I can't get behind an Ape to Maniac swap. Despite his versatility, I really dislike that creature. Granted it's been quite a long time since we ran him, but he was always a disappointment. He might get in for one, maybe two swings, but then he just kamikazes himself into something bigger. And there are plenty of times where he immediately forces a trade before he does anything. At least with Kird Ape (or other superior one mana two power guys) you can pick and choose your battles. If I'm going to lose my guy, I'd rather it be on defense. It's like he forces you to make bad attacks.
I know, I've played the Maniac before. I'm just curious if the loss in powerlevel is worth the added flexibility. I mean, it can be played in like seven times as many decks. That's pretty significant.
I've been considering a Kird Ape -----> Tattermunge Maniac swap to make up for the loss of the Dogs. Kird Ape is the FAR superior creature in terms of quality, but the Maniac can go in seven aggro/tempo decks instead of one. And that's a huge difference in playability. Either that, or playing it over Xenagos or something.
+1. The maniac is in my cube since it got printed. The ape is in my cube since the beginning of my cube. At the moment I'm considering cutting the ape (and lion), because it sees much less play than the maniac, although the ape is the better card (but not flexible enough for a gold card: goes only into RG aggro).
I can't get behind an Ape to Maniac swap. Despite his versatility, I really dislike that creature. Granted it's been quite a long time since we ran him, but he was always a disappointment. He might get in for one, maybe two swings, but then he just kamikazes himself into something bigger. And there are plenty of times where he immediately forces a trade before he does anything. At least with Kird Ape (or other superior one mana two power guys) you can pick and choose your battles. If I'm going to lose my guy, I'd rather it be on defense. It's like he forces you to make bad attacks.
I find that surprisingly often, attacking is the way to go anyway. Sure, every now and then Maniac forces a bad attack, but the pressure it adds as an additional two-power one drop is worth a lot.
Personally, I would not make that switch. Thanks for reminding me of Tattermunge Maniac though. I think I'll replace Domri Rade with it. Since the Maniac's inclusion would make the green 1-drop count go up by one, it feels safer to cut Wild Dogs.
Tattermunge Maniac was a serviceable creature for us at 540. It saw play in a lot of decks because of its flexibility. When I pruned back down, I sided with the card quality over the flexibility, and I'm wondering if that was the right move. I'l contemplate this more before I make any changes, but I may test it over the Ape for a bit.
I assign hybrids costing 2 hybrid mana or less by having each card take up half a mono-colored slot per color. That way I can adjust my gold section as large or as small as I wish without having to compromise the diversity that hybrids bring.
This system has worked wonderfully for me and gives me the freedom to expand or contract the "gold" part of my multi-colored section without having to compromise hybrids.
Anyway, just passing along a system that's worked well for my own cube.
i'm surprised you cut spellskite, all i can think is, was he too good? he's been amazing in my cube, which is quite similar to yours. someone set up a nice lock with him the other night- he had a crystal shard and yavimaya hollow on the table along with the spellskite.. try getting anything past that!
I notice Putrid Imp is absent from your Cube. This seems odd - that guy is crazy. He's a one-drop who:
1) Enables graveyard strategies including reanimator
2) Can be evasive when needed
3) Can achieve 2 power relatively easily
4) Is a zombie
Thoughts?
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I tested him for quire a while, and it saw absolutely zero play outside of dedicated reanimator. It was too hard to get him to 2 power in a point in the game where it was still relevant.
Maybe I've just got my head in the clouds when it comes to madness/threshold cards. I just keep seeing the potential for something like turn one pitch Vengevine followed by Basking Rootwalla into turn two Deep Analysis Flashback.
Maybe I've just got my head in the clouds when it comes to madness/threshold cards. I just keep seeing the potential for something like turn one pitch Vengevine followed by Basking Rootwalla into turn two Deep Analysis Flashback.
What is it that makes Captive so much better than the others? I get that he can flip into a 2/2, but when he does his pump ability slips out of easy activation range. Does he flip more often than Wither/Madness were useful?
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4 mana is not so much, especially as just a threat of activation, followed by another threat after combat. I have had 6 a couple of times on the turn he flipped to do both. Rocking for 8 with a one drop and no help is sweet. Not your average scenario but I found it to be a lot less disappointing if drawn in the late game.
4 mana is not so much, especially as just a threat of activation, followed by another threat after combat. I have had 6 a couple of times on the turn he flipped to do both. Rocking for 8 with a one drop and no help is sweet. Not your average scenario but I found it to be a lot less disappointing if drawn in the late game.
Fair. I do also like how you can swing him turn two into a Kird Ape and threaten to both kill the Ape and flip, whereas with Slasher and Rootwalla, by choosing to activate you give up your chance to cast spells and don't get quite as much in return.
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No, it was not because he was too good. He's been in and out of the cube a couple times... I don't think he'll be missed.
It's weird how much our opinions on cube cards differ sometimes.* I think Spellskite is a stone cold staple. I like it more than Vendilion Clique.
* To clarify: Your cube and your posts about cubing had a huge influence on me on my cube. Following your advice changed my initial list from a cumbersome dragon cube to a cube with a healthy aggro/midrange/control meta. I also think that the card evaluations in your Set (P)review articles are mostly spot on. But then there are issues where we have completely opposite ideas/evaluations/philosophies...
What is it that makes Captive so much better than the others? I get that he can flip into a 2/2, but when he does his pump ability slips out of easy activation range. Does he flip more often than Wither/Madness were useful?
Yes. He provides the engine to flip itself, and having 1-drops that can threaten to beat for 6 are pretty sick. And sometimes he's just in Isamaru mode, and that's fine too.
Spellskite is okay. The effect is solid, but it's rarely worth a card. I wish it was an on-color Wall of Blossoms more often than not. It's a fine filler card. But it was an easy cut when I cut it the first time, and it's an easy cut now.
How has Vinelasher Kudzu been for you? I have not had a chance to pick one up but I see it on the duel deck list and was thinking of giving it a try. I am up to 9 of the fetches in my 360, so that helps it out obviously, but I don't see it being much better than a Gyre Sage in an average green deck.
I like it a lot. It scales as the game progresses, and doesn't have a P/T ceiling. It's nice having a 2-drop that's got good stats in the mid/late game. It's kinda a pet card for me and my playgroup, but it earned that title through years of faithful service.
I'm going to try out Tattermunge Maniac again for a while. The drawback is pretty significant, but being a 2-power 1-drop for a TON of different aggro and tempo decks will be really valuable. I'm going to test it over Xenagos, the Reveler for a bit. Xenagos is a really powerful card, but he always seems to be a "nice to have" and not a "need to have" for any given strategy. There's a lot of good 4-drops in that color combination, including two other better ones inside the Gruul section as it is. I'm not comfortable enough doing the "like-for-like" swap with Kird Ape just yet, because we play a lot of RG aggro, and it's such a good creature in that deck. I wanna re-test him and see how much value comes in the form of the flexibility it has.
e: It'll also help make up for the recent loss of Wild Dogs.
The cube needs fixing lands, and there aren't any good ones left. I'm gonna bench a colorless nonbasic for a while and test out Tendo Ice Bridge again. I've played it before, and it was okay. There are times where only having one counter is a huge bummer, but it can fix colored mana on T1 and help decks that have 1 or 2 harder to cast spells do their thing. Often enough, it can help get the 1 currently uncastable spell out of your hand, and simply be a 1-shot Gemstone Mine that sticks around afterward. We'll see how it goes.
If you feel like you need another fixing land, I agree that Tendo is the best of the ones you don't run.
Glad you aren't cutting Kird Ape, but Xenagos is so cool. Sad to see him go, but if you want to test Tattermunge there really isn't another spot. I guess you could cut Sarkhan Vol; I'm not sure which of the RG 'walkers I like better at this point.
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+1. The maniac is in my cube since it got printed. The ape is in my cube since the beginning of my cube. At the moment I'm considering cutting the ape (and lion), because it sees much less play than the maniac, although the ape is the better card (but not flexible enough for a gold card: goes only into RG aggro).
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My hybrids are:
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I include Boros Reckoner, but it takes up a gold slot.
This system has worked wonderfully for me and gives me the freedom to expand or contract the "gold" part of my multi-colored section without having to compromise hybrids.
Anyway, just passing along a system that's worked well for my own cube.
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1) Enables graveyard strategies including reanimator
2) Can be evasive when needed
3) Can achieve 2 power relatively easily
4) Is a zombie
Thoughts?
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Edit: Speaking of which, didn't you used to run Basking Rootwalla (as well as Twinblade Slasher)? It seems you've reduced your Rootwallas to just Wolfbitten Captive.
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Yes, if you think that's how the average performance of Putrid Imp will look like, you've got your head in the clouds.
Yes, Captive is the only one that's still left. The others weren't good enough.
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Fair. I do also like how you can swing him turn two into a Kird Ape and threaten to both kill the Ape and flip, whereas with Slasher and Rootwalla, by choosing to activate you give up your chance to cast spells and don't get quite as much in return.
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It's weird how much our opinions on cube cards differ sometimes.* I think Spellskite is a stone cold staple. I like it more than Vendilion Clique.
* To clarify: Your cube and your posts about cubing had a huge influence on me on my cube. Following your advice changed my initial list from a cumbersome dragon cube to a cube with a healthy aggro/midrange/control meta. I also think that the card evaluations in your Set (P)review articles are mostly spot on. But then there are issues where we have completely opposite ideas/evaluations/philosophies...
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Yes. He provides the engine to flip itself, and having 1-drops that can threaten to beat for 6 are pretty sick. And sometimes he's just in Isamaru mode, and that's fine too.
I don't even know how to respond to this.
Spellskite is okay. The effect is solid, but it's rarely worth a card. I wish it was an on-color Wall of Blossoms more often than not. It's a fine filler card. But it was an easy cut when I cut it the first time, and it's an easy cut now.
I only have one Repeal in the cube.
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That said, I probably wouldn't play it at 360.
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e: It'll also help make up for the recent loss of Wild Dogs.
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Glad you aren't cutting Kird Ape, but Xenagos is so cool. Sad to see him go, but if you want to test Tattermunge there really isn't another spot. I guess you could cut Sarkhan Vol; I'm not sure which of the RG 'walkers I like better at this point.
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