In a nonpowered, "budget" cube like mine some cards, like Loam Lion and KotR, aren't really worth it. I really like Advent, since a 5/5 trample with flash is awesome value at 4 mana, and you can often ambush something with it.
Walkers are far less of a play-it-and-win card than a bunch of other cards in cube, like Tinker, Armageddon, Mind Twist, Balance, Upheaval, Time Walk, Tangle Wire, and probably a few more I'm forgetting. Pack 1, pick 1 there many things I'd take over 'walkers. I'd take any Sword of X & Y over any walker. You deal with them through attacking, burn, and the cards that destroy any permanent. I don't think they need much removal dedicated solely to them. For example, in my powered 450 cards cube the only cards I run that specifically target 'walkers are Dreadbore and Hero's Downfall. I think that's fine. I think they add far more to the game than they take away from it. It really does feel like you summoned an ally to help you and that's pretty cool.
I echo this sentiment. I would cut the Swords of X and Y long before I would cut planeswalkers (in fact I did in my cube), since the double protection on top of already strong effect turns games into a steaming pile of non interactive bs when playing against an X and Y deck. I can't fathom a playgroup that would frown upon planeswalkers and what they do to the game, but be okay with the swords.
That really wasn't my point, but I agree that planeswalkers are interesting and fun. I've got no problem with the Swords though.
Cheers,
rant
Haha, sorry, that was a bit of a hijack there. Personally I dislike protection and have cut it entirely from my cube. Then again, my cube is unpowered. If you run a powered cube cutting the Swords is kind of moot, since you are running power because you want epic BS games and Swords provide that those kinds of games I guess I was trying to kind of "reverse psychology" there and aks the OP how on earth his playgroup manages to enjoy power and things like the Swords and Jitte, but not planeswalkers. I think the planeswalkers are not near the top of the list of broken and fun/unfun (depending on your point of view) things you can do in a powered cube. Except for Jace, the Mind Sculptor that is, that thing is just retarded (and definitely belongs in a powered cube)!
In the end though you have to build your cube so that your playgroup enjoys it the most, and if that is a powered cube without planeswalkers, than that's the way it is.
That really wasn't my point, but I agree that planeswalkers are interesting and fun. I've got no problem with the Swords though.
Cheers,
rant
Haha, sorry, that was a bit of a hijack there. Personally I dislike protection and have cut it entirely from my cube. Then again, my cube is unpowered. If you run a powered cube cutting the Swords is kind of moot, since you are running power because you want epic BS games and Swords provide that those kinds of games I guess I was trying to kind of "reverse psychology" there and aks the OP how on earth his playgroup manages to enjoy power and things like the Swords and Jitte, but not planeswalkers. I think the planeswalkers are not near the top of the list of broken and fun/unfun (depending on your point of view) things you can do in a powered cube. Except for Jace, the Mind Sculptor that is, that thing is just retarded (and definitely belongs in a powered cube)!
In the end though you have to build your cube so that your playgroup enjoys it the most, and if that is a powered cube without planeswalkers, than that's the way it is.
Entirely cutting protection strikes me as rather unfair to white, considering that you're basically saying no Mother of Runes, No Baneslayer Angel, No Soltari Monk, Priest, no Soldier of the Pantheon, no Mirran Crusader. That seems like a MAJOR MAJOR blow to white and how it plays.
That really wasn't my point, but I agree that planeswalkers are interesting and fun. I've got no problem with the Swords though.
Cheers,
rant
Personally I dislike protection and have cut it entirely from my cube.
Entirely cutting protection strikes me as rather unfair to white, considering that you're basically saying no Mother of Runes, No Baneslayer Angel, No Soltari Monk, Priest, no Soldier of the Pantheon, no Mirran Crusader. That seems like a MAJOR MAJOR blow to white and how it plays.
Ah, I should have added a caveat that I cut all permanent protection from specific colors from my cube. Mother of Runes and Soldier of the Pantheon are still in, as they don't hose one color in particular and both of them can usually be removed by every other deck in the draft. I play none of the other creatures you mention, but white is deep enough that it doesn't need them imho. Baneslayer has indeed been replaced by Archangel of Thune as toomaxz suggest, and she won the last draft we did (together with Gideon Jura and Assemble the Legion).
I am also not adverse to temporary tricks like Shelter or God's Willing by the way, though those are not in my cube at the moment. White still has plenty of play in the efficient weenie department, tokens + anthems, blink effects and efficient multi-purpose removal, and thus is a good color in both aggro and control builds. I don't think protection needs to be integral to the way the color white plays out
Mother of Runes is the most egregiously powerful and frustrating protection card to play against, IMO. The protections on almost everything else are secondary to their use, but her protection granting ability is just nasty good.
Mother of Runes is the most egregiously powerful and frustrating protection card to play against, IMO. The protections on almost everything else are secondary to their use, but her protection granting ability is just nasty good.
Oh she's strong for sure, but unlike, say Soltari Priest, a red deck isn't just dead to her. The game stays interactive because each color has answers to her and she takes a turn to get online and she can't protect both herself and another creature.
On topic: At 540 I think I would cube 5-6 cards in each guild section plus 4-5 lands. I like my guilds evenly distributed, but a lot of cubes simply opt to play the absolute best and thus, for example, play only 2 Boros cards but 5 Simic cards.
On hybrids: You may want to consider putting them into your mono-colored slots. Cards like Dryad Militant, I've put in white. Ditto for Kitchen Finks, which I've put in green. I've done this for 95% of my hybrid cards. This frees up the spaces for your gold slots. I like gold cards.
If your cube is drafted by 6-10 players most of the time, I'd play 5-6 per pair. If you usually are Winstoning, playing sealed, or drafting with 4 players most of the time, I'd probably play 4 per pair. Five fixing lands per guild seems right.
I don't like playing hybrids in monocolor sections because it sort of steals a card from that section. I play all cards in the section where they are at their best (Kitchen Finks in GW, Dismember in black, Lingering Souls in WB). Most guilds aren't so stacked that I feel the need to free up space in them.
I think the colorless section (lands and artifacts) should be slightly bigger than the mono sections. These are often highly drafted cards that can fit any deck so they go fast.
Lol I actually disagree on the Dismember part. It goes well in every non-black deck except black! haha
But yea, take note of colored costs in mono-colored cards. Like Mystical Teachings, Lingering Souls and its ilk tend to be more multicolor than normal.
For us, it sees occasional play as a non-black card, but the appeal of having 3 different casting modes is really high, so we typically opt to play it when we can take advantage of that. It's such a flexible removal spell when you have access to its color.
I don't think I've ever seen Dismember in a nonblack deck in my cube. I really can't classify it as anything other than a black card.
Cheers,
rant
I've run it a couple of times in Boros decks without any black sources. My crew looked puzzled till I stomped them all that first night. Still usually in black decks but I freed their minds, lol!
I've run Dismember in non-black decks for sure. I have it in my colorless section as it is flexible. It was very good in a Heavy Green splash blue deck. No real hard removal in that type of deck. Obviously can be bad against Agro decks to pay the 4 life, but some decks have trouble dealing with midrange creatures.
Pretty sure I have included Birthing Pod once in non-green deck, though I had Mox Emerald, City of Brass and a couple of green sources. Phyrexian Metamorph and Dismember see the most play outside of their colour in my playgroup.
Could you say the same for Birthing Pod as you don't need green to play it?
Just because it can see play outside of its color doesn't mean that's how it should be classified. I would say you should slot it as it's played most often, depending on your playgroup. Pod is a card I would assume you need green mana for in order for it to see regular maindeck play, unless you're really strapped for playables.
I just classify everything where it's intrinsically "best" and leave it at that. It's easy and it correlates with how my playgroup typically plays them anyways.
In a nonpowered, "budget" cube like mine some cards, like Loam Lion and KotR, aren't really worth it. I really like Advent, since a 5/5 trample with flash is awesome value at 4 mana, and you can often ambush something with it.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
Haha, sorry, that was a bit of a hijack there. Personally I dislike protection and have cut it entirely from my cube. Then again, my cube is unpowered. If you run a powered cube cutting the Swords is kind of moot, since you are running power because you want epic BS games and Swords provide that those kinds of games I guess I was trying to kind of "reverse psychology" there and aks the OP how on earth his playgroup manages to enjoy power and things like the Swords and Jitte, but not planeswalkers. I think the planeswalkers are not near the top of the list of broken and fun/unfun (depending on your point of view) things you can do in a powered cube. Except for Jace, the Mind Sculptor that is, that thing is just retarded (and definitely belongs in a powered cube)!
In the end though you have to build your cube so that your playgroup enjoys it the most, and if that is a powered cube without planeswalkers, than that's the way it is.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Entirely cutting protection strikes me as rather unfair to white, considering that you're basically saying no Mother of Runes, No Baneslayer Angel, No Soltari Monk, Priest, no Soldier of the Pantheon, no Mirran Crusader. That seems like a MAJOR MAJOR blow to white and how it plays.
Ah, I should have added a caveat that I cut all permanent protection from specific colors from my cube. Mother of Runes and Soldier of the Pantheon are still in, as they don't hose one color in particular and both of them can usually be removed by every other deck in the draft. I play none of the other creatures you mention, but white is deep enough that it doesn't need them imho. Baneslayer has indeed been replaced by Archangel of Thune as toomaxz suggest, and she won the last draft we did (together with Gideon Jura and Assemble the Legion).
I am also not adverse to temporary tricks like Shelter or God's Willing by the way, though those are not in my cube at the moment. White still has plenty of play in the efficient weenie department, tokens + anthems, blink effects and efficient multi-purpose removal, and thus is a good color in both aggro and control builds. I don't think protection needs to be integral to the way the color white plays out
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
Oh she's strong for sure, but unlike, say Soltari Priest, a red deck isn't just dead to her. The game stays interactive because each color has answers to her and she takes a turn to get online and she can't protect both herself and another creature.
On topic: At 540 I think I would cube 5-6 cards in each guild section plus 4-5 lands. I like my guilds evenly distributed, but a lot of cubes simply opt to play the absolute best and thus, for example, play only 2 Boros cards but 5 Simic cards.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I don't like playing hybrids in monocolor sections because it sort of steals a card from that section. I play all cards in the section where they are at their best (Kitchen Finks in GW, Dismember in black, Lingering Souls in WB). Most guilds aren't so stacked that I feel the need to free up space in them.
I think the colorless section (lands and artifacts) should be slightly bigger than the mono sections. These are often highly drafted cards that can fit any deck so they go fast.
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
But yea, take note of colored costs in mono-colored cards. Like Mystical Teachings, Lingering Souls and its ilk tend to be more multicolor than normal.
UR Melek, Izzet ParagonUR, B Shirei, Shizo's CaretakerB, R Jaya Ballard, Task MageR,RW Tajic, Blade of the LegionRW, UB Lazav, Dimir MastermindUB, UB Circu, Dimir LobotomistUB, RWU Zedruu the GreatheartedRWU, GUBThe MimeoplasmGUB, UGExperiment Kraj UG, WDarien, King of KjeldorW, BMarrow-GnawerB, WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG, UTeferi, Temporal ArchmageU, GWUDerevi, Empyrial TacticianGWU, RDaretti, Scrap SavantR, UTalrand, Sky SummonerU, GEzuri, Renegade LeaderG, WUBRGReaper KingWUBRG, RGXenagos, God of RevelsRG, CKozilek, Butcher of TruthC, WUBRGGeneral TazriWUBRG, GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
Cheers,
rant
My Cube
CubeCobra: https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/5f5d0310ed602310515d4c32
Cube Tutor: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/1963
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!
I've run it a couple of times in Boros decks without any black sources. My crew looked puzzled till I stomped them all that first night. Still usually in black decks but I freed their minds, lol!
http://cubetutor.com/cubeblog/993
http://www.cubetutor.com/cubeblog/23690
I buy HP and Damaged cards!
Only EDH:
Sigarda, Host of Herons: Enchantress' Enchantments
Jenara, Asura of War: ETB Value Town
Purphoros, God of the Forge: Global Punishment
Xenagos, God of Revels: Ramp, Sneak, & Heavy Hitters
Ghave, Guru of Spores: Dies_to_Doom_Blade's stax list
Edric, Spymaster of Trest: Donald's list
On spoiled card wishlisting and 'should-have-had'-isms:
Just because it can see play outside of its color doesn't mean that's how it should be classified. I would say you should slot it as it's played most often, depending on your playgroup. Pod is a card I would assume you need green mana for in order for it to see regular maindeck play, unless you're really strapped for playables.
I just classify everything where it's intrinsically "best" and leave it at that. It's easy and it correlates with how my playgroup typically plays them anyways.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!