenic Growth
+Invigorate
-Thran Dynamo
+Isochron Scepter
Even the dedicated ramp decks could find better things to do for four mana than cast Dynamo. I know it may be difficult to assemble the Scepter deck in a cube this large, but I'm giving it a shot anyway.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
Skeleton is legit.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
+Goldnight Commander
With the recent increase in token producers (Raise the Alarm, Triplicate Spirits, Mogg War Marshal, Hordeling Outburst), it may be time to do some Commanding.
-Aethersnipe
+Riverwheel Aerialists
The 4/4 bounce dudes are okay, but control decks generally want their expensive dudes to fly.
-Entomber Exarch
+Zombify
Exarch was Gravedigger 95% of the time. The flexibility doesn't make up for the more awkward cost.
-Dinrova Horror
+Moroii
-Viridian Claw
+Ulamog’s Crusher
I wanted another big dude. I don't know if Claw or Silver-Inlaid Dagger is the best cut.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
+Agony Warp
-Silver-Inlaid Dagger
+Ancient Tomb
I've been trying to trade for an Ancient Tomb for months now. I finally got frustrated and bought one.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
In the first draft, I drafted a GU ramp splashing for a few burn spells and went 2-0 (we only played two rounds). Curse of Predation was incredibly strong. The other 2-0 deck was a RW aggro deck. He won his first round on the back of color-screwing his opponent with Strip Mine.
In the second draft, I drafted a black control deck splashing for Fireball and Flametongue Kavu, and again went 2-0. The other 2-0 deck was a BG sacrifice deck.
Sooooooo, I'm cutting Strip Mine. It's just not a fun card.
-Strip Mine
+Blasting Station
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
+Stoke the Flames
I assumed that Stoke was already in my list.
-Brindle Shoat
+Heir of the Wilds
-Plaxmanta
+Simic Charm
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
-Knight of Infamy
-Zombify
+Phyrexian Reclamation
+Mardu Skullhunter
I still don't like protection. Knight of Glory is set to get replaced when Fate Reforged is released. Looking at other people's recent updates, apparently Quest for the Gravelord is back in vogue, so I'll try to find some cuts to try that again.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
-Deftblade Elite
-Niveous Wisps
-Knight of Glory
+Mardu Woe-Reaper
+Mana Tithe
+Wandering Champion
I think the only protection creatures left in my cube are Phantom Centaur and Guardian of the Guildpact.
-Military Intelligence
+Force Spike
Intelligence was a bust. Trying out the Force Spikes again.
-Wakedancer
+Bellowing Saddlebrute
-Crossway Vampire
+Goblin Heelcutter
-Triumph of Ferocity
+Temur Sabertooth
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
-Peregrine Drake
+Thieving Magpie
+Treasure Cruise
+Quest for the Gravelord
-Tormenting Voice
+Coordinated Assault
+Abzan Beastmaster
-Cauldron Haze
-Rendclaw Trow
-Snakeform
+Curse of Chains
These hybrids were mostly filler to make the math work. Black and green both get a card. Snakeform could come back.
I intend to cut Nemesis of Mortals for Gravetiller Wurm once I find one.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
The lack of black sacrifice creatures is somewhat made up for by the colorless sac outlets (Culling Dais, Spawning Pit and Blasting Station). Also, most of the sacrifice decks also have green and so rarely have an issue splashing red for Goblin Bombardment (or Threatens). That said, I might put Nantuko Husk back in at some point if I feel I need more. I'll keep an eye on it.
Tenacious Dead is probably the worst of the sacrifice food. But I think that the deck needs that style of card so badly that a less-than-stellar one is still probably worth playing. Brood of Cockroaches is nice in that it doesn't cost mana immediately in the way that the Dead do, but it's slow (can't use it more than once per turn). I hadn't thought of Sultai Emissary though, so that will likely come in.
In terms of staples you might be missing, the only thing that really sticks out to me is Golgari Germination. I think that card is quite strong, though I think I'm the only one around here running it. So who knows, maybe I'm crazy. I also run Deathreap Ritual.
It's a fun deck and it's won a few drafts, but it can also just fall apart against a decent start from an aggro deck.
My issue with Nemesis of Mortals is that he isn't reliably cheap. He's certainly not a bad card, but there are a lot of big green dudes to choose from and many of them have more relevant abilities like trample in the case of Gravetiller Wurm or regeneration in the case of Ancient Silverback. I keep trying to find room for Nessian Asp, too.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
-Standstill
+Coastal Piracy
One of my friends first picked it...and then ended up putting it in his sideboard because his RGu deck couldn't support double blue.
I first picked Agony Warp and ended up with a sweet UB reanimator deck splashing red for Fireball and Fire Covenant. The highlight of my night: I Reanimated my opponent's Krosan Tusker, but he Aether Mutationed it back and began beating me down with the saprolings and some Beast Attack tokens. At two life, I Victimized Tower Geist and Trostani's Summoner back into play and immediately Cloned the Summoner to stabilize the board. Geist was soon joined by Murder of Crows and they dealt the full twenty before my opponent could find a way to break through.
The finals of the draft was a RW aggro deck vs. a Ru aggro deck. From what I saw, they had very close games, but RW drew a few too many lands.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
+Angelic Renewal
-Force Spike
+Deep Analysis
Yep. Still don't like them.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
I decided to add Enlightened Tutor and Mystical Tutor to see if I could encourage people to draft an Isochron Scepter deck. And I figured, well, if I'm adding two of them, might as well try the third one, too. Enlightened and Mystical end up in various control and midrange decks with some frequency. People enjoy playing with them. Worldly Tutor is worse than the other two and likely won't last much longer (unless I see someone do something awesome with it). There just aren't that many awesome dudes to get. (The Scepter deck still hasn't come together. My cube is probably just too big.)
I like Blessings of Nature a lot. It's a lot easier to cast than Incremental Growth and nearly as powerful, and I ran IG for quite some time. I thought miracle was an uninteresting and too random mechanic in AVR, but in small amounts (as in it being the only miracle card in the cube), it can make games really exciting.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
If I were forced to cut one of them, it'd likely be Blessings of Nature. Overrun is just too strong.
That said, I don't think I'm close to cutting Blessings anytime soon.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
-Wandering Champion
+Dragon Hunter
-Essence Scatter
-Thieving Magpie
+Silumgar Sorcerer
+Mistfire Adept
-Surrakar Marauder
-Grixis Slavedriver
+Sultai Emissary
+Rakshasa Gravecaller
-Sulfurous Blast
+Slice and Dice
-Ancient Silverback
+Jungle Weaver
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
+Great Teacher's Decree
Healer hasn't done anything notable in months.
-Wretched Anurid
-Bloodhunter Bat
+Blood-Chin Rager
+Vulturous Aven
Exploit continues to impress me.
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
My CubeCobra (draft 20 card packs, 2 packs.)
430, Peasant, Very Unpowered
Why you should take your hybrids out of your gold section
Manamath Article
+Lone Missionary
Missionary got cut at a point when aggro was severely struggling and I was concerned about the number of lifegain dudes in the cube. I forgot to put it back in when aggro got good.
-Dregscape Zombie
+Merciless Executioner
-Glarewielder
+Shockmaw Dragon
There aren't a lot of decks interested in expensive red cards, but there are a few and this seems like a pretty good one. Also, I didn't want Dragon Hunter's abilities to be flavor text.
-Nemesis of Mortals
-Jungle Weaver
+Nessian Asp
+Gravetiller Wurm
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
-Ajani's Presence
-Youthful Knight
-Angelic Renewal
-Cage of Hands
-Ornitharch
+Genju of the Fields
+Intangible Virtue
+Fiend Hunter
+Recumbent Bliss
+Serra Angel
I think there are probably enough token producers to make Intangible Virtue a playable card. I need to find a copy of Gather the Townsfolk.
-Spiteful Returned
+Orc Sureshot
-Altac Bloodseeker
-Reckless Reveler
-Act of Treason
+Arc Trail
+Dragon Fodder
+Krenko's Command
-Invigorate
+Wildsize
Invigorate is a really cool card that no one ever played.
-Myr Sire
-Cathodion
+Quicksand
+Fellwar Stone
My Type 4 stack (Cube Tutor link)
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.