Been getting some good reps with this card and I gotta say, I'm falling in love with it. Been real solid in lots of control decks, with mostly planeswalkers and manlands as win-cons. Most recently it was in a 3-0 Rakdos control deck that splashed white for some goodies (Monastery Mentor, Path, Ajani Vengeant). I've never had one and never really thought I needed/wanted one in my cube, but now that I've played it I don't think it's ever leaving. In my head I used to compare it to the wraths (why would I need The Abyss, isn't it better to just clear the board?) but now I think it isn't apt. It's like comparing Moat to Wrath.
I'm really enjoying it and I haven't even played it in the artifact deck yet!
The Abyss has been in and out from my cube in the past years, since we've seen so many great black cards get print. So testing those actually force me to cut it a couple of time. Also, adding the Storm package to the cube do have eaten some precious spots so I had to make few sacrifices in the black section. However, I keep a close eye on it because the card is so sweet and fun. Being a piece of legend is a big plus too.
And live the dream with it while having a powerful artifact creature is awesome. Beside that, more and more the cube get bigger, it can also play a major role at supporting Pox/Stax/Sacrifice themes. It's definitly still a great piece of cardboard to keep a look at.
The abyss is ok in power level for 360, being a pretty slow card. I'd never play call to the grave, as the abyss is honestly best with 0 creatures out.
It honestly reminds me of phyrexian arena a card thats been looked down on lately, a slow card advantage engine.
I love The Abyss and think it's great, but I cut it for a lot of reasons.
- The Abyss is the biggest offender for dragging out games way too long
- With the advent of the new Gideon, I wanted to tone down on Super Friends a bit (I also cut Sorin 3.0 because it's too similar to Gideon), and this card shines best in that deck
- For some reason this would always create rules headaches with newer players
- I don't have a real one
I've never really experienced The Abyss slowing games down much at all. The decks that grab the abyss usually don't use nonartifact creatures as finishers, or the abyss can't stymie the aggro tide the other deck puts up. I can understand cutting it for the other reasons though.
It's been in and out of my cube over the years. It can be a powerful lockdown effect, but its effectiveness has waned overtime as we get more planeswalkers / token generators.
I still run it. its definatly a build around and so id it dosnt show up iluntil pack 3 it often sits in a sideboard, but its a fun card to have around.
The Abyss borders on uncuttable status for me due to the aesthetics and overall "cool-factor" alone.
That said, it's a pretty costly build-around card so I can see why some cube managers might choose to exclude it. In addition, it's an amazing support tool for the Superfriends decks that many people seem to dislike.
This card can make midrange vs midrange brawls into a complete grind where neither side can gain any meaningful advantage and makes games take way too long.
One of my favorite archetypes in cube is Stax and, while you don't necessarily need The Abyss to make a Stax deck work, it certainly doesn't hurt. Black has enough token makers to offset the sacrifice so that it doesn't hurt you as much. Occasionally a Porcelain Legionnaire ruins your plans, but I've also completely taken over the game with it. Heck, I've also played it in the same deck as Legionnaire to take advantage of that synergy myself. It's expensive and it's by no means a must have staple, but if you have access to one or don't mind proxies, I think it's a fun card and I like the decks it promotes.
I’ve a middle-ish school cube (360, powered, mostly urza block and earlier), and I’ve found that the abyss is amazing. Token generators are few and far between, and between that, maze of ith and other creature control effects, Bx stax/control is def a good archetype.
It happens to be though, that it’s world enchantment-ness is the biggest weakness of the card. I’ve seen players hold up concordant crossroads to hose it.
But you def can’t beat the cool factor of it either!
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I'm really enjoying it and I haven't even played it in the artifact deck yet!
And live the dream with it while having a powerful artifact creature is awesome. Beside that, more and more the cube get bigger, it can also play a major role at supporting Pox/Stax/Sacrifice themes. It's definitly still a great piece of cardboard to keep a look at.
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It honestly reminds me of phyrexian arena a card thats been looked down on lately, a slow card advantage engine.
thats my cube
- The Abyss is the biggest offender for dragging out games way too long
- With the advent of the new Gideon, I wanted to tone down on Super Friends a bit (I also cut Sorin 3.0 because it's too similar to Gideon), and this card shines best in that deck
- For some reason this would always create rules headaches with newer players
- I don't have a real one
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thats my cube
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That said, it's a pretty costly build-around card so I can see why some cube managers might choose to exclude it. In addition, it's an amazing support tool for the Superfriends decks that many people seem to dislike.
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this cards seems broken in control vs midrange//aggro
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It happens to be though, that it’s world enchantment-ness is the biggest weakness of the card. I’ve seen players hold up concordant crossroads to hose it.
But you def can’t beat the cool factor of it either!
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