MTG Salvation

Thanks for taking the time to look at typos. I had previously put an X behind every card i had in the cube, and then i used "replace all" with nothing, so that's why all the Xes were gone. I had caught some of them, but missed a lot of them ^^,. I have not used "Un" cards at all, the unusual size comes from having a cube size of 540 and constantly shrinking it. I felt that at 500 the artifact deck did not see enough cards to be viable very often and that my colorfixing had a bit few lands. So when i went down to 450 i felt that i wanted more artifacts and lands because while it might not be entirely balanced the decks that most people in my playgroup enjoy are multicolor control decks and artifact based decks. I also wanted the size of the cube to be big enough so that when i draft with 10 people (which happens) i still have 15 cards that are not in the draft.

The black card that was missing was Bane of the Living.

EDIT: There are a few cards missing from the cube that should be in it, and that is mainly Ravages of War, Imperial Seal and Rolling Earthquake. They will be put into the cube when i get them, but i need english versions and i'm not really looking for them at the moment.

For some reason, Brimaz wasn't on my list and Elspeth Tirel had to come of. Been changing a few cards back and forth lately. Did try to fix the apostrophes now.

Cut Black Vise today, which some people would consider heresy i'm sure. Added a All is Dust even though i think that is probably the wrong add. I've been wanting another colorless man and i've been thinking of adding a Steel Hellkite. It survives Wildfire variants and is a decent tinker target. Black Vise has NEVER been good in any of the drafts we've played and it's too situational. It's more of a sideboard card anyway and not a good one at that.

Played some good old cube today. Posted some pictures on my twitter account (@stoyrm). I don't believe i can hotlink the pictures directly into this thread but here's the links anyway!

This is my maindeck:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmF11-KCEAE_q0I.jpg:large

And this is my SB
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmF2KM8CcAA5Z3f.jpg:large

Had the morphling in my deck for a while and the squee was pretty tempting, but not good enough. This deck really showcased the strenght of goblin welder, and the imperial recruiter let me get it every game. Dack Fayden would have been AMAZING in this deck and i'm really looking forward to seeing him in action in the future!

Let me know if you thought i misbuilt the deck, definitely choices here that could have been different!

Actually didn't think of that (thought it seems kinda obvious at this point). The Magma Jet swap would be the most logical, and my reasoning at the time was that i didn't have all to many bombtastic cards for Sneak Attack, so i wanted the scry. This is probably just wrong, as killing two guys would in many situations be just as good. Faithless Looting interacts pretty well with welder, but it might not be good enough. It did give me some good ways of putting guys into the yard during play, but it's definitely reasonable to assume that it could be cut.

The deck wasn't actually that insane, it was a bit slow. But it did have some incredible late game grind power, so i won most games that went long. The deck 3-0ed, but i felt that most games were close. Which is the way it should be!

Added a cube chopping block. The cards on there are the ones i'm most likely to cut during my next cube update, or cards that have been underperfoming. It also gives some insight into what i believe are cards that have been less stellar and opens up some discussion (for those interested in having one). If not it also serves as a memory bank for me ^^,.

Cool :). I'm probably getting a Gnarled Scarhide, Imperial Seal and a Master of the Feast for the cube soon. Meaning i have to cut three black cards. At this point i'm looking to cut Sinkhole, Bane of the Living and probably Pain Seer/Bone Shredder.

I don't really want to cut the Pain Seer as i got the game day one, which is sooo pimp. But it's a close one. Between it and Bone Shredder.

The cut for Prophetic Flamespeaker will probably be Blistering Firecat. In my cube Firecat and Firestorm aren't getting drafted and very rarely makes the cut. Goblin Welder is definitely a pet card of mine, and i demolished last draft with it, but i'm not sure how often it'll go that way. I am however supporting artifacts a bit more with this cube than others. And i just love the little guy. But certainly on the chopping block.

EDIT:
-1 Eternal Dragon
+1 Elspeth Tirel.

Had Elspeth in, and she was decent, don't know why i cut it instead of dragon.

Aaand here we go. Added a pack from my cube, the cards should be visible but the quality isn't that good. What would you pick from this pack?

SoLaS for sure. Not much competition, although Jace and Ajani are cool.

Cheers,
rant

I realize i probably shouldn't have taken a booster with Swords in them ;D. I'm very much a blue mage though and would probably err on taking the Jace. The pack is pretty weak though, so after the Jace and Sword is gone there's a lot of very close picks in there.

Trying out Jace, Architect of Thought, and cutting Crystal Shard. Crystal Shard is a very good card, but ends up in the sideboard very often. I think Jace AOT will see more maindeck play.

I've been very happy with both Morphling. I'm more likely to cut the Psionic Blast than any of those. Tezzeret is part of the artifact package, but is definitely one of the weaker cards. I could definitely see cutting Psionic Blast for now and letting Tezzeret go before the Shard.

I would advocate keeping the Shard in place of the Blast.

I like all of the cards mentioned here better than Riftwing Cloudskate, so I'd probably cut that.

Cheers,
rant

Agreed: Changed the cut from Shard to Psionic Blast. Riftwing might be something of a pet card, but it has shown it's value in most of the drafts. The fact that you can suspend it makes it really good. I'm a sucker for build around cards though, so i'm unsure of how long it'll stay. Atm i'd much rather cut Shard or Tezzeret before touching Riftwing. Tezzeret is super sweet when it works, but it works less often than Crystal Shard.

Cutting cards is hard. I want to keep them all, but i don't want a large cube size ^^,.

Just fixed me a Ravages of War and i have the option of cutting (in my mind) either Elspeth Tirel or Spear of Heliod. So far Spear of Heliod has seen some play, but it's nothing special. The synergy of Elspeth Tirel in red tokens and in some other decks makes it see a lot more play. So i'm leaning towards cutting Spear of Heliod.

I found Tirel unimpressive. I prefer the Spear.

Cheers,
rant

Alright, after having to figure out some cuts i ended up shifting the cube slightly. Phyerxian mana cost cards frequently end up in other colored decks. Essentially Metamorph, Dismember and Porcelain Legionaire end up in decks that don't play their colors. I'll move them to the artifact/colorless section and cut some of the cards that haven't done much for me.

Ankh of Mishra is not that good, you can usually play around it, Memory Jar has not done anything, even though i'm a big fan. I just don't support combo enough. I might re add it if i decide to support storm or such decks a bit more. The last cut is Lodestone golem, which has been fine but is my least favourite artifact creature atm. It's decent, but both steel hellkite and precursor have been better.

Since i now open up some slots in white/blue/black i get to add back in cards that were previously cut, and add the ravages of war that is incoming:
So:
-1 Jar (Replaced by Porcelain Legionnaire)
-1 Lodestone Golem (Replaced by Phyrexian Metamorph)
-1 Ankh of Mishra (Replaced by Dismember)
+1 Psionic Blast (which is on the verge of getting cut, when a good new blue card shows up it's out).
+1 Blood Scrivener
+1 Ravages of War

In addition i've decided i need more support for Natural Order and have cut Nantuko Vigilante for Hornet Queen. I will also make another cut in the colorless section in the future to make space for a Hellkite Overlord which is a great reanimation/NO target, something i feel i've been missing.

I disagree with Phyrexian cards being in the colorless section, but you can organize stuff how you like. I'd cut Steel Hellkite long before Ankh or Jar. It costs too much to not have any resilience to removal.

I'd keep Vigilante over Avenger of Zendikar. If you want an additional fattie, keep Hornet Queen and cut Vigilante or Vengevine for Pelakka Wurm.

Cheers,
rant

The organization makes sense to me if you see them as colorless cards. While they are better in their respective colored decks, i've seen all of them played in non-blue decks. My colorless section is also a bit bigger, so i have extra slots for it. As for the green fatty of choice, my second go to guy was pelakka wurm. I think the tokens are very good, but it's not as good on turn 3/4 with natural order, where Pelakka Wurm would shine. Avenger is better in a lot of situations, especially where removal is concerned. I'll discuss it with my players i think.

Hmm, Vengevine hasn't been doing to much good either lately. It's good at pressuring planeswalkers and control decks. Might think about that one, or i might cut it when i get my Oracle of Mul Daya. Steel Hellkite is going out for a Hellkite Overlord when i get it (which should be soon).

You are quite right. I should probably find better cards in U/B. Regarding ankh of mishra, it's just a terrible top deck and often you want to curve out with guys anyway. But then again, i also cut black vise from my cube, because i have different playtesting results than others.

Here are the cuts and additions i have lined up atm.

Exalted Angel - Council's Judgment

Vengevine - Oracle of Mul Daya
Strangleroot Geist - Courser of Kruphix
Avenger of Zendikar - Reclamation Sage
(Something) - Curse of Predation

Molten Rain - Goblin Rabblemaster
Firestorm - Rolling Earthquake

Fire//Ice - Izzet Charm
Electrolyze - Dack Fayden
Murderous Redcap - Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
Steel Hellkite - Hellkite Overlord
---------------------------------------------
Exalted Angel has been pulling it's weight and a decent card, but i feel it's been worse than say Elspeth Tirel. Here i have to cut a card and i want to support the token theme a bit so i'm letting Spear and Tirel stay and cutting Exalted Angel instead. Unsure whether or not i'll miss it, but we'll see. And this new card is amazing, can't have enough mono color vindicates.

The other shift is my green. Cards like Strangleroot Geist and Vengevine haven't been pulling their weight as much as i hoped. Green is a decent aggro plan, but it usually supports another color with fatties. Usually green ends up with more midrangy decks, and the cards i want to add reflect this. Some of the cards i want to add are just decent value, or upgrades. Courser of Kruphix seems like a very good midrange card that ups your card quality, and is very good against aggro. I want to fit in Curse of Predation but i don't know what to cut. Troll Ascetic is close, but having three drops to accelerate into is important for green. If Courser doesn't work out, i'll probably cut it for predation.

In red i'm missing the Rolling Earthquake, it would be in if it weren't for this fact. Molten Rain and Firestorm haven't been pulling their weight, but Firestorm has done some good so i'm more inclined to let it stay. The card i want to test is the Goblin Rabblemaster which should be a decent addition for token decks.

The multicolor cards are cards i want to test, and i'm convinced they'll work out. Hellkite Overlord was given the edge over Empyrial Archangel as a Natural Order target because it kills in basically two turns. Broodmate Dragon is under consideration.

I'd much rather have Exalted Angel than Elspeth Tirel. Not only can it apply pressure 3 turns faster, but you aren't required to have 5 mana, the lifegain isn't contingent on the board, and it's easier to resolve and protect as a control win-con against removal. You can create a 24 point life swing with the Angel by the time you can attack for 3 and get a healing salve from the 5cc Elspeth.

Elspeth Tirel pushes the Token theme more, and has generally been decent, and seen more maindeck control play than the angel. If it fails to perform, i'll put the angel back in. I like the Angel a lot, but i just think the repeatable advantage the Tirel gives is better against control decks, and helps put blockers up against aggro decks about as well.

Agree with wtwlf. I think Tirel is too slow and clunky and I cut her a while ago.

Cheers,
rant