The module still gets used occasionally, but as usual, we prefer to play without it most of the time.
Went to 450 so we could Glimpse Draft for our 3-player events.
There are people with full custom cubes here on these boards, and they've shared a lot of their custom cards. I'd seek them out for advice. Do a forum search to find them. I think the right number of custom cards in a cube is either 0% or 100%. I would never be interested in a cube that's a mix of both.
1) I noticed you didn't add any one drops to white, and most of the white additions look to be midrange/control-oriented. Has this negatively impacted players' ability to draft W/x aggro decks?
2) It appears you added two guild cards for each pair. For allied pairs, this is 2 spells or a spell and a manland, but for all of the enemy pairs, it is a spell and the Painland. Is there a reason for this?
3) There's a few cards that got purged in the cut to 375 that didn't get added back in the 450 expansion. Notably the morphs (would have though they'd be a little more interesting given the presence of Khans morphs, if any of those make the cut), Morphling, Shrine of Burning Rage. Any thoughts on this?
Also, I was looking at your land section just to see pictures of the collection, and noticed not everything is as pimp as possible. Notably, there are only two of the beta foil promos (are there only two that exist?), and the "favorite non-promo" list contains a few that aren't foreign when they could be (8th swamp, 8th mountain, Odyssey swamp). Are there just things you're still looking for, or are there specific reasons for these choices?
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1) I noticed you didn't add any one drops to white, and most of the white additions look to be midrange/control-oriented. Has this negatively impacted players' ability to draft W/x aggro decks?
I wanted to add in another good white 1 drop, but unfortunately there aren't any. I haven't seen white aggro's validity suddenly plummet, but it would be nice to have 1 more.
2) It appears you added two guild cards for each pair. For allied pairs, this is 2 spells or a spell and a manland, but for all of the enemy pairs, it is a spell and the Painland. Is there a reason for this?
It's because at 360 some of the broken lands were treated as spells to make room for them. Now that there's a 4th land slot, they can shift over to being counted as lands again, and those combinations got 2 spells to compensate.
3) There's a few cards that got purged in the cut to 375 that didn't get added back in the 450 expansion. Notably the morphs (would have though they'd be a little more interesting given the presence of Khans morphs, if any of those make the cut), Morphling, Shrine of Burning Rage. Any thoughts on this?
This rise back to 450 was focussed more on bringing archetype support back. So to make room for those kinds of cards, a lot of the generic 450 playables had to be left out.
Also, I was looking at your land section just to see pictures of the collection, and noticed not everything is as pimp as possible. Notably, there are only two of the beta foil promos (are there only two that exist?), and the "favorite non-promo" list contains a few that aren't foreign when they could be (8th swamp, 8th mountain, Odyssey swamp). Are there just things you're still looking for, or are there specific reasons for these choices?
They only did those two beta lands in foil, so the other 3 are just beta lands.
Yes, some of those basics could get upgraded to foreign versions at some point, but they're hard to find.
Just wanted to let you know that we did a 4-man LotR cube draft last night. It had been a while for most of us since playing the game, so the nostalgia was wonderful, though it took us longer than it normally would I imagine. We all felt really happy with our decks at the end, and there was a lot of variety. We did a normal booster draft, 5 packs of 9 for Free Peoples and 5 packs of 9 for Shadow. Started everyone with a generic Frodo and Ruling Ring, but no other generic characters. It still seemed to work really well. Thanks for doing the legwork and sharing your list. It gave us a wonderful night!
Hey man, that's great to hear! It's certainly not a perfect list, as LotR cubes are niche and that's pretty just just my own concoction ...but it worked well for us and has historically been fun.
I think it will vary from game to game, and a lot on the matchup. I think the right time to cast it is when it best fits into your curve, even if it's just an Inspiration that gains 2 life, if that's what the gamestate calls for. It has bonkers value when X≥4, but I think it's fine at 2 or 3 depending on the board.
I'm likely misinterpreting you, but I think casting it optimally is more complicated than on curve.
It is so much more devastating at a high x cost, that on average, waiting as long as possible is the best strategy for it.
"Long as possible" might mean at x=2. Behind on board, no other cards in hand.... Or no answer in hand to a powerful permanent, I'd fire it off.
However, if the board was relatively par, I'd only fire it off at a low x if I was playing it in a proactive deck, or against a combo deck that I felt inevitability wasn't in my favour. Most of the time it's played as a win con in a reactive deck , that has the added versatility of searching for an answer when desperate.
My main point is mana efficiency/casting most spells possible is rarely my consideration to use it, which is what I interpret when I read "best fit for curve"
Reread my response. The "if that's what the gamestate calls for" is the clause that summarizes exactly what you just wrote out. Sometimes you have to fire it off when the X value is lower, because you need the cards/life because you're in rough shape. Otherwise, if you can afford to wait, trying to max out on the X value is the best option, just like pretty much every X spell out there.
How is the testing for Malicious Affliction going? Is it really much better than Go for the Throat considering the manacost versus the morbid bonus?
I don't think so. Initial testing proved that it was inconsistent and harder to cast, but it was getting some high praise from other folks so I decided to give it some extended testing. My current opinion is the same as before; I don't think it's better than the consistent 1B removal spells are. But I'll give it a fair shot, and see how it does.
Has anyone messed around with Bosh, Iron Golem? If you support the super-ramp/fatty-cheating package, the artifact.dec and reanimator, and red plays a role in all 3 of those decks, does the artifact nature of Bosh make him the more appealing super fatty in red? I mean, with Sneak Attack you can run him in for 6 trampling damage and then fling him for 8 more before he dies ...seems like creating a 14 point life swing wouldn't be all that uncommon. And if you don't have to fling him immediately, he can grind out extra damage from other utility artifacts and stuff. Thoughts?
Bosh seems better than Bogardan Hellkite if you want a creature that supports all those archetypes. He is much less red - enough so that pretty much any deck that is putting fatties into play can squeeze him in with just the x/r duals they snagged. Do you want 'barely red' decks to be able to play him?
Hellkite is much better at playing defense since he doesn't spend 4 mana to deal some damage right when you play him. And then he sticks around to block if need be. Bosh needs the mana and then he is dead - unless of course you sac something else.
The new Ob Nix is a decent curve option at the 5cc section when you count it as a creature. It's the best 5cc creature option after Shriekmaw.
I'm considering testing Bosh because it has added value in the artifact.dec builds where the Hellkite (while stronger) is limited to fatty cheating & reanimator decks (and the occasional big mana control deck). Just an idea I've been tossing around.
Agreed. I like Titania, and I wouldn't mind trying to find room for her at some point. Just don't know if there's really a good cut for her.
All the 5 drops seem to good to be dropped, so what about Oracle of Mul Daya? It is by no means a perfect swap but the ramp package is extremely solid as it is, and I don't think dropping Oracle will impact it as much. Titania, while definitely worse as a ramp card compared to the Oracle (conditional - you need to have a land in the graveyard to ramp), her ability to produce 5/3's from lands going to the graveyard is unique and fits more archetypes as well such as geddon.dec, wildfire.dec, and stax (I might be missing some more).
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I think Oracle is too important to the super ramp package to remove it for a Loam support card. Plus, if I do build a Titania deck, I want Oracle to be a part of it.
When I recently included multiple artifact-related cards in red, I actually considered adding Bosh, Iron Golem, too. I decided against it, because he feels just too underwhelming. If you cheat him into play, his body is just not impressive enough and he costs just a bit too much for casting him. His activated ability can deal massive amounts of damage if you get to use it, but Wizards made Bosh's body-to-cost ratio too bad in order to account for the presence of that ability. I guess what I want to say with way too many words is: Bosh seems just too fairly costed for cube.
Bottom line: I would really like to have one or two more artifact fatties in my cube, so including a fair and mediocre fatty like Bosh instead of waiting for the printing of some better new ones might actually be worth a try.
Went to 450 so we could Glimpse Draft for our 3-player events.
There are people with full custom cubes here on these boards, and they've shared a lot of their custom cards. I'd seek them out for advice. Do a forum search to find them. I think the right number of custom cards in a cube is either 0% or 100%. I would never be interested in a cube that's a mix of both.
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1) I noticed you didn't add any one drops to white, and most of the white additions look to be midrange/control-oriented. Has this negatively impacted players' ability to draft W/x aggro decks?
2) It appears you added two guild cards for each pair. For allied pairs, this is 2 spells or a spell and a manland, but for all of the enemy pairs, it is a spell and the Painland. Is there a reason for this?
3) There's a few cards that got purged in the cut to 375 that didn't get added back in the 450 expansion. Notably the morphs (would have though they'd be a little more interesting given the presence of Khans morphs, if any of those make the cut), Morphling, Shrine of Burning Rage. Any thoughts on this?
Also, I was looking at your land section just to see pictures of the collection, and noticed not everything is as pimp as possible. Notably, there are only two of the beta foil promos (are there only two that exist?), and the "favorite non-promo" list contains a few that aren't foreign when they could be (8th swamp, 8th mountain, Odyssey swamp). Are there just things you're still looking for, or are there specific reasons for these choices?
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I wanted to add in another good white 1 drop, but unfortunately there aren't any. I haven't seen white aggro's validity suddenly plummet, but it would be nice to have 1 more.
It's because at 360 some of the broken lands were treated as spells to make room for them. Now that there's a 4th land slot, they can shift over to being counted as lands again, and those combinations got 2 spells to compensate.
This rise back to 450 was focussed more on bringing archetype support back. So to make room for those kinds of cards, a lot of the generic 450 playables had to be left out.
They only did those two beta lands in foil, so the other 3 are just beta lands.
Yes, some of those basics could get upgraded to foreign versions at some point, but they're hard to find.
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I'm likely misinterpreting you, but I think casting it optimally is more complicated than on curve.
It is so much more devastating at a high x cost, that on average, waiting as long as possible is the best strategy for it.
"Long as possible" might mean at x=2. Behind on board, no other cards in hand.... Or no answer in hand to a powerful permanent, I'd fire it off.
However, if the board was relatively par, I'd only fire it off at a low x if I was playing it in a proactive deck, or against a combo deck that I felt inevitability wasn't in my favour. Most of the time it's played as a win con in a reactive deck , that has the added versatility of searching for an answer when desperate.
My main point is mana efficiency/casting most spells possible is rarely my consideration to use it, which is what I interpret when I read "best fit for curve"
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Grand Coliseum is much better than all of those lands outside of maybe Reflecting Pool.
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Exotic Orchard just isn't reliable in 2-player games.
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Also, thoughts on Titania? She goes well with a lot of other cards already in cube.
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I don't think so. Initial testing proved that it was inconsistent and harder to cast, but it was getting some high praise from other folks so I decided to give it some extended testing. My current opinion is the same as before; I don't think it's better than the consistent 1B removal spells are. But I'll give it a fair shot, and see how it does.
Agreed. I like Titania, and I wouldn't mind trying to find room for her at some point. Just don't know if there's really a good cut for her.
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Hellkite is much better at playing defense since he doesn't spend 4 mana to deal some damage right when you play him. And then he sticks around to block if need be. Bosh needs the mana and then he is dead - unless of course you sac something else.
He would be tons of fun with Feldon!
How is the Ob Nixilis p'walker working out?
I'm considering testing Bosh because it has added value in the artifact.dec builds where the Hellkite (while stronger) is limited to fatty cheating & reanimator decks (and the occasional big mana control deck). Just an idea I've been tossing around.
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All the 5 drops seem to good to be dropped, so what about Oracle of Mul Daya? It is by no means a perfect swap but the ramp package is extremely solid as it is, and I don't think dropping Oracle will impact it as much. Titania, while definitely worse as a ramp card compared to the Oracle (conditional - you need to have a land in the graveyard to ramp), her ability to produce 5/3's from lands going to the graveyard is unique and fits more archetypes as well such as geddon.dec, wildfire.dec, and stax (I might be missing some more).
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Bottom line: I would really like to have one or two more artifact fatties in my cube, so including a fair and mediocre fatty like Bosh instead of waiting for the printing of some better new ones might actually be worth a try.
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
I agree, which is why I ultimately left him out and went with Bogardan Hellkite instead. The Hellkite is just as awesome with Feldon of the Third Path anyways.
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