I'm also including a second set of the 10 fetch lands, so there will be 2x of each.
Have you considered Titania, Protector of Argoth? She was already pretty good when I was playing her and I bet she'd be pretty sweet in a cube with 20 fetches.
I'm also including a second set of the 10 fetch lands, so there will be 2x of each.
Have you considered Titania, Protector of Argoth? She was already pretty good when I was playing her and I bet she'd be pretty sweet in a cube with 20 fetches.
To be honest I've never understood why most cubers exclude Fastbond.
According to cubetutor, Llanowar Elves are in 31k cubes, and there's 6 other 1 drop mana dorks with similar usage. In comparison, Fastbond is used in only 5800 cubes.
Those cards are great, but they have no where near the broken power-level of Fastbond in UG Ramp strategies. Fastbond is great with essentially every draw spell, and the density of cards it is absurd with is high, especially in 360 card cubes.
Fastbond is strong with draw spells because it basically turns every land in your hand and library into a Mox. Every land you draw or even loot into becomes amazing.
Here's a list of cards in my 360 card cube in blue and green that Fastbond is very good with. The blue and green sections are each 43 cards:
Blue (18/43):
Broken:
Mystical Tutor (fetch Upheaval, Time Spiral, Timetwister)
Timetwister
Time Spiral
Upheaval
Meloku
Powerful:
Ancestral Vision
Fact or Fiction
Mystic Confluence
Mulldrifter
Consecrated Sphinx
Jace Beleren
Jace, Architect of Thought
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Decent:
Chart a Course
Dig through Time
Will Kenrith
Jae, Vryn's Prodigy
Looter-il Kor
Green (10/43):
Broken:
Ramunap Excavator
Powerful:
Life from the Loam
Sylvan Library
Tireless Tracker
Yavimaya Elder
Lotus Cobra
Rofellos
Courser of Kruphix (esp with Sylvan Library, Top or Scroll Rack)
Oracle of Mul Daya
Garruk, Primal Hunter
Of course there are many more cards outside of green with more powerful interactions, like Wheel of Fortune, Memory Jar, Crucible of Worlds, Skullclamp, etc.
Of course Fastbond has an extremely high ceiling, but the key to evaluating Fastsbond (or any other cube card) is finding its average case scenario. I tested Fastbond extensively and the ACS just wasn't there. I've definitely pulled off my fair share of ridiculous combos, including turn 3 or 4 infinite Meloku tokens. Every card that is good with Fastbond is already good on its own. In the long run, I felt Fastbond was fun, but gimmicky.
As you can see from the thread, I tried supporting Fastbond a few years back. Eventually, the land specific pieces got cut from my cube, Fastbond included, but I've been thinking of adding it back. Giving red a Future Sight in Experimental Frenzy is the main reason. Fastbond has such potential I come back to it now and then.
Fastbond is a very strong combo card. But in a midrange/ramp deck, it's WAY worse than an Elf.
If you give Fastbond all the tools it needs, it's a good card. But if you don't, it's a trap. It's not particularly good on its own.
With Zuran Orb, Experimental Frenzy, Future Sight/Magus of the Future, 2GGG Garruk, Harmonize, the fringe Draw-7 spells, Prime Speaker Zegana, Tidings, all the Mana Flare effects, the fringe lands-matters.dec support cards, etc... it can be very good. I don't run a single one of those cards in my cube, and Fastbond was a pretty easy cut without them.
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!
This is how I feel about the Eureka Sneak and Show fatty cheat decks.
Good suggestions! Titania is an interesting one, thanks.
Sneak and Show decks are a good idea, too.
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!
According to cubetutor, Llanowar Elves are in 31k cubes, and there's 6 other 1 drop mana dorks with similar usage. In comparison, Fastbond is used in only 5800 cubes.
Those cards are great, but they have no where near the broken power-level of Fastbond in UG Ramp strategies. Fastbond is great with essentially every draw spell, and the density of cards it is absurd with is high, especially in 360 card cubes.
Fastbond is strong with draw spells because it basically turns every land in your hand and library into a Mox. Every land you draw or even loot into becomes amazing.
Here's a list of cards in my 360 card cube in blue and green that Fastbond is very good with. The blue and green sections are each 43 cards:
Blue (18/43):
Broken:
Mystical Tutor (fetch Upheaval, Time Spiral, Timetwister)
Timetwister
Time Spiral
Upheaval
Meloku
Powerful:
Ancestral Vision
Fact or Fiction
Mystic Confluence
Mulldrifter
Consecrated Sphinx
Jace Beleren
Jace, Architect of Thought
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Decent:
Chart a Course
Dig through Time
Will Kenrith
Jae, Vryn's Prodigy
Looter-il Kor
Green (10/43):
Broken:
Ramunap Excavator
Powerful:
Life from the Loam
Sylvan Library
Tireless Tracker
Yavimaya Elder
Lotus Cobra
Rofellos
Courser of Kruphix (esp with Sylvan Library, Top or Scroll Rack)
Oracle of Mul Daya
Garruk, Primal Hunter
Of course there are many more cards outside of green with more powerful interactions, like Wheel of Fortune, Memory Jar, Crucible of Worlds, Skullclamp, etc.
360 card powered Chicago cube:
https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/e7r
2020 Numerical Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/817969-2020-numerical-cube-power-rankings
2018 CubeTutor Power Rankings:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/the-cube-forum/cube-card-and-archetype/803301-cubetutor-power-rankings-2018-by-color-and-cmc
My High Octane Unpowered Cube on CubeCobra
If you give Fastbond all the tools it needs, it's a good card. But if you don't, it's a trap. It's not particularly good on its own.
With Zuran Orb, Experimental Frenzy, Future Sight/Magus of the Future, 2GGG Garruk, Harmonize, the fringe Draw-7 spells, Prime Speaker Zegana, Tidings, all the Mana Flare effects, the fringe lands-matters.dec support cards, etc... it can be very good. I don't run a single one of those cards in my cube, and Fastbond was a pretty easy cut without them.
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!