I agree with rant, but I think I'd rank them Teferi > Verdict > Geist. Verdict is the most "necessary" card, especially as the cube gets larger, but Teferi is easily the most powerful and the most interesting. If you've only got room for one gold card per guild, then you're probably tight enough that you can get away with leaving Verdict out. As the cube grows though, the Wrath density needs to increase and Verdict becomes more important.
Aristocrat won out based on all responses. Grenzo and Vial Smasher seem very evenly matched and I'll probably test both.
Oh, man, I missed this one. We've been running Vial Smasher for a while now and he's always a crowd favorite. Aristocrat is likely the better card, but Smasher has been surprisingly fun. Him being a three drop as opposed to a four drop is also really nice. At the very least Vial Smasher has been quite a bit better than Grenzo ever was.
For Green there was consensus on Tooth and Nail and then Yasova, Rhonas, Constrictor, and Song all got the next most votes. Curse of Predation was a clear loser.
FWIW, I recently cut Rhonas and still run Curse of Predation. My advice for you to keep Rhonas was based on your lack of green aggro support. Anyone supporting green as an aggressive color should definitely be running Curse.
Admittedly, I'm mostly guessing on the last two as I don't have actual cube experience with them.
Plague Belcher > Liliana > Ammit Eternal
Plague Belcher has been pretty solid. There are some sweet synergies for the -1/-1 counters that offset the drawback. It's five power with Menace more often than not. I currently prefer it slightly to Liliana, Heretical Healer, but honestly that could go either way. Ammit Eternal was a lot less impressive than I had hoped. It didn't last long in the cube.
Keep Smash to Smithereens, Earthshaker Khenra, and Glorybringer.
Keep Noose Constrictor, Yasova Dragonclaw, Tooth and Nail, and Rhonas the Indomitable. I've seen some negative feedback about Rhonas around here, but I thought he was pretty decent.
I don't know that those four green creatures would be competing for the same slot. I like Kavu more than Mayor and Allosaurus more than Whisperwood, but whether I choose Kavu or Allosaurus would depend on what's needed more in my green section; an early drop or a late drop.
I'd say the same for the two blue creatures. In general I'd say Efreet over Artisan, but again it really depends on if you're trying to really push the fatty cheat deck or if you'd rather have the 3/4 flyer.
I'd agree with the others here. Basically anything you have marked as on the block could go. My preferred cut from those would be Song of the Dryads. That was a card I thought I wanted in green, but ultimately just wasn't needed and came with too steep of a drawback.
I don't think this is necessarily correct. I ran Rhonas for a bit and he was never bad. The built in pump ability made getting him attacking or blocking relatively easy. I recently cut him for Jadelight Ranger, but that was honestly just a convenient swap because Rhonas was a proxy, Jadelight was a real card, and they were comparable in power level. He's no staple or anything, but he's definitely not embarrassing.
If Blinkmoth Nexus is an option, I like that much more to both Void and Abbey.
That's a solid suggestion. I hadn't even thought about Blinkmoth. I may actually give that a shot over Abbey instead of Void.
I think when comparing Abbey to Void, you really have to think about how many times you've seen Ormendahl make an appearance. Abbey's been in my cube for two years now. In that time I think I can count the number of times I've seen the demon on one hand and I'm pretty sure I've personally never summoned him. Five mana plus a life for a single 1/1 is incredibly overpriced, imo. By the time you're at the point of the game where you're able to leave six mana untapped to activate Abbey, is a 1/1 really giving you that big of an advantage? A scry in the early turns to help smooth my draws is worth more to me than the potential to make a 9/7 on turn twelve or something.
I'm actually planning to make this exact swap with my Dominaria update due to Abbey basically never flipping. I think the 5 mana activation is a bit overpriced to only get one creature out of the deal. Ormendahl is obviously a huge payoff, but I've found it to be extremely difficult to summon him. I don't know that Zhalfirin Void is actually good in cube, but Westvale Abbey has basically just been Void without the scry, so I'm fine with that swap to test.
Arlinn Kord was never great, but Domri was never even good. I'd cut Domri for the big dragon.
Dance >> Rites. I also wouldn't be comparing these two, as I'd see Rites as a low end Orzhov card.
Squee v Prodder is a tougher choice as it depends on how good Squee is in your list and if your players take advantage of him. For us Squee was never that popular, so I'd put Prodder back in before I put Squee back in. Other folks on these boards have had different experiences with Squee.
I think Tutor is more important than Nissa, but they'd both probably make the cut even at a smaller size.
I am currently running Mage over the Goblin at 555, but I've thought recently about swapping the two out. If nothing else, Mage is near the top of the list of red ones to cut the next time we see a worthy one. Quite literally, I don't believe the -1/-1 counters ability has been relevant one time. YMMV, but I'm leaning toward preferring the potential 2/2 menace.
I don't know that I would lose Char. Firestorm is a card that I've tried running several times and have never been a fan of. It just can't find a home for us. How do you feel about Fire Imp? I'm no longer running it and I'm at a larger size than you. I realize its utility, but I often found it stranded in hand with either no targets or no useful targets. Playing a 2R 2/1 and pinging a 3/3 for two damage feels real bad. Compared to the double effect we get from FTK, it always just felt so underwhelming. These would probably be my two cuts if you want to make room for Sarkhan and Through the Breach.
- Fractured Identity
- Supreme Verdict
- Geist of Saint Traft / Reflector Mage
I love the two UW tempo guys so much that I'd probably have to just swap them in and out every other cube or something.
We have so many great playable cards in Azorious (and other guilds) now that when the sections get to be that small, you can really cater to what your cube is trying to do in that color combo. If you really want to push UW Control and move away from the tempo deck, then just keep Identity and the Wrath. If you want to keep both archetypes viable you mix and match with one slot or Identity/Wrath and one slot for one of the many 3cc tempo guys. Azorious is in a great spot in cubes now with a lot of versatility in your choices. If you were just like, "I'm running Geist and Mage because my group loves UW tempo the best" people might disagree, but no one could fault you for that. Those cards are great.
I like Malicious Affliction pretty well, but I prefer Ruinous Path. The versatility to hit a planeswalker in addition to the option to cast it with awaken later on is just better, imo, than the potential to get a two for one with Malicious Affliction.
Serendib Efreet > Aether Adept > Thassa, God of the Sea
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Angel > Jailer (Admittedly, I've only ran Jailer for a short time. Angel has been great for us since the cube's inception in 2007.)
Bouncer > Trinket Mage; Gearhulk > Aetherling
Will Kenrith > Vision > Deep Analysis
Liliana, DM > Liliana, HH
Hazoret > Rider > Hero
Ratchet Bomb > Greaves > Cursed Scroll > Disk > Scepter
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Saheeli the Gifted > Ral Zarek > Proph Bolt > Brudiclad
Kavu > Branchwalker > Greenseeker (not really sure on these last two, tbh)
Gift > Jewel
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Oh, man, I missed this one. We've been running Vial Smasher for a while now and he's always a crowd favorite. Aristocrat is likely the better card, but Smasher has been surprisingly fun. Him being a three drop as opposed to a four drop is also really nice. At the very least Vial Smasher has been quite a bit better than Grenzo ever was.
FWIW, I recently cut Rhonas and still run Curse of Predation. My advice for you to keep Rhonas was based on your lack of green aggro support. Anyone supporting green as an aggressive color should definitely be running Curse.
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Admittedly, I'm mostly guessing on the last two as I don't have actual cube experience with them.
Plague Belcher > Liliana > Ammit Eternal
Plague Belcher has been pretty solid. There are some sweet synergies for the -1/-1 counters that offset the drawback. It's five power with Menace more often than not. I currently prefer it slightly to Liliana, Heretical Healer, but honestly that could go either way. Ammit Eternal was a lot less impressive than I had hoped. It didn't last long in the cube.
Keep Smash to Smithereens, Earthshaker Khenra, and Glorybringer.
Keep Noose Constrictor, Yasova Dragonclaw, Tooth and Nail, and Rhonas the Indomitable. I've seen some negative feedback about Rhonas around here, but I thought he was pretty decent.
Don't move Dryad Militant.
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I'd say the same for the two blue creatures. In general I'd say Efreet over Artisan, but again it really depends on if you're trying to really push the fatty cheat deck or if you'd rather have the 3/4 flyer.
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I'd agree with the others here. Basically anything you have marked as on the block could go. My preferred cut from those would be Song of the Dryads. That was a card I thought I wanted in green, but ultimately just wasn't needed and came with too steep of a drawback.
I don't think this is necessarily correct. I ran Rhonas for a bit and he was never bad. The built in pump ability made getting him attacking or blocking relatively easy. I recently cut him for Jadelight Ranger, but that was honestly just a convenient swap because Rhonas was a proxy, Jadelight was a real card, and they were comparable in power level. He's no staple or anything, but he's definitely not embarrassing.
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This is probably the correct answer, to be fair.
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That's a solid suggestion. I hadn't even thought about Blinkmoth. I may actually give that a shot over Abbey instead of Void.
I think when comparing Abbey to Void, you really have to think about how many times you've seen Ormendahl make an appearance. Abbey's been in my cube for two years now. In that time I think I can count the number of times I've seen the demon on one hand and I'm pretty sure I've personally never summoned him. Five mana plus a life for a single 1/1 is incredibly overpriced, imo. By the time you're at the point of the game where you're able to leave six mana untapped to activate Abbey, is a 1/1 really giving you that big of an advantage? A scry in the early turns to help smooth my draws is worth more to me than the potential to make a 9/7 on turn twelve or something.
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I'm actually planning to make this exact swap with my Dominaria update due to Abbey basically never flipping. I think the 5 mana activation is a bit overpriced to only get one creature out of the deal. Ormendahl is obviously a huge payoff, but I've found it to be extremely difficult to summon him. I don't know that Zhalfirin Void is actually good in cube, but Westvale Abbey has basically just been Void without the scry, so I'm fine with that swap to test.
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Dance >> Rites. I also wouldn't be comparing these two, as I'd see Rites as a low end Orzhov card.
Squee v Prodder is a tougher choice as it depends on how good Squee is in your list and if your players take advantage of him. For us Squee was never that popular, so I'd put Prodder back in before I put Squee back in. Other folks on these boards have had different experiences with Squee.
I think Tutor is more important than Nissa, but they'd both probably make the cut even at a smaller size.
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I am currently running Mage over the Goblin at 555, but I've thought recently about swapping the two out. If nothing else, Mage is near the top of the list of red ones to cut the next time we see a worthy one. Quite literally, I don't believe the -1/-1 counters ability has been relevant one time. YMMV, but I'm leaning toward preferring the potential 2/2 menace.
I don't know that I would lose Char. Firestorm is a card that I've tried running several times and have never been a fan of. It just can't find a home for us. How do you feel about Fire Imp? I'm no longer running it and I'm at a larger size than you. I realize its utility, but I often found it stranded in hand with either no targets or no useful targets. Playing a 2R 2/1 and pinging a 3/3 for two damage feels real bad. Compared to the double effect we get from FTK, it always just felt so underwhelming. These would probably be my two cuts if you want to make room for Sarkhan and Through the Breach.
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- Fractured Identity
- Supreme Verdict
- Geist of Saint Traft / Reflector Mage
I love the two UW tempo guys so much that I'd probably have to just swap them in and out every other cube or something.
We have so many great playable cards in Azorious (and other guilds) now that when the sections get to be that small, you can really cater to what your cube is trying to do in that color combo. If you really want to push UW Control and move away from the tempo deck, then just keep Identity and the Wrath. If you want to keep both archetypes viable you mix and match with one slot or Identity/Wrath and one slot for one of the many 3cc tempo guys. Azorious is in a great spot in cubes now with a lot of versatility in your choices. If you were just like, "I'm running Geist and Mage because my group loves UW tempo the best" people might disagree, but no one could fault you for that. Those cards are great.
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Serendib Efreet > Aether Adept > Thassa, God of the Sea
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