Am I crazy for keeping Curse of Predation in the sideboard? Also a Sulfurous Blast left out for mana considerations (Pyro/Barter/Trail generally handled that role pretty well).
And for that matter, let there be MTGS members messing up Sun Ce's tags because for some reason the card used the obscure/obsolete spelling of Conqueror!
I used to play ole one-eye, it was ok but never great. A 3 power unblockable for 4 is decent, but being limited to a pre-combat activation really hurts its value. The types of cards you really want to get back are the haymaker spells like ribbons, incremental blight, or bit blast. You can durdle town with victimize pretty hard with him, but I ultimately found him not worth the slot.
I really want to run sun ce, but I just haven't got around to getting one yet.
FKV was odd-man-out among 5-6 mana finishers after Origins, but I could certainly re-add at 540 or (gasp) finally cut Serra Angel.
I did just add Propaganda and am considering Ghostly Prison once I buy/trade for a copy. Never seriously considered E Tutor... I'm iffy on the idea of decks with double the chance to see their Curse or Behemoth Sledge (or now Propaganda/Prison), though that's probably a silly concern if I'm playing actual Demonic Tutor.
I don't always draft 4-5 color monstrosities, but when I do I'll jot down the amazing decklist. It's even 41 cards because I can't count.
Homicidal Seclusion was pretty great in its first go-round -- I set up the packs so we'd draft most/all of the cards I'd just added when I jumped to 540 -- aside from the obvious nonbo with Summoner. Otherwise, it worked really well... best play of the night was forcing my mono-green (!) opponent in the finals (!!) to chump-attack with his Ulamog's Crusher into my now 13/9 lifelinking Breaker of Armies. That game also saw me cast Booster Tutor three times... first for Eternal Witness (obviously rebuying the Tutor), then for Faith's Fetters to hold a Crusher in check for most of the game, then finally for a Pelakka Wurm (after Witness was put into Servitude) which was mostly just for rub-ins at the end of the game.
So... yeah. With most cube nights usually decided by tight tempo plays, it was fun to get to bash Eldrazi into Eldrazi in the finals for once.
I'm leaning towards the opinion that the ratios of cards that you want (finishers, removal, noncreature removal/interaction, curve, etc) should take precedence over going to 40 from 41, if necessary. Sometimes you feel like you need all the effects, but don't want to cut a land.
Yeah I think 41 is pretty defensible in peasant and pauper cube. It's more of an issue in regular draft where the power level disparity between cards is greater, and in non-peasant cubes where game winning combos are a thing.
Some decklists from tonight! 6 drafters, 4 packs of 11. There also was a Grixis Control deck, and a BG graveyard-y deck that got dismantled before I could jot 'em down.
GW -- yeah, literally no interaction aside from two combat tricks. The Baloth is super wonky in a deck whose mana otherwise wouldn't be awful -- no GG until Nemesis of Mortals, but playing 16 lands in a deck with zero ramp and three 5's, three 6's, and a 7. Pretty sure she went 0-2, though nearly killed me solely due to the strength of Behemoth Sledge.
WR drafter really loves Mind Stone, even when it's out of place. Like you said, though, a lot of 3's, so the Stone can set up playing two of 'em in a turn when you otherwise couldn't. And Goblin War Drums was pretty sweet in its first time getting cast; the "haste" definitely worked better than Pyreheart Wolf or the Menace Ally dude would have in the same situations I saw.
BWu (me) was iffy on playables but high on blue fixing, and it worked out that the blue splash kept me re-fueled when I otherwise wouldn't have had a chance in games. I also started drafting UB before picking up a bunch of good cards in white + (tapped) fixing to keep my best blue cards, though at the end I still could have gone with a 16 land aggressive deck by adding in a Dark Ritual (T1 Hypno, go!), Topan Freeblade, and Basilica Screecher. But FoF is too sweet
UGr was... interesting. Most surprisingly, he left Grizzly Fate and Hooting Mandrills in the sideboard despite having a ton of good enablers for graveyard shenanigans. Favorite play from my match against him was him using Vines of Vastwood to counter my Mother of Runes activation that would have otherwise forced an attacker through his one flying blocker for lethal (though he just died the following turn).
Dissolve has been decent, far from amazing. Will probably become Complicate at some point.
The G/W deck looks like it could do really well if it was built better. I think the R/W deck looks underwhelming, and the mind stone is super loose. I actually think your W/B deck would be the strongest hands down if you chose to forego the blue. 4 taplands is really bad in a deck with 4 one drops. I would cut all the nonbasics and play the other W/B cards.
the RUG pile is super unfocused, but can probably value out some free wins. I imagine the Grixis player got cut pretty hard on decent playables considering the other decks. No particular list stands out though, so I could see a bunch of 2-1s and 1-2s happening.
I woulda been happy with straight BW if I was a little higher on removal, or had another way or two to make my 2/2 beaters into something better. Also, blue cards are awesome. Still probably correct to just not play the splash, though.
Here's another BWU (not in that order) deck of mine, from yesterday's draft.
Desperately wanted something like Benthic Giant or Darksteel Sentinel (neither currently in cube) as a finisher -- I lost one game to self mill, and won another with three cards in the library (with Read/FoF in hand, made uncastable due to library size concerns). Still fun -- got stomped by a good draw from a tokens deck, but out-valued a Jeskai control deck and had enough answers to just 1-for-1 early threats from a different aggro deck.
So we did a four-man pod last night, and tried the Leelue method of doing multiple big packs, and throwing the last X cards. I forgot how many he actually likes to use, so we did 5x14, drafting the first nine... as you might predict from seeing 70 cards, the decks were VERY good.
It wound up being UW tempo (me), RB aggro, RG midrange, and RBW tokens. I'll post my pool below, since it was a really tough deckbuilding process with so many viable options to play.
Ha-ha yeah I usually have people draft fewer cards than the traditional 45 for that reason. You only need 45 when your selection is as shallow as it is in a booster draft. I usually end up with circa 35 cards.
But if you like super powered decks of course that's a place to start.
I was Player 2 (out of six). Got a ton of good red stuff, then black was wide open... but overall I mis-drafted and failed to either get enough aggressive creatures to back up my removal, nor enough late-game threats that could win the game on an empty board late.
It was still a ton of fun -- we did the draft live and in-person, with everything laid out by color and curve. Took about 90 minutes to draft (not counting set-up); will definitely do another one soon, but probably with a Facebook-based draft over a few days beforehand.
Man that Rot draft looks really awkward, but must have been super fun. I'm going to have to try that with some people.
It was fun, though as you note the picks weren't exactly... optimal from most players. But, still made quality decks despite people forcing their preferred archetypes.
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1x Leafcrown Dryad
1x Bone Shredder
1x Temur Sabertooth
1x Kozilek's Predator
1x Blastoderm
1x Murderous Redcap
1x Wickerbough Elder
1x Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1x Custodi Squire
1x Krosan Tusker
Spells (14)
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Wild Growth
1x Path to Exile
1x Tragic Slip
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Pyroclasm
1x Go for the Throat
1x Arc Trail
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Sylvan Library
1x Victimize
1x Barter in Blood
1x Bituminous Blast
1x Murderous Cut
3x Swamp
3x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Savage Lands
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Nomad Outpost
1x Godless Shrine
1x Temple Garden
1x Sunpetal Grove
1x Temple of Plenty
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Frontier Bivouac
Am I crazy for keeping Curse of Predation in the sideboard? Also a Sulfurous Blast left out for mana considerations (Pyro/Barter/Trail generally handled that role pretty well).
And for that matter, let there be MTGS members messing up Sun Ce's tags because for some reason the card used the obscure/obsolete spelling of Conqueror!
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
I really want to run sun ce, but I just haven't got around to getting one yet.
I did just add Propaganda and am considering Ghostly Prison once I buy/trade for a copy. Never seriously considered E Tutor... I'm iffy on the idea of decks with double the chance to see their Curse or Behemoth Sledge (or now Propaganda/Prison), though that's probably a silly concern if I'm playing actual Demonic Tutor.
1x Perilous Myr
1x Satyr Wayfinder
1x Nyx Weaver
1x Spitemare
1x Skinrender
1x Horizon Chimera
1x Kezzerdrix
1x Mulldrifter
1x Hooting Mandrills
1x Trostani's Summoner
1x Breaker of Armies
Spells (13)
1x Darkblast
1x Tragic Slip
1x Booster Tutor
1x Ultimate Price
1x Simic Signet
1x Selesnya Signet
1x Boros Signet
1x Reckless Spite
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Diabolic Servitude
1x Prophetic Bolt
2x Swamp
1x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Island
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Temple of Malady
1x Temple of Epiphany
1x Temple of Abandon
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Temple Garden
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Nomad Outpost
1x Savage Lands
1x Woodland Cemetery
1x Hinterland Harbor
I don't always draft 4-5 color monstrosities, but when I do I'll jot down the amazing decklist. It's even 41 cards because I can't count.
Homicidal Seclusion was pretty great in its first go-round -- I set up the packs so we'd draft most/all of the cards I'd just added when I jumped to 540 -- aside from the obvious nonbo with Summoner. Otherwise, it worked really well... best play of the night was forcing my mono-green (!) opponent in the finals (!!) to chump-attack with his Ulamog's Crusher into my now 13/9 lifelinking Breaker of Armies. That game also saw me cast Booster Tutor three times... first for Eternal Witness (obviously rebuying the Tutor), then for Faith's Fetters to hold a Crusher in check for most of the game, then finally for a Pelakka Wurm (after Witness was put into Servitude) which was mostly just for rub-ins at the end of the game.
So... yeah. With most cube nights usually decided by tight tempo plays, it was fun to get to bash Eldrazi into Eldrazi in the finals for once.
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
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Here's an actual photo, because awesome:
1x River Boa
1x Ambush Viper
1x Jade Mage
1x Ronom Unicorn
1x Kor Hookmaster
1x Emancipation Angel
1x Seraph of Dawn
1x Leatherback Baloth
1x Midnight Haunting
1x Pianna, Nomad Captain
1x Crocanura
1x Celestial Crusader
1x Glimmerpoint Stag
1x Nessian Asp
1x Custodi Squire
1x Garruk's Packleader
1x Enlisted Wurm
1x Sentinel of the Eternal Watch
1x Nemesis of Mortals
1x Roar of the Wurm
1x Mutagenic Growth
1x Rancor
1x Shelter
1x Behemoth Sledge
Lands (16)
8x Forest
7x Plains
1x Temple of Plenty
1x Daring Skyjek
1x Gore-House Chainwakler
1x Consul's Lieutenant
1x Kor Sancitifiers
1x Splatter Thug
1x Mardu Hordechief
1x Skyknight Legionnaire
1x Ghirapur Gearcrafter
1x Sandsteppe Outcast
1x Hearthfire Hobgoblin
1x Battle Screech
1x Calciderm
1x Goblin Heelcutter
1x Elite Scaleguard
1x Path to Exile
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Mana Tithe
1x Mind Stone
1x Magma Jet
1x Lust for War
1x Goblin War Drums
1x Goblin Trenches
1x Faith's Fetters
7x Plains
5x Mountain
1x Nomad Outpost
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Temple of Triumph
1x Mishra's Factory
1x Mother of Runes
1x Carnophage
1x Gnarled Scarhide
1x Rakdos Cackler
1x Thrill-Kill Assassin
1x Mardu Skullhunter
1x Blood-Chin Rager
1x Inkfathom Infiltrator
1x Porcelain Legionnaire
1x Kitchen Finks
1x Hypnotic Specter
1x Vampire Nighthawk
1x Soltari Champion
1x Nekrataal
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Darkblast
1x Ultimate Price
1x Hymn to Tourach
1x Curse of Shallow Graves
1x Compulsive Research
1x Fact or Fiction
Lands (17)
9x Swamp
3x Plains
1x Temple of Enlightenment
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Opulent Palace
1x Sandsteppe Citadel
1x Arcane Sanctum
1x Dakra Mystic
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Wall of Blossoms
1x Heir of the Wilds
1x Frost Lynx
1x Tandem Lookout
1x Imperious Perfect
1x Wickerbough Elder
1x Druid's Familiar
1x Flametongue Kavu
1x Temur Sabertooth
1x Mulldrifter
1x Skysnare Spider
1x Pelakka Wurm
1x Preordain
1x Vines of Vastwood
1x Counterspell
1x Snap
1x Simic Signet
1x Thirst for Knowledge
1x Frantic Search
1x Dissolve
1x Dismiss
1x Prophetic Bolt
7x Island
6x Forest
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Stomping Ground
1x City of Brass
Without spoiling results (or which one I played), thoughts on what you see?
WR drafter really loves Mind Stone, even when it's out of place. Like you said, though, a lot of 3's, so the Stone can set up playing two of 'em in a turn when you otherwise couldn't. And Goblin War Drums was pretty sweet in its first time getting cast; the "haste" definitely worked better than Pyreheart Wolf or the Menace Ally dude would have in the same situations I saw.
Swords to Plowshares should be Lightning Bolt for WR.
BWu (me) was iffy on playables but high on blue fixing, and it worked out that the blue splash kept me re-fueled when I otherwise wouldn't have had a chance in games. I also started drafting UB before picking up a bunch of good cards in white + (tapped) fixing to keep my best blue cards, though at the end I still could have gone with a 16 land aggressive deck by adding in a Dark Ritual (T1 Hypno, go!), Topan Freeblade, and Basilica Screecher. But FoF is too sweet
UGr was... interesting. Most surprisingly, he left Grizzly Fate and Hooting Mandrills in the sideboard despite having a ton of good enablers for graveyard shenanigans. Favorite play from my match against him was him using Vines of Vastwood to counter my Mother of Runes activation that would have otherwise forced an attacker through his one flying blocker for lethal (though he just died the following turn).
Dissolve has been decent, far from amazing. Will probably become Complicate at some point.
the RUG pile is super unfocused, but can probably value out some free wins. I imagine the Grixis player got cut pretty hard on decent playables considering the other decks. No particular list stands out though, so I could see a bunch of 2-1s and 1-2s happening.
why would you do that to your mana
Draft it on Cubetutor here, and CubeCobra here.
Treasure Cruise did nothing wrong.
Desperately wanted something like Benthic Giant or Darksteel Sentinel (neither currently in cube) as a finisher -- I lost one game to self mill, and won another with three cards in the library (with Read/FoF in hand, made uncastable due to library size concerns). Still fun -- got stomped by a good draw from a tokens deck, but out-valued a Jeskai control deck and had enough answers to just 1-for-1 early threats from a different aggro deck.
It wound up being UW tempo (me), RB aggro, RG midrange, and RBW tokens. I'll post my pool below, since it was a really tough deckbuilding process with so many viable options to play.
1 Cloudfin Raptor
1 Enclave Cryptologist
2 Welkin Tern
2 Inkfathom Infiltrator
2 Spined Thopter
2 Porcelain Legionnaire
3 Aether Adept
3 Latch Seeker
3 Eldrazi Skyspawner
3 Tandem Lookout
4 Clone
4 Lu Xun, Scholar General
5 Riftwing Cloudskate
Blue Spells
0 Force of Will
0 Daze
1 Serum Visions
2 Miscalculation
2 Snap
2 Counterspell
2 Singing Bell Strike
3 Compulsive Research
3 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Psionic Blast
3 Forbid
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Domestication
5 Mind Control
5 Persuasion
8 Treasure Cruise
1 Harm's Way
1 Mother of Runes
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Lyev Skyknight
6 Sentinel of the Eternal Watch
Colorless
1 Dismember
2 Mask of Memory
3 Grafted Wargear
Misc.
0 Temple of Enlightenment
0 Temple of Plenty
0 Jungle Shrine
3 Curse of Predation
7 Gurmag Angler
But if you like super powered decks of course that's a place to start.
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
Here's the draft results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1f6hH2UbECLffsbHjsazxSmw9ZGlZ37mx93JSTY68NSk/edit?usp=sharing
I was Player 2 (out of six). Got a ton of good red stuff, then black was wide open... but overall I mis-drafted and failed to either get enough aggressive creatures to back up my removal, nor enough late-game threats that could win the game on an empty board late.
It was still a ton of fun -- we did the draft live and in-person, with everything laid out by color and curve. Took about 90 minutes to draft (not counting set-up); will definitely do another one soon, but probably with a Facebook-based draft over a few days beforehand.
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
Had you mistaken for citynoise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HR7kUpb0yY
"Good times, keep rolling, come together"
(I think)
I don't like this song in particular, fwiw, I just remembered the comment
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
[Developing] 430+ Peasant Cube Thread --- [and on Cube Cobra]
It was fun, though as you note the picks weren't exactly... optimal from most players. But, still made quality decks despite people forcing their preferred archetypes.