I basically just want to play cube with my friends. I wish to purchase a cube on a budget as an investment for me and my friends. It would be no more than 2-6 players playing, maybe 8 sometimes but not too often.
I'm just looking to copy and paste a budget cube from somewhere, that's all. Anybody have any directions to point me? We can always upgrade cards as we go but right now I'm looking at /under/ 200 dollars. As low as possible without being pauper/peasant cube, actually.
I have no idea about how to go about building one and to be frank I don't want to spend the time doing so, I just wanna play the format for a reasonable price.
Hey everyone, a few of my friends have been playing modern, casually, mind you, and I've been looking to try out a (somewhat) budget deck. Here is what I've come up with in notepad so far.
So basically are there any suggestions that aren't something along the lines of add goyf, add shocks, add fetches and other obvious stuff? I'm trying to improve the deck but as it stands right now I'm not looking to spend a whole lot per card, just something to play around with, thanks!
The people hating on Sorin Markov need to try him. He's been great almost every time I've casted him. He kills EVERYTHING. Is a win condition, is good in both the aggro matchup and the control mirror (Decent clock + mindslaver), kills opposing sorins which are big right now, can ping opposing planeswalkers (used him to keep a lily off ultimate and kill her last night).
The only part that is actually BAD about him is his mana cost. He doesn't help you GET to the late game, he IS your late game. He completely locks the game against aggro. I play 1 Grave Titan(down from 3) and 1 Sorin in my build, and I'd almost always rather see Sorin if only because he is less vunerable in the control mirrors, and assures my victory in the aggro matchup.
I wouldn't want to draw multiples, but I do think he should be a 1-of staple and I wouldn't consider cutting him from my build.
I'm trying it as a one of in my list to see how it performs, it costs 1 more than Diabolic Tutor but it IS card advantage, and I played a TON of UB during last standard season so I kind of miss my Liliana Vess tutors.
Here's my list. I refuse to go the Stark route with no creatures because I absolutely hate going to time, and also the actual act of going "mill 6 end of turn, draw, pass" over and over doesn't appeal to me, because I don't like giving my opponent the slim chance of winning the game over that length of time. I can see so many situations where that would be horrible. Let's say I'm sitting at 3 life against red. Do I honestly want to let them try and topdeck burn over and over, hoping I have the counterspell every time? Or what if they topdeck thrun? Having Grave Titan would be a lot better in that situation. Hell, and there are so many people who like to hate people out in my local meta, people would just start bringing elixir of immorality and other anti-mill cards if I started to try and mill them out every week. So, I'm gonna play Grave Daddy.
Has there been a decision on which list is the most successful, if so can somebody list it or direct me to it? My LGS is going to do modern tournaments next month and I'd like to try this out since I'm a fiend for combo decks and can't afford to shell out for set of goyfs.
I'm not too fond of Galvanic Blast as it seems like it would be worse than gut shot, not better. This deck taps out a decent amount, at least when I play it.
I am A LOT more fond of the Arc Trail idea, but then I feel like we would be having nexus issues. Maybe gut shot is a necessary evil, even though it isn't very good. Geistflame is an idea, but I'm not sure how I like it, maybe I'll test that one out.
Knuckles do you not like the talismans in the deck? They were incredible for me every time I cast them, satchel was good too, however. I still don't see the big deal about the pacifism thing.
Here's my argument, the whole interaction will rarely happen to begin with, and if it does happen, you have a sun titan in play. Are you really worried about geist of saint traft, or even thrun?
Also against a deck with geist I'd usually see myself casting the pacifism long before I get to 6 mana to the sun titan, if I get to that point, I'm most likely winning unless they answer him immediately.
So I put this together with single maindeck difference and a similar sideboard but I was missing a few cards.
My maindeck was
-1 Pacifism (I feel like this whole idea is SO GIMMICKY and just seems BAD. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you play 2 maindeck images and one in the board anyway, so.. Pacifism deals with what, dungrove elder?)
+1 Druidic Satchel
I went 2-1, it was a small turn out tonight so hopefully I can get you a better report friday but this is how it went down.
Round One:
I'm playing against GW tokens, great. I've never played the deck before, just finished sleeving it up, had no idea what I was doing.
Game One:
I lose the die roll and keep what seemed like a decent hand, I gut shot a bird, mana leaked his crusader, o-ringed a hero, o-ringed an elspeth, o-ringed a 7/7 Geist-Honored Monk. He had resolved a Midnight Haunting, got tokens from elspeth, and then geist.
He just kept drawing gas and I didn't see a day or ratchet bomb, and he played a garruk and got there.
0-1
Game Two:
I keep a hand of Day of Judgment, Talisman, Sun Titan, Gut Shot, 3 land.
I gut shot his turn 1 birds, and then turn 3 ran out a talisman, turn 4 day of judgment picking off 2 guys, including mirran crusader, he casts Garruk, then turn 5 Sun Titan bringing back an image I had chucked earlier.
He O-Rings Sun Titan and then garruk eats the phantasmal image, and again, garruk gets there because he had put 4 or so beasts into play before I'm able to answer him. The tokens get there with the help of township.
0-2
Round Two
I'm playing against a Puresteel Paladin deck, I win the die roll.
Game One
Gut shots, Talismans, Day of Judgment, and Elesh Norn get there. Nuff' Said.
1-0
Game Two
First time having mana issues with the deck, although it was due to not drawing any more so than the ambitious mana base. Ancient Grudges slow him down but I just don't get to my 4th land to cast day of judgment, not to mention the elesh norn sitting in my hand.
1-1
Game Three
He gets stuck on two land and I run out elesh norn on turn 5 with the help of 2 pristine talismans. The turn after I cast Blue Sun to draw 5 cards and my opponent scoops, showing me 3 swords in his hand he couldn't cast. I had cast multiple ancient grudges that game though so I doubt it would have mattered.
2-1
Round Three
I win the die roll against UB heartless summoning utilizing 7 drops, it was a list I had shown him that did well in a SCG open not too long back.
Game One
My opponent mulligans to 6 and then keeps a one land hand. He didn't draw another one until turn 5.
1-0
Game Two
After a long, drawn out game of many mana leaks, dissipates, celestial purges, and o-rings on my part, I cast blue sun zenith for 24 on my opponent, then untap and cast it for 17 with mana leak backup (I knew his list, and knew he played a single dissipate)
2-0
Wrap Up
I think I'm in love with this deck, it's so much fun to play. The only card that I'm not too happy about is main deck gutshot, it wasn't really bad except for the 3rd game where it was a dead card, but it was only REALLY GOOD once, and there were many times where I had one or more gut shots in hand wishing they had been anything else.
Druidic Satchel was incredible games 2 and 3, and I love it in the main deck as a 1-of.
Blue Sun's Zenith is boss, even against the aggro decks.
My foil Desperate Ravings were pretty.
Shimmering Grotto works a lot better than I thought it would
PRISTINE TALISMAN IS INCREDIBLE. Won me many matches on its own. Turn 5 Elesh Norn is good, gaining 3 life per turn is also good.
Are you unhappy with Dragon Shield and KMC? I've found that they're the only two great brands. Ultra Pro Matte sleeves shuffle really nicely though and I haven't broken any yet.
I've played with the SCG sleeves and they feel pretty cheap, I would absolutely not recommend them but they didn't break at least. The other important thing is that those tribal ones are ugly as sin. I'm not sure how they could have made those images less attractive or interesting.
Kind of, Dragonshields get so grimy so quick, I like KMCs better but the corners tend to bend. I've only used the Matte though.
Has anybody had any experience with the new SCG sleeves(Tribal/Trophy), Channelfireball, or Ascension sleeves? I've been thinking about picking some up because I've tried KMC and Dragonshield, but if they're horrible quality and a waste of money then I'd like to know before I do, thanks!
This is borderline solar flare. I'm not terribly impressed by this deck, but then again, I'm not a famous magic player. I played a deck almost identical to this build at FNM and won 2-0 with an illusions deck with delver. Then again, maybe this guy is super pro.
The only similarity this deck has with solar flare is being a control deck... if you can even consider solar flare that.
I'm just looking to copy and paste a budget cube from somewhere, that's all. Anybody have any directions to point me? We can always upgrade cards as we go but right now I'm looking at /under/ 200 dollars. As low as possible without being pauper/peasant cube, actually.
I have no idea about how to go about building one and to be frank I don't want to spend the time doing so, I just wanna play the format for a reasonable price.
Suggestions?
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Fauna Shaman
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
1 Vithian Renegades
1 Eternal Witness
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Vengevine
1 Zealous Conscripts
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Arc Trail
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Raging Ravine
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Kessig Wolf Run
10 Forest
4 Ancient Grudge
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Loaming Shaman
1 VIthian Renegades
1 Cunning Sparkmage
So basically are there any suggestions that aren't something along the lines of add goyf, add shocks, add fetches and other obvious stuff? I'm trying to improve the deck but as it stands right now I'm not looking to spend a whole lot per card, just something to play around with, thanks!
Delver of Secrets
Ravenous Rats
Snapcaster Mage
Sign in Blood
Duress?
The only part that is actually BAD about him is his mana cost. He doesn't help you GET to the late game, he IS your late game. He completely locks the game against aggro. I play 1 Grave Titan(down from 3) and 1 Sorin in my build, and I'd almost always rather see Sorin if only because he is less vunerable in the control mirrors, and assures my victory in the aggro matchup.
I wouldn't want to draw multiples, but I do think he should be a 1-of staple and I wouldn't consider cutting him from my build.
Too bad its probably not good enough.
Hence, I'm trying it out.
I just brewed it last night, suggestions?
3 Grave Titan
2 Snapcaster Mage
Instants (20)
4 Mana Leak
4 Think Twice
3 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Tragic Slip
2 Doom Blade
1 Dissipate
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Tribute to Hunger
1 Increasing Ambition
3 Black Sun's Zenith
Artifacts (5)
3 Pristine Talisman
2 Ratchet Bomb
Planeswalkers (1)
1 Sorin Markov
Basic Lands (13)
7 Island
6 Swamp
Lands (13)
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Nephalia Drownyard
2 Evolving Wilds
1 Ghost Quarter
3 Despise
2 Curse of Death's Hold
2 Negate
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Tragic Slip
1 Dissipate
1 Jace, Memory Adept
And I thought MY mana base was ambitious.
I am A LOT more fond of the Arc Trail idea, but then I feel like we would be having nexus issues. Maybe gut shot is a necessary evil, even though it isn't very good. Geistflame is an idea, but I'm not sure how I like it, maybe I'll test that one out.
Knuckles do you not like the talismans in the deck? They were incredible for me every time I cast them, satchel was good too, however. I still don't see the big deal about the pacifism thing.
Here's my argument, the whole interaction will rarely happen to begin with, and if it does happen, you have a sun titan in play. Are you really worried about geist of saint traft, or even thrun?
Also against a deck with geist I'd usually see myself casting the pacifism long before I get to 6 mana to the sun titan, if I get to that point, I'm most likely winning unless they answer him immediately.
My maindeck was
-1 Pacifism (I feel like this whole idea is SO GIMMICKY and just seems BAD. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you play 2 maindeck images and one in the board anyway, so.. Pacifism deals with what, dungrove elder?)
+1 Druidic Satchel
I went 2-1, it was a small turn out tonight so hopefully I can get you a better report friday but this is how it went down.
Round One:
I'm playing against GW tokens, great. I've never played the deck before, just finished sleeving it up, had no idea what I was doing.
Game One:
I lose the die roll and keep what seemed like a decent hand, I gut shot a bird, mana leaked his crusader, o-ringed a hero, o-ringed an elspeth, o-ringed a 7/7 Geist-Honored Monk. He had resolved a Midnight Haunting, got tokens from elspeth, and then geist.
He just kept drawing gas and I didn't see a day or ratchet bomb, and he played a garruk and got there.
0-1
Game Two:
I keep a hand of Day of Judgment, Talisman, Sun Titan, Gut Shot, 3 land.
I gut shot his turn 1 birds, and then turn 3 ran out a talisman, turn 4 day of judgment picking off 2 guys, including mirran crusader, he casts Garruk, then turn 5 Sun Titan bringing back an image I had chucked earlier.
He O-Rings Sun Titan and then garruk eats the phantasmal image, and again, garruk gets there because he had put 4 or so beasts into play before I'm able to answer him. The tokens get there with the help of township.
0-2
Round Two
I'm playing against a Puresteel Paladin deck, I win the die roll.
Game One
Gut shots, Talismans, Day of Judgment, and Elesh Norn get there. Nuff' Said.
1-0
Game Two
First time having mana issues with the deck, although it was due to not drawing any more so than the ambitious mana base. Ancient Grudges slow him down but I just don't get to my 4th land to cast day of judgment, not to mention the elesh norn sitting in my hand.
1-1
Game Three
He gets stuck on two land and I run out elesh norn on turn 5 with the help of 2 pristine talismans. The turn after I cast Blue Sun to draw 5 cards and my opponent scoops, showing me 3 swords in his hand he couldn't cast. I had cast multiple ancient grudges that game though so I doubt it would have mattered.
2-1
Round Three
I win the die roll against UB heartless summoning utilizing 7 drops, it was a list I had shown him that did well in a SCG open not too long back.
Game One
My opponent mulligans to 6 and then keeps a one land hand. He didn't draw another one until turn 5.
1-0
Game Two
After a long, drawn out game of many mana leaks, dissipates, celestial purges, and o-rings on my part, I cast blue sun zenith for 24 on my opponent, then untap and cast it for 17 with mana leak backup (I knew his list, and knew he played a single dissipate)
2-0
Wrap Up
I think I'm in love with this deck, it's so much fun to play. The only card that I'm not too happy about is main deck gutshot, it wasn't really bad except for the 3rd game where it was a dead card, but it was only REALLY GOOD once, and there were many times where I had one or more gut shots in hand wishing they had been anything else.
Druidic Satchel was incredible games 2 and 3, and I love it in the main deck as a 1-of.
Blue Sun's Zenith is boss, even against the aggro decks.
My foil Desperate Ravings were pretty.
Shimmering Grotto works a lot better than I thought it would
PRISTINE TALISMAN IS INCREDIBLE. Won me many matches on its own. Turn 5 Elesh Norn is good, gaining 3 life per turn is also good.
Kind of, Dragonshields get so grimy so quick, I like KMCs better but the corners tend to bend. I've only used the Matte though.
The only similarity this deck has with solar flare is being a control deck... if you can even consider solar flare that.