MTG Salvation

Hello folks, this cube has mostly settled into the current state it's in. As some of you might have seen, I have another themed cube, my '94 Magic classic cube. I've been playing this cube with friends and co-workers for a while now and having a lot of fun. One problem with a cube like my old '94 one is that the cards have the worst text on them. Newer players have no idea what a "Poly Artifact" is and there are crazy keywords with no explanation. Just try to explain "Banding" over and over, it gets tiresome. So, with that in mind I set out to make a new cube: The Kamigawa Cube. Why Kamigawa you ask? Well, it's thematically very interesting and the artwork is incredible. It also has much more modern keywords and mechanics. The block is pretty unique and the set that it reminds me the most of is the old Legends set from 94 (now Theros to some degree), but without all the awful cards that Legends had. Wait, did I just say that about Kamigawa? Yes, Kamigawa has a reputation for being a bad block with under-powered cards. My hope was that with the ability to select the best 360 cards from the block, I could make the set work in a draft format like cube a bit better. I've tried to make the CMC curve at least reasonable and also tried to include the best "mechanics" cards (Flip cards, Bushido, Sweep, Splice) from the block while largely omitting some of the clunkiest (Soulshift).

"Behind the scenes" of creating Kamigawa from Wizards site 2004.



360 Cards.
Each color contains: 35 Creatures and 27 Spells
There are also: 29 Artifacts, 3 Multi-Colored Cards, and 18 non-basic lands

30 of each basic land, including 1 each of the 2005 DCI arena lands.

Visual spoiler on cubetutor: http://www.cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/21962
Draft this cube on cubetutor: http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/21962

So without further ado, here's the cube list (sorted by CMC):
Blue

Black

Green

Red

White

Artifacts/Multi-Colored/Lands

Here's my trade thread. Help me get this thing together!
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/trading-post/details/1786-w-kamigawa-block-cards-for-themed-cube-h-legacy

Ok, trade thread closed. It looks like all the cards should be hear soon and I can start putting this thing together to test. I'm sure there will be changes to the initial list and I'll update with my reasons as these changes are made. While I was putting the list together there was a lot of outside interest from bystanders. I hope that translates into interest in the cube.

First round of changes. I need to get better sleeves as the ultra-cheapo ones I have currently actually wreck the playing of the cube because shuffling is such a pain in the butt.

Jade Idol out and Ornate Kanzashi in ---- a little more mill/utility and the Idol is too conditional.
Callous Deceiver out and Erayo, Soratami Ascendant in ---- Removing all Deceivers, they are just not good without other tricks that Kamigawa doesn't have.
Feral Deceiver out and Haru-Onna in ---- I like the Onna cycle and bounce-able spirits are useful.
Cruel Deceiver out and Okiba-Gang Shinobi in ---- Now all the ninjas are in. I shouldn't have omitted this one in the first place.

Fixing some blue spells
Evermind out and Dampen Thought in ---- More Mill and Evermind is just too conditional.
Quash out and Minamo's Meddling in ---- Less conditional counter magic.
Sway of the Stars out and Petals of Insight in ---- 10 mana is just too much for this effect. One 10 mana spell in blue is enough.
Overwhelming Intellect out and Veil of Secrecy in ---- 6 mana is too much for a conditional counterspell and Veil is decent disruption and utility with some bounce.

Some others
Sekki, Seasons' Guide out and Moss Kami in ---- 8 mana is too much for an 8/8 that goes away so easily.
Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro out and Forked-Branch Garami in ---- one of the only reasonably costed and useful soulshifters, replaces a bad snake legend.
Sokenzan Bruiser out and Frost Ogre in ---- Better power/toughness for the cost.
Shinka Gatekeeper out and Mannichi, the Fevered Dream in ---- Better utility function and the gatekeeper is too painful without dedicated builds.
Sokenzan Spellblade out and Kami of Fire's Roar in ---- Same power and toughness for less mana with a much better utility ability.
Moonwing Moth out and Innocence Kami in ---- There are already a lot of weak flyers and this adds a nice bit of control/utility and another spirit.

Soratami Seer out and Sakashima's Student in ---- Planechase 2012 had a few New Kamigawa cards. Putting one in here.
Moonbow Illusionist out and River Kaijin in ---- a nice defensive spirit card.
Takenuma Bleeder out and Kyoki, Sanity's Eclipse in ---- not sure how I missed this demon spirt the first pass.
Moonring Mirror out and Silent-Blade Oni in ---- lousy artifact and anothe Planechase Kamigawa card.

Couple more black creature changes:
Nezumi Ronin out and Kami of the Waning Moon in ---- I love that rat samurai and the art, but it's kinda not good enough. The Kami has evasion and provides evasion, which it turns out is highly valuable in this limited environment.
Villainous Ogre out and Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker in ---- This dude should have been in all along. He is a nice combo enabler. I like the ogre, but he's not quite good enough.

Hi and thanks for your suggestions! I considered Goblin Cohort, but I feel that he's just too conditional to get going, since everything is a singleton, it's hard to get enough inexpensive beaters in to make the cohort useful. I like the illusionist, but I like the big butt on the River Kaijin and it's another spirit which many card effects work off of. There are a lot of moonfolk in here already.

Here are some more changes. I'm playing with a about 5 or 6 people tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.

Ronin Warclub out and Sai of the Shinobi in ---- A better version of this equipment from Planechase.
Ornate Kanzashi out and Soratami Cloud Chariot in ---- A useful effect for combat tricks and defense.
Dosan's Oldest Chant out and Dense Canopy in ---- more useful combat tricks and this isn't a good life gain card.
Body of Jukai out and Order of the Sacred Bell in ---- 9 mana is just too much and this is a nice vanilla beater.
Akki Lavarunner out and Akki Coalflinger in ---- the Lavarunner isn't good enough for the cost and the Coalflinger has a useful combat effect.

Played a few sessions following a 6-person draft. Only one change I'm making for sure at this time.

Soratami Cloud Chariot out and Nine-Ringed Bo in ---- There are enough spirits for this to almost always have a target and many times 1 damage is enough to kill something or finish it off.
Kashi-Tribe Elite out and Orochi Ranger in ---- I want to speed up aggro options where I can and the Elite's protective ability is diminished since there are less legendary snakes in the cube now.
Okina Nightwatch out and Gnarled Mass in ---- While the Mass isn't very interesting, it's pretty aggressive and I'm trying to fit more inexpensive stuff like that in.

I will be hosting an FNM cube draft with this cube at my local game store on the 27th of February. I'll be asking people to write down their favorite card they drafted and their least favorite when the session is over.

Yes, here's the draft link on cubetutor:

http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/21962

Michiko in.


I saw this card in EDH and I'm not sure how I missed putting it in the cube. A bit defensive but a powerful effect.
Mothrider Samurai out and Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker in

Played a few Winston drafts this weekend. A few changes:

Azami, Lady of Scrolls --> out and Walker of Secret Ways in
Night Dealings --> out and Dance of Shadows in
General's Kabuto --> out and Jade Idol in
Uba Mask --> out and Ornate Kanzashi in
Hair-Strung Koto --> out and Ronin Warclub in
Orb of Dreams --> out and Baku Altar in
Ore Gorger --> out and Soul of Magma in
Uyo, Silent Prophet --> out and Quillmane Baku in
Konda, Lord of Eiganjo --> out and Waxmane Baku in
Shizuko, Caller of Autumn --> out and Petalmane Baku in
Wicked Akuba --> out and Skullmane Baku in
Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar ---> out and Moonbow Illusionist in

More changes after reviewing draft numbers from the Kamigawa sets on CubeTutor.

Soritami Savant --> out and Sire of the Storm in (Plenty of Moonfolk in already)
Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendent --> out and Kabuto Moth in (Kabuto Moth has nice utility and flies. I've never drafted nor played Rune-Tail. Too difficult to flip for a mediocre effect)
Scour --> out and Otherworldly Journey in (This card is hard to find. Scour is just not drafted or played in the cube)
Devoted Retainer --> out and Descendant of Kiyomaro in (White has an abundance of 1-drops, this beefs up the creatures a little)
Gutwrencher Oni --> out and Pus Kami in (This was a hard decision since I hate cutting any demons, but Pus Kami is another piece of badly needed removal)