I think those are the best cards from the set for Cube.
Additionally, I'm straight up adding 5 cards to colorless to help further support ramp, Sneak Attack, reanimator, Natural Order, and Tinker (and Show and Tell which I will hopefully have soon). Right now, that list looks like this but I'm open to other suggestions:
My big question is whether or not I need to add some more ramp support to green? If so, what to add and what to cut? I'm thinking Polukranos and Vengevine are expendable and maybe Strangleroot Geist. I still want to support aggro in green, but maybe I can back off a little on it. Dunno.
I think you'll really enjoy adding Conspiracy to your cube, it's been a blast for us. You're not adding Canal Dredger or Cogwork Librarian in your expansion, but I strongly recommend giving them a try. The bodies aren't good enough to go into any cube deck, but the impact they have on the draft more than makes up for that. This is especially true of Canal Dredger, getting an extra 14-21 cards worth of last picks in an 8-man draft pretty much always nets some useful stuff. Cogwork Librarian has been great too, the added card selection during the draft makes it easily worth an early pick. I like both of them better than Agent of Acquisitions, and Brago's Favor and Muzzio's Preparations are on the chopping block for me.
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As long as I am running conspiracies, none of the creature enhancing ones like Muzzio's Preparations and Brago's Favor or even Immediate Action are close to being cut. They don't take up a deck spot but instantly make your creatures better. I love the way Brago's Favor can make an extra one drop for aggro decks and the way that Muzzio's Preparations can make your early dudes hit that much harder. On top of those benefits you can use them for basically any creature to enhance their level of insanity. Any creature is better with haste, one mana cheaper, or with an extra point of power and toughness and the only thing these cards cost you is a pick in your draft.
Still looking for some insight on ramp. I am cutting either Vengevine or Polukranos, World Eater plus Wild Dogs for two more pieces of ramp. I'm not sure what two, although one will likely be Oracle of Mul Daya. I'd also like a cheaper one. Suggestions?
Courser of Kruphix. It's a good creature, and will usually snag you an extra land or two over the course of your curve. Card advantage, lifegain and a massive roadblock. And it can be targeted by Enlightened Tutor.
I like cutting vengevine. Not nearly as handy as Polukranos for 4 drops. I would play the Courser over Oracle and I would really consider Wild Growth. I put it in as a tester after people were talkinga bout how great it was recently and I am officially a fan. We always need more elves and having one that doesn't die to wrath effects is pretty great. You are playing a really limited selection of LD so you don't really have to worry about getting blown out too often. Another thing I like about it is depending on the land you cast it on, you can use it for mana the turn you play it.
So Courser over Oracle? I would think that not being able to play multiple lands off the Courser would hurt it in ramp.
I thought about Wild Growth. Maybe I'll give it a shot.
I'm leaning towards cutting Vengevine, even though I love green aggro. Polukranos is OK in aggro and brings another card to the Wildfire deck. And it's green removal.
I'm not cubing again until the 22nd so I have some time to think about this.
Cheers,
rant
---
Decided to hold off on adding Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre until I have Show and Tell and/or Eureka. Without those, he basically just goes in Sneak Attack and some ramp decks. I'm adding Chromatic Lantern instead.
This marks the return of two cards that didn't work out in my cube on their first run, Opposition and Living Death. I'm hoping the cube has evolved in ways that will allow them to shine.
I don't know when I'll get Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker or Clever Impersonator due to budget. I'm not sure what I'm cutting for them, but I'll figure that out if/when I can get them.
Those changes look good. Just like you, I cut Opposition and Living Death a few years ago, then brought them back recently. While they need a bit of set-up, they are great cornerstones for some decks. What changed for me is how I look at cards like these: Whereas I previously tried to reduce the number of cards that aren't universally good or at least part of my major supported archetypes, I am now including more of these cards again. Having to consider what implications such cards have on your deck and figuring out how that affects your pick priorities actually makes the draft more fun and more challenging. Even if those cards won't find a home during some drafts and will be left in sideboards, they make up for this by making some drafts more interesting and by creating some memorable decks.
As for the KTK additions, those are pretty much the main inclusions that I am planning to do, too. All the cuts look reasonable.
Since you are running both Morphling and AEtherling in a cube that is smaller than 500 cards, I think you could safely cut one of these. If you go simply by power level, you should cut the former, but I would personally cut the latter.
Faerie Conclave also looks like a decent cut. It's not that this card is bad. It's just that your blue section is so tight, I like almost all the other cards more than this land.
Do you need Brainstorm, Ponder and Preordain at your size? Maybe you could cut the weakest one of those?
Lastly - and I am stretching here - maybe Deep Analysis, now that you have Dig Through Time (and also a few other strong card draw spells)?
... looking at your list and considering how hard it is to make cuts, I realize why I went up to 600...
I would not cut Into the Roil, since it is one of the very few bounce effects in this cube. And those are pretty valuable, due to blue's lack of removal.
Cutting Morphling is so harsh. But I was thinking that was how this was going to go. Any other opinions?
Cutting Bribery is out; I view it as one of the top 20 blue cards. Faerie Conclave is the best land in blue. I like the three 1-mana spells because every blue deck wants one. I could maybe cut Into the Roil but it's just about the only bounce spell and it's great in UX tempo decks. And, yes, I'm keeping the artifact package. I did consider cutting Spellskite.
We've been running both Kozilek and Ulamog for quite a while now and they've worked out ok even without pushing the big cheats strategy. Obviously there's synergy with Sneak Attack, but at 10 and 11 mana, it's not completely unheard of just to ramp into them.
I'd cut Bribery honestly. It's feel-bad no matter how it goes down (either whiffing and finding crap or getting something ridiculous and just winning the game). Plus, you already have control magic and treachery. How many "steal my opponent's stuff" cards does blue really need?
I like Bribery a lot. It punishes people for trying to do really unfair things (IMO more of these effects are needed to actually discourage people from just trying to do the most nuts thing ever). I also like how it's not good against aggro, so it's an easy board-out spell.
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- Pyroclasm
- Gore-house Chainwalker
- Mayor of Avabruck
- Viridian Shaman
- Simic Sky Swallower
+ Borderland Marauder
+ Goblin Rabblemaster
+ Reclamation Sage
+ Terastodon
+ Kiora, the Crashing Wave
Soon, I'll also be adding some more ramp and ramp/Sneak Attack/reanimator/Tinker targets and a 13-card Conspiracy expansion pack.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
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I've updated the OP to show the recent changes and to add the Conspiracy expansion pack. That is duplicated here:
I think those are the best cards from the set for Cube.
Additionally, I'm straight up adding 5 cards to colorless to help further support ramp, Sneak Attack, reanimator, Natural Order, and Tinker (and Show and Tell which I will hopefully have soon). Right now, that list looks like this but I'm open to other suggestions:
My big question is whether or not I need to add some more ramp support to green? If so, what to add and what to cut? I'm thinking Polukranos and Vengevine are expendable and maybe Strangleroot Geist. I still want to support aggro in green, but maybe I can back off a little on it. Dunno.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
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Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
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Any thoughts on the ramp question? The new ramp/reanimator/Sneak Attack targets?
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
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Cheers,
rant
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I thought about Wild Growth. Maybe I'll give it a shot.
I'm leaning towards cutting Vengevine, even though I love green aggro. Polukranos is OK in aggro and brings another card to the Wildfire deck. And it's green removal.
I'm not cubing again until the 22nd so I have some time to think about this.
Cheers,
rant
---
Decided to hold off on adding Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre until I have Show and Tell and/or Eureka. Without those, he basically just goes in Sneak Attack and some ramp decks. I'm adding Chromatic Lantern instead.
Minor land changes:
-Simic Growth Chamber
-Izzet Boilerworks
+Yavimaya Coast
+Shivan Reef
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
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Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
-Aether Adept
- Kokusho, the Evening Star
- Searing Spear
+Opposition
+ Living Death
+ Rolling Earthquake
This marks the return of two cards that didn't work out in my cube on their first run, Opposition and Living Death. I'm hoping the cube has evolved in ways that will allow them to shine.
- Blood Scrivener
+ Bloodstained Champion
- Impulse
+ Dig Through Time
- Torch Fiend
+ War-Name Aspirant
- Desolation Angel
+ Utter End
I don't know when I'll get Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker or Clever Impersonator due to budget. I'm not sure what I'm cutting for them, but I'll figure that out if/when I can get them.
I'm also considering Grim Haruspex
Cheers,
rant
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As for the KTK additions, those are pretty much the main inclusions that I am planning to do, too. All the cuts look reasonable.
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
Cheers,
rant
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Faerie Conclave also looks like a decent cut. It's not that this card is bad. It's just that your blue section is so tight, I like almost all the other cards more than this land.
Do you need Brainstorm, Ponder and Preordain at your size? Maybe you could cut the weakest one of those?
Lastly - and I am stretching here - maybe Deep Analysis, now that you have Dig Through Time (and also a few other strong card draw spells)?
... looking at your list and considering how hard it is to make cuts, I realize why I went up to 600...
Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
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Uril, the Miststalker RGW -- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre C -- Vhati il-Dal BG -- Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer RW -- Animar, Soul of Elements URG
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker R -- Maga, Traitor to Mortals B -- Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW -- Sliver Hivelord WUBRG
Cutting Bribery is out; I view it as one of the top 20 blue cards. Faerie Conclave is the best land in blue. I like the three 1-mana spells because every blue deck wants one. I could maybe cut Into the Roil but it's just about the only bounce spell and it's great in UX tempo decks. And, yes, I'm keeping the artifact package. I did consider cutting Spellskite.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
- Morphling
- Wild Dogs
+ Clever Impersonator
+ Courser of Kruphix
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
+ Show and Tell
The big question is should I add Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre? I don't have Eureka but I do have Sneak Attack.
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