Seems strong at preventing the RDW decks worse case board states. But also very bad when you have the curve you want. It does seem to provide a lot of reach to decks that don't normally have it, and open up some interesting space.
You already got Goblin Game - which I feel is prob the most black-boarded UN card ever.
I know it's in Red, but Thieves' Auction is total insanity - particularly in multiplayer (which is the only way I would want to play an Un cube personally).
Eureka has amazingly awesome art and also feels totally crazy.
I ran the green Efreet for about 2 years. It did cause some confusion, and was often under-drafted because people were confused. These days I just use the FTV one and have no problems. I do miss the green one though...
Our spells matter decks tend to come in a few flavors: burn, swarm, and selection.
The burn version is usually Rw with a focus on Guttersnipe and Soulfire. It certainly plays Mentor and Pyromancer but they are not needed to win. It does love Swiftspear which is a card we are currently testing with moderate success.
The swarm version is much heavier toward Mentor and Pyromancer, and really wants some anthem cards like Ajani Goldmane. In that deck, Purphoros is amazing and can easily end the game on a decent turn.
The selection version is mostly RU and uses burn but also runs a lot of cards like Ponder and a few counters. Again Guttersnipe is a must answer in this deck as it can close out a game pretty quick with enough draw and a little protection.
The cards we run for this deck are: Mentor, Pyromancer, Soulfire, Grandmaster, Guttersnipe, (Swiftspear). Many other cards for other decks also end up being very helpful as hardb0dy mentioned: Skullclamp, Snap, Opposition, Purphoros, Tempt with Vengenece.
The guttersnipe.dec is one of my absolute favorite to play. I think I might test this guy out. That said, I played a lot with him at the prerelease this afternoon (he was my promo, and I played against him 6 games) and I am not sure he will stay around. The double strike being able to target any creature is what makes him interesting - several times I saw a player bounce or tap a creature in combat then give another blocker double strike for a pretty huge blow-out. He BiS is amazing, but his WiS is pretty horrid.
I am in the midst of totally rebuilding my cube, so we'll see if he makes it in for testing.
Try posting those in Market Street . Those guys tend to be the experts - but beware they tend to be overly picky. They might result in a false negative.
I personally like the mix. Some of the art is better in each set - no need to match all the way IMO.
Non-foil, I'd vote KTK Arc Lightning. Foil, Arena by a mile. It is beautiful and the Publilius Syrus flavor is a great touch. Wish it was still in the Latin.
I've gotta say, I'm making changes to my cube much more slowly now than ever, but when I do the decisions on what to cut are getting much harder.
That is a great sign. Your baby is growing up!
I think people are correct that Shelldock is better then Visions, though we eventually cut Dock for two reasons - only one that counts in the Vision-Dock debate: 1.) It is slow, and not what you want to be doing early against the fast decks. But that is equally true for Visions as well. 2.) People didn't like counting their decks. It was an annoying task for all involved. Not the strongest reason.
So with that, I think I will try it over Visions. Because silly reason is silly.
Card is good here. But it is pricey. Need to find a real one now that I am convinced of its fun/power levels.
As asmallcat pointed out, at 450 we were already running Natural Order and several big green fatties. Adding in a 5 card package for super ramp and sneak-an'-show was easily worth it for the variety of decks that have come out of the package. 5 cards is a lot, except it is not really.
If you are not already running a ramp/Order type deck, it would take a lot more cards to add the fat-cheat.dec in. But in that case I would strongly recommend adding an Order/ramp deck to your cube.
(Also am a delver player...)
Seems like a solid test, with a side of hopeful.
I know it's in Red, but Thieves' Auction is total insanity - particularly in multiplayer (which is the only way I would want to play an Un cube personally).
Eureka has amazingly awesome art and also feels totally crazy.
I'm another that does not replace inner sleeves unless absolutely necessary.
The burn version is usually Rw with a focus on Guttersnipe and Soulfire. It certainly plays Mentor and Pyromancer but they are not needed to win. It does love Swiftspear which is a card we are currently testing with moderate success.
The swarm version is much heavier toward Mentor and Pyromancer, and really wants some anthem cards like Ajani Goldmane. In that deck, Purphoros is amazing and can easily end the game on a decent turn.
The selection version is mostly RU and uses burn but also runs a lot of cards like Ponder and a few counters. Again Guttersnipe is a must answer in this deck as it can close out a game pretty quick with enough draw and a little protection.
The cards we run for this deck are: Mentor, Pyromancer, Soulfire, Grandmaster, Guttersnipe, (Swiftspear). Many other cards for other decks also end up being very helpful as hardb0dy mentioned: Skullclamp, Snap, Opposition, Purphoros, Tempt with Vengenece.
It's a deck we really love over here!
I am in the midst of totally rebuilding my cube, so we'll see if he makes it in for testing.
Still, they are the best around.
Non-foil, I'd vote KTK Arc Lightning. Foil, Arena by a mile. It is beautiful and the Publilius Syrus flavor is a great touch. Wish it was still in the Latin.
That is a great sign. Your baby is growing up!
I think people are correct that Shelldock is better then Visions, though we eventually cut Dock for two reasons - only one that counts in the Vision-Dock debate: 1.) It is slow, and not what you want to be doing early against the fast decks. But that is equally true for Visions as well. 2.) People didn't like counting their decks. It was an annoying task for all involved. Not the strongest reason.
So with that, I think I will try it over Visions. Because silly reason is silly.
As asmallcat pointed out, at 450 we were already running Natural Order and several big green fatties. Adding in a 5 card package for super ramp and sneak-an'-show was easily worth it for the variety of decks that have come out of the package. 5 cards is a lot, except it is not really.
If you are not already running a ramp/Order type deck, it would take a lot more cards to add the fat-cheat.dec in. But in that case I would strongly recommend adding an Order/ramp deck to your cube.