I like Suspicious Stowaway much more. It's been a high performer for me and it makes your opponent think twice about playing a monarch / initiative enabler.
- Broadside Bombardiers: can be the most explosive and is the most unique Rabblemaster since it's the only one that can act as direct damage / removal. I've seen plenty of games where players just die while sitting comfortably at 10-13 life just because their opponent top decked Brazen Bombardiers.
- Squee, Goblin Dubious Monarch: gives you the best of both worlds between the token generation of Goblin Rabblemaster and the recursion of Phoenix of Ash. There's a lot of looting / rummaging that can really take advantage of his recursive ability, not to mention all the removal it has to deal with. Haste + always attacking with at least two bodies makes this especially good at contesting monarch.
- Gut, True Soul Zealot: Lowest floor as a Gray Ogre, but pretty high ceiling. Can really get out of hand if you have a lot of spare artifacts lying around that you can upgrade to 4/1s with menace.
- Death-Greeter's Champion: The combination of dash, double strike, and backup can make this one of more explosive red 3-cmc creatures given the right setups. Better floor than Gut, but Gut can do more with less.
- Legion Warboss: Not bad, but not as good as OG Rabblemaster / Squee. Granted, any Rabblemaster type variant is strong, so you really can't go wrong with this or any other Rabblemaster variant.
At 540, my "Rabblemaster" suite consists of Laelia / Bombardiers / Squee, which I think gives me the best combination of power, variety, and synergy. Seasoned Pyromancer / Bonecrusher Giant / Recruiter of the Guard / Fable of the Mirror Breaker (if you want to count that) round out the rest of my red 3-cmc creatures.
Odd question, but what are thoughts on the fifth and sixth best four drops in white?
For clarity, I'm looking to replace Felidar Guardian in my 720 cube. The idea of Saheeli combo was a nice one, but it's literally never came up in such a large card pool.
I'm already running these (in no particular order):
I'm considering Luminous Broodmoth. I've also been intrigued by Triumph of Saint Katherine (though, not a 4-drop) after seeing it played in recent Legacy events.
Alternatively, I've considered also looking to drop the curve a tiny bit and replace Guardian with a cheaper card. Just looking for thoughts.
I would rank Touarch higher than Freebooter as I’ve found freebooter’s impact is too weak the majority of the time
They're very different cards that can't be compared, IMO. That's like comparing Duress to Hymn to Tourach. Tourach is a heavy black payoff value spell while Freebooter is much better vs combo and initiative, and is overall more reliable. I can't stress how important flyers that are either disruptive (Kitesail Freebooter / Deep Cavern Bat / Elite Spellbinder / etc) and / or reactive (Faereie Mastermind / Malcolm) are in a combo / initiative heavy metagame. The value of freebooter definitely goes up / down depending on how heavy combo / initiative / monarch / etc is in somebody's cube.
Unpowered 360 with Tinker, Channel, Show & Tell, Sneak, strong reanimation theme and lots of ramp.
Or should I run both no matter what?
I like Myr Battlesphere more.
- Cheaper
- Isn't a double-edged sword
- Can't be walled by tokens forever
- Adds tokens to the board to add critical mass for things like Tolarian Academy / Urza / Karnstructs / etc
- Prismatic Ending
- Portable Hole
- Get Lost
- Fateful Absence
- Planar Disruption
Prismatic Ending / Portable Hole go up in value in a powered cube since they can take out fast mana rocks for a single mana Can probably get away with just running the first 3-4 at 465.
Right, I forgot about that one. The Vintage player in me first thinks of the Saheeli infinite that involves Sun Titan and 2 Saheelis, heh.
Gun to head in Expressive Iteration vs Prismari Command, I'd personally go with Command. I know Expressive Iteration has the better pedigree in constructed, but it's hard to find a card like Prismari Command that's an allstar roleplayer for multiple archetypes on top of just being generically good card.
If I didn't have to pick between those two, I'd cut either Izzet Charm or Saheeli.
- I'm a big defender of Izzet Charm's flexibility, but I think it's largely oveshadowed by Prismari Command now. There's also just more discard outlets in general, so its need as a roleplayer has diminished a bit.
- Saheeli combo seems rough in a 720 cube where it only goes off with one card. Sure, both Felidar Guardian and Saheeli can have their moments of brilliance with other cards, but I do think it's a bit of a stretch in such a large cube.
Is there any specific reason why Saheeli Rai can't be cut over these two? Unless there's a specific combo I don't know of, I think this is by far your worst Izzet card.
What makes you rank Scoundrel so high? It seems like a quite fillerish Jack-of-all trades card. It does a bit of everything, but Eidolon is a dedicated damage-machine. They feel just like very different cards.
Eidolon costs RR, is strictly a heavy red aggro card, and also hurts you. I've found that the options of heavy red decks are generally powerful enough to not need a dedicated cards like Eidolon unless you're trying to hedge against storm or something. Meanwhile, Charming Scoundrel costs 1R and is the most versatile red 2-cmc creature, period.
- Third Path Iconoclast
- Young Pyromancer
- Chrome Host Seedshark
- Monastery Mentor (has the most raw power, but the floor is so bad without reliable ways to protect it).
- Sedgemoor Witch
- Saheeli, Sublime Artificer (by far the worst)
Adding Tortoise, Crop and Zuran orb might be too much for my cube tho...
Yeah, like I said...
Quote from steve_man »
I've always felt that squirrel hermits generally do a lot of what Titania does without having hoops to jump through + being much better with blink / recursion.
I like Suspicious Stowaway much more. It's been a high performer for me and it makes your opponent think twice about playing a monarch / initiative enabler.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
- Broadside Bombardiers: can be the most explosive and is the most unique Rabblemaster since it's the only one that can act as direct damage / removal. I've seen plenty of games where players just die while sitting comfortably at 10-13 life just because their opponent top decked Brazen Bombardiers.
- Squee, Goblin Dubious Monarch: gives you the best of both worlds between the token generation of Goblin Rabblemaster and the recursion of Phoenix of Ash. There's a lot of looting / rummaging that can really take advantage of his recursive ability, not to mention all the removal it has to deal with. Haste + always attacking with at least two bodies makes this especially good at contesting monarch.
- Gut, True Soul Zealot: Lowest floor as a Gray Ogre, but pretty high ceiling. Can really get out of hand if you have a lot of spare artifacts lying around that you can upgrade to 4/1s with menace.
- Death-Greeter's Champion: The combination of dash, double strike, and backup can make this one of more explosive red 3-cmc creatures given the right setups. Better floor than Gut, but Gut can do more with less.
- Legion Warboss: Not bad, but not as good as OG Rabblemaster / Squee. Granted, any Rabblemaster type variant is strong, so you really can't go wrong with this or any other Rabblemaster variant.
At 540, my "Rabblemaster" suite consists of Laelia / Bombardiers / Squee, which I think gives me the best combination of power, variety, and synergy. Seasoned Pyromancer / Bonecrusher Giant / Recruiter of the Guard / Fable of the Mirror Breaker (if you want to count that) round out the rest of my red 3-cmc creatures.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger > Emrakul, the Promised End.
If I could only play 2 Eldrazi it'd be OG Emrakul and Ulamog 2.0.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Bitter Triumph
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Some other options
- Leonin Warleader
- Archangel of Wrath (not exactly mono white)
- Basri's Lieutenant
- Cemetery Protector
- Glorious Protector
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
They're very different cards that can't be compared, IMO. That's like comparing Duress to Hymn to Tourach. Tourach is a heavy black payoff value spell while Freebooter is much better vs combo and initiative, and is overall more reliable. I can't stress how important flyers that are either disruptive (Kitesail Freebooter / Deep Cavern Bat / Elite Spellbinder / etc) and / or reactive (Faereie Mastermind / Malcolm) are in a combo / initiative heavy metagame. The value of freebooter definitely goes up / down depending on how heavy combo / initiative / monarch / etc is in somebody's cube.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
I like Myr Battlesphere more.
- Cheaper
- Isn't a double-edged sword
- Can't be walled by tokens forever
- Adds tokens to the board to add critical mass for things like Tolarian Academy / Urza / Karnstructs / etc
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
- Prismatic Ending
- Portable Hole
- Get Lost
- Fateful Absence
- Planar Disruption
Prismatic Ending / Portable Hole go up in value in a powered cube since they can take out fast mana rocks for a single mana Can probably get away with just running the first 3-4 at 465.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Right, I forgot about that one. The Vintage player in me first thinks of the Saheeli infinite that involves Sun Titan and 2 Saheelis, heh.
Gun to head in Expressive Iteration vs Prismari Command, I'd personally go with Command. I know Expressive Iteration has the better pedigree in constructed, but it's hard to find a card like Prismari Command that's an allstar roleplayer for multiple archetypes on top of just being generically good card.
If I didn't have to pick between those two, I'd cut either Izzet Charm or Saheeli.
- I'm a big defender of Izzet Charm's flexibility, but I think it's largely oveshadowed by Prismari Command now. There's also just more discard outlets in general, so its need as a roleplayer has diminished a bit.
- Saheeli combo seems rough in a 720 cube where it only goes off with one card. Sure, both Felidar Guardian and Saheeli can have their moments of brilliance with other cards, but I do think it's a bit of a stretch in such a large cube.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Is there any specific reason why Saheeli Rai can't be cut over these two? Unless there's a specific combo I don't know of, I think this is by far your worst Izzet card.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Swift Reconfiguration > On Thin Ice
Unholy Heat > Frost Bite > Skred
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Eidolon costs RR, is strictly a heavy red aggro card, and also hurts you. I've found that the options of heavy red decks are generally powerful enough to not need a dedicated cards like Eidolon unless you're trying to hedge against storm or something. Meanwhile, Charming Scoundrel costs 1R and is the most versatile red 2-cmc creature, period.
Death Greeter's Champion > Krenko. Najeela's ranking can be anywhere since it's entirely dependent on your warrior count.
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
- Goblin Rabblemaster
- Squee, Dubious Monarch
- Death-Greeter's Champion
- Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
- Charming Scoundrel
- Eidolon of the Great Revel
- Bloodfeather Phoenix
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
- Third Path Iconoclast
- Young Pyromancer
- Chrome Host Seedshark
- Monastery Mentor (has the most raw power, but the floor is so bad without reliable ways to protect it).
- Sedgemoor Witch
- Saheeli, Sublime Artificer (by far the worst)
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
Yeah, like I said...
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra