Fire Imp is solid but I've noticed its use diminish over time as more things have 3 toughness these days. I recently replaced it with Pia Nalaar, which I have been liking quite a bit.
I never noticed that Fire Imp says "from hand," haha.
I tend to use non-foil original art for cube cards, typically I want the most recognizable art for nostalgia reasons (not just for me, old timers love it). I don't run alters because it makes it hard to recognize the card.
Original art / old borders >>>> everything else. Typically I make an exception if the original art is super bad and a newer version is much better. I play a few promos that fall into this category: Bloodbraid Elf, Maelstrom Pulse, Polukranos, Noose Constrictor. I don't care for inaccurate errata / creature types. If they miss it, it's not the end of the world.
Seems like a fun, whacky multiplayer card but being symmetrical really hurts. I wouldn't play this without Gray Merchant of Asphodel, which I think is a much better card than this one.
Graveyard hate is nice, but the effect is slow and isn't very repeatable. I'd much rather play Cryptbreaker if I wanted a black 1-cmc value over time creature.
This is definitely the 5-mana Confiscate I always wanted, but much better. Being able to get ETB triggers + untap is HUGE compared to a normal Control Magic / Confiscate variant.
- It's a 2 for 1 right off the bat
- Any ETB kill effect makes it a 3 for 1 (assuming you have a target)
- Something like Mulldrifter / Primeval Titan makes it a 4 for 1
Also, Control Magic effects typically didn't play well with other blue themes like Spells Matters since they usually come in enchantment form. Fractured Identity can act as a strong top-end spell for a Spells Matters theme while just being good on its own.
Just played a draft with Fractured Identity in a Bant ramp deck and went 2-0 (had to forfeit my round 1 due to an errand). Fractured Identity was cast 3 times, stole an Ugin once and a Woodfall Primus twice, won me the game each time. Card is super unfair in a lot of matchups, this feels like the second coming of Treachery. Half my games were just Mystical Tutor into Fractured Identity for the win.
I'd go so far as to say Flesh Carver is black's best 3 drop. Ophiomancer is better in Stax, but IMO that's it. Carver goes in pretty much any deck. It's great in control. Great in midrange. Very good in aggro mainly because it turns useless 1 drops into reach. It's splashable. It blanks removal aimed at other creatures and replaces itself if removal is cast at it (making a more dangerous threat the longer it has time to feed). Nigh unkillable to burn if you have some food for it. God forbid you get a gravecrawler/bloodghast loop going with this card. It's carrion Feeder on steroids.
After carver/ophio I think things are pretty interchangeable honestly. Run what you like. I'm still a fan of Hippie since if it doesn't get removed it wrecks havoc in ways other black 3's simply can't. Nighthawk is good value. Nothing wrong with that card at all. Geralf's Messenger is awesome in mono black, if that's a thing in your cube. I also still like bone shredder because it self bins making it easy to loop value off of. I prefer all those cards to strike leader. Drana I was not interested in testing since pure black aggro is not something I push in my cube. I'm sure it's very good there though.
I think Ophiomancer is better in every shell than Flesh Carver other than straight aggro. Flesh Carver is definitely the better beater, but Ophiomancer plays defense much better and has a lot more synergies via snake token generation every turn (Smokestack / Skullclamp / Flesh Carver / etc).
That being said, I think they're without a doubt the 2 best black 3-cmc creatures by far and wouldn't cut them for any reason.
In for sure:
- Fractured Identity
- Vindictive Lich (Conspiracy module)
On my radar:
- Heirloom Blade
- Kess, Dissident Mage
- Stalking Leonin
I didn't have too much hopes since tribal themes tend to be bad for cube. Fractured Identity is bonkers though, quality > quantity for me, especially since Commander / Conspiracy can push cards more than normal expansions.
I like this but I'm not sure I like it enough to pull the trigger on buying this one. So far my C17 buylist is the axe, heirloom blade, and fractured identity.
New PW rule is pretty nuts. Gideon of the Trials emblem becomes much more relevant and PW name saturation is a thing in the past.
I never noticed that Fire Imp says "from hand," haha.
I tend to use non-foil original art for cube cards, typically I want the most recognizable art for nostalgia reasons (not just for me, old timers love it). I don't run alters because it makes it hard to recognize the card.
Original art / old borders >>>> everything else. Typically I make an exception if the original art is super bad and a newer version is much better. I play a few promos that fall into this category: Bloodbraid Elf, Maelstrom Pulse, Polukranos, Noose Constrictor. I don't care for inaccurate errata / creature types. If they miss it, it's not the end of the world.
- It's a 2 for 1 right off the bat
- Any ETB kill effect makes it a 3 for 1 (assuming you have a target)
- Something like Mulldrifter / Primeval Titan makes it a 4 for 1
Also, Control Magic effects typically didn't play well with other blue themes like Spells Matters since they usually come in enchantment form. Fractured Identity can act as a strong top-end spell for a Spells Matters theme while just being good on its own.
I think Ophiomancer is better in every shell than Flesh Carver other than straight aggro. Flesh Carver is definitely the better beater, but Ophiomancer plays defense much better and has a lot more synergies via snake token generation every turn (Smokestack / Skullclamp / Flesh Carver / etc).
That being said, I think they're without a doubt the 2 best black 3-cmc creatures by far and wouldn't cut them for any reason.
- Fractured Identity
- Vindictive Lich (Conspiracy module)
On my radar:
- Heirloom Blade
- Kess, Dissident Mage
- Stalking Leonin
I didn't have too much hopes since tribal themes tend to be bad for cube. Fractured Identity is bonkers though, quality > quantity for me, especially since Commander / Conspiracy can push cards more than normal expansions.
I like Hazoret / Abrade over both Hellkite / Firecat.